Instead, we find Aaron following the world's methods. First, he devised a plan to get gold for the idol. Second, he used his own skills and abilities to make the idol. Finally, he tried to imitate reality by calling the idol, God.

Throughout the whole experience of Aaron with the golden calf, he relied upon the world's methods and means. He simply followed the world's way of doing things, the manners and practices of the world, which he learned in Egypt. He doubted God. Instead, he looked upon the world's methods that would somehow solve the prob-lem.

In similar fashion, the church today fails to trust God. We develop our own plans according to the world's pat-terns. We leave God out of the picture, and that was the sin of Aaron. We place our confidence in the ways and means of the world. We adopt the world's practices, ask God to bless our efforts, and then attempt to give God the glory. At no point do we truly trust God and seek His will and purpose.

The Scriptures tell us frequently that when we rest upon the arm of the flesh we sin against God. God reminded His children of this truth in Isaiah 31, "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help." In Scripture, Egypt al-ways pictures the world and the flesh. "Don't go down to Egypt for help," He said. "They have got horses, yes. They have manpower, yes." However, He said, "Oh that is all it is. That is all it is with the flesh. I am your de-fender. I am your protector. I am your provider. Trust me."

Again, God again told His people in Jeremiah 29 how He would help them. He said, "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

Sadly, the Church today, perhaps even in your life this is true, pays lip service to seeking for God. We start all of our church services and meetings with prayer. After all, this is a church function, and we should pray. There-fore, we give God His due, almost like a pledge of allegiance to the flag. We will say our one or two minutes of prayer.

That is lip service. That does not describe seeking after God with all of our hearts. To find God and His pres-ence and plans, we must seek for Him with all of our hearts. God does not reveal Himself to the flippant. He reveals himself to the sincere in heart, those who come to him seeking him with all of their hearts.

Third, Aaron exhibited another characteristic of faulty, ungodly leadership, departure from truth into false doc-trine. Because of his dread of man, Aaron made a false God. His disbelief led him to follow the fashion of the world. Finally, his departure from the truth caused him to take a further step from God when he said, "This is God. We will worship him."

Towards the end of the text he declared, "Tomorrow is the feast unto the Lord. These gods brought you out of Egypt. We will worship this god." Aaron led the people astray with false teaching and false doctrine. He sacri-ficed the truth for the sake of peace.

Today, we often fall into false doctrines in the same fashion as Aaron. We push for peace, and we want peace at any price, even if it means sacrificing the truth. Many leaders push for unity and want it so badly that they set aside truth to get it. We do not want contention and strife. Therefore, we set aside the truth to avoid controversy and contention.

However, that is neither unity nor peace. It is merely a cessation of strife. When you set aside the truth, you lose the basis for unity and true peace. They rest upon the truth.

Scripture shows that Jesus did not make peace at any price. In fact, He often brought division among people by inserting the truth. Jesus said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword."

The Lord Jesus demands the truth. Granted, the search for the truth and insistence upon it might bring tempo-rary discomfort. However, the truth will ultimately bring freedom, peace, and unity based and founded upon the truth, not a false foundation of peace at any price.

The Scriptures confirm this truth. The Lord Jesus warned his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees, talking about their false doctrine. He said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees." It will cause dissension and prob-lems. Do not follow it.

Further, they bring out how we are to respond to an intrusion of error into the Church. For example, in His letter to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2, Christ praised them, because they put out those from among them who followed error and false doctrine. They stood for the truth and received commendation for it.

Later in that same chapter, the Lord Jesus pronounced judgment upon the Church of Thyatira. They permitted false doctrine to exist within the Church. God does not want peace at any price. He wants the truth first. Then, unity and peace will come as consequences of the truth.

That, however, runs contrary to the Church today. We want peace and unity at any price. We even call those who demand the truth troublemakers. Instead of welcoming those who stand for the truth, we often times want to remove them out of the congregation instead of rejecting the false doctrines and those who promulgate them.

If you have done any baking, you know the effect of a small amount of yeast. When you put yeast-just a very small amount of yeast-into a baking recipe, it affects the whole recipe. And it doesn't take very much. The Scriptures warn and remind us that a little leaven, a little false doctrine, leavens the whole loaf. When we permit false doctrine to permeate the congregation, it affects the whole body. That is one of the signs of ungodly lead-ership, following false doctrine.

The Scriptures tell us in the book of Jude that we are to contend earnestly for the truth. We are to stand up for that which is true from God's Word, and we are to resist the false doctrine. Further, the Scriptures tell us that we are to speak the truth in love, not anger, or contention. Rather we are to stand for the truth in love, demanding that our leaders speak the truth. We must hold them accountable as God holds them accountable to the truth. We must require them to teach us the truth, calling to their attention their failure to lead us into the truth.

As our text reveals, faulty, ungodly leadership brought about the horrible circumstances of Israel and the golden calf. Leadership permitted it to happen and contributed to it. Unfortunately, the Church of Jesus Christ is satis-fied with an Aaron. It is looking for someone who will give them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. Therefore, the church suffers.