The False & Unnatural

I’ve been giving some increased thought lately to some comments made by one of the great Bible teachers, the late Derek Prince.  About twenty-two years ago I was studying the Scriptures from one of his video teachings and although I don’t recall his exact words, the thought has never left me.  He said something like, “Some people change their whole manner of behavior and way of speaking the moment they step inside a church.  It shouldn’t be necessary for Christians to do that.”  As far as my Christian experience is concerned, he’s the only man I’ve ever heard labor this from a public (or private) setting.  Among other things, he said it was false & unnatural.  I agree.

Clinging to man’s religious ways, doctrines, traditions and practices forces one to be false & unnatural so far as I can discern.  There can be no other outcome for the one who chooses to embrace the word of God second-hand, rather than embrace the God of the word first-hand.  In other words, Christians who listen to preachers, teachers, videos and DVD’s but spend little time listening to God for themselves can never be anything other than false & unnatural.  The devil will make sure of it!  Sadly, many Christians appear to have an insatiable appetite  for the second-hand word of God.  Not only does this cause them to become false & unnatural, but also it causes them to be very unsure of who they are in Christ.

I’ve often been intrigued by the body mannerisms and tone of speech in both men and women when the conversation shifts from the ordinary (football, work, the government) and onto the Lord Jesus Christ.  There’s one tone (natural) for the “everyday stuff” and a different tone altogether (false) for the Lord … more formal, quieter, better pronunciation, grammar and style.  It’s almost as though they’d just stepped out from an elocution class … or about to step into one!  For me it becomes increasingly noticeable when a person steps up to the lectern or pulpit to pray.  Should they be observing this, any visitors unfamiliar with Christendom can be forgiven for thinking this is the only way to grab God’s ear.

An influential lady at one of the churches I was associated with had this false & unnatural behavior rehearsed down to a fine art.  She is a lady who runs on her emotions at the best of times and if things are not according to her way or liking others know about it.  Whether she was asked to or not I don’t know, but she took on the role of organising “special” prayer meetings that were to be held at the church every second month.  Talk about false & unnatural … it started with dim lights, soft music, a “holy” picture or two and two burning candles on a table.  And that was just in the foyer!  In the main room it got worse!  One could be forgiven for thinking they were inside a Roman/Eastern Church.

The pastor and elders appeared to have said nothing to her about this and they did nothing about it when it was suggested to them that this practice was false & unnatural, as well as becoming idolatrous – far from being the Scriptural way.  When the same wassuggested to her, she was highly offended as she used her normal manner of speech. But when she prayed, it was a different person altogether speaking – false & unnatural.  Because of the failure to grasp the seriousness of the situation all around, this caused other people to change their behavior & manner of speech as they prayed under that environment too.

Another characteristic I’ve noticed Christians taking on when they turn to the false & unnatural; it is that of solemnity.  In other words, solemnity rules in those meetings when we forgo our “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” Romans 14:17.   Take home-group Bible studies for example.  One moment the people are happy and laughing … come time to pray and study, all that goes out the door and solemnity moves in.  I am not suggesting we should be frivolous and flippant when in the presence of the Almighty God, that is not revering, honoring or respecting Him, but neither is setting aside our “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  To believe otherwise is to set Him aside as well.  Besides, God does not ride the emotional roller-coaster.

My wife and I attended a fellowship of about fifty people.  Walking into the meeting room it was immediately discernible that many were motivated by a religious spirit more-so than the Holy Spirit.  A few smiles and head nods, with the odd, “good-to-see-you” coupled with a handshake as they looked and walked the other way.  During the worship service the singers worked hard endeavoring to engage the people, but apart from some lips moving as they read words from the PowerPoint display, that was about it.  After five or six songs it was message time as the pastor read from the bulletin that (each had been given earlier), then it was sermon time.

At the end of the sermon, the service was over.  Those who knew one another mingled amongst themselves but again, some smiled and nodded from a distance as we made our way out.  As we walked from the building to our car the same thing happened.  In the following weeks we got to know the pastor and some others a little better, but overall the majority of the people played out the same roll in the same way.  Many of them had come from war-torn countries, so culturally I guess some had their own issues to deal with.  But that seemed to be the problem … there was no evidence that they were allowing the Holy Spirit to help them.

