the man of God phrase is an expression that is very much used in the Bible in
fact did you know that about 71 times it appears in the Old Testament and only
twice in the New Testament in the Old Testament usually it is used to refer to
a prophet a man who is speaking on behalf of God to God's people in the New
Testament it is used of Timothy as the man of God and then it is used to refer
to all believers as men of God but unfortunately in our context today when
we think about a man of God we're not just thinking about an Old Testament
prophet o believers as they live their lives before God the phrase has come to
mean a man who is specially anointed designated by God to work on behalf of
God we through whom and apart from whom people cannot be blessed the expression
man of God has come to mean a self-appointed apostle or prophet or
pasta who in most cases is above accountability from anyone who claims to
have special powers to heal people or to predict their future who has come to be
the only channel through which God's blessing can come to his people he's
clearly a man that people fear Amandla today people revere to the extent that
some might even worship Him to the extent that some might see him as the
only way in which God can bless them in my country where I come from we are
beginning to see people even worship pastors and prophets and apostles who
called themselves a man of God we are seeing Christian leaders who are now
above accountability who moved from one scandal to another and nobody to talk
about them because they are the anointed ones usually you will hear that phrase
used from sums 105 touch not God's anointed and do no harm to my prophets
a passage of course taken out of biblical context but which has come to
mean the man of God controlling his followers through fear and intimidation
where now you find that the man has become like assistant god it's like you
cannot meet God without him it's like for you to be blessed you must come
through this man of God and unfortunately so many believers
especially on the continent of Africa have lost statue is the good of
scripture and are now trying to access him through the man of God as though
without him God would never love them never save them or never meet their
needs the church in Africa finds itself in such a crisis when you have somebody
who stands between you and God and unfortunately he is not the model or the
example of the kind of Christian living that you can expect what can the church
in Africa do today we must go back to the biblical scriptures and especially
to remember that the scripture does not say that there is any man over possible
past our prophet who can mediate between men and God except Jesus you might
remember first Timothy 2:5 where the Apostle Paul says that for there is one
God and one mediator between God and men the man Jesus Christ access to God is
only through Jesus he is the savior of the world he is the only one that God
has mandated through whom and through his name our prayers can be had
Christian is in Africa do not need a certain pasta or a nap or so in order
for God to hear them every Christian can pray and has right of access in the
presence of God without a pasta now that doesn't mean that pastas cannot pray for
their people their congregations but the general scripture calls us not to pray
for one another just but to pray with one another that all believers have
equal access in the presence of God that all believers have right to come to God
as they our Heavenly Father and speak to him and trust that God will meet their
needs today we are seeing men of good becoming
they kind of unreachable people and attachable people who even when they are
involved in scandals they are beyond this print in the name of their more
anointed than others but really what do the scriptures say about Christian
leadership that the men of God in fact are called to be servants to be humble
people who serve even sacrificially the people that God has put under their care
and not loading over them that they occurred to be shepherds of the flock
not bosses not autocrats but people who laid down their lives just like Jesus
did how do you know that somebody is a wrong man of God or a different kind of
man of God you need to be asking yourself a number of questions does this
man for instance recognize that he is a servant that God has put in charge and
that one day he will be accountable to God and even to those that he serves
when he opens the scriptures does he open them truthfully and faithfully and
does he seek to humbly communicate the work the Word of God in a manner that
God's people can understand appreciate and be built by when in is involved in a
scandal or has sin is he quick to repent or you see the kind that things that he
can call everyone else to accountability but not himself if you look at his kind
of leadership is it servant leadership or is it the kind of leadership where is
the center and everyone else under him or following him is expected to serve
him and give him glory by looking at what the place of scriptures in his life
looking at the place of Jesus in his life and in his relationship looking at
his servant attitude and heart you can very easily tell whether this man is a
true servant of God or whether he is the man of God as we understand it in Africa
today who seeks to get glory for himself at the expense of God who has called him
into service that is assuming that he has been called by God
Christian is in Africa need to be very discerning and they need to be on the
alert that you are not serving a fellow man in the name
he's more anointed than you are or in the name of that is the only channel
through whom God can touch you Christian is reading the Scriptures will
understand that God has loved us graciously and with an everlasting and
conditional love he does not need to work through any special kind of man in
order to serve you or to love you or to meet your needs you can come to God
directly through Jesus Christ his son and you can be sure that good will meet
you at your very point of need without being at the mercy of any man or any
leader