Over the past 2 years, I have seen some of the most respected, beloved, and anointed men of God have major failures in morality and/or integrity. Some of the big names that have countless YouTube videos made about them include Mike Bickle, Michael Brown, Chris Reed, Sean Boltz, Todd White, Robert Morris, Tony Evans, Michael Tait, Joni Lamb/Daystar TV, and recently Sean Feucht.

Some of these individuals were committing sexual and spiritual abuse for decades, all the while leading their respective ministries. We thought they were great men of God, but actually they were sick men, lost and depraved in their souls. We thought they had a special relationship with God but instead they were having relationships with young girls they weren’t married to.

We thought they were great, but they weren’t even good – they were bad. Really, really bad.

The longer I am a Christian and continue to see inside the modern day church, the more I realize how lost we really are. We can’t tell the difference between a great man of God and a sexual predator – how bad is that?

The False Metrics of Greatness

I think what has to be done is we have to redefine what greatness is. Most people think that a great man of God has millions of followers, a megachurch, best selling books, large crusades, TV shows, traveling the world as a guest speaker. If a preacher has done all of that we would think he is “great”. Or perhaps he or she has a great anointing and very gifted. Everywhere they go people get saved and healed. Their prophetic words are amazingly accurate. Their preaching is full of power. Surely if they can do all that they must be great.

Over the decades of being a Christian, I have noticed that the majority of what we consider great is to be charismatic, very gifted, well funded, and great at marketing. They are AMAZING at marketing. They know how to promote that next book, event, etc.

The truth is, often they are not much greater than many other pastors and ministers. They are just willing to do anything it takes to grow their ministry. They are willing to neglect their families, sell “miracle cloths”, charge for prophetic words, data mine for prophetic words, form business relationships with ungodly people… They are literally willing to sell their souls so they can be known as great. But even a fool knows that there is nothing great about selling your soul.

It’s interesting that we rarely ever know much about their families. What kind of husband they are. What kind of father they are. We don’t know because we don’t care. We just want to be entertained and amazed. We want somebody to be our hero, no matter the cost. The church has been a cover up culture for decades. We slap a nice scripture on it “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). That scripture doesn’t say love covers up, it says love covers. Love doesn’t hide sin, it forgives sin once it has been exposed.

What Biblical Greatness Actually Looks Like

So what does true greatness look like in God’s eyes?

Jesus himself gave us the answer: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). Biblical greatness isn’t measured by platform size or miracle count – it’s measured by faithfulness, humility, and character.

A truly great man or woman of God is faithful in their marriage. They love their spouse well and their children know them as more than just a ministry leader – they know them as a present, loving parent. Their private life matches their public persona because they understand that integrity means wholeness, not performance.

A great servant of God builds others up instead of building their own empire. They raise up leaders instead of creating dependencies. They point people to Jesus, not to themselves. They’re quick to give credit and slow to take it.

True greatness is found in the pastor who faithfully serves a congregation of 50 for 30 years, loving them through every season. It’s the missionary who labors in obscurity, seeing few converts but remaining faithful. It’s the stay-at-home mom who raises her children with love and discipline, pouring into them daily without recognition or applause. It’s the Sunday school teacher who faithfully shows up week after week to teach eight kids about Jesus. It’s the janitor who serves his church building with excellence, understanding that cleaning God’s house is holy work. It’s the Christian business owner who treats employees with dignity and refuses to compromise their values for profit.

These people may never trend on social media or fill stadiums, but they’re building the kind of legacy that matters to God – lives transformed by authentic love and unwavering faithfulness.

Moving Forward

It’s time we redefine what it means to be a great man or woman of God because for so long, we have had it so, so very twisted.

Let’s stop elevating charisma over character. Let’s start asking harder questions about the leaders we follow. How do they treat their families? Are they accountable to others? Do they handle money with integrity? Are they quick to admit when they’re wrong?

The church doesn’t need more celebrities. We need more servants. We need leaders who understand that true greatness in God’s kingdom looks nothing like greatness in the world’s system.

Because when we get this right – when we honor the right things and celebrate authentic godliness – we won’t be shocked by the next fall from grace. We’ll be too busy following leaders worth following.

When we get this right, we will be leaders worth following. But even that won’t matter because we will be more focused on Jesus than how many followers we have.

