James and John were wondering if they could sit on Jesus' throne alongside him in glory! This caused problems with the others who were following Jesus. This occasion reveals a fundamental problem with the heart of fallen man even while in the direct presence of the Lord! James and John felt they deserved some kind of special reward for their sacrifice of following. These two said to Jesus "We want you to do for us whatever we ask." While it is ok to ask Jesus to do things for us, we must have the right perspective about who Jesus is. We are his disciples, not the other way around.
The heart of man is vulnerable to seek rank and figure in tiered leadership. To be over other people, in charge of something or be 'the boss' is a desirable position. The world system has rank and tiered leadership and uses it in its functions. When God's chosen people rejected God (1 Sam 8:7-21) Samuel was instructed to tell them what would happen if they had a king like the other nations. The resultant warnings showed how the king would become central to the flow of the land not God. It is here we also see rank introduced to the nation's structure. This came about as man rejected God! This biblical fact does not change over time! Attempts to defend the position of being 'over' other believers in 'spiritual Israel' is highly questionable in light of the historical debacle of choosing 'Kings.'
Rank and hierarchy belong to the 'other nations' and had no part of God's spiritual leadership of the nation. In the light of this it is no wonder the Church struggles to impact and influence society. It has taken on the structure and system of the very thing it attempts to contrast! Even the most Christlike Christian cannot be fully used while partying to the system!
Paul never included rank or hierarchy in his epistles. He only ever wrote to 'brothers and sisters.' Leadership was a crucial function in the ecclesia but was not hierarchical like the world's was. Today we see leaders in prominent tiered leadership positions. When challenged, many claim they are serving the people in their leadership to fall in line with Mark 10:42-45 and they need to be in authority. They say that although they are over other Christians in rank, it is a 'relational rank.' If they have leadership gifting then it will be apparent without an office. True authority does not come from labels or position. Uniform of any kind is enforcement not endorsement. Jesus left official positioning and ranked structure when he separated from the synagogue (Luke 4:19f). Rank of any kind works against the spiritual Lordship of Jesus Christ. Paul and the other authors of the New Testament epistles do not describe a system and structure, simply a way for those who are in Christ to meet. What this meeting has become hinders the work of the Holy Spirit through believers.
Saturday, 15 August 2009
Reasons for reform 2
Feeling Forgiven
For various reasons people can have problems feeling that God may not forgive them. Faith is about taking on God's truth no matter how strong you feel otherwise. Over time we find faith replaces doubts and we find it easier to accept incredible truths that Jesus has done what he has done. No matter how holy others seem or make themselves out to be no-one will ever be up to scratch! Our responsibility is to respond to our shortfalls with repentance, putting plans into place to not go down the sinful route. We all want to be perfect and one day we will stand before the Lord whole, with no inclination to sin.
Jesus is our advocate, like a lawyer before God. He deals with it all. Sometimes there are deep rooted reasons why we feel like we are some 'special case' who never seems to be able to stop sinning. The truth is that everyone is struglling in some area of life. Sometimes we meet people who seem 'oh-so-perfect.' We can feel intimidated by their super Christian life and how they seem victorious over all sin. Here's a fact: If you live your life without being aware of some area that needs the Lord's work then you are deluded. Of course you could live in isolation from the world, couped up in a safe room with no outside influences to challenge your life. If this is you then you are not living your life to the full. Holiness is important but we cannot wrap ourselves in cotton wool in order to appear sinless! get out into this world, be salt and light and allow your own shortfalls to be made known to you. This is God's grace at work!
Some Christians don't understand Jesus words in Mark chapter 7. In short Jesus was saying that we should not assess the status of our righteousness by the amount of evils we can see in this world. The fallen heart of Man is capable of making anything into a river of sin! So as we live our lives be sure that there will be new challenges to deal with as time goes by. This is not an indication of your weakness, but a sign that you are living a Christian life sensitive to what is right and wrong. There are three types of righteousness:
Made Righteous: God made you righteous through Christ's finished work
Self Righteous: Your own actions are right.... because you say so!
