Fail Us Not from Steven Potaczek on Vimeo.
Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest ([r]relief and ease and refreshment and [s]recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.
For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.Matt. 11:29-30
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
The Church System:
Most religions and Christian Churches use what is called a hierarchical government structure and this type of government structure is rule from the top down. They appoint men as Deacons, Elders, Preaching elders, Ministers, Evangelist, and the one at the top usually refers to himself as the "Apostle" or the Leading Evangelist. In the Catholic Church we find them as Priests, Cardinals, Bishops, and of course the man at the top is the Pope. Although the names are different it is exactly the same thing, a hierarchical type government! The system in some cases is controlled by the Minister and in some Churches by a council called the "Council of Elders" or the "Council of the twelve" which they get from the twelve apostles. Churches also set up what can be termed as the "Churches Theology" which is in reality what that particular Church believes as is stated in their statement of beliefs which is either written by the Minister in charge or the Council.
Most Churches set out guide lines that must be followed such as what is most important to teach and how to teach it. Also they have to address the subject of preaching to those outside of the Church in order to bring them into the Church. Without this basic function the Church would not grow in the way they would like so one can understand its importance. Is it wrong to have ministers, elders and deacons in the Church? Well scripture is very clear on the fact that ministers, elders and deacons were appointed for different service, but the question is what guidelines should the Church use as their "Theology" and their statement of beliefs? How should the Church choose their teachers, elders, and those that have gifts from God to edify and help the Church grow? Jesus and the apostles left good examples so let's continue the study to come to a better understanding.
The Old Preisthood:
Many preachers have assumed that the government of God today should be hierarchical and ran like the Old Testament priesthood because of the structure of the priesthood. This system that was known as the priesthood set up by Moses as instructed by God was a good system at the time for the needs of the people and what God intended to teach them. What is not understood in most Churches that set up this type of system is that Jesus eliminated the priesthood when He brought in the New Covenant so we should look for the type of system Jesus Himself would set up. You will notice they pick and choose from the old covenant as it fits the needs of their church, and looking at the past priesthood structure we can see the many Church organization of this world.
(1) There was only one living high priest at a time.
(2) God worked through the high priest only.
(3) If tithes were paid to anyone other than the high priest the sinner was robbing God.
(4) The high priest interpreted the law as a judge.
(5) The high priest had the authority to appoint or disfellowship as he deemed necessary.
(6) If you separated from the priesthood you lost contact with God.
(7) The Priest was the only ones to serve God in the temple.
In that old system the people needed the priest to not only make atonement for their sins, but no one could contact God except through this system. Many could not even understand the oracles of God at that time except they hear it from the priest. Many would not know when or how to keep the holy days except the priest count the time from the waning moon to find the time of the Molad so the people would know when to begin. When we study the book of Hebrews we find that today under the New Covenant we have access to God the Father through Jesus the Messiah. We find that Jesus made void the Old Covenant and that Jesus alone is the head. (Our study on The Covenants goes into the book of Hebrews in detail)
When many ministers are asked to prove from the bible if God wants the hierarchical type government set up in His Church today, in most cases they don't bring up the scriptures we covered above but refer you to Exod 18:23. "If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace." Notice the words "God so commands you" This is what the minister will focus you on because of the word "COMMANDS". But beware my friend because either they are deceiving you, or they don't know the scriptures, because if they are going to use this to point people to God, then they should be sure of the meaning and intent of the author. The word Command here in Exod. 18:23 is Tsavah in Hebrew and means to enjoin or better put (if God so wills) we will do this or that.
The word in Hebrew for Command as, God giving a command is mitsvah; and this word denotes a command, law, ordinance, or a precept. There's a world of difference in the meanings here, because the word "Tsavah" is used, the true meaning is getting God's blessings on something we do as men, and that is all this was. Moses' Father-in-law saw that Moses was being overwhelmed by answering the peoples questions and solving problems. The solution was to appoint able men that feared God, men of truth to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, etc. Again I say this was not a bad suggestion nor was it evil, but it was nothing more than a solution to the problem at hand, not a command from God! The statement "If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure." was in fact, "If you do this thing and God wills, (or God agrees) then you will be able to endure or this will help with the problem.
