I am skeptical of most religious teachers these days as it seems like a sick extension of our culture, imposing cultural views on what should be a relatively objective view on things (which makes me skeptical of the whole institution of religious). For me J Gresham Machen and CS Lewis both were true to what their faith was but did not bow to reinterpreting their faith due to their intellect. With Machen, I felt he was transported to modern day America and spoke to "conservative" Christians who say it is all about a relationship and talk about subordinating your reason to the spirit. To summarize, he basically said there was a solid objective view of things and he seemed more in tune with the view that if there is a God, that he would want you to use your brain and not check it in at the door. In summation, he believed in principles, not just a weird feeling in your gut. At the same time he did not say that you should throw it all in and update your faith to modern times. Ditto for CS Lewis.

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So in summary, it seems like not everyone who is a religious teacher is a glorified self hep guru. I hope I did not piss off the religious on this sub but asking questions of my mom growing up (who was not deep in the theology of her faith but lived her principles) it seemed like half assed answers were all I got. My experience is not everyone's, but I am just explaining how I feel on the topic.