Modern Christianity exposes us to all "flavors" of teachers, from the soundest to the sorriest. In fact, as Peter showed in Matthew 16, any man can speak as inspired by the Holy Spirit on one occasion (vv 13-17) �
"When Jesus came into the coasts of C�sarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven...."
� and as inspired by Satan soon afterward (vv 21-23):
"From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
A highly touted Christian teacher was coming to a retreat center near me, and the sponsor invited me to come spend a week In The Presence. I had a couple of the fellow's books, which seemed OK to me, so I went � eagerly looking forward to the experience.
The first half hour was great. He led a discussion on Genesis 2 and 3, and brought forth a number of insights that he could've gotten only from the Holy Spirit (fully supported by scripture, of course). Then he came to the matter of Eve sharing the forbidden fruit with Adam:
"So she went and looked-up Adam, wherever he was�"
I raised my hand.
"Ken?"
"Verse six says 'And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.' She didn't have to go look for him. He was right there with her."
"Oh, I know that it says that." (He actually sneered!) "But I think that he was off somewhere else, doing his own thing."
"It is written" has always trumped "I think" for me, but I said no more. I almost went home after that session, but the fellowship with other ministers was too sweet to miss, and I was curious to see what else the guy had to offer. So I stayed, listened, and watched.
Pretty soon, it became obvious that his wife operated him. As the week progressed, he went further and further haywire, and she ran more and more of the discussions, which got pretty weird at times. I kept my mouth shut and tried to keep my mind open, as "I think" continued to devastate "it is written."
As I was leaving to go home at the end of the last day, I went to him with a smile and outstretched hand to wish him well and farewell. He ignored my hand and scolded me loudly and viciously for coming to him in the middle of a game of horseshoes.
You're right on! if you figure that I saw neither Jesus nor Peter in that show of mood. And very little indication of the Holy Spirit for the entire week.
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