The hierarchical government:
The hierarchical type government is not of God and is in fact the doctrine brethren of the Nicolaitans which we even find in scripture that God hates, so let's look at the term Nicolaitan and learn why God hates it. First the Encyclopedia records that Nicolaism is a Christian heresy whose adherents are called nicolaitans. "Nico" means "conquer" in Greek, and "Laitan" refers to lay people, or the laity; hence, the word may be taken to mean "Lay conquerors" or Conquerors of the Lay People, or the name itself meaning 'victorious over people', or the same thing as the hierarchical type government which is men RULING from the top down as if they have the authority of Christ. They are first mentioned (twice) in the Book of Revelation and according to Revelation 2, vv. 6 and 15, they were known in the cities of Ephesus and Pergamos (around AD 99). In this chapter, the church at Ephesus is commended for "hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which God stated He also hates and the church in Pergamos is blamed for having them who hold their doctrines. Now I must say here that there is no other first-hand evidence to give us certainty about the nature of this sect and no evidence supporting the claim that Nicholas was in fact a Heretic.
Nicolaitan Controversy:
The problem underlying the Nicolaitan controversy, though so little direct mention is made of it in Scripture, most importantly concerned the whole relation of Christianity to paganism and its usages. I found some information in our research and will state it here. It stated..."The Nicolaitans disobeyed the command issued to the gentile churches, by the apostolic council held at Jerusalem in 49-50 AD, that they should refrain from the eating of "things sacrificed to idols". This restriction prevented the Christian communities from joining in public festivals, and so brought upon them suspicion and dislike, but it was necessary to prevent a return to pagan morals. In writing to the Corinthians, Paul gives warning against the same evil practices, basing his arguments on consideration for the weaker brethren (See 1 Cor. chapter 8). LITERATURE.-- Simcox, "Revelation" in the Cambridge Bible; H. Cowan in Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible (five volumes), article "Nicolaitans"; H.B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, lxx ff, 27, 28, 37. C. M. KERR. (This information is from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Electronic Database Copyright (C) 1996 by Biblesoft)
Many Christians have come to understand that the hierarchical government set up in the Churches are not Biblical nor is the will of God, and even some ministers are admitting that God does not want the hierarchical system used in His Church and has began to preach against it. It is good that some are preaching the truth on this subject, but we should not let our guard down brethren, because although some ministers are preaching that the hierarchical type Church government is not what Jesus or the apostles taught, some are at the same time setting it up under new names and ideas. A good salesman can sell you the same product you rejected last week under a new package, so we need to educate ourselves on the ways we can detect what is truth, not by what is preached against, but by what the minister is doing. Here again brethren we must check out the fruit of the tree. I'm going to list some points below that I will call "Hierarchical Symptoms" so we can take a look at what is being done so we can understand the techniques that are used to deceive.
Beware of the Hierarch:
Remember that the term Nicolaitan broken down is "Victory over the people" so by this term we can detect those that use the hierarchical government to RULE over the Church. The first thing a power hungry Hierarch will do is put forth his over stated credentials that entitles him to be your teacher. He may even go as far as presenting historical facts claming his lineage ties him to the Apostles, priesthood, or even, as one man did, to the lineage of Jesus Himself. Once he has you believing he is qualified he then will place himself as the authority, and as some have done in the past, claim he is "divinely appointed by God" and is given "a special commission on this earth. You will know he has done this when he isolates himself from the common people by not allowing anyone to contact him directly and only those he determines worthy can have his personal phone number because only those that are "leaders" can know the inside scoop. (Ever notice how separate tables are set up for ministers and elders at church dinners?)
He then sets himself up as the one to determine who can be an elder or teacher and he will have to be the one that appoints others for baptizing, and anointing, and never mind if people are being healed by God through people the Hierarch has not approved. He will use terms like pillars in the church to separate those he can use to uphold his teachings, and authority. He will say God does the calling, but his actions will show he will not let God do the calling because if the person does not agree with the Hierarch he will announce publicly that this person must be an heretic who does not even have God's Holy Spirit. A strong and dangerous judgment I must say! The Hierarch will use shunning and isolation techniques such as telling you not to read any material he has not approved or written, and that you should not listen to others outside of the church and to do so could lead you away from Christ. You will be taught that this church is the one God is working with and the others are either not the lead church or not true churches of God.
