Transcript: The Dangers of Theology: Prioritizing Jesus' Teachings

We have some great teenage supporters, and our youth leader, Ash, has written the script for this video, which we thought was worth putting up here on A Voice in the Desert. It's about how theological and doctrinal head-tripping can be as big a distraction from true Christian faith as any sin you can think of. If I were to take a survey offhand, I bet most people who watch this channel would say they're pretty sincere Christians. I bet half would at least say they're more on fire for Christ than most of the people they know. After all, they are watching Christian videos online. They probably listen to Christian music and probably talk about God all the time, or at least sometimes. Some of you are very active in the comments section as well, and I'm sure some of you regularly participate in religious Facebook groups too. Maybe you've even gone so far as to get a cross necklace to show the world that you believe in Jesus, and you've put a fish logo on your car for that reason too. But is that really what Jesus wants? Many people think it is, and that doing these things proves that they are a follower of Jesus. But think about what Jesus said here. Someone asked him, Lord, are only few people going to be saved? And he said to them, Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, Sir, open the door for us. But he will answer, I don't know you or where you come from. Then you will say, We ate and drank with you and you taught in our streets But he will reply I don know you or where you come from Away from me all you evildoers Notice that those who were stopped from entering the master house claim that they know the master because they ate in his presence and they heard him teaching in their streets. This goes to show that Jesus doesn't care if you eat and drink in his presence or listen to sermons that even come from his own mouth. If you don't do what he said, then you won't make it into God's kingdom. So beware, there's this one deception out there, this one diversion, this one distraction the devil uses to trick people into thinking they're actually a follower of Jesus, while all the while never getting them to do a single thing that Jesus said. This distraction is called theology. Nowadays, people can listen to as many sermons as they like, listen to all the Christian music they want, debate in the most religious Facebook groups around, talk with their aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews all day long about Jesus, and yet never even hear or mention one of Jesus' teachings. This is the result of pastors everywhere preaching theology and never mentioning a single teaching of Jesus. Just listen next time you watch a Christian video and ask yourself if the person ever, ever mentions a single teaching of Jesus that you should practice in your day-to-day life. They will mention everything else but his teachings. They may say the words, Obey God, believe in Jesus Christ, and everything else under the sun. But they never hold people accountable to actually obeying Jesus. Nor will they ever directly tell you what you should obey. Instead they rant about things like the Trinity how to pronounce the name of God the right way and how a banana proves God existence Just stop for a second and ask yourself this Why does it even matter if Jesus is one and three people at the same time? Why does it even matter if you pronounce God's name the right way? And what does it even matter if you can prove that God exists to an atheist, if you don't get him to obey and to do what God told us to do? What do you think God will care about more on Judgment Day? Getting people to obey his son? Or one of those other things I listed prior? After asking yourself what you think God cares about more, the answer seems obvious. But there is deliberate, and I mean deliberate, avoidance of preaching about Jesus' teachings. And this deliberate avoidance of preaching about Jesus' teachings is more satanic and destructive than the prosperity preaching televangelist of today. Preachers know that as long as they keep you entertained with theology that doesn't offend you or challenge you in any real way, you will keep on attending, boost their reputation, and help them rake in more dough. They purposefully leave out Jesus' teachings, and that speaks volumes. Because you can tell just as much about a person by what they choose not to say as by what they choose to say. Now, if you still personally feel convinced that God cares about theology more than obedience to his son, consider this story. A great king issues orders for his subjects to follow, but his subjects, instead of obeying or doing anything he said, spent the whole day arguing about the correct title the king should be given. If the king had one heir to the throne, or if the heir was really just himself in another body in some strange kind of reincarnation cycle or if the correct way to bow to the king was on one knee or two knees Any actual servant of the king would have seen this for the nonsense that it was, and those subjects who spent all their time entrapping themselves and others in pointless debates will be banished from the kingdom because they weren't obeying the king in his orders. Likewise, Jesus will banish those who never obey him and his orders from his kingdom too. The reason I know Jesus will do the same thing as the king in this story is because Jesus said that the standard people will be judged by will be by if they did what he said. So don't be fooled by silver-tongued preachers who try to justify disobedience to God with their theology. Jesus hated when religious leaders of his day tried to justify disobedience to God, so you bet he will equally hate preachers today trying to justify disobedience to his teachings with their theology. If you really want to start living your life in true obedience to God, the God Jesus spoke of, then burn your theology books, throw away all the theological garbage you have ever heard, and forget all you ever thought you knew about God, and just come to Jesus. as a little child ready to do his father's will. Theology won't save you, but obedience to God and his son's teachings will. If you are one of those sincere individuals out there who want to obey God and his son like a little child obeys his own father, then please write to the address on your screen. God wants people who are willing to obey his son by leaving their jobs, forsaking all they own and spending the rest of their lives trying to get other people to obey God likewise.