The Indiana State Fair isn’t a Christian conference. It’s a place where people see farm animals, eat expensive fair food, and seek entertainment. Yesterday, as I walked through the grounds under the blazing sun with the smell of funnel cakes and livestock in the air, I witnessed many ungodly things, including a booth selling a hat with a Freemason symbol. Let’s not forget the haunted house at the Midway not far away, complete with screaming and dark imagery that celebrated fear rather than faith. I was really shocked when I saw the Freemason hat – it was a reminder of how far we have drifted from being a truly Christian society. Certainly, thousands of people were walking around who don’t know Jesus.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling the fair an evil place. There was also lots of family entertainment, people wearing Christian T-shirts, etc. The Indiana State Fair isn’t a Christian event, but they do have a Christian-sponsored concert once every year, bringing in a major headliner. This year, I was not disappointed.

God Showed Up

After spending most of the day under the blazing 89-degree heat and dropping more than $30 on drinks alone, I found myself sitting on a bench with my family an hour and a half before the concert. I wanted to make sure I got a good seat because this Christian musician was absolutely worth waiting for.

This was the great Chris Tomlin – one of the greatest Christian artists of all time. With dozens of hits that are sung in churches around the world, he has won numerous awards. He is truly an anointed musician. After waiting that hour and a half, he finally took the stage.

The concert began with approximately 2,000 people gathered together outside, ready to worship Jesus at the Indiana State Fair. We began to lift up the name of Jesus and praise Him while Chris Tomlin sang. As the concert developed, you could feel the Holy Spirit descend. People all around were lifting their hands, singing at the top of their lungs – pure praise and worship in the name of Jesus.

In a place filled with worldly distractions, God showed up in power. At a place where God is easily forgotten, the Holy Spirit made himself real to thousands of people once again.

We don’t need a church building to encounter God. When believers gather with sincere hearts, God inhabits our praise – whether in a sanctuary or at a state fair. Those thousands who came for entertainment witnessed something far greater: the authentic worship of the living God.

I drove home that night, sweaty, heat-exhausted but spiritually refreshed. I was reminded that the harvest field isn’t just in the church – it’s everywhere people gather, even at the Indiana State Fair.

Where might God be calling you to be His light in unexpected places?

When I hit the gym, I don’t just train my body, I feed my spirit. Lately, I’ve been listening to Christian hip hop during workouts. This week, I went back to an older group called The Ambassador and I was blown away.

I found a song I hadn’t heard before. The moment it played, I was locked in. The melody was strong, but the message was even stronger. I played it again. Then again. It hit deep.

This wasn’t just music. It was the gospel wrapped in rhythm, melody, and power.

Here’s a piece of the lyrics that wrecked me in the best way:

[Chorus]
So many people are hurt inside
Don’t even know Him even though they might have heard of God
Can He love me? Will He hear my prayer?
Or think I’m ugly when He sees my clothes or sees my hair?

I heard of a Savior heard He bled and died
We could give Him our sins and we could get his life
Yet I wonder for me if He will He even care
When He sees my clothes or when he sees my hair

[Bridge]
Man sees the outside
But God sees the inside
No matter your outside
Through faith He’ll come inside

[Verse 3 – Partial]
So many people never heard of the name
Yeah they heard the word “Jesus” but never heard of His fame
They feel cut off from Him
Not just cause of their sin
But because of their clothes, hair, or their color of skin
And they’ve been afloat- drowning in sin, we’re in a boat
Yet they’ve never been approached
Cause we see them as different folks…

—————

This is truth. People are dying spiritually, not because God has rejected them, but because we did. We judged their appearance and missed their heart. But God sees past the surface. Through faith, He transforms from the inside out.

“There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”

Isaiah 53:2–3 (NLT)

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What will matter a hundred years from now?

Not your car. Not your house. Not your bank account, brand, or social media following. Not your reputation, your friends, or your career.

The only thing that will matter 100 years from now is truth.

Everything you can see or touch will either be gone or changed beyond recognition.

Buildings will collapse. Roads will crumble. Rivers will dry up or shift. Your body will return to dust. Your friends and family will pass from this world. Even heaven and earth, Scripture says, will pass away.

But the Word of God will not.

“For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:24,25 (NIV)

God’s Word stands when everything else falls.

Truth is not just a concept. It’s a Person, Jesus Christ.