He will infer that you need him to interpret the Greek because you are not as versed in it as he is, however what he should tell you is that the books to obtain and read are the Strong's concordance, and Zodhiates complete word study of the Old and New Testaments as well as George Ricker Berry's Interlinear Greek New Testament, and the Tanakh for the Old Testament, but they will not do this because then you will know as much as they do. Another symptom will be that the hierarch will start settling issues and disputes, and begin to teach dress codes, dating, marriage, and what he determines to be proper child rearing techniques. He will not allow common people to ask questions and get straight answers from the Bible but will only cover many topics in sermons and then dance right over the points. The reason this is done in sermons is so no one will question the subject in public, but I believe that the floor should be opened to the congregation for discussion after the sermon.
The Hierarch will quote the scripture correctly and then misapply it for his own purpose or he will use a verse if it has just the word he wants in it, hoping you won't check up on him. Many will actually skip over scriptures because they shine a light on the truth thus not allowing them to spin the meaning. Some will quote the scripture and state "can it mean this or that?" Then on into their sermon make the "could it mean" statement as if it's indeed a fact. He will go all around it and then make statements as if what he is saying is fact without using scripture. He will also read a scripture and then state "this means" when in fact it does not mean that. He will claim his writings are "absolute truths" and that he is the one God reveals this truth to. He will say that he needs correcting also, but when someone proves him wrong from the Bible on a subject that he does not want to change, for what ever reason, he will not address the subject point by point with scripture. Brethren, if a man takes on the responsibility to become a steward of the scriptures then he must be very sure of what he will convey as the truth, or run the risk of becoming a false messenger.
The Hierarch will also present an idea that sounds very urgent and convince people that this is what we all should strive for in these last days. Just as an example he could say that in the last days just before Jesus returns many people that have never been called will wake up to the truth and come out of this worlds system. At that time they will need someone to teach them the truth, and help them come to Jesus in true repentance. The Hierarch will tell you that he is getting ready for this special time with books and sermons to help these people, and he needs your tithes to help him publish more. Brethren don't be deceived by these many cunning, and deceiving, statements designed to take your money by making you feel if you don't give to them you are going against God. It will not take your money for God to send His two witnesses, nor will it take your money for them to have the power God gives them to do such a mighty work of preaching repentance and the gospel message. Their authority comes from God. When someone claims that God has sent them to warn (witness) to this poor dying world, BUT they need YOUR support; these men are false preachers, and have not been sent by God!! Please don't take this to mean that we should not support the publishing of the gospel message now. We should give as God instructs us, but we don't have to fear for our salvation as if we are going against God if we don't give it as a command to some man. The truth is that NO MAN has the right to DEMAND a tithe from you as if it's a command from God! (See Tithe link below)
How did Jesus illustrate the structure in His Church?
What did Jesus and apostles teach concerning the structure of the New covenant church, and who will always have authority over this church? Jesus gave us the example of the true structure He wanted in His Church, so let's read what is recorded in John 15:5. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." The truth from God is that a vine is the best way to depict God's type of government because this type of government puts Christ as the Lord and gives everyone who truly follows Him the opportunity to serve and lay up treasures in heaven without contriving and backbiting. There's no reason to politic when the Messiah has already qualified to rule and never forget that it was Satan from the very beginning that wanted to ascend to take the position of God, and anytime a man places himself between Christ and the brethren or seeks the position of Christ's authority in anyway whatsoever, he is not doing God's will.
Notice that Jesus states in the above scripture concerning the structure like a vine that He wants us ALL to bear much fruit, so we ALL can grow, not just the minister. We also find in Matt 20:25-28 that Jesus instructed His disciples not to lord over their brethren. Let's read it…"But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
How should servents be appointed to serve in the Church?
