Where Is Your Head Today?

I hear a lot of pop theology. People tell me what they think of God, the Bible, miracles, angels, the end of time and whatever other theologies they have developed by watching tv and talking to nutty friends and family. I hear lots of things which do not come from the Bible.

That's probably why so many televangelists are able to get away with some of the nutty things they have said. They say things which amaze me .(sorry, I can't quote because I am not sure of the exact wording). They tell of revelations from God which led them to believe that God looked exactly like they do. They tell of Adam being able to fly above the birds. They give theologies of God having to have faith or He would lack the ability to create. They claim great powers and appear to see changes in people's lives.

People fill stadiums to hear this malarky. These televangelists are great showmen. They work the crowd. They take a new "revelation" and massage it until the people are worked into a frensy. They give exhibitions of miracles and say the name of Jesus enough times to entice their followers to fully believe in their "anointing."  I wonder how this could happen until I remember that lots of people believe the show put on by professional wrestlers is real.

Those that believe in these "shows" are like children who can be manipulated by the uncle who appears to pull off his thumb. The amazement they should have for their Lord has been transferred to these televangelists. Thus, they will travel untold miles and give untold money to this person. The televangelist has become the head of the body.

I suppose that this can happen with any famous preacher even if he or she doesn't desire this devotion and admiration. My congregation often tells me of watching solid, biblical preachers on tv. They also will send money and travel great distances to hear these preachers.

Is it really okay to follow a preacher with extreme devotion? Not if that devotion puts this preacher in the place Christ should occupy. Christ is our head.

I grew up on a farm. Occasionally, we would raise a number of chickens which would one day be killed. plucked, cleaned, bagged and frozen. My job was to catch and kill the chickens as a child. I would remove their heads and watch them get up and start running. They had no eyes in which to see nor brains to give them direction but they would run, fall and collide with things for several minutes until they died.

Christians do not need to run around without their Head. Christ Jesus is our head or we act as if we are headless. We will also run around without direction and sight. We will run in circles or into each other or just go nowhere at all. We will be blown about when we hear theologies that meet any need of our belief system for the moment. We will never grow up.

Maybe that's why so many churches are filled with people who are fighting each other. Paul said that Christ, the head, grows and builds the body (the church) in love as each part does its work.

After doing something especially silly, I have been asked, "Where is your head today?" I have never thought that was an appropriate question until now.

Where is your head today?

Ephesians 4:14-16 (NIV) ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.