Have you ever been accused of "being in rebellion" or "not under a
spiritual covering?" As the church accelerates toward the close of this age we
hear this accusation more and more. I believe this is partially due to the
rebellious age we live in, but I also believe we are hearing this more often
because we are confused about what authority and covering are. Let's look in
the Scriptures at another time when people were very rebellious.
There is a sad story in the Old Testament about Moses being
forbidden by God to enter the Promised Land. He was doing so well, too,
considering he was surrounded by rebellious people. He made one fatal mistake.
The books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy all give an
accounting of this tragic story and I will show them in that order.
Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, "Give us water, that we may drink."
And Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?" And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, "Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!"
And the LORD said to Moses, "Go on before the people, and take with
you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which
you struck the river, and go.
Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and
you shall strike the rock, and water
will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the
sight of the elders of Israel.
So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of
the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD,
saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the
Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and
Miriam died there and was buried there.
Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered
together against Moses and Aaron.
And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we
had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
"Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this
wilderness, that we and our animals should die here?
And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this
evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor
is there any water to drink."
So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the
door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory
of the LORD appeared to them.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
"Take the rod; you and your
brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their
eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out
of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals."
So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him.
And Moses and Aaron gathered
the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you
rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?"
Then Moses lifted his hand
and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and
the congregation and their animals drank.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron,
"Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the
children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land
which I have given them."
This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel
contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them.
Now the LORD said to Moses: "Go up into this Mount Abarim, and see
the land which I have given to the children of Israel.
And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your
people, as Aaron your brother was gathered.
For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the
congregation, you rebelled against My
command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes." (These are the
waters of Meribah, at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.)
Then the LORD spoke to Moses that very same day, saying:
"Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the
land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to
the children of Israel as a possession;
and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your
people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his
people;
because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at
the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin,
because you did not hallow Me in the
midst of the children of Israel.
Yet you shall see the land
before you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to
the children of Israel."
There has been a lot of commentary on why Moses was not allowed to
enter the Promised Land after all the suffering and rejection he went through
with this rebellious nation, but the usual excuse theologians come up with is
Moses struck the rock with his staff instead of speaking to the rock. This
might be partially true, but I think it was only symptomatic of a far greater
sin.
In the Exodus account Moses was commanded to strike the rock at the
waters of Mirabah, but in the Numbers account he was to speak to the rock. Now
I grant you this could have taken place on two different occasions at the same
place and we all know that they didn't exactly make a bee-line for Canaan
after they crossed the Red Sea. It took them forty years to make the two week
trip.
No, I think the answer to our question lies in Numbers 20 verses 10
through 12. In verse ten Moses stood there in front of the people and chided
them and said, "Hear now, you rebels;
must we fetch you water out of this rock?" Then he struck the rock with
his staff and abundant water came out for the people and their animals. The
next verse holds the key. God said to Moses and Aaron,
"Because you believed me not, to
sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not
bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."
The word sanctify, is from the Hebrew word "qadash" which means to
dedicate, consecrate, purify or cause to be clean. In all other instances
before this when confronted with the rebellion of these people, Moses was
careful not to call them names or speak for himself in any way, but to be
God's spokesman to them and to intercede in their behalf (see Exodus 32:30-34;
Numbers 11; 12; 14:1-21; and 16). Moses sinned at the waters of Mirabah
because he failed to set God apart from his emotions before the people;
instead he emotionally set himself apart from the people and from God as their
judge. Thus He made God appear unclean by speaking for Him out of his own
angry heart and taking credit to himself and Aaron,
"Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you
water out of this rock?"
Types of Authority
There are two kinds of authority is this world. The kind that
kings, presidents, governors, military officers, and police have is power and
authority delegated to them by men
above them. This delegated authority is easy to identify. Those who have it
are set apart in some fashion from the common man so that it can be seen that
they are in authority. They either sit in a special building like the White
House, a palace, or a governmental office building, or they ride in a special
vehicle such as a royal carriage, limousine, or police car. Their clothes are
often special, such as royal robes, uniforms or fancy suits. There is most
always something that makes them noticeable in a crowd or sets them apart from
the people. It is obvious that they have delegated authority and power.(read
Romans 13:1-6; Titus 3:1 and I Peter 2:13-16).
The other kind of authority is the kind that should be evident in
the Church. I will call it transparent
authority. God finds a yielded vessel totally given over to His divine
authority and reveals His wishes for the people to him and he is an
intercessor for them. There are many examples in the Old Testament of this
kind of leader. They were primarily high priests, prophets, and judges such as
Moses, Samuel, Elijah, and King David.
Moses was a shining example of God's transparent authority. God
said to Moses, "See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1)" When
Moses spoke through Aaron to Pharaoh it was God speaking. He always without
his own opinion spoke exactly what God wanted to say to Pharaoh and his
people. He spoke the pure and clean, sanctified word of God. Thus he
sanctified God in the eyes of the people, except for that one fateful occasion
and that cost him his continued position of leadership in the promised land.
