John wrote, “As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not constantly need anyone to constantly teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in Him.”

There are “pastors” and “theologians” and Bible “scholars” galore who explain this verse completely away as if it did not say what it clearly says – in large part this is because, being a “teacher,” these men need their passive listening audience (and, too often, the “tithes” and “offerings” or the proceeds from book sales they can fleece from them) to give them significance and emotional support (not to mention, in many cases, a lucrative career they would not otherwise enjoy). Only men with extremely deep-seated “dad issues” or other emotional dysfunctions need to step in front of vast crowds every week just to enjoy the adulation and adoration they receive from their sycophants and groupies who put the man on the pedestal of idolatrous “pastor” worship. All this writer can say is that if you are a “pastor” needing the adulation, acceptance and adoration of men (and haven’t found your fulfillment in God alone) or you are a “layman” who needs some man to be giving you revelation and insight about the way of following Christ and God, there is something very, very wrong with your life with God.

True teachers who operate according to the will of God do more confirming of what God is actually saying than they reveal brand new stuff to their hearers. They spend more time dialoguing (as Jesus did) with those whom they are sharing the way of the Lord with and rarely, if ever, deliver any monologue “sermons.” Real teachers are a temporary thing – like parents are for children – until Christ is formed in the learner and the learner ought quickly to become a teacher himself. They are not the permanent, sick symbiotic relationship that is prevalent around the world in the apostate “church” and on “Christian” TV.

For those who truly seek the Lord but who are still in bondage to the “teaching” habit, there are some simple solutions for breaking the habit of needing a teacher to stroke and soothe our ears. First, crying out for God’s grace (His enabling power), let us hunger for truth, the whole truth and nothing but truth. Second, let us ask God which teachers He thinks we need for this time and season in our life. Don’t be surprised if He takes you completely off of the “teaching” and “preaching” and “apostolic” and “prophetic” “ministry” machine (it is still true that false prophets only ruin the hearers!) – and He, believe it or not, might even tell you to put your Bible down until your actual obedience and practice and walking with Him catches up with your extensive (but ineffective, impotent and trivial) Bible knowledge. Believe it or not, you are safe in His hands – you really don’t need any man to teach you, not even your Bible publisher! Over the centuries, many illiterates and foreigners have lived and died and gone on to eternal rewards with God never having read even a page of the Bible!

And third, give God a chance first. Look at the next section of the book you’re reading or look at the next article you’re about to read. Get the gist of the question the author or teacher is about to discuss - no matter who or how famous or well-reputed he (or she) may be, all genuine life and truth comes from the mouth of God, not the mouths of men. Once you understand the question or issue, then stop right there and put the book or article down. Get alone with God – ask Him by His Holy Spirit of truth to lead you into the rightly divided truth. After you’ve heard from Him, then go back and read the section or article. If you really want God’s will for your life, you’ll then know whether the author and teacher was really listening to God or he was just spouting off his own stuff (or stuff he got from somebody else, maybe even from demons). And be prepared – all the popular “teachers,” “preachers,” “apostles” and “prophets” will tell you that this is blasphemy and heresy because it calls into question everything they do to be significant and wealthy. And soon enough, you will be secure in the knowledge that Christ and God themselves have written in your heart and you will no longer need that any man be constantly teaching you.

But if you really don’t want God’s will for your life and you really do prefer having your ears soothed and scratched, then just go back to “church.” They’ll make you very comfortable there – at least until the angels come to remove the tares from among the wheat. Then there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and it will sound like your voice because it will be your voice.

Let he who has ears hear.

I’d love to hear comments and/or questions from you! Email me!