It is strange how we can sometimes completely miss Yahweh's perspective. I grew up with the thought that Israel was the Lord's only people and everyone else he considered to be his enemy. The truth is, the Lord is the Lord of everyone and everything, Israel was simply grown by him so he could reveal himself to everyone else through them. They were a nation of priests through whom the Lord wanted to bring blessings to all other nations. Everything is his:
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ (Exodus 19:5-6)
The Lord had told Abraham that every nation of the earth would be blessed because of him. At the time everyone worshiped something because the need to do so was a natural part of them, they just hadn't heard yet the truth about the Creator. But it was through this nation of priests that the Creator would manifest himself to his creation so the world would know.
The problem was, Israel did not remain a Holy people. They failed to be faithful, obedient and trusting. They looked around and wanted what everyone else had; they didn't want to be special. They eventually rejected the Lord as king and wanted a human king. Yahweh, in his grace, allowed for this, working through imperfect human vessels instead of directly with his people. Ultimately the nation failed because they became too selfish, focused on themselves instead of their God and their purpose. There are many parallels with the Church.
The Father revealed his heart to us through Jesus Christ. He manifested himself in human form, to pay the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins, so we could enter into intimacy with him. Those who accept this become members of his family, are members of the Body of Christ and are set aside as "priests" to reveal Jesus to all nations. For this purpose we have been possessed by the Holy Spirit, God himself.
The Lord has no desire to work through middlemen. He set up a class of trainers (Ephesians 4) but not in the sense of the priesthood. We have all been called as "priests". But we did not want to deal directly with our God and so we divided ourselves into the clergy and the congregation. This was not Jesus' plan or design, although in his grace, he has worked with it. But do we really want to settle for less than what Jesus desired for us as members of the Body of Christ? It frustrates me to know what we are suppose to be compared to what we are.
Are there any anointed trainers left to guide us in the path we were suppose to take? Are there any trainers equipped to train us in the Spirit, to show us how to allow the Lord to manifest himself in us? Is it possible for us to get back to our Lord and the mission we have been given as "priests"? There are nations waiting to see the Lord manifested in us.
Showing posts with label trainers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trainers. Show all posts
Friday, February 13, 2015
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Church - We Need A Greater Revelation
It's frustrating. The church you know is not the Church that is suppose to be. Our attitude toward leadership sucks. Sorry for the lack of vocabulary but I can't think of a more appropriate word. We have criticized the Roman Catholic church with it's system of priests but then turned around and set up our own. Oh, I know we call them pastors but we treat them like priests.
And why are there only pastors? The Word of God tells me there is a whole team of trainers that are suppose to be at work in the Body of Christ.
Yes, I called them trainers because that is what is suppose to be in place, not a priesthood. We are the royal priesthood, everyone of us according to the Word of God. We need trainers not priests. Look at this:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service. (Ephesians 4:11-12)
Some people refer to this group as the five-fold ministers. To me they are the trainers and they are more than pastors. People say that the age of the apostles is over and that there are no such things as prophets any more. These are either people who don't know the word, or want to shape the Church into their own idea, or just follow the crowd.. Nowhere in the Word does it say there is an end to the age of the apostles. There are apostles who are referred to in the Word who never met Jesus in the flesh. Apostles are not a group that met a certain criteria; they are chosen and appointed by the grace of God, just like the rest of us. We need to stop shaping the Church by man's design and allow the Spirit the freedom to teach and lead us.
These trainers are given to the Body to prepare God's people for works of service. This is training us how to operate in the Spirit, in the gifts of the Spirit, so we can grow and mature in our service. Look how it continues:
... to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (v. 12-13)
The trainers act as catalyst if you would. As they train us something begins to happen, like a chain reaction:
1. prepare in works of service
2. so the Body may be built up
3. until we reach unity in faith and in knowledge of Jesus
4. we become mature
5. attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ
There is so much more to our Christian walk than we allow ourselves to believe. And we will not discover those things until we allow ourselves to become what our Father has re-birthed us to be. We have to learn how to operate in the Spirit of God so that the Body may be built up, so there can be unity in our faith and knowledge of Jesus, so we can become mature and in becoming mature, attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. I know I am repeating myself but I want this to sink in.
We need more than pastors. We need the complete five-fold ministers. We need to do more than worship. We need to serve. We need to do more than give a cup of cold water. We need to learn to operate in the Spirit. We need to learn how to use the gifts of the Spirit. We need go beyond our flesh and operate in the supernatural. We need the whole measure of the fullness of Christ and it starts with submitting ourselves to the training of the five-fold.
Read the Word. Really read the Word and not just the stuff that fits into a humanistic agenda. It is more than just feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. That is part of it, but we need the whole thing. We need to operate in all the gifts of the Spirit. We need to see the power of God flowing through the Body of Christ again.
And why are there only pastors? The Word of God tells me there is a whole team of trainers that are suppose to be at work in the Body of Christ.