Traditio-Righteous: You make up additional stuff based on man's wisdom
Sadly many of today's clergy have their own traditions as sacred as God's word. About three months after getting married we were expecting our first child. The pastors wife was less than happy for us. The reason was because it was considered 'wise' to wait 2 years after marrying before considering children! A fair comment I guess, but this had become more a law than general advice! Advice is all well and good as long as it doesn't become a commanding voice.
A story of the history of the Church
God says eggs should be poached
God says we should poach eggs because when
we eat them, they make us fit and
healthy in a world full of sickness.
That's it. Call off the search! It's
God's word so that should be enough.
Everyone understands this so those who
believe in egg begin to poach eggs and
eat them. Healthy people exist among a
world full of sickness. The sick see
the healthy people and ask them why they
are healthy; they answer... poached
eggs! God says we should poach our eggs
and eat them. The sick person asks "how
can I poach eggs?" After a short
discourse on poaching eggs, the sick
person goes away and poaches their own
eggs. They become healthy. Job
done!
Over time some of the leading egg
poachers decide that it would be better
if we made an omelette. These are
thrown together quicker, have more
ingredients and taste better. Soon
everyone is making omelettes! They eat
them, they taste nice and you can even
have your favourite ingredients in the
mix. Strangely those who are sick seem
unconvinced of this omelette lifestyle.
Generations live and die enjoying
omelettes yet confused as to why only a
few sick people ever get well.
Some study this phenomena. They examine
the ingredients.... eggs and stuff.
What can be the problem? We're not
missing anything out! The things we have
with eggs are harmless cultural
variants. Could it be the pan? The
heat? The omelette eaters? The
Antiegg?
Time goes on. Some experienced omelette
makers are employed to provide cuisine
omelettes. The leading omelette eaters
defend their omelettes as being the
best. Some question these eggsperts but
soon learn that those with more eggs
have more eggs for a reason: God trusts
them with eggs. Experienced omelette
makers continue to dish out the goods
weekly as the Omelette of God. Some
cook, most eat. The cooks become
revered. How special is it to be the
maker of omelettes? Eggrachies emerge
to reflect the level of eggcellence in
cooking omelettes! Generations learn to
never question the omelette or the
cook.
The omelette becomes sacred and holy.
Convinced that omelettes are the way
forward, some translate the word 'poach'
as 'omelette.' Some write books on the
best ingredients for effective
omelettes. Purpose driven omelettes,
the prayer of omelettes and the Alpha
omelette all become standard works
regarding omelette eating. Still, only
few sick people become omlette eaters.
The reason still revolves around the
antiegg and the deggle, the unseen evil
whose destiny is to burn in heggl.
Omelette groups emerge. Some like one
ingredient with their eggs and some like
others. The groups meet together and
their favoured ingredient is
celebrated. Omelette eaters go to the
street offering omelettes to sick
people. Few take the omelette. Those
who do often quit omelettes soon after
trying them.
One day an omelette eater decides that
he is quite capable of making his own
omelettes. After a diet of the same old
ingredients, he begins to question why
the omelette is not making people better
as it should. He consults God's word and
is shocked to find that eggs should be
poached and eaten by each person. He
tells his cook that he wants no more
omelettes and the cook gets eggstreamly
irritated. He leaves the egg-house and
pursues the poaching discovery. The
cook, in true eggressive fashion, tells
the other cooks that this ex omelette
eater has gone bad.
After a while he meets others who have
discovered that God said we should poach
eggs and eat them. This was eggciting
news for this poached pilgrim. He began
a wegg site and wrote a book, begging
people to re-eggsamine the word of God
regarding poaching. After consulting
fellow poachers over his findings
regarding poaching and the like, he
began asking questions why we need cooks
when we can all poach eggs and eat
them. He began asking why we need the
house of egg when the egg is in us all.
