"Power Posturing" ~
Jesus himself held no title and claimed no authority while he was on earth, yet everyone that heard Him speak recognized His authority because of their undeniable recognition of truth. Genuine authority comes only with scrupulous truth and must be earned, never demanded. Much of today's church leadership have no genuine, God-given authority, therefore they have to posture that authority. They typically do this by saying things like "because I'm the Pastor" or that because of their position they are endowed more wisdom than the people under their "authority". They also fear their lack of authority being exposed so much that they will tell people not to listen to or read or give heed to anything negative that is said about the Pastor or the church, even going so far as to get them to take offense for him because "they are the church and he is their Pastor." This is a classic case of insecurity and manipulation at work, for if any other entity were to tell you not to speak or hear, would it not be considered repression, oppression, or even persecution? Why is it any different in the church?
When a pastor succeeds at getting the people to take up an offense on his behalf, "YOU" become the problem over and over again as the lies filter down from the leadership to the people. "You didn't wait long enough for things to change. You need to pray more. You need to have more faith. You are quitting. You need to change you. You must be guilty. If you've done nothing wrong, why leave?" I believe this is the result of fear. While all of these things may be true to an extent, when we were going through it they were not. We were on our faces before God day and night searching our hearts, trusting God, begging Him for answers, and our prayer was for Him to change us. Sometimes God's answer to all the faith and prayer and perseverance and "doing" we can muster on our part is something other than what we have in mind. It's flattering to think we have the potential to have that much control over situations beyond our control, but it is simply not true. Unknowingly, the people then perpetuate the abuse.
What if leaving is God's means of delivering us from evil? That never seems to occur to anyone as even a possibility. But as incomprehensible as it is for those from within to think of stepping out from under that wrongly perceived "umbrella of authority" it is exceedingly more ludicrous to STAY from the outside looking IN~
I've heard the comment several times this past year, "Our church isn't for everyone." That's a shame. Last I knew God's church was for everyone. I can't imagine Jesus saying that or encouraging anyone to say that about His Church. The Bible says over and over again whosoever will may come, and I've never known Him to turn or chase or encourage anyone away. If I felt it necessary to say that about my church I would have to ask some serious questions as to why that were true.
I will be providing a list of reasons why we left to anyone who wishes to see it, but to directly counter the accusation that we left "for no Biblical reason" let me leave you with this single verse:
"I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church." 3 John 9-10
3 comments:
I do appreciate the points you have been laying out in your series, but I must respectfully disagree with your opening paragraph in this 'chapter.' The facts are that spiritual authority is God given, Jesus did in fact claim the authority of the Almighty, as well as the fact of His own deity, and made a point of the need for proper authority to do His work. Check out the Great Commission itself. The word 'power' means authority, as in the power of the court. It is worthy to note the Great Commission was given to the local church there, and not to individuals -thus scriptural church perpetuity,the need for a local church to ordain a man before sending him out, and one reason a man who just decides to start a church with no scriptural church sending him out, is not qualified. We can trust God to not put sinful men in powerful positions without checks and balances, however, and while I won't write a college course on proper Ecclesiology, I will, again, thank you for your insight on other issues, and trust my comment will be read, if not deleted.
On the contrary, I very much appreciate your comment. I'm not in the habit of dismissing people who disagree with me. =) I don't presume to have all the answers or in any way believe my voice or perspective to be the final authority on anything, but rather value the input of others and those who take the time to respectfully dialogue so as to remain teachable and, hopefully, learn something.
That being said, the point of this chapter is power "posturing." I did not say that Jesus or the church have no authority. I said that today they have no genuine, God-given authority. There is a difference.
Allow me to clarify.
In Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus says, "But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minster, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Having attended Bible college ourselves, and being well-versed in modern-day, Baptist Ecclesiology from faithful attendance to fundamental Baptist churches all our lives, it has become obvious to us we have inadvertently taken the traditions of men, and tried to make them jive with the commandments of God. It doesn't work that way. Most churches have it backwards. The sad result being men in leadership positions who abuse their man-given authority, exercising dominion and lordship over God's people.
I'm not exactly sure how you get "church perpetuity" out of the Great Commission, but I would just leave you with this thought:
The church is made up of individuals.
There are thousands upon thousands of underground churches in the country of China alone that have been started by men and women who know nothing of "doctrines" such as church perpetuity. These consecrated men and women forge ahead in the face of dire persecution, loving and leading people to Christ in homes, and forests and abandoned buildings of all types. Are you saying they aren't real churches? Are the people who have come to know Christ as a result of their prayerful work not real Christians? Because you can't have one without the other.
I daresay that the very man-made checks and balances Westernized religion has conjured up to keep "uncalled" and "unqualified" men out of the ministry have been the very means of those very men leading America's churches.
From our independent, in-depth study of the Word of God, doctrines of church perpetuity and that of Baptist Briders are sister false doctrines.
Acts 17:11
See also the chapter entitled "Unbiblical Pastoral Authority"~
http://createdtobehis.blogspot.com/2015/03/unbiblical-pastoral-authority.html
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