Yes, I called them trainers because that is what is suppose to be in place, not a priesthood. We are the royal priesthood, everyone of us according to the Word of God. We need trainers not priests. Look at this:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service. (Ephesians 4:11-12)
Some people refer to this group as the five-fold ministers. To me they are the trainers and they are more than pastors. People say that the age of the apostles is over and that there are no such things as prophets any more. These are either people who don't know the word, or want to shape the Church into their own idea, or just follow the crowd.. Nowhere in the Word does it say there is an end to the age of the apostles. There are apostles who are referred to in the Word who never met Jesus in the flesh. Apostles are not a group that met a certain criteria; they are chosen and appointed by the grace of God, just like the rest of us. We need to stop shaping the Church by man's design and allow the Spirit the freedom to teach and lead us.
These trainers are given to the Body to prepare God's people for works of service. This is training us how to operate in the Spirit, in the gifts of the Spirit, so we can grow and mature in our service. Look how it continues:
... to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (v. 12-13)
The trainers act as catalyst if you would. As they train us something begins to happen, like a chain reaction:
1. prepare in works of service
2. so the Body may be built up
3. until we reach unity in faith and in knowledge of Jesus
4. we become mature
5. attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ
There is so much more to our Christian walk than we allow ourselves to believe. And we will not discover those things until we allow ourselves to become what our Father has re-birthed us to be. We have to learn how to operate in the Spirit of God so that the Body may be built up, so there can be unity in our faith and knowledge of Jesus, so we can become mature and in becoming mature, attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. I know I am repeating myself but I want this to sink in.
We need more than pastors. We need the complete five-fold ministers. We need to do more than worship. We need to serve. We need to do more than give a cup of cold water. We need to learn to operate in the Spirit. We need to learn how to use the gifts of the Spirit. We need go beyond our flesh and operate in the supernatural. We need the whole measure of the fullness of Christ and it starts with submitting ourselves to the training of the five-fold.
Read the Word. Really read the Word and not just the stuff that fits into a humanistic agenda. It is more than just feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. That is part of it, but we need the whole thing. We need to operate in all the gifts of the Spirit. We need to see the power of God flowing through the Body of Christ again.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Protect Your Pastor!
The one thing that our God has expected from us is honesty and openness with him. He cannot forgive what we are not willing to be honest about. As long as we keep lying and denying he is forced to leave us in our own muck and mire. It is when we are willing to be honest with ourself and with him that he is able to deal with the sin, show us the ugliness of it, correct us and then forgive us, taking it all away from us so we are not killed or burdened by it. We have to be open and receptive to Jesus, trusting him with our heart and our future. So it must have been very frustrating for him to have to deal with the Pharisees and the priests who were more concerned about position and power than they were about the condition of their own hearts.
As we read through the gospels it becomes clear that Jesus had a problem with these leaders. In Matthew 23 we find that Jesus laid out his complaint against them in a serious of "woe" statements. These are too lengthy to list but you can read them for yourself. They dealt mainly with the problem of the leaders being more concerned about appearance than substance. They were more concerned about themselves than with the people they were suppose to lead and teach. Instead of helping people draw closer to God they were acting as barriers. They were so out of sync with God that they could not even tell that he was standing in front of them. They had set their hearts on a certain course and not even God could turn them away from this destructive path. However, you can see here that Jesus was really upset because of the people that they were bringing along with them:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:15)
Those who have been given responsibility as trainers in the Body of Christ have an awesome responsibility and will be held to a higher standard of accountability. They cannot afford to allow themselves to become insensitive to God, to hide away sin, or decide a course of action that is contrary to the Word and the Spirit. They must understand that their actions affect more than themselves and so they will be held accountable for what they teach and where they lead people.
It is for this reason that other members in the Body must not criticize the teachers of the Word for their preparation time or the amount of time they take in maintaining their relationship with the Lord. I think we are very wrong in expecting our pastors and trainers to be "jack of all trades", filling their days with things that other people can be doing. If they are taking the time to clean the church building then they are not in the Word. If they are printing off Sunday's bulletins then they are not praying over the sick. If they are out shoveling then they are not losing themselves in prayer for us. We treat them like they should be as busy as we are but then we are robbing ourselves. I want the person responsible for my training and accountability to be well rested, filled with the Spirit, overflowing with the Word, rich in his relationship with Jesus. I don't want him to be like me because I need his help to get to a better place, a higher place, a closer place with Jesus.
Please do not take my words in isolation but consider what I have written over a period of time. My trainer is not my mediator. I only have one mediator and his name is Jesus. But Jesus saw fit to put me under authority because I need training. I need someone further along in his relationship with the Lord to help me stay accountable, to train me in the work of the Lord, so I can learn to walk in unity with my brothers and sisters, to gain maturity so I can grow up into the fullness of Jesus. I need an encourager who is strong enough to help me see in the storms. How blessed would I be if I demanded that he fill his day with tasks that anyone else could do?