He found that the first poachers left
poaching instructions and the way fellow
poachers can help each other. None of
this involved the ingredients that were
to constitute omelettes. In fact, the
way the egg is prepared was the very
centre of all what would bring about
egghouses, cooks, omelettes and sick
people remaining sick.
Having eaten and sometimes even prepared
omelettes for people, he could
understand how omelette eaters remain
omelettized. However, poaching is God's
way and that's that. Those who have
eggxited the omelette way and taken on
poaching can confirm that they are
getting more healthy day by day. When
more people begin poaching it could have
an effect on the sick people in the
world. That was eggsactly what God
wanted.
Maybe some day we can all realise that
God wanted eggs to be poached and
eaten. Omelettes, no matter how well
cooked, do not have the desired effect.
Poached eggs were supposed to change the
eater and that change was to be seen by
those who had no egg. Eggs and poaching
instructions could be passed on to those
who saw the effect of poaching, but
omelettes could never do this.
Omelettes remain the egg of choice and
are offered to the eggless on a daily
basis. Stop making omelettes and get
back to the poaching that God
instructed. Then you will be able to
show people how to poach their own eggs
and be changed themselves.
Gary Ward
self declared egg poacher of the year
Reasons for reform 1
Paul the apostle confronted the Corinthians with a few issues concerning how they were following men because of gift and function. This had led to Paul himself being subject to their judgment as they questioned his apostleship.
There were divisions in the church based on how one considered another leader in, or associated with, the church. Paul could have simply told the church to make sure they follow Christ but instead goes on to underline the true nature of the Corinthian problem.
It is not worldly ability that makes them able to see the powerful message of the cross, yet the Corinthians had returned to esteeming and hankering after those with such abilities. These divisions had caused quarrels amongst the brothers just as it had when James and John asked to sit with Christ on his throne (Mark 10).
Having pointed out the problem of elevating people because of gift and function, 'as the world does' Paul appeals to the Corinthians to have no differences between them.
Chapter four ends the general rebuke before going into specific issues occurring in the church. In this chapter he writes with some irony, >"you are already rich, you have all you want. You have become Kings!"
Like the Corinthian church, everyone knows that kings preside over other people. Paul tells them of his own lifestyle as an apostle, clearly showing that he lived a life of pauper proportions. This contrasts the attitude of the Corinthians. They were happy to make the gifted, educated and talented into 'kings' and those with these attributes were happy to be regarded that way! Paul is reminding them that there will be a time when they will be kings, but at that time all God's people will reign with Christ in his coming Kingdom.
He recommends Timothy to them because he will remind them of his 'no divisions' lifestyle. Paul uses the language of relationship when describing his association with Timothy. Calling him his son again underlines the fact that there are no ranked divisions between himself and Timothy even though Timothy was learning from Paul.
This initial rebuke ends with Paul asking them if they want him to come to them biblically with gentleness and love or in an authoritarian rank - with a whip!
Today's Church are happy to lift up certain gifts and functions. Not everyone has a Corinthian attitude of reigning as Kings, but still function in tiered rank. Paul called this structure worldly. It also caused divisions and arguments. This is what we find today in the denominations and infighting within Christendom. It also accounts for the weak and insipid effect that Church has on society as ranked leadership makes people anything but Christ-centered.
Sadly, many do not recover from the spiritual abuse caused by 'Kings' in ranked leadership structures.
This is why Century One exists: to stand for truth, righteousness and justice when it's easier to do the done thing.
The 9:23 Decision
Luke 9:23 and following verses are about the cost of following Jesus. The Lord used the illustration of someone carrying thier own cross to describe what he was saying. Someone carrying their own cross had been sentenced to death and on their way to the place where they would be crucified. Being a disciple of Christ was like being on the way to death. This death is a death to self, our own lives and works out over the span of our lives as we journey with Christ.