Whether the needs are ministers, elder, deacons, those that keep the funds, or someone heading up a church group to help the homeless in your community, the appointment should be done the way that was set up in the first church. The fact is that the people in each local congregation knows who have born the fruits needed for the service needed. We find in scripture the example of choosing by the local congregation in Acts 14:23 23. "So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed." The word "Appointed" in the Greek here means to be a voter (by raising the hand), i.e. to select, appoint or ordain. So the one chosen was ordained by those in the congregation raising their hands in agreement as to the appointment. There is much more logic doing it this way than some man at what has recently become know as headquarters choosing when he has not been very aquatinted with neither the congregation or the person in question. Another point is that in most cases the person being considered has already been serving and God has truly chosen them long beforehand. Even so we find that after the appointment the congregation then commended them to the Lord as we read in the above scripture.
There is a reason we find so many different church denominations with so many different teachings contrary to one another although they ALL claim the same book as their guide, and I believe the main reason is the hierarchical government. Men come to think they are in charge and forget the teachings of Jesus Himself as we covered above. Many start out wanting to just serve and do God's will, however this type of system breeds the desire to politic and the system itself can not exist unless a man places himself as the head of the church which is placing himself between Christ and the brethren. This type of system also locks the brethren into a framed way of bible study to the point that many scriptures are overlooked in order to continue the "Church's Doctrines" as understood and taught by headquarters, and even the minister has to work within the framework of headquarters or run the risk of being removed.
Biblical scriptures tells us to prove all things so let's look into this subject of Church Government with the humble and willing mind to understand from the written word of God without spinning scripture. The Christian must be willing at all times to be corrected and must continually seek to grow in the knowledge of the truth if we are to reach our reward in the Kingdom of God. Yes salvation is through the Messiah alone, but he who does not run or does not run well can find themselves in the ditch with the blind. The fact is that the hierarchical government that originated from the Catholic Church has failed in every way possible and has lead many into the Apostasy which teaches brethren to worship all manner of false gods, and if one truly wants the truth the proof is written in history by the bad fruits produced by this type of government.
All one needs to do is talk to hundreds of brethren that have been greatly abused and suppressed by this type of system. History shows how these men have abused the money that was in-trusted to them, and how they, even today, live far richer then those that send in their tithes. If a minister is receiving his living and driving a car, wearing clothes, or living in a home that far exceeds the life style of the brethren, he my friend is a hireling! How can he in good conscience live better than the poor of the congregation? The problem is when some that have been appointed as ministers or elders begin to "Exercise authority" over the Church and think that the "Buck" stops with them. The truth is that Jesus is governing His Church from His headquarters in heaven through every truly begotten child of God. Jesus is the one that appoints, and gives gifts in whatever He has determined them to do. It's Jesus that rules, and has the authority to say if someone has His Holy Spirit. It's Jesus that can read the hearts of us all not some man that does not know what you truly feel and desire. Jesus knows what He has put each and every one through in life to bring us to the place we are so we can be used where He determines, not some man that went to some "Collage" or that was ordained by some high ranking minister.
Jesus, nor the apostles, were ordained by anyone except God the Father or even went to the learning institutions of their day! Brethren under the new covenant we can individually go directly to God the Father and be taught by the Holy Spirit. Jesus the Messiah governs in love by the power of God and it is by this Spirit of God that we can receive the love of God and it is by this Spirit of God we can know and do His will. We can go to Jesus for all our needs and even receive wisdom, instruction, faith, mercy, strength, hope, and yes, we can even ask if there is something we can do to help in preaching the gospel to others. The scriptures always interprets the true meaning, and if we will just accept what is recorded and prove all things from the written word, we can come to a great understanding of God's plan and will in our lives. If a person has the Spirit of God working with them they will love the Father and the truth He sent by His Son Jesus. It should be the Spirit of God that teaches and motivates us all to do His will.
A True Minister:
A true minister or elder that is truly submitting to Jesus will be showing by his fruits that he truly is sent by God, because he will never try taking over by placing himself between Jesus and the brethren saying we must be part of his Church supporting him or we will be lost, or claim to be sent by God to be the only one to do the work. A minister truly submitting to God will always point you to Jesus, and he will realize that Jesus does the calling not only for salvation, but for preaching the gospel. The true man of God will seek to help the poor, the widow and fatherless. He will give hope to the down trodden, and visit the sick and comfort the dying. He will not be a respecter of persons eating with the rich and politicians.
