A REAL MISAPPROPRIATION OF SCRIPTURE. BIBLE COLLEGES HAVE THIS WRONG
There’s
an Adage that proves True so often in recent decades: Everyone wants to be the
Leader – they
all want to be “Leaders”
The Modern Church Scene has so many people in Leadership Roles. It’s Inundated
with them and it just Isn’t Healthy. It is Not the Way Jesus wanted things –
believe it or not.
He said in the Clearest terms possible: Gentiles (Unbelievers) have Leaders Rule Over Them. Don’t Do That (it’s not to My Liking, it’s Not what I Plan and Purpose)
Friends, why Is that? Because it Weakens your Fabric as a Believer – it’s not Character Building to be looking to “Leaders” for Advice and Direction when you have certain needs.
It makes you dependent on them instead of
Prayer. Can you see that? It shifts your Focus from Jesus to “The Pastor” or his Team.
And just like You and Me, they are Fallible Human Beings. There is far too much Trust placed in them.
So if Vacancies for Leaders are Taken…….
No Worries, you can be sure Jesus doesn’t want More of Those. His Word has many references for Seeking The Lord (yourself for your needs) and records many of the Wonderful Things He did when some Called Out to Him; Believed on Him; and Sought to Know His Ways.
Christians are forgetting or have not even noticed, Jesus also said these Words,
He gave us this Instruction clear as daylight:
“Follow Me!” Not your Favorite Pastor; Half a dozen Pastors; and definitely Not some Celebrity Preacher!
Ephesians 4 says that Jesus has “Called” some Believers to be Pastors or Teachers etc He trains and equips them by His Capable Holy Spirit. What we see for decades now is something different.
They liked their Bibles and saw an Income in doing something they like. And for some, it offers an Escape from Unemployment. Whether you like it or not, it’s a known fact, plus there are many who make Merchandise of “God’s House” like the Apostle Paul warns about in Scripture.
So most times, Christians are Trusting in that which does not please Jesus and never will. The System is Institutional, it’s Wrong. It’s not conducive to Good Healthy Spiritual Growth. It lacks in Experiencing True Family Atmosphere and the Real Presence of The Lord.
The Roman Emperor Constantine deliberately made it that way in 330 AD. He said to himself “Change the way they Fellowship and it will Stop this thing from Spreading” because True Christianity was Exponentially before that. Mission Accomplished: the Church waned in Power after that – the Power that was Evident in Changed Lives and Great Rejoicing. Constantine hated that and considered it to be a threat, so he came up with that strategy.
So those who teach that Constantine Promoted Christianity in difficult times, need to get their Facts Straight.
If you want to be prepared for End Times – Follow Jesus: He’s the Only One who Stands right beside You, able to Guide and Instruct You, able to Lift You and Strengthen You. There is NO OTHER. So don’t Trust in Vanities – those Empty Things you have been Trusting In for Years like TV Preacher’s Programs, Books and CDs. None of which can really enhance your Spiritual Growth – that’s the Holy Spirit’s Role. What we have Today is a System which has basically superseded that: they do the training; they introduce doctrines; they even teach you how to Construct a Sermon, a little training on public speaking and they introduce certain bias as well.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t train Christians to run One Man Shows; build teams around you; and Religious Dogma – whatever brand that may be. But those are exactly what “Bible Colleges” do. They train you in all those things and make you Less Sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s Tuition and Guidance.
As for TV Preacher’s, they’re often into “Extra Biblical” Teachings. That’s certain Teachings they impose that Scripture clearly does not Support. But they will tell you it does – Twisting all manner of Scriptures
to ‘prove it”……… Hence most of TV Preachers are Charlatans anyway.
There is a place for Pastors (Shepherding those who need it) and Teachers (Helping us to Understand the Ways of The Lord as revealed in Scripture) but what we see Today. So the Scriptural Role of Pastors and Teachers are meant to Complement the Ministry of the Holy Spirit in Christian lives, not to replace His Role, or encourage you in any way to Focus on them. The Holy Spirit will always Encourage you to “Keep your Eyes on Jesus”….. so will anyone Jesus does Call to a Shepherding or Teaching Role…… they will Never encourage anything outside of that. It’s a definite “No No” with Jesus, He never Called such people in the first place – you can be Sure of that. So many Preachers and Teachers “Love Themselves”……. that is not helping you in your Spiritual Growth Time and Encouraging you to Keep your Eyes on Jesus…..that is the Carnal Sin Nature they are operating in and Shifting your Focus from Jesus.
Many of you have the Same Problems you had a long time ago – unchanged. You’re possibly saying to yourself “All this time and God never Met my Need?” So often that’s because you never asked The Lord Directly and worked at things with Him, you trusted “your Pastor” instead.
Friends, come on now. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you to seek the Pastor’s Help or “the Pastor met my need”…… yet so many Trust in that System. And guess what? For all the talking about Scriptures and Preaching with them, your Local Church cannot Save you; Heal you or give you Specific Direction. It ALL Comes from JESUS.
Why would you want something second hand from a Pastor or someone when you can go to The Lord in Prayer, or Seek Him on certain things and have the Satisfaction of hearing from Him for Yourself – First-hand.
In time, you can look back and say “You showed me this Lord and You showed me that, thank You Jesus” You actually Build Up a Personal Relationship with Jesus that way, and you build up a Collection of Milestones in your Faith, giving Substance to your Walk with The Lord.
And take Note of this: Many Preacher’s in this Day and Age are Not even Born Again – they are Unrepentant Sinners who saw Opportunity for Big Bucks in the Church System. They are Seducing Christians into all Manner of Stuff that is actually Unscriptural (not really Scriptural at all, they just use the Bible as a Text Book to Twist and deceive you. They have no Respect for it OR The Lord of Glory) You should be Out of there!
