THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
Scripture: Mark 11:28-33

These verses say, “And they said to Him, ‘By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?’ But Jesus answered and said to them, ‘I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.’ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” He will say, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, “From men”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.’ So they answered and said to Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’” This passage describes an encounter that Jesus had with the deceitful leaders, when they were questioning Him because He was cleaning house in the temple. Jesus purposefully put them on their heels in fear. They feared the people because they knew that the people esteemed Jesus as a prophet. Jesus used the fear of man to entrap counterfeit leaders and force them to confront their own failure. The leadership of that day was compromised exactly like satan compromises leadership today. If we opt for seeker-sensitivity because we are afraid of losing people, we no longer serve Christ. We have ceased building God’s Kingdom and are building our own. Fearfully refusing to preach the cross, we serve satan not God. Shallow, people-pleasing leaders are in danger of walking away from their first Love! One very serious and crucial battle is over the hearts of preachers. Oral Roberts used to say that whatever a man compromises to keep, God guarantees he will lose. I’ve lived long enough to see the truth of that statement. Whatever you and I compromise to keep, God promises He will take it away from us. You cannot serve God and bow to the fear of man!