Know Any Groupies?

Have you ever seen a groupie?

You know what I’m talking about—those young, teenybopper fanatics that would wait in line for 12 hours for their favorite band’s latest CD.

Or the person that is so enamored that their greatest thrill would be to wipe the sweat from the brow of their beloved movie star.

And there are groupies for just about anything. A groupie is a fanatic of someone or something to the point that it consumes them. It is often an unhealthy attachment to that person or thing. The problem being that usually they do not know that they are consumed.

There are groupies for boyfriends and girlfriends.

…groupies that are captivated by their TV, or gaming system.

…groupies that are enthralled with their favorite soap opera.

…groupies that would do almost anything to further their addiction…whatever it might be: alcohol, explicit drugs, sex, etc.

They might even leave a spouse or neglect their child so they can continue their favorite whatever…Don’t laugh, this is actually documented. One woman left her husband because he didn’t like the pastor of the local church.

Groupies usually don’t have a thinking mind of their own. They usually follow what is popular or accepted.

There are even groupies in the local church.

Oh, yes, don’t be surprised by this one.

You have seen these people before too.

Just try to make an allegation of some error in their favorite pet:

Doctrine

Denomination, (or non-denomination)

Bible translation

TV preacher

Worship music

Or favorite way of doing something

Etc.

Groupies will battle to the death over whatever has their attention.

They don’t read the Bible and so they do not know the will of God, just the will of whomever it is that they are following.

Just try to even insinuate that the church they attend or the pastor that is instructing them (or not instructing) may have an issue with his doctrine. Now, I’m not suggesting that people run out and look for any little mistake—I’m talking about serious issues like preaching contrary to the Scriptures on salvation, the Trinity, the Holy Spirit and so on—major doctrinal issues.

Usually, groupies will say things like this, “Don’t touch God’s anointed.”

This is their only defense. Like I said, they don’t read their Bible so they don’t know if what they pastor is preaching is even correct. They only know one thing: That this is a man of God and they should not come against him.

I can remember when a certain prominent minister began teaching doctrine that was contrary to Scripture. This guy had a huge church, about 6,000 people. He had a doctorate degree from one of the most prestigious Christian universities. He even sat on the board on one of the largest ministry networks. But his teaching was flawed. He began to teach that all people in the world would be saved and that no one would go to hell. This is clearly contrary to what God’s Word teaches. When people began to confront his fallacy his followers said the rest of the church community was crazy—that he was right. Three years later his church dwindled to 200. These were his dedicated groupies. It finally closed its doors last week. This transpired because someone knew the difference between right and wrong and stepped up to the plate to speak out. It is not wrong to speak up when something is blatantly evil, but make sure it is done in a loving and proper motive.

I’m sure that I can speak for just about any pastor that receives this email when I say that pastors appreciate it when someone comes to them in the right motive and points out a clear error in what they have preached. After all, it is better that the individual gets it off his chest rather than dwelling on it and letting it affect his walk with God or his relationship to the pastor or church in general. That is why many pastors want their congregation to go back throughout the week to study and apply what they have taught on Sunday. They want them to think about what was taught for themselves and how it applies to their individual situations.

But did you know that there was a time in church history where this was clearly forbidden? When challenging someone or some doctrine in the church mean certain death—even if the doctrine or the one holding to it was wrong.

In the early 1500’s a man named Martin Luther appeared out of obscurity and challenged the accepted church. He discovered what they were teaching was incorrect. He knew that the Bible did not teach that someone could pay $50 to the church and have their dead loved ones rescued to heaven. But the only reason he discovered this was through reading the Bible.

Luther challenged the system, and yes, some still think he was a rebel. But he was partly responsible for bringing the church out of the dark ages of Christianity (actually it was the middle ages) and helped bring a Bible translation to the common people that they could read. He wanted them to read God’s Word for their self. He knew that living off of some clergyman’s revelation (or non-revelatory opinion) would not be life transformational. He knew that if the people were to grow and find the truth that they would need access to the Scriptures and be able to read them. He orchestrated just that very thing with the help of Holy Spirit.

Now, please do not miss my point. There is nothing wrong with collecting and listening to your favorite Christian teaching CD’s.

There is nothing wrong with watching your favorite televangelist.

It’s not wrong to attend a “Christian” feel-good seminar every now and then.

Surely, it is not wrong to attend church and listen to great preaching.

But those things by itself cannot be truly life transformational. (And without knowledge of God’s will we could be open to following any teaching that could take us to the pit of hell). They do not have the power to place you where God wants you to be. It may give you an decent start, but you will not be able to finish on someone else’s revelation, nor their opinion.

God wants to take you through a complete metamorphosis.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2

The above word transformed in the Greek is METAMORPHOO. It literally means a metamorphosis, which denotes "to change into another form or thing."

Yes, God wants to give you a total home makeover, “Holy-Spirit Edition” (I Cor. 6:19).

He wants you to be able to move beyond being just a slow moving slug that has only a grounded, earthly perspective on spiritual matters.

He knows that they only way to do this is through renewing your mind daily through the reading of His Word, the Bible and by continuing in a personal, unselfish relationship with the Father in Heaven through Jesus Christ.

The only thing that has the power to transform us from that earth-bound caterpillar to the flight-savvy butterfly is God’s Word illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

This metamorphosis is a process.

We cannot simply read the Bible and be transformed to what God wants us to be overnight.

But each time we receive an illumination form the Lord from reading His Word adds another layer of protection around us in our cocoon. He is keeping us for the final launch.

Not reading His Word leaves us vulnerable to every enemy—the world, the flesh and the devil. There is no protection outside the Word of God.

Outside the cocoon of God’s Word are enemies that would love to have us for lunch or enslave us to their own personal objective.

Let’s all remember to be like Christ—accept only God’s Word as truth.

Reject popular opinion when it is against God’s will.

Prove and test whether teachings are biblical.

Just like Martin Luther, start a loving, min-reformation in your own heart, home and church.

Remember to challenge incorrect thinking wherever it is found.

Keep this in mind: Follow a man, become a groupie.

Read God’s Word—get transformed for the better.

You just took a few minutes to read what I had to say and I appreciate that; why not read what God has to say everyday?