A call is going out to the pastors in America. Don’t give in to the temptation to compromise the Word of God for a greater following. Don’t allow the allure of the platform to distract you from preaching righteousness and holiness. There is a warning being issued from heaven to remain steadfast, be faithful to the Word of God and speak the truth. If you give in to the “spirit of the age” (2 Cor. 4:4), you may not lose your platform, following, or popularity—but you may lose your mind.
… and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who perish, because they did not receive the love for the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: that they all might be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess. 2:10-12).
The American pastor is under tremendous pressure today. The balance between preaching the Word of God and not offending the sheep is increasingly challenging. The divisive issues being addressed in our nation are forcing us to make hard choices. Even the world is looking to church leaders for direction. Do we stand on the unchanging standards of Scripture, or do we compromise the message, thinking we are appealing to the masses? What will be the cost if we do not stand up for truth?
Therefore God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their own bodies among themselves. They turned the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator … And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not proper (Rom. 1:24-25, 28).
There is a very specific message here, and we must heed this warning. I had a dream recently that illustrated the reality of this Scripture. The first scene indicated what God is doing in our land and how people are being drawn into the kingdom by the Holy Spirit. The second scene showed how many pastors are responding to this increase and the reality of the spiritual battles at hand.
In the first scene, I saw a young man paint a beautiful mural on the side of a building in his city. It was a modern-day proverb that drew attention from everyone in the community due to its profound message and creative expression. As I was watching, I knew in my spirit it was revealing Christ. The underlying message was giving glory to the Creator Himself. A woman beside me, a nonbeliever, was also struck with the message and was greatly stirred. She even asked me, “Is this God?” I was amazed how this fresh expression of the gospel had power to reach the lost.
In the next scene, I saw a pastor. He was standing at the foot of the steps to the city courthouse, getting ready to make a speech. He was wearing a cleric’s robe and was excited about this opportunity to address his community. I caught him to tell him how excited I was about this amazing open door to preach the gospel and point people to God. But, this pastor, whom I knew, was not himself. He had a crazed look in his eyes and seemed to be highly distracted by all the commotion of the crowd. Not only was he speaking gibberish, but he was very effeminate. He acted like someone else entirely and wasn’t even listening to me. Instead of preparing to share the gospel with those who had been stirred by their hunger, this man of God was now a delusional performer seeking a limelight. As I saw him turn to give his speech, I woke up grieving in my spirit for this lost opportunity.
A great encouragement we should take from the first half of this dream is that God’s presence is drawing closer in our nation. Due to the prayers of many, this next generation is being drawn by the Spirit to express and reveal Christ to the lost in ways we have never seen before. The Spirit of God is hovering over the land and providing many divine appointments to reveal the glory of God to those who are searching. Praise God! And yet—e charge to pastors is sobering.
If church leaders compromise the Word of God for a lie and give in to the crowds who want an excuse to sin, not only will these leaders become blind to what God is actually doing, but they will totally miss the coming harvest.
It is not an accident that the pastor in the dream looked and acted like a female. Though people through the generations have always dealt with sin, it wasn’t until our nation began to embrace homosexuality that we began to experience all other forms of evil. One of the goals behind this demonic spirit is to strip men of their God-given authority as fathers to a fatherless generation. If they can be “neutered” and stripped of their identity in Christ, their authority will be greatly diminished. If the church continues to embrace this kind of compromised lifestyle, we will continue to reap the consequences from a host of other evils.
They were filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evil things, and disobedient toward parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, calloused, and unmerciful, who know the righteous requirement of God, that those who commit such things are worthy of death. They not only do them, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them (Rom. 1:29-32).
The call is clear. We must pray for our pastors and those who lead congregations in our local communities. The fact that the pastor in the dream was standing in front of the courthouse indicates the spiritual authority that God has given the shepherds (Jer. 3:15). They are to be the voices in local communities as moral compasses and champions of righteousness. We must pray for them to be faithful to this call and not give in to the fear of man.
Let’s pray Isaiah 11:2-5 over the pastors (male and female) in our communities:
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. He shall delight in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge by what his eyes see, nor reprove by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and reprove with fairness for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist (Isa. 11:2-5). {eoa}.
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Wanda Alger is a field correspondent and writer with Intercessors for America (ifapray.org) and has contributed to numerous online publications such as Christian Post, The Elijah List and Spirit Fuel. She is a recognized fivefold prophetic minister with DOVE USA (dcfi.org) and is the author of several books, including Oracles of Grace: Building a Legacy of Wisdom and Revelation. Follow her blog at wandaalger.me.