I’m Tired of Seeing Christians Attacking Their Own Leaders
In this sermon, the speaker warns the Christian community against the growing trend of publicly mocking, gossiping about, and dishonoring pastors and other spiritual leaders on social media. While acknowledging that leaders can be flawed, errant, or even teach false doctrine, he argues that believers must distinguish between legitimate correction of heresy and the sinful habit of ridicule and character attacks. Using the biblical example of David’s respect for Saul—despite Saul’s failure and God’s judgment—the speaker highlights a principle: God’s servants, even when imperfect, deserve honor because dishonor blocks the flow of God’s anointing and impartation. He stresses that dishonoring leaders reflects the heart of the accuser more than the accused, and that a posture of grace and humility is essential. The talk also includes a personal anecdote about a harsh preacher whose sincere, though flawed, ministry still led to a powerful move of the Holy Spirit, illustrating that God can work through imperfect vessels. The overall message calls for believers to adopt a higher standard of respect, to reserve mockery for genuine heresy, and to extend grace toward flawed servants of God while still holding them accountable when necessary.
Chapters
Our culture today just doesn't understand honor, especially in the day of social media. Now, let me share something with you that I pray you'll have nothing to do with. And please hear this because this is a stern warning to the body of Christ. I say this as your brother, I say this in love, but you'll notice that in this day and age, There is this disdain for spiritual leaders. Now I understand we've seen many fall. I get that. But that is still a spiritual office. That is still something to be honored. I understand that some pastors are a little strange. I understand that some pastors say seemingly outlandish things. I understand that you may not agree with every pastor on every point of doctrine, but this idea that because I disagree with that pastor, because that pastor comes off a little strange, because that pastor comes off a little weird, that that therefore gives me the right to bash them, talk down upon them, and mock them as some do. And let me just call it like it is. There are some people online who will do that. They'll call out generals in the faith, and they will think that they have the authority to bash them simply because everyone else is. Well, everyone knows so-and-so is false. Well, everyone knows he's way out there. Well, everyone knows she's just this or that. And what's happening is we think we've earned this license to do so. And that line between honor and dishonor, for the office that God has assigned has been blurred. Look, if you don't like what I'm saying, that's just too bad. I'm telling you the truth. And this, to some degree, is why I believe the Lord has blessed this ministry in the way that he has, is that we understand honor. Now I'm not saying, and please hear me now, I'm not saying that there isn't a time to call out wrongdoing. I'm not saying that there isn't a time to call out heresy, but this idea that we can sit back, chuckle and laugh, at people who are God's servants, even though they've made mistakes, that's pure arrogance. And what's happening is people who want to be perceived as the good guy will go after the low-hanging fruit, bash them, feel like they're doing the right thing, people cheer them on. And now that's their virtue signaling. Look, I'm your champion for truth. Look, I'm policing the internet. Look, I'm the voice of reason and I'm calling this out. Don't you just love what I'm doing? And I'm doing it because I care for the body. And oftentimes it's just a mask. We as the body of Christ, yes, should call out heresy. Yes, should call out false teaching. Absolutely, I agree. But to be so blatantly dishonoring of God's servants, you better be careful. And I don't say that in any threatening way from me. I'm saying that because the Lord is displeased with that kind of dishonor. Now again, because I think it's important to balance this, I am not saying that you should be under everyone who claims to be a servant of God. I'm not saying that you shouldn't confront heresy. If somebody preaches a blatant heresy, not just a doctrine that I disagree with, or maybe they interpret scripture with a different framework than I applied and come to a slightly different conclusion, and not just on things like tongues and healing and prosperity and miracles and supernatural, no, no, no, no, No, no, no, I'm talking about real heresy, not just the things that people get all worked up emotionally over for no reason. I'm talking about actual heresy. You call that out, of course. But where do we— when did we become so comfortable in being so disrespectful? And you'll see it, I'm telling you, especially in this generation, you will see it, chuckling and laughing and mocking. And again, so comfortable doing it because everyone else— Has already said it's been established. This is what you call a preconceived notion. It's a presupposition where they're saying, well, everybody knows he is this, everybody knows she is that. And no time to even debate that, no time for reason, no time for being rational, just emotional reaction to an often parroted criticism, and then off to the races with the mockery. It's shameful. It's shameful. And I'm gonna show you why it's important to understand this. Not with you, Spirit family, not with you. We will not be like that. We have to rise above that. And I wanna show you something. Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. Some of Saul's servants said to him, a tormenting spirit from God is troubling you. Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music and you will soon be well again. All right, Saul said, find me someone who plays well and bring him here. So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much. And David became his armor bearer. Think about that. The Lord left Saul. The Lord was stripping Saul of his authority. The Lord sent a tormenting spirit to Saul, yet David served him. Now, some might say, well, you know, that doesn't apply to the New Testament because we're talking about a king versus a pastor. And, I think that's an okay point to make. I don't think it's entirely robust as some might imagine it is, but that taken into consideration, do note that the Lord was pleased with the way that David honored Saul. In fact, when David had an opportunity to retaliate against Saul, what did he say? He said, I will not touch the Lord's anointed. Touch not mine anointed, is what he quoted. Neither do my prophets any harm. Now we can contextualize this to death. In fact, even when David quoted it, it didn't specifically apply to the situation that he was in. It was about something else entirely, yet he still quoted it in his situation. Why? Because it wasn't about the specific instance. It was about the principle upon which David was standing when he refused to retaliate. Namely, that he honored God's servant. Yes, the Lord was punishing him. Yes, the Lord was done with him. The Lord was dealing with him now. But David said, I'm gonna honor still. Now, that doesn't mean we don't call out falsehoods. And again, I wanna emphasize that, you filter that to the New Testament, where we are commanded to test the spirits, where we are told to fight for the faith, and fight for the faith, by the way, is a reference to the basics of the gospel, not again, on those peripheral doctrines about which we become so worked up so often for no reason. What we're seeing here is David honoring a man who is ungodly because he was still the Lord's servant. And David knew, even though this man tried to harm me, even though God is punishing this man, even though God is stripping this man of his mantle, if you will, I'm gonna honor him. So the question isn't, what specifically was the instance in which David used that particular verse? The question is, what was the biblical principle? What was the spiritual dynamic? What was the general truth upon which he was standing when he decided to honor? And that is, that's God's servant. You can disagree with God's servant, sure. You can call out God's servant when they get off track on, again, the fundamentals of the faith, absolutely. You can say, you know what? I don't wanna necessarily be connected to this person anymore. That's fine. Oh, but the very moment you think it's on you now to have a license to freely mock, to gossip, there's great shame in that. And we as believers ought to have a little more class. There's, there's, A certain elegance that's lacking today in Christian tabloidism. And we, as I said, have to rise above that. You wanna see impartation? You can't receive impartation from that which you dishonor. You can't receive impartation from that which you nitpick. And that's what we do. And again, it's a presupposition because once it's been supposedly established that a person is this or that, you know, they get black labeled, they get canceled, if you will. Now, all of a sudden, everyone feels the right because of course everyone knows he or she is false. Of course everyone knows he or she made a mistake. Of course everyone knows he or she is really weird. So what? God used them. God called them. Who are we to dishonor? Again, disagreement is one thing. Calling out heresy is one thing. But this egocentric, naive, mocking demeanor, that has to go. Amen. Because that says more about us than it does about them. Saul was fallen. Saul was disqualified, but David's still honored. And again, honor does not mean you can't disagree. So there's this transfer now that takes place. There's a transition here where God is done with Saul. Saul is tormented. The Lord left him. The Lord was punishing him. Saul was a wicked man. Don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. Saul was wicked. Did David obey everything he said? Of course not. Did David challenge him on some things? Absolutely, you bet. But there was still this measure of honor where he knew that's still the Lord's servant that the Lord is dealing with right now. And I will not harm the anointed of God. Dishonor blocks the anointing. And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any miracles among them, except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. Well, what was