Last night I had a troubling dream about a leader in the Church and their followers. The dream was very graphic. My dream followed a conversation shared earlier in the day about another leader who may have made a choice that would challenge biblical integrity. Because I have a relationship with that person, I will need to speak with them personally to confirm what was said about them. I have been in this place before where either a confirmation of what was said will be confirmed, or an unfounded rumor will be exposed and put to death.

As I carried the weight of the dream and the coming conversation, my first action was to pray and take communion. Under the guidance provided by Psalm 139, I asked the Lord, “Point out anything in me that offends you” (vs. 24). Any correction within the body of Christ must be preceded by an inquiry by the Lord about the condition of our hearts before we bring to the light something that needs to be addressed for the sake of the integrity of the Church. While hard questions may be required to seek the truth, they will never be done properly without the humble heart of the one needing to ask the hard questions.

We are living in a critical moment in Church history. Watchmen are warning the Church of what is approaching, and some of those warnings are not being heeded, either through ignorance or dismissal. This is a moment when the wheat and tares grow together within the Church. No leader or follower is immune from the danger of becoming a tare.

Warnings within the Church are becoming increasingly unpopular in a world where all things are considered acceptable. Warnings are an act of love and should be welcomed. They are like someone who calls out the approach of a poisonous snake wanting to get close enough to its victim to sink its fangs in a vulnerable leg. When the sound of the warning is issued the ones who have ears to hear the Lord’s warning will be thankful the warning was issued.