Don’t believe me? Jesus spoke of these Culprits 2,000 Years ago and called them Hirelings. Paul also had much to say about their kind and Instructed us to stay well away from them. Tell me, where is the Vigilance of Christians for decades now? Whatever happened to that? Because the majority of Church Going Christians seem to believe and endorse anyone who is dressed in a suit and tie, standing on a platform with a Bible in their hand and presenting some Blurb that’s supposed to be “A Sermon”
Excuse me, that kind of mentality has left Christians Open to All kinds of Stuff which proves to be Unstable – in the Name of Christianity – and should Always be Avoided.
Besides, Jesus didn’t want “Services” in Buildings with “Leaders” and Subordinates, He wanted a “Spiritual Families” Setting in Each-Other’s Homes. It’s much Healthier. Everyone gets to Share Scripture and Songs, Testimonies and Prayers. There’s healthy interaction. It’s such a refreshing Change from the “One Man Show” or “Local Hierarchy”
Kind of like “Be sure to come back next week to pay your dues for the Entertainment we offer you, plus the Sermons we found on the Internet to preach for you”
Like it or not, that’s exactly what goes on in so many “Local Churches”……….Unbelievers are right when they look at things from the outside and say “That’s a Business!”
You can take my word for this. Pastors of Today want a “Free Ride” most of them.
Nowhere in Scripture does it tell you that Pastors should minister for a Wage and all expenses Paid, does it? Unless you Twist something and make it Fit which so many of those Preachers do.
Yes, the Avery Pastor has things pretty Cushy with “Their Salary” when Jesus didn’t and Paul didn’t – in fact he earned his own Income making Tents and graciously accepted Occasional Gifts when Times were Hard. He was not quick to Grab and he Encouraged Voluntary Giving to those in Need. In fact, he placed great Importance on that. Sad to say, an Easy Income is really found to be a real Incentive to many Today – it’s not Scriptural and it ought not to be!
Honestly, I’ve witnessed anything from Control to Extremism, Deception to Manipulation on the Local Churches Scene. And you mean to tell me the Home Churches Concept is dangerous – you might get in to error OR Unbalanced – you don’t have “The Ministries” there?
Did you know, there are some groups of Home Churches who have one or two of those Ministries who Visit those Home Churches AND ALL or Most Believers (if some are shy) share their Spiritual and Natural Giftings from The Lord. These are known in Scripture as “Body Ministries” that were strongly Encouraged by the Apostle Paul in Scripture. They are referred to as Body Ministries because Everyone in the
Body of Christ has a Role – a Gifting of some kind that Benefits Others.
And that makes for Good Healthy Spiritual Growth because different ones are Active in those Giftings from Week to Week and Everyone is Engaged in some way. It’s a “Togetherness Atmosphere” instead of a Controlled Atmosphere (stand up, sit down be obedient and shut up, then go home) Can you See how much Healthier it is to “Function Together” in a Home Church setting than being a Subordinate in the Local Church setting with all it’s Rules and Regs?
Not to mention Crippling Expectations on you in some of them where Ministers like to Stereo Type you. There are the Social Gospel Churches too which are so Wayward – what a Bunch of “Professional Entertainers” they are! Can you tell me, how does Any of That help you in your Spiritual Growth? In fact it’s not much different than it’s Worldly counterpart – the Entertainment Industry.
And you mean to tell me all these different types of Pastors I have mentioned here tell you their old-time favorite Scripture quotation “You should never neglect the Sunday Services” ……… of-course not, it’s in their Interest and their Pocket that you be “Good Subordinate Congregationers” and never miss a Sunday.
They’re misquoting Scripture. It is referring to something more Intimate than a “Church Service”
Sorry Folks, I see their statement as “So Convenient” because Truth of the matter is, so many of them want you to be Servient to them or they’re just plain Mercenary. FELLOWSHIP was Never made for Pastor’s Followings OR Profiting from God’s People whose Name they take in Vain every time they approach you for Money because Jesus never did that and Paul didn’t either.
So often in Churches, it’s not Christians who are being “Disobedient” about Money, it’s the Pastors OR Televangelists who COVET IT. A direct Violation of Scripture. They’ll give Account for that when Jesus tells them “Away from Me, I Don’t Know You”
And do you mean to tell me that you take those familiar words seriously when THEY are referred to as “
Your Spiritual Covering?” You should Check that one out in Scripture too.
Christians,
Read your Bibles!
You won’t find anywhere that says “The Pastor is your Covering” but
you will find a few Verses that refer to The Lord Himself as Your Covering.
That’s His Rightful Place – No Exceptions.
Keeping Vigilance; Prayer and Reading Scriptures daily – not once now and then
– Seeking The Lord with All your heart often, Loving and relating Closely with
Him like you do with your Loved Ones is the way to go. “No less than
that” is Best.
That dear Friends, and a small Home Gatherings of Christians if you can find
one (or start one in your house) is a Life worth Living – etched with His
Presence and etched with His Grace. He is Gracious to all those who Seek Him,
Scripture says. I Sought The Lord and He Answered me; The Lord rescued me
because He delighted in me; The Lord was Always by my Side; The Lord brought me
into a Spacious Place. All those come from Relating Closely with Him and
Learning to Hear from Him.
A favorite Verse of mine is “David Encouraged himself in The Lord.”
Yes it’s really BEST Seeking Him with All your Heart,
like we are Meant to and FOLLOW HIM
Yours in Grace and Truth
“God Bless!”