Roots, Not Leaves.
The Need for Spiritual Maturity in the Age of Influence
I have been seeing a lot of news recently about Bethel Church and Shawn Bolz. Another scandal has broken out inside the church, with more people being hurt by very evil things. It seems that, more often than not, I am reading far more articles on another church failure, another minister’s failure, and another graphic situation swept under the rug for the sake of “momentum.” Because of this, I see far too often a voice that cries, “See, this is just another example of the religious sham that is the church and Christianity.” As believers, this should break our hearts, as it certainly impacts our global witness. In the age of social media algorithms and content silos, there is far less accountability than ever before when it comes to the life and ministry of people who claim to be Christian.
We elevate voices instead of character. We reward the loud; we reward the content builders, and yet neglect the faithful and steady. For every mega pastor/influencer failure, there is a pastor faithfully serving the people God has called him to. There is, and always will be, a desire for status and position. I mean, as my pastor reminded us recently, even Jesus was tempted by Satan in the same way. However, when position grows faster than character, disaster is nearby.
Yet, it is not just on the individual ministers/influencers themselves. While their actions are solely their own and rightly deserving of the consequences, their status—that is on us. Position is rarely taken, as it is mostly given. Influence isn’t something people wake up with one day; it is cultivated over time and gained. Thus, it is the voices WE elevate that matter most. These people gain a platform because WE give it to them. Some would say this is more common among the charismatic model of ministry, yet in light of failures much like Dr. Steven Lawson, sin knows no theological barrier. It is not just deliberate manipulation that leads to hurt, but also the subtle replacement of accountability that causes more damage.
Are we so hungry for supernatural signs that we have forgotten the supernatural revelation that is God’s Word? Are we so hungry to be spiritually validated by an influencer that we give ear to a man who researched the congregation before his arrival and data-mined information about people to give a “miraculous, prophetic word?” We cannot allow our own spiritual immaturity to surprise us when we elevate voices and people who have no real, substantial character but boast a loud, content-driven, eloquent form of ministry.
You may, as I, think surely I haven’t given such weight to the wrong person. Yet we do it all the time in modern culture. We find voices we mostly agree with and begin to take their teachings or ministry at face value. We find voices we trust and cling to them instead of submitting everything before the Word of God and discernment. We trust faces and personalities, while authenticity and truth become secondary.
How can we know who is worth trusting and who is a disaster waiting to happen? While only God can judge the heart, we can evaluate fruit. What fruit can give us the best gauge? Transparency and accountability. Sin grows strongest in the dark. There is a stark difference between privacy and concealment. We are not inclined to know the personal details of every voice we come across. However, you can tell the depth of someone’s character by their willingness to submit to accountability. What systems and guardrails do they have in place? That matters.
Spiritual maturity is measured by the depth of your roots, not by the view of lush leaves. We cannot keep living life praising status as the qualifier for spiritual maturity and leadership. We must be deeply rooted in God’s written Word so that we may discern what is true. Discernment is forged in the fires of the studious pursuit of God’s Word. I am not saying that we need to wait for only perfect people to speak, as no one but Christ would meet that. Simply, I am saying we must commit ourselves to a deeper understanding of God’s Word so that we pursue truth and not status as the qualifier for what we allow to influence us. We need spiritual maturity.