He will keep the line of communication open to all that wants to ask a question and a true minister of God will do everything for the good of the people. He will love the truth and defend it from those who would pervert it, and teach against all pagan teachings like the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, as he knows it leads God's people away from God and towards the world. He will teach the truth even if it means losing his position as a minister or even if he knows it will cost him his life. He will preach the truth even if he receives no salary for his labor, as the apostle Paul stated "Woe to me if I don't preach the gospel". He would rather teach the truth to seven faithful Christians for free, rather then teach lies and half truths to thousands of people who have itching ears wanting to hear only smooth teachings.
He will never say follow ME as I follow Christ, because to do that is to get the minds of the people off Christ and on the man. Did Paul say follow ME as I follow Christ as is taught today? Many misguided ministers quote 1Cor. 11:1 and then state "Follow me, just as I also follow Christ." but the truth is that the King James version incorrectly uses the word follow. The Greek word used here is "mimetes" and it means imitator. Webster's New World College Dictionary renders imitate as to seek the example of, take as one's model or pattern, to mimic, or resemble. This rendering denotes becoming like Jesus, and could be used by Paul in that as long as he conducted himself in a Christ-like manner, then those who saw his actions could learn by example. Ever see a small child imitate someone? What a big difference that is from follow. Webster's New World College Dictionary renders follow as to go along, to accept the authority of, to obey, yield to, or to advocate the ideas, or opinions of those followed.
Now this rendering has a completely different meaning than to imitate Paul as he imitates Christ. Paul was in essences being the example for others to see. Where following him would get our eyes off Christ and on Paul (or any man) thereby the possibility of being deceived if the man would cunningly change the doctrine as many has in the past and will in the future. The one thing God wants mankind to always remember and it's the very thing we always seem to forget, and that is, GOD IS SUPREME! God has never and will never give up or trust His authority or His people to any angel or man. The hierarchy that is placed between the believer and God is just to keep the people under control, looking to the Hierarch and sending their money in. If you want to do a test to see where the Hierarch's heart truly is, tell him you still want to be a part of his group, but you will be sending all your tithes to the poor from now on. I suspect you might get the sermon that you will be ROBBING God! There are definite techniques that are being used either by design or from one being educated in a hierarchical system. God is the judge as to what each man is doing, but as stated above, we need to understand these techniques that are used to deceive so we can continue in the true relationship with Jesus the Messiah. It is my sincerest hope and prayer that this information informs many to beware of wolves in Shepherds clothing and help us to look to Jesus as our only Savior, and Master.
The grace of God teaches us, by His Word and through His Spirit and brings truth that changes our hearts. Our hearts are transformed living in the light of His grace. We are the privileged recipients of His grace daily as we seek to walk humbly with Him, abiding and resting in His presence and Christ's finished work on the Cross. --Tina
Since we are justified and sanctified by the impact of the grace of God in and upon our lives, does this mean that man does nothing in his growing and serving by the grace of God? Some hear the message of the grace of God and then imagine there is no contribution on their part. Truly, it is God’s grace and it is not about we can do but what He can do in and through us. Does that mean we are to do nothing and are mere robots to the grace of God? Not at all. We get fully engaged and entirely involved in the life of grace.
But it happens in ways related to trusting and depending on the Lord. It is the whole matter of learning to live by faith—walking by faith, not by sight. The perplexing thing in all of this is that we all have a question that is almost burning in us but we are almost afraid to say it because once we say it, it sounds funny. How do you do faith anyway? But the answer lies not in how do we do it, but how do we grow in it. We grow in our faith by this day-by-day trusting the Lord in whatever He has revealed to us, in whatever He has provided for us, and in whatever He has unfolded for us in the Word applying that grace to the circumstances at hand in this moment.
Whether like the prophet Elijah off by the Brook Cherith having to let the ravens feed you and living such by faith or being on top of Mount Carmel, calling down fire against the hundreds of false prophets—we always must live by faith. The key is not activity. The key is not inactivity. The key is trusting in the Lord. The just shall live by faith.
