God-Centered, Bible-Saturated Leadership
John Knight recounts being drawn in by false teaching and almost becoming a false teacher himself. It was the God-centered, Bible-saturated, Spirit-filled leadership of his pastors, Knight explains, that helped him to correct his course:
Younger pastors should realize that God will bring issues into your churches of which you have no experience and of which there are few resources from a God-centered perspective. Disability is one of those issues. What families like mine need from you, more than anything, is that you remember Jesus alone is the source of your hope. The greatest help you can provide is to keep us in the Bible and show us your own affections for God and his word, even when the passages are hard to understand. Show us your passion to submit to God’s revelation gladly.
When you are saturated in the Bible, that subtle, non-biblical voice someone like me may inadvertently bring into your church will be felt. When felt, you can move up next to it, seek to understand it, and respond to it in loving ways, with wisdom that God will provide. Your God-centered leadership can guide such a false-teacher-in-training away from that which would kill him and others. Maybe you’ll have to endure some harsh and unkind words in response. Or maybe God will use your firm, gentle, courageous engagement to turn a false teacher into a passionate lover of God and his word.