Lately I've been noticing a rather disturbing trend among believers. Not all believers, but certainly enough for me to sit up and take notice. What trend is that? I would roughly call it "Corinthianism". Paul lays out what this is very well in 1 Corin 1:12 where he says, "Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ." In today's vernacular one might say, "I am of JD Farag," or "I am of Perry Stone," or "I am of Amir Tsarfati." Men are just that. Men. Some of them are wiser than we are in some areas, or more experienced.  But in the end they are just men.

Therefore we should never lean on them for our doctrines. We should lean entirely on the word of scripture for that.  There are also things that each of them does that I disagree with, which will be true of pretty much everyone as nobody has it 100% right. Even the first century church didn't all agree on what the bible said or meant. It took a divine miracle of God to create the unity necessary to bring about Acts 2:1 and the first Pentecost. So unity is a tough thing to achieve, even for believers. Even so, we should always weigh everything we are taught against the word of scripture. So if you hear a preacher who says something or teaches something, verify it against scripture.

This simple act is often called being Berean and comes from Acts 17:11 in which it describes the Jews in Berea who were extremely diligent to not only hear Paul's words, but to also check them against scripture. So it's fine to listen to a teacher or a preacher expounding any number of topics or subjects to you. However, ALWAYS check their work, as they are just as human as you are and may occasionally get something wrong in what they teach. If they're consistently wrong, stop listening to them. But if they're only wrong in a few things, and none of them are heresies, then give them some slack.

Again, none of us are perfect. I know I'm sure not. So verify all that they say, and if you're able to, discuss it with them afterwards. Make sure that you weren't the one who heard it wrong. And if you didn't, and they're wrong, talk to them. If they are a true, humble, honest, God fearing individual, your correction will be welcome. But at the same time, never idolize anyone. Take what they teach you and use it to grow closer to God. Because it's not about the teacher, but about who you're being taught about. Namely, God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.