Title: The Judgment of False Leaders
Contents
1. Words that begin
In any field, once the foundation is solid, it develops on its own to some extent, and then, once it gets on the right track, it develops almost spontaneously. Therefore, in any field, the time when leaders are most needed is in the early years.
However, in James 3:1, written by James, the leader of the early church,
“My brethren, do not be many teachers, knowing that we who have been teachers will receive a greater judgment.”
No matter how much leaders are needed in the beginning, no, it means that not everyone should be a leader because they need a lot. If the foundation of the church is wrong, it will be formed in a wrong way, and in the end, everyone will have to suffer tremendous misfortune.
For that reason, false leaders will receive greater judgment.
2. The Sin of False Leaders and Immediate Judgment
Peter gives a liturgical explanation of the judgments of false leaders who are weak in the church.
The first characteristic of heretics, or false leaders, in the early church was covetousness.
“Covetousness” is pleonexia (πλεονεξ??), which means 'arrogant greed', 'cursed possessiveness', 'illegal desire to have other people's things', 'a spirit that can sacrifice a neighbor at any time for its own desire ' means etc. In a word, it is an uncontrollable desire to have what you do not have the right to have.
When expounding on the Bible, preparing expositions or sermons, I often turn to awe rather than admiration, realizing the power of the word transcends time and place although, of course, I fall short of full realization.
Ladies and gentlemen, what are the characteristics of the majority of those who take on leadership or act as leaders, whether they are big or small, religious or political? Isn't it covetous? Doesn't it appear that he is strongly attracted by the lust for fame, lust for water, lust for success, or lust for teaching?
Whenever there is a huge money incident that shakes the national economy, we see too many of the leaders, who are usually modest and the object of envy of many people, panicking with their eyes on the main character's mouth. Haven't you seen it? As everyone knows, is the continuous bribery an expression of love for the people and citizens? Or is it an expression of covetousness?
The first thing everyone, especially such leaders, should know is Ecclesiastes 5:10.
“He who loves silver is not satisfied with silver, and he who loves abundance is not satisfied with income. This is also vanity.”
Such leaders should imitate the sanitation workers who collected scrap and donated ambulances to Kkottongnae.
It can be said that this is an era in which leaders are desperately needed who are equipped with character and qualities, ability and passion, sincerity and responsibility, and who will implement righteousness, truth, love and freedom according to God's will.
The second characteristic of the false leaders of the early church was that they viewed the members as commodities for profit based on their words.
“Words” (πλαστο?? λ?γοι?) means 'fake stories' or 'fabricated stories', which are editorials that false leaders preached and taught to church members for profit, i.e., not the gospel. I mean ideas or doctrines that suggest some other way of salvation, and immoral lessons like mysticism or hedonism.
Instead of loving and nurturing church members according to the Lord's will, the false teachers recognized the church members as the sheep entrusted to them by the Lord, and instead used editorials based on greed to use them as products to satisfy their own interests.
From time immemorial, there have been many leaders who treated people as tools or materials for achieving their desires instead of considering them as unique personalities, creatures loved by God. There were many dictators who mercilessly killed the tools they were using when they were judged to be useless, just as they throw away tools when they are no longer needed.
Therefore, judgment on such leaders has not been delayed from time immemorial, and their destruction has not fallen.
3. Past judgments foreshadowing realistic judgments
As the first example of God's judgment, Peter cites the case of judging sinful angels.
God did not forgive the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, locked them in a dark pit, and kept them until the Last Judgment.
When iniquity is ripe enough to result in judgment, we need to know that God does not spare even the angels and judges mercilessly.
As a second example of God's judgment, Peter cites the judgment of the unbelievers in Noah's day.
All the ungodly people of the world who mocked, persecuted, and turned away from Noah, who preached the righteousness of faith in God, were destroyed by the judgment of the flood. Jesus spoke about the debauchery of that time.
“Before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark” (Matthew 24:38)
In other words, it means that they were immersed in an adulterous life and did not realize it.
Of course, the leaders who misled them at the time were no exception.
If there was an exception, it was Noah and his seven family members who preached the righteousness of faith.
Peter cites the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah as a third example of God's judgment.
After God decided to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where idolatry and homosexuality, sexual immorality, and all kinds of sins reached the extreme, God made them ashes with brimstone and fire, and set them as an example for those who would later be ungodly.
But what is sad and amazing is that they forget about God's judgment that should be modeled, and they are imitating all kinds of idolatry, homosexuality, lewdness and various sins that should not be modeled.
For me, who knows a little about the world of spirits, what is really absurd is that a shaman usually appears at public events under the guise of discovering and developing traditional culture. Isn't the divine shaman designated as a human cultural property? … . It is said that when a company hires a person, a shaman, applause, or admiral is always present to make the final decision.
Rumors spread that a large corporation heard a regular fortune teller to keep close to iron and obeyed it, but suffered a huge nose injury. Even worse, it can even influence state affairs through superstitious political parties. Aren't Buddhists already formed and active in the Blue House?
Currently, some say that there are 700,000 shamans and magicians in our country, while others say that there are close to one million.
On the other hand, the derailment has already gone too far.
Even in a first-class university, a homosexual club has been formed and is active.
A university professor and four teenagers with the son of a company representative set up an office in a multi-family house in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, and introduced two runaway girls (14 years old) to a nearby entertainment establishment as waiters from the 22nd. He was arrested by the police on charges of receiving Rs.
According to the results of the investigation, it was revealed that they committed this kind of crime by claiming to be a waitress broker, sending business cards to an entertainment establishment, and carrying a Sonata car and a cell phone.
Do you know how much alcohol, which is closely related to debauchery, is consumed in Korea?
In 1994, the amount of alcohol consumed was 11.73 trillion won. Comparing this amount realistically, it accounts for a whopping 20% of our government budget of 54.8 trillion won in 1995.
The God who judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah rescued Lot, who had broken his righteous spirit by seeing and hearing the immoral conduct of the lawless. Of course, Lot's righteous heart means that he was justified by faith in God.
4. Conclusion
For the godly people who believe in God, the fallen world itself is a difficult test.
But God always delivers the godly from temptation.
On the other hand, the unrighteous who live under the rule of sin away from God are kept under punishment until the Last Judgment Day.
It is truly a time to pray earnestly for our country and people.
In particular, please pray that leaders will have character and qualities, ability and integrity, passion and responsibility, and embody righteousness, truth, love and freedom according to God's will.
(Poongseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete Commentary on 27 New Testament Books/ Interpretation of Difficult Scriptures I, II/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/Paul’s Understanding of Man/ Prosperity Prayer/ Seasonal Sermonbooks/ Sermonbook 18. -3051)