He only got to see it from a distance for his failure was counted by God as
rebellion.
Another example of God's transparent authority was Samuel the
prophet, priest, and judge. There is no record that the Samuel ever blew it.
He was God's pure conduit. He would inquire of God for the people and the
people would hear from God through him. But where the rub came in during
Samuel's life was when the people decided that being led by a man with
transparent authority wasn't good enough for them. They had a better idea.
Enter King Saul.
Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations."
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day--with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods--so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them."
So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. And he said, "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day."
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles." And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD.
So the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed their voice, and make them a
king." And Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Every man go to his city."
There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel,
the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a
mighty man of power.
And he had a choice and
handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he
among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any
of the people.
All through the Old Testament God made it plain He would rule over
His people; they were not to be like the other nations. He would be their
judge, and He would go before them and fight their battles! Wow! What a poor
trade, a human king in place of the God of the universe to lead and fight for
them!
Notice that Samuel's sons were operating in delegated authority
just as Eli's sons and the people rejected them, but instead of waiting for
God to deal with them and substitute another for them as He did with Eli's
sons, they decided the authority structure the heathen nations had was what
they needed. God told Samuel they rejected Him as their leader, not Samuel.
Why? Because Samuel was God's transparent authority, Saul was not. To reject
Samuel was to reject God. To seek a king to rule over them was rebellion
against God.
They now chose to have a delegated form of authority so they could
be under a rebellious form of government like the other nations. Tall, dark
and handsome Saul proved what a mistake that was. He was after the form of
Nimrod who ruled over the city of
Babel where he made a name for himself and drew others behind him to rebel
against God. This is the way of Cain (see Jude 1:12-14).
Grant it, there were times when a king of Israel would demonstrate
God's transparent authority as King David often did, but it was rare. Finally,
about 600 BC., the last king of Israel was wiped out and the nation was sold
into captivity. During all these years after Samuel, God still had His
transparent authority in many different prophets, but the people were getting
hard of hearing. He finally had to restore transparent authority through His
Son Jesus Christ.
The Ultimate Transparent Authority
While walking among men, Jesus demonstrated the ultimate in
transparent authority. He said to His disciples:
"If you had known Me, you
would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have
seen Him."
Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known
Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, `Show
us the Father'?" (John 14:7-9, NKJV).
Now that is transparent authority!!
To see Jesus was to see the Father. To hear Him was to hear the words of God.
There was a striking difference between the authority demonstrated
by Jesus and that of the scribes and Pharisees. "And it came to pass, when
Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
For he taught them as one having
authority, and not as the scribes (Matt. 7:29)."
It took a lowly Gentile soldier to figure out the difference
between delegated authority and transparent authority and Jesus marveled at
his understanding. The story reads as follows:
Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him,
pleading with Him,
saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully
tormented."
And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."
The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You
should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be
healed.
For I also am a man under
authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, `Go,' and he goes;
and to another, `Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, `Do this,' and he
does it."
When Jesus heard it, He
marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not
found such great faith, not even in Israel!
And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit
down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have
believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same
hour.
(Matthew 8:5-13, NKJV).
Jesus lauded this man's confession for manifesting a greater faith
than all the Jews in Israel. He said the Gentiles would see Jesus' Godly
authority, submit to it and sit down in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the Jews' place. What a slam to the self-righteous Jewish leaders.
What was so great about what this Gentile said? Yes, he showed
great faith by not demanding that Jesus come to his house, but there is more
here. He said, "I am a man UNDER authority." He didn't say, I am a man OF
authority. He spoke of his transparency between the officer above him and his
men and acknowledged that is how it is with Jesus and His Father to us.
This kind of authority is fine in the world, but in the church we
are not to be under mere men, but
submit to God in all things just as Jesus did. Those who properly lead in the
church are to guide us and come along side and never to rule over us as the
flock of God. To be submitted to God is to be transparent and manifest Him to
a dying world. To be under men in the church is to be back under the delegated
system that is seen among the kings of the Gentiles.
. . .and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin
as instruments of unrighteousness;
but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members
as instruments of righteousness to
God.(Romans 6:13, NASB).
Jesus was restoring God's transparent authority among men once
again, and this time it would be in the form of His Church. He told His
disciples in Luke:
And He said to them, "The
kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise
authority over them are called benefactors.
But not so among you; on the
contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who
governs as he who serves.
And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined
at the table again, He said to them,
"Do you know what I have done to you?
. . .and whoever wishes to be
first among you shall be your slave;
His Transparent Authority Was Given to the Church!
