Somebody’s Spiritual Football

For a few weeks now on this blog I have been making mention that many truth-seeking, truth-loving Christian people will need to prepare themselves to experience separation from their much loved denomination or fellowship.  As it is presently, however,  there are lots among them who disagree with this suggestion and have the Scriptures to back it up – especially Hebrews 10:25.  On the other hand, some are already experiencing a stirring from the Holy Spirit; where once they were comfortable amongst their people, they are now gradually, but increasingly becoming uncomfortable – disturbed. 

Why is this?  God is beginning to answer their prayers in relation to truth and they are beginning to discern that He has a much bigger and brighter picture of Himself for them than those being drawn from the pulpit or home-group Bible study meetings.  In my post: The Need To Think And Evaluate Evidence I say of some in church leadership that, “they settle for their own narrow, anemic little patch and the passive, pew-sitting masses think that’s all there is.”  The people now experiencing the Spirit’s stirring are realizing that’s not all there is and unlike those all around them, they’re not comfortable with being passive, pew-sitters any more.  But neither are they comfortable with the responses from leadership over their many concerns.

A married couple have been members of their church for years.  In the early days the church preached a gospel which also included the promise of physical healing as well as spiritual healing for the repentant sinner Psalm 103:3.  In addition, it encouraged water baptism by full immersion and baptism into the Holy Spirit, whereby the recipient made him/herself available to function in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Over the years those things began to get replaced by man-centered doctrines that put the fellowship into a spiritual sleep.  One day they spoke about the old days and then asked, “What’s changed?”  They had, not God.  So they repented, became truth-seekers instead of church-goers and sought the Lord in much prayer.

In another fellowship there was great emphasis preached from the pulpit on the need for tolerance and compassion and not to be judgmental towards others.  It all sounded good, but the call was based on a human, subjective viewpoint, not the biblical objective standard.  The preacher held the Bible in his hand but not in his heart.  As a result, although sexual immorality did get spoken about it never got dealt with when it came into the camp.  Pornography was never mentioned, but there was an elder who spent time viewing it online, both at work and at home.  Then one day a truth-seeking man read in his Bible, “he who is spiritual judges all things” 1 Corinthians 2:15.  He was shocked, so in prayer he said, “Lord, what do I do next?”.

When he first got converted in the 1980’s as a young man, his church was Spirit-led, Christ-centered and Bible-based.  There has been a change of leader five times in that period and with each subsequent change the Bible doctrines that he once stood firmly upon, he gradually fell away from.  Why?  The last few leader’s convinced the church that it was foolish to accept literal interpretations of the first 11 chapters of Genesis based on what “science now reveals.” Similar was said about the New Testament book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.  In accepting the denial of Genesis, The Revelation remained for him a book of confusion and “mystery” as it does for those who accept that Genesis teaching.

In his spiritual sleep, it felt comfortable for this man to believe that Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and Original Sin were fictional stories and not fact.  But then he was forced to question such beliefs based on what the Lord Jesus Christ said about it in the gospels … not only what He said about it but what He did about it.  He realized that if what these pastors were saying was true, then why the need for a Savior?  But a Savior he could not deny because he had met Him more than once in those early years following his conversion.  With much prayer, the Holy Spirit showed him he was sitting under blasphemy – his Lord was being insulted and he’d been condoning it!

A lady got used to hearing her leader tell the fellowship, that whilst the Bible is “full of wisdom” it is unwise to “accept everything in it as literal.”  It was not until she thought about who gets to vote on what is wisdom and what is not, did she begin to question what she was subjecting herself to.  Her Church culture was that of most Christians; the ordained men and women among them were the gifted ones from on high, not “the lay people.”  Then one day in prayer, the Holy Spirit quickened the words of Jesus to her from Matthew 4:4. Interestingly, it was Satan Jesus spoke to about this and now she began to realize it was Satan she was listening to in the pulpit!

Did she then begin to accept all Scripture as literal?  No.  But she did want to know the literal truths underpinning them – especially the symbolism; so she began to get literal with her Lord.  That is; she told the Lord in prayer that she was willing to pay any price required for the faith to believe and experience the truth of “….no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21.  Based on what God had so far revealed she could see the reason for her previous lack of spiritual insight and vitality had been her failure to desire to know truth in her innermost being.  Now she wanted nothing but to be moved by the Holy Spirit.