Today the gospel is spoken from platforms to people who have come to recieve information. Sadly, much of what is spoken is half the story. Through the illustrations, jokes and 'around the houses' methods of communicating these truths, the hearers are left with a choice. What should be communicated is that they are to die to self. It appears that the 'death' message isn't very popular in these days. It has been interpreted as not wanting the big home, the flash car or the stash of cash! While this may be a by-product of living an authentic Christian life, the 'death' message speaks of something internal - something in the depths of the heart.
One of the consequences of sin is that people tend to lean towards self in the comings and goings of life. It is easy to identify the areas where we can stop doing something or replace selfish thoughts and actions with kindness, gentleness etc. This is good but the whole point of Christ being within by the power of the Spirit is that we change. This change genuinely stops us from being self-orientated instead of 'painting over rust.' overcoming issues in life often causes much wrestling and struggles. This occurs because the motivation to change came from expectations to live the Christian life and not the inward death. Expectations, checks and measures come from a variety of sources....your self, the Pastor or vicar, other 'more perfect' Christians or those famous christians we meet in books, TV or music. We can spend a lot of time dissapointed, feeling like a substandard Christian because of the so-called 'challenges' we hear in sermons. These elements breed religious responses while all the time there is a genuine way to die to self.
Luke 9:23 tells us we must be in the process of going to our deaths and that is the condition of being a disciple. A constant, continual process of rendering our own flesh to the cross. For all who die to self there is a conclusion to carrying your own cross and that is being on the cross! Being aware of what needs to be done is not a proof that God has instigated the change. There is a biblical principle that Christians know as repentance but is a much more effective tool than we have believed.
In the Old Testament Samuel went to God because the nation wanted Kings, 'like other nations.' God, forever abiding with the will of Man allowed this, declaring it as their rejection of him. From this point, despite some good Kings in Israel, the spiritual climate went from bad to worse. Eventually God sent Elijah to be his voice in a land of apostacy. Elisha comes later and they eventually exit the land. There is good reason to believe that this exit from the land was done to mirror the entery into the land. If we compare this to our lives we can see an overall comparison: God had an idea that the people live in a land flowing with milk and honey. This was rejected by God's people and their own environment became contanimated with sin. This is like our lives if we do not do God's will. The provision of God for the people of the land was to have Elijah and Elisha go the other way. they went out the same way Joshuah came in. There was a cost, Elijah was taken but it meant Elisha was twice as effective. It also meant the curses of Deuteronomy had ended as a consiquence of sin. This is the principle of repentance being established.
We need to decide to live a life of death to self. This means by truly repenting. Here are the important observations of the exit from the land that constitute true repentance:
- Elisha and Elijah embarked on a purposed journey
- Elisha had to choose to follow even through discouragement
- They headed to a place that represented decision making, the desert
- God will take away 'the old thing'
- God will make you able to re-enter that area equipped and empowered
- It is 'a difficult thing'
So repentance has a much more powerful effect when we discover that it has an establishing element in the Old Testament. Someone once said that the Old Testament is the movie and the New Testament is the script. This certainly fits with the story of repentance and the way we die to self.
Jesus the Trouble Causer
Is it anarchy or some sense of angry reaction to authority figures? No, it's a calculated response based on a simple yet profound truth: apples were not meant for carts... they were meant for trees!
Apples, when assigned to the said cart, are in the process of being handled. Their destiny is to be distributed to the masses. They may be delivered to a market or grocery store for sale to the health conscious customer. Wouldn't life be different if we all had an apple tree in our garden? Apples would never see a cart and best of all.. they would be free!
So what has this got to do with anything? The answer lies in the way the Church has presented herself to non-believers. Most people, when approached with the ultimate question, "do you believe in God" are willing to divulge a tentative 'yes' based on the concept of a higher being. Even if these stirrings take the form of the Christian ethic of the Saving Messiah, most do not want to become a part of the people who also believe this truth. Why is this?
