In the Gospel of John, the twelfth through
seventeenth chapters, Jesus reviews the need to serve God through all things,
and sets the stage for His soon-coming crucifixion. The ministry he prepares the disciples for
will literally transform the entirety of the planet. There are troublesome times coming, but there
is a dawn of blessing that will supersede anything they will face in the
challenge.
I will do my best in the following sections
not to duplicate what has been said in the preceding two posts; however, there
is some areas of strategic planning that will need to be reiterated. Jesus is very clear to prepare his disciples
for what is to come. His message to them
is the same as to “those who will believe in (Him) through their word”. (John
17:20)
John’s description of Jesus is very much the same as Matthew’s. And both describe the attack from the rulers of the temple, yet John approaches this in a rather unique way. He explains that the Pharisees refused to follow Jesus even though many in the religious sectors of society were following Him because they “loved the praise of men more than the praise of God”. (John 12:43) In this we find a very critical issue related to the operation of God’s people: you must appreciate your love for God greater than the praise of men.
The religious order of the day in Jerusalem (and, it appears, throughout all the land of Israel) was much more concerned with their reputation among the people, and particularly with their religious status, than with their relationship with God. Their positions within the synagogues and temple gave them a certain significance among the populace. They were highly revered and looked at as standing above the other facets of society. And they soaked in the admiration of the populace with a grand fervor.
Then came Jesus. His message of all mankind on equal ground before God undermined the praise they garnered for themselves. His proclamation that the sinner begging for forgiveness far surpassed the righteousness of the religious leader proudly proclaiming his thanks that he was so much better than that “sinner” over there, bordered on blasphemy in their opinion. How DARE He even compare them within the same sentence, let alone elevate this low-life above their position in relation to God?!!!
And yet, that is exactly what He did. Today the church has fallen into a calamity of similar (dare I say, the same?) attitudes. Professional clergy have taken the power of God unto themselves and stated clearly that they are endowed with certain clerical giftings held specifically for persons in their status within the Church.
I would like to point out a distinction in the way God presents operations within the church. So many who present themselves as having a license within the Church to proclaim the Truth of God’s Word have a certain air of superiority about themselves. I believe they are experiencing Pharaseeotosis, a very SERIOUS condition.
What is this condition, you may ask? Well, it is when a religious leader things more of themselves than they ought to. They feel that they are above condemnation and are above the “commoners”. An underlying phobia which may or may not accompany Pharaseeotosis is the fear of rejection, which in itself does not have a medical “phobia” name. It is a very similar fear experienced in those in professional ministry and politics.
Essentially the reason for such distress is the desire to remain in power: whatever position of power that may be. There are those who move into the professional ministry for the paycheck. I believe the only reason to move into professional ministry is a calling from God. Otherwise it is merely a profession to be pursued. But add a God-calling, and it becomes a life… not just a lifestyle.
Now, to the distinction in position made by God in His Word. The scripture which outlines ministry positions within the New Testament (New Covenant) is found in Ephesians 4:11-16. It specifically outlines the positions of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher and describes the reason for their existence within the Church. These positions are applied to provide a structure of learning within the Church in order to disciple each Christian in their walk with God. The determining scripture for this is Ephesians 4:12, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
This outlines two outcomes within the body of Christ that are to be pursued: the preparation of the believer for the work of the ministry (to operate within their calling of ministry, for all are called), and the edification of the body of Christ (to build up – strengthen – encourage). Essentially the responsibility is for these professional leaders to train the Believers in conducting their ministry and by doing so to develop the Body of Christ into a smoothly functioning, all united, empowered unit of proclaiming the gospel of Christ to the entire world.
Each member of “the Body” is to perform its
function. Each is to be exercised into
being that which it is called for. It is
to be instructed in its functionality, and the gifts it has been given to do so. The professional ministry is not the only
gifted or empowered. This is the
distinction. We all have a part of the
whole. We all have a mission to
accomplish. It is merely the
responsibility of those members of the body to assist in preparing, encouraging
and sending forth the others.
Part of the effacing of the Church over the past several decades has come at the hand of frightened professional ministers who have been silenced by the government’s scare tactics of removing the Church’s tax exempt status due to a heretofore unchallenged clause in the tax code. This began as a subtle attack on the Church through the lie propagated called the “separation of Church and State”.
This phrase, believed by a great number of Americans to be in the United States Constitution, comes from a letter from President Thomas Jefferson to a group of concerned members of the Danbury Baptist Association on January 1, 1802. As I like to point out that Scripture needs to be taken in context, let us see the entirety of the sentence in which President Jefferson addresses this issue:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.
Clearly, this sentence of the letter, which accounts for much of the entire writing, states that the full meaning of the First Amendment clauses regarding religion was to keep the government out of the Church, and not the other way around. The believers in this nation are to have the ability to fully exercise their religious conviction without suppressive interference from the government. In the rulings of the late forties through this moment in time, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has violated the very edict it was intended to preserve.
Prior to the SCOTUS ruling in the case of McCullum v. Board of Education Dist.71, 333 US 203 (1948), the precedent that had been established was that Christianity was the presiding religious practice of the nation, and instruction in Christian morals was well within the scope of its educational rights. In fact, in the case of HOLY TRINITY CHURCH v. U.S., 143 US 457, 12 S.Ct. 511, 36 L.Ed. 226 (February 29, 1892), the SCOTUS outlines the multiple efforts within America where Christian ministry is propagated and the fact that Christianity flows through every facet of its society. After pointing out these facts, the ruling states, “These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation.”
After the 1948 ruling declaring teaching of Christian morality in public schools to be a violation of the “separation of Church and State”, again noted not to be stated in the US Constitution at all, the Supreme Court then proceeded to set forth rulings declaring that Bible reading and prayer were also violations of such clause. The “separation of Church and State” IS NOT A CLAUSE IN THE CONSTITUTION!!!
And into the fray comes the professional clergy… silenced by a fear of rejection and the threat of the removal of their congregation’s tax exempt status. Rather than take up the banner against such tyranny, as their Forefathers of the Black Robe Regiment did (a group which I will deal more with soon), they cowered into their corners of power, hoping not to gain any attention on themselves that would cause them to lose favor in the eyes of society and their own congregants.
No wonder we have Christian American citizens that blindly believe they have no real voice in society. They have been made to believe that the projection of their faith is to be done only within the confines of their religious complexes on the weekends (and sometimes throughout the week).
According to Acts 5:29, “…Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.” These pilgrims into the realm of Christianity laid the framework upon the foundation of Jesus Christ to raise up the Church in following God’s plan, and proclaiming the truth of Christ, rather than succumbing to the pressures of a society gone awry.
This brings us to the 44th verse of John chapter twelve. The posts to come will review the remainder of chapter twelve and throughout chapter seventeen. Until then, may God richly bless you and yours, and provide within you the desire and strength to serve Him at all cost.
In His Service,
Rex Louth
Author, God
Shed His Grace On Thee (2013) Westbow Press
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