We shall see time and again in these studies on growing in the grace of God, that such growth in grace hinges upon faith.
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace. (Rom 4:16)
The striving of the flesh—whether to be great and mighty or live up to the standards of God—never goes with the grace of God. But believing God fits the grace of God. Faith and grace go together hand-in-glove. Drawing on the grace of God and living by the grace of God involves learning day by day to trust God in whatever is at hand, to work in and through our lives by the resources and impact of His grace upon us.
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)
Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God's grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it. (Amplified Bible)
God has raised his hand and sworn that Christ will have the reward of His passion; that His purchased ones will be brought under His sovereign power; that having borne sin and put it away, it will never be a second time charged against His redeemed. His oath is unbreakable.
This is all of it. Do you believe in Christ? Then, God will work in you "to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13) God will conquer your sin; God will sanctify you; God will save you; God will keep you; God will bring you to Himself. Rest in the covenant. Then, moved by intense gratitude, go forward to serve your Lord with all your heart and soul and strength. Being saved, live to praise Him. Do not work so that you may be saved, but serve Him because you are saved, for the covenant has secured your safety.
“If God wants you to do something, he'll make it possible for you to do it, but the grace he provides comes only with the task and cannot be stockpiled beforehand. We are dependent on him from hour to hour, and the greater our awareness of this fact, the less likely we are to faint or fail in a crisis.” -Louis Cassels (1922-1974)
Jesus Fulfilling the Law
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17)
The standard of the law of God is infinitely high and lofty: "be holy, be loving, be perfect." This is because the law reflects the very character of God. In light of this, we may wonder if there is any way that the law can be fulfilled. How could the righteous demands of the law ever be met in our lives? The answer to this vital question is contained in the truth that Jesus came "to fulfill" the law.
Consider how comprehensive was Jesus' fulfillment of the law. He fulfilled the law in His life, becoming our example. As Jesus lived, He showed us what life would look like if one could always, in every way, live up to the heavenly standards of God. Jesus' testimony was "I always do those things that please Him" (John 8:29).
Further, He fulfilled the law in His death, becoming our substitutionary sacrifice. The law included a penalty for violation, and that penalty was death. "The soul who sins shall die…For the wages of sin is death" (Ezekiel 18:4 and Romans 6:23). Jesus lovingly died in our place to pay that penalty which we owed. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Additionally, He wants to fulfill the law now in our daily experience, by being our life: "Christ who is our life" (Colossians 3:4). The Lord Jesus wants to live in and through the lives of His disciples, as we daily put our faith in Him. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God" (Galatians 2:20).
Yes, Jesus fulfills the law comprehensively!
Dear Father of Glory, what marvelous grace—what marvelous grace! Such a thorough provision is supplied by Your grace. Through the work of Jesus, my Lord, the law is fulfilled. Its holy demands are met on my behalf. My failure before Your law is fully covered by Your grace. Lord Jesus, thank You for paying the penalty for my sins. My desire to grow in the righteous life that You lived, and that the law describes, is fully available by Your grace. O Lord, this is grace upon grace. For this I praise You, and I rejoice with expectation. Lord Jesus, by faith I now look to You to be my life this day. Lord, inhabit my heart and shape my attitudes, my words, my relationships, and my deeds, I pray in Your mighty name, Amen.
Satan has erected fortresses in people's lives through incest, child abuse, domestic violence, alcoholism and countless other addictions, spiritual abuse -- any way he can deceive, rob, and enslave. But instead of tearing down these fortresses with truth and grace, the church has fought about the color of the hymnals. We have taught classes, built buildings, served on committees, and gone to seminars so that our leaders can feel spiritually gratified.
We have spent our spiritual energy bribing our children to go to church to memorize Bible verses by promising them perfect attendance pins and trophies. We have taken each others' spiritual inventories to make sure people aren't going to movies, wearing makeup, or chewing gum in church. We have taught people prayer recipes and formulas. If this is really our job, we are truly spiritually overdressed.
Have we lost our focus? He we left behind our true job of leading people into the grace and real empowerment that comes from dwelling simply, honestly, closely with God? Do we keep adding to the "good news" until it's not good anymore? We believe this is so.