Just before Jesus ascended into heaven He spoke to the disciples
and said,
"Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the
city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." (Luke 24:49,
NKJV). The "promise of the Father" He was referring to was the Holy Spirit
(Acts 1:5). After receiving Holy Spirit the apostles demonstrated this
transparent form of authority over and over.
In Acts 2, they declared the gospel of the kingdom to men from many
different nations who were gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost.
These non-believers all were able to hear these spirit filled believers in
their own language by a divine impartation. Because they were simple Jews who
didn't know foreign languages and the people knew it, great fear came upon
many and about 3,000 people repented and accepted Jesus in one day.
In Acts 3 apostles Peter and John were going to the temple to pray.
As they were about to pass through the temple gate, a lame man asked them for
a donation and he got a little more than he bargained for. Peter told him,
"Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give to thee: In the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." The man was instantly healed
and was excitedly jumping all over the place and made quite a scene. When the
people recognized what had happened they all came running to them. Then Peter
spoke to the crowd and said, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or
why do you gaze at us, as if by our own
power or piety we had made him walk?... And on the basis of faith in His
name, it is the name of Jesus which
has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and
the faith which
comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence
of you all." Clearly God had restored to the earth His transparent
authority once again in common men through faith in Jesus' name.
There are many other examples in the New Testament of God's men
demonstrating His transparent authority. One of the more obvious ones is the
account of Peter confronting Ananias and Sapphira about there sin of
deception.
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a
possession.
And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of
it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet.
But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to
the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?
While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was
it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?
You have not lied to men but to God."
Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last.
So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.
Wait a minute! Weren't Ananias and his wife standing there lying to
Peter? Yes, but because Peter was walking in transparent authority, they were
also lying to the Holy Spirit in him.
Well, it seemed that all was on the mend once again in the
restoration of God's transparent authority over the earth, but not for long.
Satan had a plan to regain his authority over men that was being lost to those
who were finding their lives by losing them.
The Fly Got in the Ointment!
Some time in the third century a fly (Beelzebub) got in the
ointment. A chap named Gregory ( later known as Gregory the Worker of Wonders
) got saved. He proved to be quite influential in his native Pontus,
"converting" almost everyone there to Christianity. Whether he preached the
gospel of the kingdom is doubtful, because he found it necessary to make this
transition from paganism to Christianity easier by substituting festivals
honoring Christian saints for the old feasts to the pagan gods. Somehow I
can't picture the apostles being pleased with feasts giving them honor instead
of all glory going to their beloved Jesus (see Acts 14:8-15).
Later on in Armenia one Gregory the Illuminator, of the Armenian
aristocracy, got on the Christian bandwagon and decided to propagate his new
faith by converting the king. Good king Tiridates with the help of his nobles
got the whole population to swing into line. Soon many pagan shrines and
temples were converted to Christian use and many pagan priests were out of a
job. Not to worry; the good king had a rehabilitation program. He made these
heathen priests and their sons into Christian priests and bishops and
"everybody was happy." The Church now had fancy shrines to meet in instead of
those humble homes of the common man, which served so well for almost 300
years and the pagan priests were
still in a position of power in the community instead of those humble servants
of Christ leading the Church. "Insto-chango," everybody was a Christian, let's
party!
This worked so well in Armenia, other monarchs saw a way to ease
the tension this new faith out of Judea was putting on the Roman system. Enter
the great Constantine.
Many Roman emperors had heavily persecuted the Christians in the
first three centuries and the Church flourished and grew rapidly under it.
After the last ditch efforts of emperor Diocletian to wipe out the Church by
force, Satan had to come up with a new idea. And he found a willing adherent
to this new plan in emperor Constantine. The story of how he became a
Christian is quite involved, but the upshot was a new age of tolerance toward
both Christians and pagans. This worked well; he maintained his title of "pontifex
maximus" or the chief priest of the pagan state cult, and his position as the
official Roman god. He also as the new
"Christian" Emperor took to himself the title of "The Thirteenth Apostle."
Under him the new Church clergy gained a tax-exempt status which
only pagan priests had enjoyed before, and soon there was a flood of rich
Romans into the priesthood, taking advantage of this great tax loophole. With
all these powerful Romans as leaders in the Church, it soon gained political
power that was only before wielded by the Roman government itself. Soon the
Christian Sunday and special feast days honoring Christian martyrs were
observed and mingled with pagan holidays. Bishops were given the right to hear
and settle lawsuits in their courts. Jews were forbidden to stone Jews who
became Christians. Christian clergy and bishops became a regular part of the
emperor's court. Constantine started a massive public works program building
churches and cathedrals throughout the area for his new found faith.
Next he forbade the repair and construction of pagan temples and
Christians were no longer to be forced to participate in their rituals.
Finally, pagan rituals were totally abolished in Rome and their temples
closed. By becoming a Christian one could now gain official favor of the
emperor and even new opportunities for wealth.