happening here? Well, just the verse before, Jesus tells us that a prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown. So it was a lack of honor that ultimately led to a lack of their ability to receive. Now let's take what we've learned here and apply. Am I saying that we should continue to follow corrupt people? No, that's not what I'm saying. If that's what you're hearing, No. I'll probably need to be a little more clear. So let me just say that clearly. No, I'm not saying we follow corrupt people. No, I'm not saying that we never challenge corrupt people. No, I'm not saying you never call out false doctrine. I'm saying your attitude must be checked. Be careful of what's happening in your heart toward flawed men and women of God who are still servants of God. Flawed as they are, be careful. Flawed as they are, be careful. And I would rather err on the side of honor than on the side of mockery. If I'm gonna make an error, I would rather be a little too honoring than a little too apathetic toward the mantle that God placed on them. Now consider this, Saul was wicked. Saul had been abandoned by God in certain terms. Saul had been rejected by the Lord and he was still honored. So what should we do And how should this apply to the leaders that God has placed in our lives who have flaws because they're human? Now, let me be clear here, because I do not want this to be taken out of context. I'm not excusing abuse, and I'm not saying that you should continue following people who are corrupt. I'm saying that if David even honored Saul, how much more should you honor the people God has placed in your life, though they be flawed? Amen. Maybe they have, maybe they're not as smart as they looked. Maybe they're a little impatient. Maybe they have a little bit, maybe they're a little arrogant sometimes. Maybe there are flaws that you see that are just, I don't know, I can't quite, I can't quite deal with that. And this is gonna happen. And this is the tension where at first you see a man or woman of God at a distance, And you go, wow, what a mighty man of God. What a mighty woman of God. And then as the relationship begins to develop, you go closer and you start to see the details and you start to see flaws. You start to see their humanity. Well, here's the thing about serving and helping and working along servants of God is you're not just working along the man of God or the woman of God. You have to work along the man. You have to work along the woman. And that is the human part. And so you'll find flaws with every church. You will find flaws with every leader. You will find flaws with every teacher, every preacher, every evangelist, every pastor, every apostle. Everyone is a heretic to someone. And this is just the reality of serving with people. So either we go to the place where we say, unless I see perfection, I'm not serving anywhere. Unless I see perfection, I'm not a part of anything. Or we realize very basically God uses imperfect people. Now, of course, we understand that Paul writes about a certain standard that one has to meet in order to be a spiritual leader in the church. Of course we get that. But given that, you're still gonna see flaws in people. And so here's the thing, the Lord will hide that mantle The Lord will hide that impartation behind their humanity. I put it this way. I'm convinced that God hides the anointing in abrasive humanity so that only the persistent can receive it. When you serve the man or serve with the man or serve with the woman, their humanity shows. At a distance, you're wowed. You get a little closer, you see their flaws, but then you allow yourself to continue in grace And suddenly you see little things and you say, that's why God uses you. That's why the Lord uses you. I remember one time I was serving at a ministry. This was in New York. And I was on the platform watching the service transpire. And there was a preacher there who was just, he was doing an offering and it was like a 30-minute offering. And it was just really harsh and very demanding. I remember sitting in my seat and I began to get real angry. And I'm thinking, how could you take an offering like that? It wasn't, you know, it was enough to where I was angry. And I was just thinking, everything in me is just like, I'm gonna get out of here, I don't. And I remember saying to the Lord, and God forgive me, I said, Lord, why would you use someone who does that? And then this person with their flaws and with their everything going on, they began to worship the Lord. And the moment that happened, the presence of the Holy Ghost filled that room in a manifested way. And the Lord says to me, that is why I use him. We can all point out flaws. And I know that, that preacher from New York, they, they were sincere. They truly believed what they were saying. I thought they were a little off, but they believed it. You can be sincere and be sincerely wrong. So I think he was sincerely wrong, but it doesn't matter because that was a flaw. That was a mistake. That was an issue that The Lord was dealing with him, Mom, I'm sure. But he's still a servant. You see, if you don't have the grace for them, then you will not be given the grace to receive from them.