Galatians 5:22-24 (The Message)
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.
“A state of mind that sees God in everything is evidence of growth in grace and a thankful heart.” -Charles G. Finney (1792-1875)
6. You may be preoccupied with spiritual performance.
Preoccupation with spiritual performance often results in a tendency toward extremes of self-righteousness or shame. Self-righteousness (a sense of spiritual superiority based on your own behavior) and judgmentalism (a sense of spiritual superiority based upon someone else's behavior) indicate a performance-based lifestyle. Another indicator is perfectionism, or a need for situations and relationships to be "just so."
Shame, the flip-side of self-righteousness, is also a result of a performance-based mentality. Shame is a sense of inferiority, a negative self-assessment, and indictment on your very personhood. It results from experiencing relationships where love and acceptance are based upon behaviors, and where the constant message is that you don't measure up.
7. You have a distorted self-identity of yourself as a Christian.
People who have been spiritually abused tend to have a negative picture of self, or a shame-based identity. This can be seen in several ways:
a. Lack of understanding or even awareness of New Testament texts that elaborate on our identity as new creations in Christ.
b. Confusion between guilt and shame. Guilt is a valuable signal indicating a wrong or bad behavior. Shame is an indictment on you as a person. You experience guilt when you do a wrong behavior; guilt is a good spiritual nerve ending causing you to right wrong behavior. you feel shame even when you've done nothing wrong; you feel defective as a human being, and like a third-rate Christian undeserving of God's blessings and acceptance.
c. A high need to hang on to negative picture of self in order to explain negative behaviors. This is true of spiritual systems that teach or insinuate that even though you are saved, you're still "worthless" before God, "just a sinner saved by grace," "a worm and not a person."
8. You may have a problem relating to spiritual authority.
Being spiritually abused can lead to "toxic faith." Toxic faith is a destructive and dangerous relationship with a religious system, not with God, that allows this system to control a person's life in the name of God. Those who have experienced the misuse of power develop ways to defend themselves from being abused again. They tend to extremes of compliance or defiance when faced with someone having authority. The compliant will conform to the wishes of the one in authority, going along with the authority whether or not they agree, and whether or not the authority is right. The defiant may resist those who have power even if they agree on the inside. Their resistance is almost a kneejerk reaction to anyone in charge. This, too, is designed to prevent hurt -- but it won't work.
9. You may have a hard time admitting the abuse.
This is common among spiritual abuse victims for several reasons. In an abusive system, you are told that you are "the problem" for noticing that there is a problem. That makes it hard to expose the abuse, even after you've left the system.
Second, admitting the abuse out loud -- or even thinking that what you experienced was abuse -- often feels like you're being disloyal to family, to church, even to God. Third, those who have experienced spiritual abuse as "normal" have lost track of what normal really is. Therefore, to call it spiritual abuse feels crazy or overreactive. People who experience spiritual abuse often can't believe it is happening to them.
10. You may have a hard time with trust.
Those who have been spiritually abused will have a hard time trusting a spiritual system again. This is extremely significant, because the essence of living as a Christian is a trust relationship with God, within God's family.
It seems hard to believe that Christians, who have answered Jesus' invitation to life and freedom, could so quickly return to a treadmill kind of spirituality that produces soul-deadening weariness.
How would you picture a Christian who is growing in godliness? Would they convey restfulness, which comes from being comfortable and at peace with God? Would they convey a sense of fulfillment knowing that whatever spiritual work they were doing was in God's will, instead of feeling they had to keep striving for more perfection?
Would their advice be directing you to Jesus, or would it cause you to focus on yourself and your behaviors? And, ultimately, would this Christian bring with them a sense of life, which Paul describes as the "sweet fragrance of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 2:15 Amp)?
What follows are the ten most common areas of struggle for those who have been spiritually abused. (Tina's note: I am going to include the first 5 in this post.)