He doesn’t change, fade, or bow to time. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The War on Truth

In the past eight years, we have seen the most aggressive assault on truth the world has ever known.

Boys are called girls. Lies are called love. Corruption is called justice. Truth is called hate. This is not just cultural confusion. It’s a spiritual war.

Even in the Church, many pulpits bow to culture rather than Christ. What once was preached with fire and conviction is now watered down to avoid offense.

But truth doesn’t evolve. Truth doesn’t negotiate. Truth doesn’t care about popularity polls. Truth is absolute because God is absolute.

Choose What Lasts

You have a choice. Build your life on what will pass away, or anchor it to what will remain forever.

The Word. The Truth. The King.

Take a moment right now to examine what you’re building your life on. Are you chasing things that will crumble, or are you anchoring yourself to the Rock that cannot be moved?

One hundred years from now, the only thing that will matter is what you did with Jesus and His Word.

• Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
• Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
• Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
• John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
• Psalm 119:160, “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.”

You’ve been praying for months about which church to call home, visiting different congregations but feeling no clear direction. You’ve asked God repeatedly about what college to attend, researched programs, sought counsel, but the decision feels impossible. You’ve begged Him to show you which business opportunity to invest in, analyzed the numbers, but still feel uncertain. If God cares about your future, why won’t He just tell you what you need to know?

1. You Were Made to Rely on Others

As children, we depend on parents to teach us. As adults, we learn through experience, study, or by listening to others. God designed us for community and humility, not self-sufficiency. When my friend couldn’t decide whether to start his own business, God didn’t give him a vision—He gave him wise counselors who helped him see what he couldn’t see alone.

2. Hearing From God Consistently Requires Spiritual Maturity

Hearing from God consistently requires maturity, and honestly most human beings aren’t there yet. To be a mature Christian requires that you first have been born again. Second, it requires building faith in God’s Word and developing your ability to hear His voice.

3. God Uses Others While You’re Growing

Here’s the thing: God doesn’t leave us out in the cold while we’re maturing. He doesn’t forget about those who are lost and haven’t found Him yet. God can speak through people, but understand this is not a replacement for hearing His voice directly.

4. The Bible Is a Foundation, Not a Manual

Scripture gives you boundaries, principles, and moral clarity, but not detailed instructions for every life decision. You won’t learn how to ride a bike reading the Bible. You won’t learn how to change a tire reading the Bible. God is also not a news channel—He may not tell you who won the game last night or what the weather will be tonight. He might expect you to look it up.

5. God’s Silence Builds Your Spiritual Muscles

When God doesn’t answer, He’s training you. He’s teaching you to trust His Spirit, weigh counsel, seek truth, and walk by faith, not by sight.

6. We Learn Through Many Channels

Teachers, books, mistakes, mentors, trials, all of these shape us. God uses it all and expects us to grow through it. His Word lights the path, but you still have to take the steps.

What to Do When God Seems Silent

So what do you do when you need direction but heaven feels quiet? Seek wise counsel. Study His Word for principles that apply. Pay attention to how His Spirit moves in your heart as you pray. Trust that even in the silence, God is working, sometimes His greatest gift is teaching you to walk confidently in the wisdom He’s already given you

The enemy wants you afraid, afraid of deception, false prophecy, spiritual attack. But here’s the truth that sets us free: we don’t have to fear evil.

Why? Because the Holy Spirit lives within us. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). This isn’t just a comforting verse. It’s our reality. The Creator of the universe has made His home in your heart.

The Key to Spiritual Discernment

Be instant in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2). When the Spirit and the Word are strong in you, you will hear His voice, and the voice of a stranger you will not follow (John 10:27-28). This is God’s promise to His sheep.

But here’s where we often stumble: we trust our own ability to protect ourselves rather than trusting God’s faithfulness. We must learn to rely more on the leading of the Holy Spirit. His ability to discern is much greater than ours.

The Real Battlefield

The war isn’t out there. It’s within. The battle for your soul is won through complete surrender to God. Submit to God, and the devil will flee from you (James 4:7).

Remember: God is not mocked. Whatever you sow, you will reap (Galatians 6:7). Sow trust in His protection, and you’ll reap fearless faith.

There is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). His love for you is perfect, complete, and protective. Rest in that truth today.

Walk boldly. The Holy Spirit lives in you.