There is also a negative aspect to the stars—the wandering stars. Jude 12 and 13 tell us, "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots...wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." We should be the stars, but not the wandering stars. These are the false leading ones. So many Christians today are not stars; some, however, are stars, but they are wandering stars. There are leaders and teachers in today’s Christianity who are in this category.
Do you know what a wandering star is? I do not know astronomy, but I can tell you a little. A proper star has a certain position and fixed orbit. It continues in its course steadfastly. But there are some stars with no fixed position or orbit: they are wandering stars. It seems that some Christians are stars, it seems that they are shining, but their shining is a deception. They are stars, but they are not the steadfast stars. If you follow them, you will be misled; eventually you will not know where to go. They themselves are wandering: they have no ground, they have no standing, they have no certain way to go on with the Lord. Today they say this, and tomorrow they will say that; they are wandering. Be careful! You can never find Jesus by following a wandering star.
How may we know the wandering stars? There are some signs. They are trees without fruit, they are the clouds without rain. You must look for the fruit. The Lord Jesus said that we may know a tree by its fruit (Matt. 7:16-20). If we follow the wandering stars, eventually our portion will be the same as theirs—the blackness of darkness forever.
We must follow the shining stars, those with a definite standing and a certain course. These are the stable stars, the steadfast ones. If anyone comes to you without a definite standing and certain course, avoid him. The proper standing is the local church, and the right course is to go on in the Spirit in the local church. Never be a wandering star, and never follow a wandering star. Take the proper standing, and get yourself in the right course. If you are wandering, you are wasting your time. If you would go to a certain place, get out your map, get on the right road and in the right lane; and as you drive, you will reach your destination.
I am not speaking these things lightly. You are aware of today’s confusion. Oh, the dead things! Oh, the frustrations, the distractions of the wandering ones! Anyone who keeps us from the genuine local church and from meeting on the ground of unity with the Lord’s people is a wandering star. The true stars are those who turn many to righteousness, those who do not lead people astray, but turn them to the right way. Today the only way for you and me and for anyone to find Christ is to see the living star. Hallelujah! Today the star is not far from us—it is with the local churches. Among all the local churches there are some living stars. You just have to contact them; you just have to keep company with them. They will lead you to the place where Jesus is.
The Lord be merciful to us that we may always be kept in the right way to meet the Lord, to worship Him, and to offer our love to Him. May the Lord make us all like those wise men, following the star to find Christ. Today the living star and the living stars are in the local churches. Let us follow them and let us be one of them.
(Finding Christ by the Living Star, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)