From family to industry
For years the Church has labelled people with a faith of sorts who do not go to Church as unable to repent from sin. They like the hedonistic lifestyle too much so cannot cope with the concept of a Holy God. There is some truth in this. People do choose hedonism over responsibility. However, there are also reasons why the notion of attending a religious building with all the rank and file procedures leaves many with a bad taste in their mouths. The reason the church has this affect is because apples were meant for trees, not carts.
Christianity was never supposed to be handled in such a way that it needs to be appealing to the masses. It was never supposed to be 'sold' in the marketplace of choice. When someone takes people who believe in Christ and organise him or her as they see fit, they are in effect placing them in a contrived system that has no roots in the bible. Christians were never supposed to become part of an organisation that tells you how to be, what to do and where to do it. Like apples, they appear naturally in the place where they are growing.
The Church needs to apologise to a world that truly longs to see an authentic expression of Christ on earth. This body of people existed in the first century. Today, Church leaders do not wish to take the biblical directives and see them as instructive. Christianity was becoming a global apple cart as early as 95AD. In the 4th century Emperor Constantine made this pseudo Church and state one and the same. The religious buildings, pope-like preachers and subscription-type giving was all a result of this awkward marriage. Martin Luther did much to adjust the wrong biblical thinking behind this but nothing was adjusted in terms of practice. We still see, even in the most modern approaches, institutional structure. Those who dearly wish to follow the living Christ are actually following the directives of a dead Emperor.
Institutional-lies
Why, in the face of biblical data, poor outcomes and historical interference, do we still meet in this style? The answer is in the fact that 'apple cart' organisation is all we know. Also, for some, the lure of picking, assessing, placing, polishing and shipping apples is just too much to resist! This affinity to be over people and 'in charge' is not only a problem in the Church. Every organisation, without exception has the marks of 'institute.' Even if it is not apparent, all establishments that have an end result, a product, bow to the institutional system. Most will say they have a team in charge but there is always an individual who is the decision maker. There may be several ranks under this individual or team. In the end there are usually a tier of people dealing with 'the product'. The ranked organisation, leader led, product driven establishment are the three simple marks of institution. When we engage the institute in our school, education, training or work life, we can see the benefits of organised structure. Simply: It gets the job done! It is at this point, when considering the Church, we run into the problems. Church was never supposed to bear the marks of the institute. Yet it is this system and structure that drives those with spiritual questions away from the doors of the Church. But doesn't the church have a 'product'? Isn't the spreading of the gospel a 'product' of sorts? The answer is 'yes' but the purpose of the Church is not primarily to do this. Apple carts were not the way to make this happen. The tree, with juicy fruits hanging from the branches was sufficient to catch the attention of the one searching for spiritual nutrition.
Now here's the science..
The first century Church also wanted to do the done thing by making an institution. Jesus had clearly opposed the gentile systems and structure of hierarchy in his conversations with James and John (Mark 10). He slammed the religious officials of the time (Matthew 23) with their hierarchical structures; apples were flying everywhere when Jesus spoke! Paul the Apostle also warns the Corinthian church not to take on the 'wisdom' of their culture by having divisions between them. An objective look at 1 Corinthians chapters 1-4 will show that their divisions were not horizontal but vertical. They were following the men who had outward displays of gift/talent/ability. This is exactly how our institutes work. We place those with higher levels of ability in a higher position... institutional rank. The Church was to be different. 'Not so among you' came Jesus command to flee the gentile system of hierarchy. It was not the people that were subject to Jesus' disdain, it was the system. We cannot conclude then, that hierarchy is a problem with individuals. It is itself a problem as a systematic approach to organisation in Church.
