Careful Who You Recommend

If in a talk, I earnestly quote Pastor X or Speaker Y, I inherently give them authority. Be it intentional or not, I have endorsed them.

And even if the quote is Biblical, practical, and insightful – what if their theology is skewed?

One of the best practices we can have is to point our friends to the Bible, not to people. Yes, God inspires people to rightly interpret and explain Scripture. But it’s not a preachers job to convict – that is a role of the Holy Spirit.

Friends who have gone into banking tell me that they have training sessions with real, authentic currency – not the fraudulent bills. Fake money is altered and produced almost daily. The true money rarely changes. They are trained to recognize the truth.

We, too, much be trained to recognize the Truth. Spending time to understand other belief systems has a value, but we must first be firmly rooted in Scripture. Here are four quick thoughts when it comes to quoting from speakers or books:

1. Be careful which preachers, teachers, and Christian authors you recommend –  especially to young believers. Make certain they have a full understanding and teaching of salvation and the “essentials” of the faith.

2. Be Berean (Acts 17:11) and fact check everything that even the most reputable of preachers teach. If you’re not being fed Biblical truth, pray for that teacher and ask God to help you lovingly approach him or her.

3. If you are a Bible teacher, don’t “wing it” without Scriptural basis. We need to be careful whom we recommend and likewise then strive to be a Biblically-based person that others can rely on.

4. Test all teachings against the Bible, not theological or doctrinal books. These study books have a proper place but we are to study Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Truth to us. Similarly, we are the hide God’s Word in our hearts, not the words of a reference book.