Paganism never was totally wiped out. Many pagan traditions were
incorporated into the new church of Rome. Pagan priests found their place in
this new religion, and they brought in their idolatrous ways creating a whole
new form of ritual and worship. Satan had won a great victory with the help of
Constantine and his successors delegating their authority to the Church. God's
transparent authority in his precious bride had all but been replaced by
authority delegated by the emperor himself.
What Authority Is Demonstrated Today?
How do men rule in the Church today? I grant you, great
improvements have been made in the last six hundred years by the reformers and
such, yet has God's transparent leadership been fully restored to the Church?
Do we have godly apostles and prophets leading the Church out of the dark ages
of Romanism or do we still have delegated authority operating in Church
leadership with the Holy Spirit waiting on the side lines trying to get a word
in edgewise? I have watched Church leaders push through our meetings with
their agendas, totally oblivious to the need of themselves and others to be
transparent enough for God to speak through them. In contrast look at the
following verses.
Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets
and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen
who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said,
"Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called
them."
Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent
them away.
So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia,
and from there they sailed to Cyprus. (Acts 13:1-4, NKJV).
The apostolic Church of the first century had reverence for the
Holy Spirit instead of treating Him like some person who was crashing their
party. Today we either treat Him as a "party pooper" or as our errand boy,
giving Him orders on how He is to perform for us. It often grieves me to go to
church services because of how the Holy Spirit is treated.
I have also found that those in leadership that have not fear of grieving the
Spirit, also have not fear of grieving the Bride of Christ.
Many churches have adopted convenient doctrines of
dispensationalism, contrary to Scripture, which negate the need for apostles
and prophets or any manifestation of the Holy Spirit in today's "organized"
church. Ephesians 4:11 says that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers are necessary, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ (Also see Ephesians 2: 18-22)." I think that
man had to invent these doctrines in order to explain away their church's
deadness. Remember that true
leadership by whatever name or gifting is still a bondservant to the people
and are not called to rule over them.
The Church today more resembles a "fractured fairy tale" than that
dynamic organism that Jesus envisioned in John 17:
"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe
in Me through their word;
that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You;
that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
And the glory which You gave
Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and
that the world may know that You have
sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." (John 17:20-23, NKJV).
How About Our Covering?
What about this problem of rebellion and not being under covering?
I believe the Bible teaches that Jesus is our covering. The Greek word
hilasterion is used in the New
Testament in speaking of Jesus as our
propitiation or atonement, but
it was also translated mercy seat
(see Hebrews 9:5). The mercy seat is the lid on the ark of the covenant just
as Jesus is our covering in the new covenant. The Word says, "there is one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5)." "But I
would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ...(I Corinthians
11:3)." Yes, Jesus is our only covering.
If a minister of God is truly walking in transparent authority with
God, the demonstration of God's power should back up his words as was the case
with the apostles. Paul refused to manifest his authority by using his
intellect to make men feel inferior as we see happening so often from the
pulpit today.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church:
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence
of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness,
in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power
of God.
(1 Corinthians 2:1-5, NKJV).
This type of authority is, for the most part, missing in the church
today. I believe it is because men have not purged themselves of their old
natures and made themselves ready for the Bridegroom and also because they do
not understand where godly authority comes from. When a man uses terms such
as, "my flock" or "my church" or "as long as I'm the leader here...," is he
appealing to his positional authority or a transparent authority that comes
from being Jesus' clear channel? Didn't Jesus say that the Church is His
(Matthew 16:18), the sheep are His and they follow Him (John 10:27)?
As long as church leadership must have special buildings and
offices to set themselves apart from the sheep, or special clothes or special
chairs to sit on and elevated platforms so people can see who is in charge, it
is obvious they are still trying to operate under delegated authority and
desire to rule over the flock.
If godly leadership in the church is truly transparent and you are
hearing the Good Shepherd's voice through one another, there will be no
conflict or questions about who's in charge. If you put yourself under the
covering of a man who is not transparent, but modeling his ministry after the
pagan priests and kings, chances are good that you will be under a thief and a
robber who will try to steal away your rightful place in Christ unto himself
and eventually cause you a deep wounding.
One further thought. We must be careful that we (especially
Americans, for our nation was founded in a rebellion) are not throwing off all
restraint in our attempt to be free of the abusive authority that so many of
us have suffered under in our lives. God's Holy Spirit also gives us a spirit
of humility by which we can receive correction from one another by submitting
to one another in Godly fear. As you pray for Godly leadership to be restored
to the Church, also pray for the humility of heart that you need in order to
recognize it when it comes.
May God grant the Church's leaders the brokenness that it will take
to transform them into transparent men of God or replace them with men who do
humbly guide His flock. And may He once again tune in the hearing of the sheep
so that another's voice they will not hear. "And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers (John
10:5)."
Until we all come into the unity of the faith in Christ Jesus,
Michael Clark
Bayview, ID, USA