The primary reason that institutional formula was not to be present among the Church was because the factor that placed you in the Church was of spiritual nature. The Christian has had a spiritual revolution in meeting the living Christ. Therefore how the individual relates to, and is related to by the Church must be spiritual first and foremost. The uniting factor then, with Christians is not belief itself, but their spiritual position. 'In Christ' is the bottom line. With spiritual position as the foundational consideration in the lives of Christians, therefore the Church, it is absolute folly to impose a rank of any sort in the body of believers. How can spirituality have rank? We are all created spiritually equal! Our abilities and talents are acquired in this world after our life is given to us.
An argument to this could be that we all have diverse spiritual gifts. This is a good consideration but we need to understand the nature of a gift. It is true that a gift is given to us by God but do we also understand that the gift to us is not for us but to be passed on to the body of Christ? There are no gifts that are meant for the benefit of the one who gives it! Yet when labels are placed on the gifted person ownership is taken of the gift. At Christmas the Father gives his child a bike. Because he has given the bike doesn't mean he is now 'Bike-ist!' In the Church the Vicar or Pastor for instance is so-called because of what they are gifted by God to give. In doing so they have become Tesco's! All who need care and support...go to the Pastor. The biblical answer is not Tesco's. The answer is to go to God and he will lead you to the appropriate tree and it's fruit. That way we can be helped by God's answer, not the answer of a contrived system.
'In' the world but not 'of' it
With this in view, when we rank spiritual gifts, it is placed in a format that is devastating to spiritual function. Those who are searching after spiritual answers, or even the God who created them, have a sense that the institutionalised Church is somehow wrong to mimic the systems and structures that have contained and suppressed them for years. They are right! The Church is entirely wrong to endorse the system. Spiritual people deserve to be in an environment where all are equal regardless of gifts/talents/abilities. When a person begins to live from their gifts/talents/abilities it is a short step to disaster. Their concerns go from meeting the needs and requirements of the people to their own position, possession and progression.
These three considerations constitute the basis for every single case of strife, injustice and warring on this planet today. Christians are supposed to be outward looking, yet the institutional structures they find themselves in, forces this inward assessment. Today's Christian leader wrestles with the passion and desire to be outward and facilitating, and the inward leanings towards position, possessions and progression. Christendom is heaving with 'how to' formulas. 'Be a good leader, have prosperity, be purpose driven' are today's Christian catch cries. These are not present in the New Testament. What we find is chapter upon chapter of how to 'be' in Christ. There's little on what to 'do'. Even the instructions for meeting are given in the simplest of terms. Meet like a family, have a meal where you remember Christ and share your gift. What is the purpose of this meeting? Answer: Encouragement and building up of the Christians! How complicated can we make this? 'Very', it seems! The institute can get things done but does not allow the freedom to be who you are. Jesus leading his Church towards affecting this dark world depends on you being you with no artificial controls or additives. The Bible has no record of institutional Church, the experts all agree that the first century Church met in the simplest of formats, and let's face it... It's not exactly working the way Jesus said it would.
Beat the System!
Jesus upset many apple carts. Having left what had become a religious system in the Old Testament, he went on to point out the corruption. Even when leaving the temple where he was brought up, Jesus couldn't help reminding the officials that God doesn't always work for the benefit of Israel. They wanted to kill him there and then! At every opportunity Jesus flouted the traditions of the religious officials and even taught his disciples to do so. They were furious and threw every accusation they could at him. However, Jesus knew what God's word said, so all the man made traditions that had become a ring of steel around the people should never bind the people again. Because we have the similar traditions and man made religious fences today, I have no problem following Jesus in his apple cart ministry. Like our Lord, I want to see righteousness more than I want popularity. I want to see this world witness an authentic, biblical Church upon this earth more than I want status and profile.
Next time you go to Tesco's and see the pretty apples all lined up in a row, remember they have been handled, treated and manipulated to look that way. The lights shine upon their polished skins. They all look the same. While we can all polish ourselves and present a flawless image, most of us know we aren't really that person. If we're honest, we all have maggots! We all have areas of blemish and sourness. We are not all the same.
