Watchout For WOLVES: Keys To Discerning Authentic Ministries & Evaluating Doctrinal Trends

4. Study it carefully (2 Tim. 2:15).

“We in leadership who are commissioned to care for the flock of God must have the ability to see through all this glitter and emotional hype. We must not be gullible. We have to examine just exactly what is being said, and what the end result of this teaching is going to be” (Iverson, pg. 72).

5. Let others try it first.

“To maintain a well -balanced church, be patient. When there is something going through the country, wait, be patient and let other churches try it first! Sometimes pastors may be a little reluctant to do this because they do not want to appear to be ‘behind the times’ in any way. Because of this it is easy for an insecure pastor to jump at everything that comes and as a result he becomes a spiritual ‘guinea pig’ that will test this new emphasis. For the sake of your people and long-term stability of your church, however, it is better to adopt a simple ‘wait and see” attitude. That seems to be simple enou gh. But it may save you a lot of needless stress and many problems. Watch what is happening in the churches that are attempting to practice this truth and see how well they are doing. See if the implementation of that doctrine really works.” (Iverson, pp. 77-78).

Let me add another key of my own.

6. Develop clearly defined core values.

An important process in the life of a leadership team is to develop biblical statements of your core values. Core values are truths that you will die for and cannot compromise. If you do not have any absolute lines that you will never cross it will be difficult to evaluate various trends that affect the church world.

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