Apart from the pastor and a couple of others amongst them who did express the Holy Spirit, it appeared that the religious spirit was having a field-day with too many. Nevertheless, we continued to gather with them encouraging the odd one who did share their issues.  Sadly though, even after suggesting they press into the Lord, it was not uncommon for us to observe them spread their arms out in front of themselves with palms facing upward, then give a big sigh, followed by, “Oh well … what can ya dooo?”  With that, they then went back to wallowing in the negative.  It is very difficult to get motivated when under such a spirit of solemnity, unbelief and pessimism.

Then on Easter Sunday morning the false & unnatural turned up Big Time!  Walking up the footpath towards the building everyone we fixed eyes on gave us the biggest wide-eyed smile and, “Happy Easter” we’ve ever encountered in any church.  It was the same when we entered the building.  Even those who had never come near us in the months earlier came over and shook hands, giving that same wide-eyed smile, followed by, “Happy Easter.”  The change was remarkable and the room was abuzz with excitement.  My wife and I knew however, that we were not shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with Holy Spirit-transformed people – but rather, religious people … false & unnatural.

Because this is the day celebrated as the Lord’s Resurrection Day, everyone of those people (apart from the pastor) gave the impression that they believed Jesus actually rose from death that day!  Euphoria ruled the morning, before and after that service.  I have never seen anything like it in a church gathering before.  The following Sunday, we knew in advance that things would be back to normal and they were.  Even before we gathered amongst them, my wife and I both knew that this was not the church we would be fellow-shipping with at a committed level, but it was a powerful lesson on what happens when a church chooses a second-hand word of God at the expense of hearing any first-hand word from Him.

Romanism, Mormonism, Russellism, plus countless other cults make no apologies for telling their people that their faith must be placed on “the church,” their leaders and their doctrines.  Most Protestants are not told this but nevertheless, it seems to me that far too many of them think the same way.  Plus, it seems to me that lots of pastors /elders are quite happy for them to think it.  It is a rare leader who stands up amidst his people and constantly exhorts them to, “search and seek out the mind of God for yourself.”  I have sat under a few pastors and elders in my twenty-five-plus years as a Christian and in all that time only one man labored that point … away back at the beginning.  And I praise God, for it went deep into my spirit.

Too many of the others gave the impression of sumptuously enjoying the attention they were given as leaders.  I don’t know what the quality of their relationship with God was like, but often the false & unnatural showed up.  No wonder people under them are inclined to express the same stuff.  As has been said before on this blog, whatever is at the top flows down and out.  Not that we can blame a leader entirely for this though when the church system as we know it is set up to foster the false & unnatural.  In my post: UnScriptural Religious Traditions & Church Programs I make mention of the culture of church leadership as being one of “me and them” or “us and them.”  God’s people need to get real and break that culture.

What happens when one chooses to seek the God of the word and hear from Him first-hand?  Well, God is Ultimate Reality and there is no greater example of such to be viewed anywhere than in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  In the gospels we see Jesus simply being Himself.  No airs and graces, no looking good, no political correctness, no care for anyone who disagreed with Him and no bowing and scraping to the opinions & expectations of others.  Truly remarkable!  How did it all come about?  It came as a result of Him seeking a deep, daily relationship with God the Father.  All Jesus was ever interested in knowing and doing was the word and will of God.  Nothing else.

We who are Jesus’ disciples are told in the Scriptures that we are to be conformed to the image of the Lord, Romans 8:29.  If we are obedient to the God of the word and receive from Him first-hand, in due course we will experience ourselves becoming transformed by the renewing of our mind and we’ll able to test and prove what God’s will is.  We will find it to be good, pleasing and perfect Romans 12:2.  And just like our Lord and Savior, as we yield daily to God’s will, we’ll experience reality. We’ll also discover His will to mean many things for us.  But above all, it will mean that we are to be done with the false & unnatural. “Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:104. “Remove falsehood and lies far from me…..” Proverbs 30:8. “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:17.