In 1985, Chuck Colson published a book entitled, "Who Speaks for God?" In 1997, Jim Wallis published another book with the same title, "Who Speaks for God?" And no wonder! Every day we hear voices telling us that God wants us to do this thing or that thing and those voices often contradict each other. Today in the Christian community we have many prominent leaders who tell us things that are demonstrably different from what we read in the Bible, and yet Christians are often convinced to listen to them instead of God’s Word. Why? Because they sound like it’s right or, worse, because they tell us what we want to hear. By the way, this is not a new problem! Today's passages can help us to sift through these opposing voices, so let's listen to them:

These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. (2 Cor. 11:13-15)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

These two passages, written by two authentic apostles, Paul and John, tell us that the early Church had the same problem that we have now: people claiming to speak for God who lure Christians away from the truth. Paul tells us how: Satan disguises himself as “an angel of light” as do his followers, perhaps even without their knowledge. In the second passage, John warns us of this same truth and then tells us to "test the prophets." So how do we do that? First of all, read your Bible to see if what they are saying is true. Here's an example: if someone says that God wants all Christians to be wealthy, read your Bible to see if it's true. All of the apostles became poor in order to follow Jesus. The early congregations were constantly taking up collections to help the churches in poverty! And Jesus told a young man to sell all of his possessions—not to give them to Jesus, but to the poor. Remember, what Christian leaders say are not the last word—even if what they say sounds good or religious. Look it up for yourself in the Book!