Intelligent or Foolish?

“People who are too smart to change are often too foolish to understand.” “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matt. 7: 24–27). Notice Jesus did not say, ‘he who follows a prophet, pastor, or charismatic leader.’ He said, “these sayings of Mine,” which is referring to His Word. God is saying we must follow the Word, not man. One of the hardest things to witness in ministry is when people begin to follow people rather than God. All too often, charismatic leaders either intentionally or unintentionally will, by their very nature, cause others to become enamored with their personality. This can lead to far too many negative consequences such as affairs and disappointments, and yes, even separation from God as a consequence of worshipping man. Men are human; we too are broken. And yes, even pastors are sinners. While it is completely appropriate to follow godly leaders, to worship man is to worship flesh and very much inappropriate. We all have people whom we enjoy listening to more than others; some are equipped to be intellectually challenged, while others are more stimulated by the visual; still others prefer both, and so on. This is a perfectly natural behavior of mankind. Don’t follow man, follow God. Don’t worship men, worship God, and you will avoid a major pitfall. Remember, what Jesus is saying is, once you have heard what is written in the Word, you must then do it. If you need to check it out, do so, but don’t get so caught up in the intellectual that you never really decide to believe the truth of the Word. You see, when Jesus says to love your neighbor, no matter who teaches the message, Jesus is saying, “love your neighbor,” so start practicing loving your neighbor. Far too many people want to justify their own weaknesses or unwillingness to change by overanalyzing, dissecting, and searching out the root meaning of every word in the Bible, when all they need to do is take the Word at its Word. When Jesus says to love, whether it is in the King James, the Hebrew, or the Greek version, He is still saying to love. If He commands us to forgive or have mercy or to extend grace, or whatever the action, could it possibly be what He says is exactly what He means? For example, should we be more afraid of extending too much grace to people or should we not extend any for fear of overdoing it and causing them to be blessed or take advantage of it? What does the Word say? Maybe a little more time spent doing the things we are commanded to do and a little less time figuring out why would be beneficial. After all, for some, the intellectual meaning of the Scripture has become an excuse for not obeying it. Sound a little like a Pharisee to anyone else? † Father, help us to remember to follow Your Word and to obey Your commands. Teach us to trust You, serve You, and to surrender to You, and if we have become too smart for our good, reveal our foolishness that we might repent. In the name of Jesus our Lord we pray, amen.