THE THIEF COMES TO STEAL, KILL & DESTROY (PART XII)

“Why Preachers Become Tellers of Tall Tales”

By Akin Ojumu

It was exactly thirty days ago when we launched out on this adventure of discovery. The goal then, and still is, to discover the meaning of John 10:10. By applying the principles of hermeneutics and exegesis, we seek to understand the original intent of the Holy Spirit when He inspired John to pen these words.

John 10:10

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

For the readers who are not too familiar with the terms, hermeneutic and exegesis are merely fanciful words used to describe the appropriate and acceptable techniques of interpreting Bible texts. These are the proven methods employed by those who are committed to preserving the fidelity of Scriptures and by those resolute in obeying God’s injunction to handle His Word with accuracy and precision.

Hermeneutics is the theory or study of interpretation principles, while exegesis is the practical act of applying those principles to a specific text to understand its meaning. Think of hermeneutics as the toolbox and methods, and exegesis as the work of using those tools to build an interpretation of a particular text (Source: Google AI).

At the inception of this commentary series, never in a million years did I imagine it would take this long to come to the conclusion. Here we are at Part XII, and we are merely scratching the surface. The fact that we are not even close to plumbing the depths of John 10:10 goes to show the profundity of the insight, wisdom and knowledge of God. Even as we dig deeper into the Word of God, quickly do we realize how unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! The more of God we know, the more there remains to be known. There’s so much to explore in the Scriptures, it’s simply inexhaustible.

Ephesians 3:17-19

“That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Given the breadth, length, height, and depth of the riches of wisdom and knowledge of the Word of God, have you ever wondered why the vast majority of modern-day preachers spend their time on the pulpit telling cock and bull stories of self-glory instead of mining the deep well of God’s Word to discover its riches therein? Has it ever occurred to you why, instead of being preachers of the Word, ministers of the Gospel turn themselves into prolific tellers of tall tales of vainglory?

Modern-day preachers, especially those of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, are exactly like the Pharisees of the Bible of old. The reason they don’t preach the Word is the same reason the Pharisees didn’t preach the Written Torah. To a large extent, preachers in our day have rejected God and have replaced biblical Christianity with a religion of their own making. In place of the Holy Scriptures, they have created a modern-day version of the Tradition of the Elders.

Isaiah 8:20

“To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this Word, it is because they have no dawn.”

Just like the Pharisees before them, modern-day Preachers are nothing but whitewashed sepulchers full of rotten bones. These people are deceived and deceiving apostates who are on the road they think leads to life but, in reality, it’s a broad road that leads straight to eternal destruction.

What makes these impostors deadly is the cunning craftiness of their deceitful schemes. Just like the good snake oil salesman, they often sound confident in their assertion, cocky in their mendacity, and brash in their prevarication. To their undiscerning followers, they have all the appearance of godliness. Resembling the beast in Revelations chapter 13, they often look harmless like a lamb, but when they open their mouths, they speak like a dragon. 

While on the outside they are dressed up in sheep’s clothing, inwardly, they are ravenous wolves. Even though they pretend to be shepherds, by their doctrines and deeds they are soon exposed for the hirelings they truly are.

Isaiah 35:8

“And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.”

If you are a follower, admirer, or promoter of tellers of tall tales and still consider yourself a Christian, you are of all people most to be pitied. You cannot be a true follower of God and be an admirer of wolves of sheep’s clothing at the same time. These are mutually exclusive positions.

John 14:26

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

If the Spirit of God resides inside you, He will teach you all truth and expose to you all errors. The reason you buy the cock and bull stories of the tellers of tall tales is because you are not in the light. This much is clear, if you are in the light, the truth of God will be made known to you.

John 10:3-5

“The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The sheep of God recognize the voice of God; they will never follow an impostor or fall for his deception. You’ve only got yourself to blame if you belong in a religious establishment where the Word of God is habitually twisted and perpetually distorted.

People get deceived all the time. Adults are entitled to fall for scams, and they are free to allow themselves to be duped. It’s a fundamental human right for anyone to make themselves victims of fraudsters. No one should be faulted for exercising their freedom to get conned.

But this you ought to know, you cannot, on one hand, exercise your right to be conned and then turn around and want to exculpate yourself for getting scammed by tellers of tall tales. The guilt is on your head, and you’d have to give an account of how you handle the Word of God when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ on the Great Day of the Lord.

We’ll take it from here next time.