Some Christians in the church today lack independent thinking. They blindly believe other people without considering if it conforms to the teaching of the Bible.
There is no doubt about their devotion to God. However, their belief in the leaders of the church is unquestioning: all God's servants spread the purest truth; all their deeds are right; following their lead means listening to God.
They simply forget one thing: everyone is a sinner and no words or actions are perfect. Therefore, when Christians give up their own thinking and will to follow a certain pastor or team leader, they lose control over their worldview.
So what will happen if Christians lack independent thinking?
They can easily become "second-hand Christians".
Every believer needs to connect with God, communicate closely with Him, and seek His leading. But when faith is built on church leaders, the spiritual life is under their control. For example, even if the leaders misinterpret the Bible, people still believe it came from the Holy Spirit.
They're likely to be confused.
These believers are very likely to fall into the net of heresies if their spiritual leaders preach incorrect messages or even heresies and cults since their spiritual life is designed by the leaders. In fact, the reason why heresies and cults are so rampant is related to these believers.
They frequently end up being victims.
Unfortunately, frauds and relationship manipulators exist in the church, and these believers are their favorite "prey."
A brother quit his job in a fine institution to help a sister in charge of a fellowship. He admired her blindly and believed that everything she did was from God. The reason she hired him was that she needed his help in her new company to cover the loss of her previous business. So he did, giving up his secure job for an unstable life.
There were also sisters who gave themselves up to the leaders' manipulation and paid the price with both money and their chastity.
These believers are indeed very pathetic and pitiful. They were warmhearted Christians who got played because of their weak foundation of truth, lack of education, insufficient social experience, overconfidence in humanity, etc.
Unsurprisingly, some pastors and team leaders wish for such submissive believers, so that they can better control them.
For the reasons above, Christians need to understand that Christians are the children of God. Christians need to listen to God, not merely the words of man.
Conversely, the job of pastors and team leaders is to bring brothers and sisters before God, so that they can understand the truth. They can't bring believers before themselves to be their slaves in order to satisfy their personal desires.
Church leaders like that will not be free from the final judgment and the fire of hell.
(Note: this article is a contributing freelancer Christian in Fujian.)
-Translated By Grace Hubl.
