"I don't see no cat." |
I was on the professional stage for 30 years and I know theater when I see it. A large number of high profile TV or megachurch preachers are entertainers, not pastors or evangelists.
They hone their oratory skills and know how to rivet the listener's attention through voice inflection, emotional projection and other acting techniques. They are very good at what they do.
However, I am convinced that the ones who capture the imaginations of their listeners are often charlatans who do not believe a word of what they preach. A good salesman can sell anything and even an insincere religion is a powerful convincer.
These people will bear higher scrutiny when they stand before God Almighty. They are either complete nonbelievers or utterly self-deluded. Either way, they are false to the core and more concerned about mammon than God.
Evangelicals would be better served to find a small church with a devoutly sincere pastor who will shepherd them according to Biblical principles. He (it should be a man - beware of woman pastors) should speak to congregation in a steady and genuine manner without shouting, hectoring and storming about the stage. Jesus only seems to have yelled when he was angry such as when he cleared the temple with a whip of cords or upbraided the falsely pious Pharisees.
More discipleship and Christian growth is achieved in one small group Bible study than ten Sunday services.
If the pastor doesn't know your name, you don't have a pastor.