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrew 13:17)
We need to encourage the men and women Jesus has called to be trainers to be focused on their task. We need to understand that their lifestyle cannot be like ours because they have been called to something quite different from us. We should understand that we must step up and take the responsibility for certain ministries and work, to make the load easier for them. Pastors, especially, have servant's hearts and will never complain about the lesser tasks. They will gladly clean toilets, mop floors, baby-sit children because that is their heart but it is not their place. They will gladly fill in wherever someone is missing but listen to me carefully here: it is not their place. We cannot afford to have our trainers distracted from their task or it could go bad for all of us. We can run the community outreach programs. We can give out the food. We can mop the floors and clean the toilets. We can shovel the driveway, even the pastor's. He won't like it because that is his heart but too bad. Sometimes we have to protect our trainers, surround them with prayer and support so that we can reap the benefits of a totally immersed trainer.
I really don't want the trainer over me having to face any of these woes from Jesus. I want to encourage him to spend much of his time in worship, in the Word and in prayer. I want him to be so sensitive to the Spirit that if he takes a misstep he knows it right away. I want him to be so immersed in the presence of God that he knows he can trust the Lord with everything and does not have to hide anything away. I am sure the Pharisees started off well because they had a noble intention, to guard Israel against the encroaching Greek culture. However, somewhere along the way the heart was lost and they became the blind leading the blind. Let's prevent that from happening with our trainers and insist that they live according to the calling they have received. May the blessings of the Lord flow freely through the sanctified hearts of our prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers. AMEN!
As we read through the gospels it becomes clear that Jesus had a problem with these leaders. In Matthew 23 we find that Jesus laid out his complaint against them in a serious of "woe" statements. These are too lengthy to list but you can read them for yourself. They dealt mainly with the problem of the leaders being more concerned about appearance than substance. They were more concerned about themselves than with the people they were suppose to lead and teach. Instead of helping people draw closer to God they were acting as barriers. They were so out of sync with God that they could not even tell that he was standing in front of them. They had set their hearts on a certain course and not even God could turn them away from this destructive path. However, you can see here that Jesus was really upset because of the people that they were bringing along with them:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:15)
Those who have been given responsibility as trainers in the Body of Christ have an awesome responsibility and will be held to a higher standard of accountability. They cannot afford to allow themselves to become insensitive to God, to hide away sin, or decide a course of action that is contrary to the Word and the Spirit. They must understand that their actions affect more than themselves and so they will be held accountable for what they teach and where they lead people.
It is for this reason that other members in the Body must not criticize the teachers of the Word for their preparation time or the amount of time they take in maintaining their relationship with the Lord. I think we are very wrong in expecting our pastors and trainers to be "jack of all trades", filling their days with things that other people can be doing. If they are taking the time to clean the church building then they are not in the Word. If they are printing off Sunday's bulletins then they are not praying over the sick. If they are out shoveling then they are not losing themselves in prayer for us. We treat them like they should be as busy as we are but then we are robbing ourselves. I want the person responsible for my training and accountability to be well rested, filled with the Spirit, overflowing with the Word, rich in his relationship with Jesus. I don't want him to be like me because I need his help to get to a better place, a higher place, a closer place with Jesus.
Please do not take my words in isolation but consider what I have written over a period of time. My trainer is not my mediator. I only have one mediator and his name is Jesus. But Jesus saw fit to put me under authority because I need training. I need someone further along in his relationship with the Lord to help me stay accountable, to train me in the work of the Lord, so I can learn to walk in unity with my brothers and sisters, to gain maturity so I can grow up into the fullness of Jesus. I need an encourager who is strong enough to help me see in the storms. How blessed would I be if I demanded that he fill his day with tasks that anyone else could do?
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrew 13:17)
We need to encourage the men and women Jesus has called to be trainers to be focused on their task. We need to understand that their lifestyle cannot be like ours because they have been called to something quite different from us. We should understand that we must step up and take the responsibility for certain ministries and work, to make the load easier for them. Pastors, especially, have servant's hearts and will never complain about the lesser tasks. They will gladly clean toilets, mop floors, baby-sit children because that is their heart but it is not their place. They will gladly fill in wherever someone is missing but listen to me carefully here: it is not their place. We cannot afford to have our trainers distracted from their task or it could go bad for all of us. We can run the community outreach programs. We can give out the food. We can mop the floors and clean the toilets. We can shovel the driveway, even the pastor's. He won't like it because that is his heart but too bad. Sometimes we have to protect our trainers, surround them with prayer and support so that we can reap the benefits of a totally immersed trainer.
I really don't want the trainer over me having to face any of these woes from Jesus. I want to encourage him to spend much of his time in worship, in the Word and in prayer. I want him to be so sensitive to the Spirit that if he takes a misstep he knows it right away. I want him to be so immersed in the presence of God that he knows he can trust the Lord with everything and does not have to hide anything away. I am sure the Pharisees started off well because they had a noble intention, to guard Israel against the encroaching Greek culture. However, somewhere along the way the heart was lost and they became the blind leading the blind. Let's prevent that from happening with our trainers and insist that they live according to the calling they have received. May the blessings of the Lord flow freely through the sanctified hearts of our prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers. AMEN!
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