A Man one Step from God

A Roman Catholic man was giving an interview recently on television, in relation to his one-time parish priest.  The priest was always thought of as the family’s spiritual leader, adviser and friend – never the sexual, pedophilic predator he turned out to be.  Asked for his opinion on the priest now that he had been discovered for what he was, the man, naturally enough, spoke of his utter dismay and shock. “Here he was, a man one step from God – and we now find out that this is what he’d been doing every time he visited us!”

“A man one step from God.”  How that statement cut deep into my spirit upon hearing him utter it!  I was immediately reminded of the many people I had encountered on the streets as a gospel messenger, who thought of their priests and ministers in a similar fashion.  That is, because they were thought of as being God’s right hand men – so close to God that they were the next best thing to God – they had elevated them to almost God-like status.  Sitting in churches now for twenty-three years as a believer and follower of the biblical Lord Jesus Christ, I do not believe I have ever heard one church leader dispel that image either, sadly enough.

Roman Catholicism has always taught that it is the “One True Church” and Roman Catholic people believe it with all their heart.  They’ve been taught this from a very young age and should they doubt or dismiss such a teaching, hell is the place where they are told they will end up!  But the Roman Catholic Church is not the only one.  Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists – they all teach the same, hell or no hell.  However, yet again, the “One True Church” mentality is not limited to them either.  Countless cults, semi cults, controlling church groups and leaders claim this for themselves even if not publicly stated.

They may not use the language, but any man or woman in leadership in the church who gives their people the impression of being “a man one step from God” or, who do not do all they can to deliver their people from that deceptive image, they play a major role in deceiving their followers and are themselves in grave danger, in my opinion.  The “church” is full of men who claim to be the voice and messenger of God, and who would say, that to disobey their voice and message, is to disobey God Himself.  In fact, speaking of this, language is one of the keys these men use to lock their followers up into spiritual and mental slavery.  

Example:  I was in a fellowship for over six years and although the leaders did not demand to be addressed as “pastor” or “reverend” or even “father,” they did, nevertheless, claim “fatherhood” over us.  Constantly they spoke of the need for us each to be “fathered” by the “fathers” of the church and if one refused to be “fathered” by the “fathers,” then one was simply “fathering” themselves and a “self-fathered” man or woman was outside the kingdom of God.  True story!  They still teach that today and their followers embrace that teaching without question – just as the Roman Catholic and other people embrace theirs.

It is true that the apostle Paul said he was a father to the church and not just a teacher, but his fathering led them all to Jesus Christ Himself, not Paul himself.  After his own liberating encounter with the Lord, Paul knew it was Christ alone who had the power plus the authority to set people free not only from personal sins, but also freedom from religious error, doctrinal over-emphasis and indoctrinations of all kinds.  Paul did not play games with language.  When he spoke, those people knew also that they were being led away from the doctrines of men and, from the “a man one step from God” mentality, not into it.

Deceptive Christian leaders “interpret” Scripture in their own unique way and that is why many of them say or imply something like, “The face of Jesus Christ to you (the church) is us, the elders (or “me” if it’s a priest, reverend, pastor, pope etc, who says it).”  They get away with this by ignoring 1 Timothy 2:5 and miss-applying 1 Corinthians 11:3-16.  Nobody stops to question them – and even worse, people do not seek God, who tells His us to test or prove all things 1 Thessalonians 5:21.  Most Christians are lazy and don’t bother to check the word of God out for themselves.  Others are fearful of God and dare not.  They think He is like their leader/s!

Even though church elders/leaders are ministers of God who may well preach a message from God, their messages are never equal to the Scriptures and therefore, do not have to be accepted or obeyed without first testing them according to the Scriptures.  Biblical faith is not blind faith.  No part of the Christian message is ever to be accepted on blind faith.  God has given us the faculty of reason and as born-again believers He expects us to use that faculty, otherwise how would we know how to, “test and hold fast only that which is good” ?

The “a man one step from God” mentality makes a liar of God.  God tells us in Romans 2:11 that He is shows no partiality.  That means He shows no favoritism, one man is not different from another.  Yes, God has placed some in positions of leadership, but not for “lording it over others.”  The apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 2:6 that God is not impressed by the positions men hold.  If God is not impressed, how less so, should we be?  This does not mean Christians should disobey or show disrespect for their leaders, we are to honour them, but only according to truth and, for who they are in Christ, not for who they claim to be in themselves.  There’s a huge difference.

The apostle Peter has made it very clear in his first epistle that born-again believers are all priests unto God today.  The one true church of the biblical Lord Jesus Christ is a family of brothers and sisters with a true equality in Christ and we are few in number spread out all over the world.  Some are affiliated with churches, some are not.  It needs to be noted here also – controlling leaders will nod their heads in agreeance with Peter’s words too, but they lie to us by their actions and over-all behavior.  Which makes it all the more important that we stick close to the Holy Spirit, who will, in time, show us how to discern their fruits.

Both Testaments of the Bible place a heavy emphasis on the words: peace, free, freedom and liberty.  An even heavier emphasis is placed on them being immediately ours, the moment we surrender ourselves to God’s Son the Lord Jesus, Who is Himself the full manifestation of God in a human body.  In other words, Jesus is the owner of these four realities and His word tells us that once we receive them, we are not to surrender them to any man regardless of who they are or claim to be.  We are told to watch out for those who come into the church by stealth seeking to take these from us.

Large numbers of the “a man one step from God” mentality learn to reject the plain-sense meanings of Scripture and any literal interpretations that go with that. Their favorite practice is to allegorize and spiritualize the Scriptures, believing themselves to be deep spiritual thinkers who see what others do not see.  And they’re right!  They do see what others don’t see.  They see things that are not there!  They then turn and twist what they “see” and make them fit their other Scriptural biases, creating new doctrines out of them which they now bring out and teach as “new truths.”  And the payoff for such deception?  The leaders are seen as holy men of God – each, a man one step from God!

Until TRUTH means more to a person than anything else imaginable on this earth, these religious men will continue to have a willing band of followers locked up in spiritual and mental slavery.  It cannot be any other way because it is TRUTH that sets us free – and TRUTH is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and not those impostors who seek to usurp His position and place, no matter how nice and sincere they appear to be.  “Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.”  Jeremiah 1:8.  “……Guard what was committed to your trust, avoid the profane and vain babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge – by professing it, some have strayed concerning the faith.  Grace be with you.  Amen.”  1 Timothy 6:20-21.