‘Don’t be judgmental’ – ‘tolerance and compassion’ – ‘ it’s foolish to accept literal interpretations of Genesis and Revelation’ – ‘Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and Original Sin are fictional’ – ‘unwise to accept everything in the Bible as God’s word’ … the list goes on and on.  More. ‘Jesus is not God’ – ‘Jesus never said He was God’ – ‘Jesus did not do miracles’ – ‘Jesus did not rise from the dead’ – ‘Jesus is not literally saying He’s the only way to God and heaven’ – ‘the Bible is not literally the word of God’ – ‘the Bible isn’t…..’ – ‘God isn’t…..’ – ‘Jesus isn’t…..’  Christians with biblical knowledge usually don’t bow to such statements at the drop of a hat.

Like all false teaching, it takes lots of subtle conditioning before they accept them.  But accept them they will, over time, if they are not serious truth-seekers/truth-lovers.  Non-truth-seeking/loving Christians don’t pray for anything other than what is for self – prayer for some kind of flesh gratification rather than prayer for spiritual maturity, insight, wisdom, knowledge, discernment and understanding. “What’s in it for me?” underpins all they think, say and do.  Using Christian-speak, such Christians are “bless me seekers” and their churches are nothing more than “bless me clubs.” It is this reality that the Holy Spirit of God is revealing to those no longer content to put up with the status quo.

Then there are those sitting in fellowships whose leadership is interfering, domineering, demanding and commanding.  They’ve been unwittingly putting up with this stuff for years and in all likelihood would have continued to do so, had they not pricked up their ears to things said from the pulpit that blatantly revealed devaluation and disregard for the Person, work and anointing of the Holy Spirit.  For years they were defenders of the leadership, now they realized that it was God’s truth they should have been defending, not God’s (so-called) right-hand man/men.  For the first time ever, they repented of their foolishness and put in some serious prayer time before God.

It was not too long before they experienced the reality of James 5:16 “….the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  The Holy Spirit began over time to systematically reveal to them that although Christ’s name was used in their doctrines, the doctrines themselves were not Christ-centered they were man-centered.  No wonder the Holy Spirit was devalued, anything that fails to exalt Jesus to His rightful, central position doesn’t come from the Holy Spirit to begin with.  They were enlightened to discern the difference between true wisdom, versus “the commandments and doctrines of men……an appearance of wisdom, self-imposed religion, false humility…..” Colossians 2:22-23.

Whilst each Christian’s spiritual walk with the Lord is at a different level, each one is finding the Holy Spirit’s revelations disturbing to say the least.  Deep repentance has taken place for allowing themselves to become dupes of deceived, spiritually proud, smug, self-righteous religious men.  They once saw them as holy men speaking with the voice of angels … now they’re seeing them as unholy men speaking with the voice of devils.  Now they’re beginning to get a grasp on the truth that if Jesus truly is going to build a church that the gates of hell cannot come against, then it’s not going to be the one they’re currently associated with because hell took it over years ago!

Most non-praying, bless-me-seeking, or leadership-controlled Christians who acknowledge the reality of devils and hell think of their church or fellowship as the one that the gates of hell cannot come against.  As for the same who deny devils and hell, they are the laughing stock of hell anyway, both here above and down below.  How do devils and hell get into a church?  They ride in on the back of sin.  The Bible declares whatever is not from faith is sin Romans 14:23. What greater way of destroying one’s faith than to deny, compromise, water down, wash away or completely change the great foundational truths of Scripture? Do that and you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say.

This is the grand discovery of God’s new truth-seekers/truth lovers.  This is why too, that either knowingly or unknowingly at this stage, God is preparing to remove them from those churches and fellowships.  Many of them know it already, but they’re being made sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s timing for such a move.  No longer do they want to simply come and go whenever they feel like it.  That’s the old way of doing things and they clearly now see that’s partly why they’ve never been effective in spiritual matters.  In other words, they now see the part they have played in forfeiting their God-given rights to spiritual power and authority.

These Christians do not possess a “nobody tells me what to do” mentality, but neither are they going to allow themselves to be somebody’s spiritual football anymore.  The Holy Spirit has shown them that God does not kick His people around under any circumstances, and most certainly not through the use, misuse and abuse of His written word – the Bible.  Therefore, the days of them experiencing this from their leaders is about to come to a swift end too. “Beware lest anyone cheat (seduce, spoil) you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8. “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly…..nor as being lords over those entrusted to you…..” 1 Peter 5:2-3.