1. You develop a distorted image of God.
Here are some distortions people frequently have:
a. A God who is never satisfied, who keeps setting higher and higher goals and is eager to let you find out how much you have missed the mark.
b. A mean, vindictive God, who is waiting for us to make a mistake.
c. An apathetic God who watches when people are hurt and abused, but does nothing to help because it would mean having to challenge an authority figure or structure.
d. A God who is asleep, and doesn't even notice when people are hurt and abused.
e. The "utterly holy" God. He is like a spiritual burglar alarm, ready to go off anytime you think about sin.
2. You may have a hard time with grace.
The idea of being treated gracefully (treated to a fullness of grace) causes you great difficulty. This springs from the shame-based identity, which tells you that you don't deserve to be treated this way.
For Christians who have been taught an unbalanced idea about the way holiness comes into a believer's life, there will be an automatic rejection of living under grace -- really drawing upon grace daily -- as nothing more than "cheap grace," sensing that others are lazy, or are taking advantage of God, or are getting off the hook too easily. If you have to work, others should as well.
3. You may have a problem in the area of personal boundaries, an unclear understanding about "death to self" teachings and "rights."
People who misused their spiritual power have disrespected or beaten down your boundaries. They have shamed you out of your "no" or clouded your will and intruded into your life with religious agendas. They have violated our spirituality by playing "Holy Spirit." Having an opinion has come to equal lack of submissiveness. Have a right not to be abused is selfish.
4. You may have difficulty with personal responsibility.
If you've been spiritually abused, you may tend to the extreme of being under-responsible in your relationship with God and others. This simply means that you have realized that no amount of performance results in the promised prize of love, acceptance and rest. Therefore you either decide to give up, or you expend the least amount of energy possible in order to just get by.
On the other hand, you may have learned to be overresponsible, a burden bearer. Everyone's issues are yours to solve. Their heavy feelings are yours to fix. You have an impossible time saying no to people's needs and requests. After all, if you don't do it, who will? You have a greater sense of God needing you than of you needing God.
The most extreme form of overresponsibilty happens when you martyr yourself. You believe that having needs or opinions is selfish. Being affected by insults and thoughtless actions is immature, and having any feelings is oversensitive. Going without is a prime virtue. Feeling numb to life is the end result.
5. You may suffer from a lack of living skills.
Abusive systems develop a "bunker mentality." This is characterized by being closed and paranoid toward the outside, and secretive about what goes on inside. The mentality is not only separatist, but highly judgmental. With this mentality, many Christians may think only one or two colleges are "separate enough" from the world for students to be able to safely attend.
Spiritually abusive systems like this can produce a lot of college-educated common laborers. Let me quickly clarify. First, there is no disgrace in being a laborer. A laborer who depends on Jesus will do as much damage to the gates of hell as a minister who depends on Jesus. The disgrace is in promising people the benefits of a college degree, then giving them a second-rate education and charging them as if it were first-rate.
Second, there are many people educated in religious settings who have a first-rate education. There is nothing inherently wrong with home-schooling your kids or sending them to private Christian elementary, secondary or post-graduate schools. In fact, the concept of a first-rate education that includes the component of building people in their faith is wonderful.
The danger is in educating people in religious settings as a result of a "bunker mentality." People who think this way act as if contact with evil things present in "the world" are the reason people have problems. The solution, therefore, is finding ways to keep people isolated from contact with the world. This is naive at best, and, more probably, dangerous.
If you have come from shame-based relationships in which you were spiritually abused, you may hold to these or other unspoken rules:
God rewards spirituality with material goods.
"If I am spiritual enough, things won't affect me emotionally."
"I can never say no to those in religious authority."
Everyone in the ministry is called by God, is appropriate, and must be trusted.
"God needs me to do ministry."
"The existence of trouble in my life indicates a lack of faith."
"Talking about problems will make God 'look bad.' "
Unity means agreeing about everything.
As you can see, shamed-based relationships have significant effects upon those who have experienced them. The relational applications of these effects are far-reaching. As pertaining to spiritual systems, the application is clear: Shame-based relationships build on an emotional foundation that undermines relational honesty; hinders a maturing individual relationship with God; and fosters dependence upon another, who grows in power as a false leader, building an unhealthy system in which appearance is more important than reality. These systems victimize people and set them up to be trapped in future abusive relationships.
