Fire On Your Head

“Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:6-10, ESV)

After initially posting my first article on the verses 1-5 of the second chapter of John’s Gospel, where this account is found, I’ve since been reflecting on it and had some things pointed out to me by the same friend who inspired me to write that first post, showing me just how deeply prophetic this action of Christ’s at the wedding truly was.  We simply must reflect some more on it.

When the wine ran out people didn’t go on with the emotional hype as usual.  There was a lack.  There was a need, and Mary was honest about the spiritually poor condition (so to speak) of the fact that the gathering lacked wine.  She doesn’t continue on with the celebration as if nothing is wrong, nor does she make excuses concerning why the wine ran out or why enough may not have been prepared.  She realized the need and goes straight to the source–Jesus Christ, her earthly son.  This took a tremendous amount of confidence and humility of her to ask–because as we learned in the last post on this–providing the wine and any other thing was the groom’s responsibility and not that of any of the guests–of which Jesus was one.

When you come to Jesus with your need not hiding or covering anything up, be ready for Him to speak and do exactly what he says.  Follow His instructions.  He said to get the vessels and fill them with water.  HERE is where the lesson is…

What kind of vessels were they?  They were the ceremonial vessels used in the Jewish synagogue for ritual or ceremonial cleansing, and they were dry, and empty.  The vessels that were designed and used to wash iniquity and impurity lacked water, and thus were not fulfilling their purpose.  The Church and our pulpits today lack a true fresh right now Word from God, and because the pulpit is anorexic the Church is sick because there is no washing with the water of the Word.  The vessels designed to WASH or bring purification themselves lacked the pure water.

Fill your life with the word of God.  Devour the Bible in your personal life, not just for study, blogging or preaching, but just fill up on it.  Then out of that, you will fill your ministry with the Word and fresh revelation.

The wedding lacked wine, but the vessels designed to cleanse from sin lacked water.

When you get filled with the Word, there will be cleansing from sin, and revival can then break out.  But we often times want to go straight to the wine, but first you must ALWAYS be filled with the word, and cleansed.  How can there be joy if there is no cleansing or forgiveness?  How can there be washing or cleansing if there is no water in the very ministries designed to bring cleansing from impurity?  In this account, the vessels, the instruments–representing the ministry or the ministers designed for cleansing–were dry and empty.

Jesus instructed to fill them with water (or fill em with the Word) and draw out of that which it is filled with, and it had now turned into the fresh new thing.  This is what happens when we fill up on the Word of God–joy and anointing of the Holy Spirit will flow from our lives and be manifested.  This is Jesus’ “little secret” for bringing new wine or revival.  I use the term ‘little secret’ kinda loosely when I really mean to say ‘forgotten or neglected truth’ because it’s plain, but many still don’t seem to know it.

Jesus’ solution is that the vessels He desires to use–they can be people, or ministries, etc…be filled with the fresh revelation of the Word.  And only when you draw from that fresh filling–not with a pseudo-superficial emotional filling–but a real genuine soaking in the WORD, then what you draw out will be an aged matured product that produces fruit–fruit matured and pressed, that produces joy, the wine of the Holy Spirit.

Isn’t it interesting that there was no wine, but there was also no water where there should have been water–in the Church, in the pulpit.  Jesus’ first instructions were not immediately wine, it was filling [the Church] with water, or filling those vessels first.

Saving the Best Wine For Last

The master of the feast in this account remarked that the best wine had been saved for last.  I believe personally that this is a picture of the Church, that in the early form as documented in Acts chapter 2, there was an outpouring of the Spirit that birthed and sustained the Church, but that right before The Wedding of the Lamb, the best wine will have been poured out and the Church will have made herself ready.  Revelation 19:6-8 states how the great multitude is gathered and clothed in white linen representing the righteous acts of the saints.  There will be no possible way to be so clothed except for the power of the wine of the Holy Spirit poured out on a people cleansed and washed by the power of the Word of God.  Joel 2:28-32 gives us a glimpse of that:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.” For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”

This account details what those ‘last days’ will look like, however, Peter referenced that in Acts 2:17-21, but refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as being evidence of the last days already being up on us.  It’s been the last days already for almost 2000 years (see Are We Living in The Last Days?).  It’s probably little to no secret to any historian or student of Church history the Church started with an explosion, and then went into a significant spiritual dark age, and for the last few hundred years has been gradually having forgotten truths restored to it ever since the great Reformation.  We are getting nearer and nearer to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, subsequent to the return of Christ the Bridegroom.  He is and has been saving the best wine for last.

If Jesus is going to purify us to present us to Himself ready for that day, then that means in these last days the Lord is going to also confront us more and more because He loves us and longs to be with us.  The purpose of tribulation on the earth will not be specifically to yank His Bride from it to avoid that hour, but to prepare and further purify Her for the Wedding.  This is also how I read the book of Revelation–through the Apostle John’s perspective–the friend of the Bridegroom whom Jesus’ loved.  I read it through a Bridal Paradigm, and see the Bridegroom coming back in full force ready to finally obtain His Bride He longs for.

If we don’t get a good grasp of the dealings of the Lord now we will become offended at Him and His work when He comes with the water of His Word and begins to put us under the microscope and also allow us to go through intense persecution we’ve not previously known because He just wants to be with us, and have us prepared for it.

Are you ready for the fresh outpouring that’s breaking out and coming?

(This is a poem inspired by NT scholar F.F. Bruce’s description of the first Church in Jerusalem in the book of Acts. He dubbed them “the Spirit-possessed society.”)

I see a society, peppering the globe,

Through the lens of faith I’m permitted to probe,

Who are these ones, these fearless, ‘nothing-fobes’?

They rejoice like Paul, clinging like Job,

I see a society.

I see a society, tucked in each nation,

Fulfilled in them is the groan of creation,

They face lies with courage, with proclamations brazen,

Yet their dispositions are tender and patient,

I see a society.

I see a society, hungry & thirsty,

Looking for fresh bread & wine unearthly,

Plumbing the depths of the Scriptures with yearning,

Growing as trees with bottomless roots, sturdy,

I see a society.

I see a society, marked with reality,

Dissatisfied with programs and analogies,

Sick to the teeth of Hollywood’s melodies,

Plowing through cheap theology and hollow fallacies,

I see a society.

I see a society unowned by toys,

Refusing to live as little distracted boys,

Waiting in worship with priestly poise,

Hearing His voice, enwrapped in His joys,

I see a society.

I see a society, unwilling to engage,

In spiritual fads, whatever the craze,

They prefer the closet of prayer to the stage,

Preparing the way for the end of this age,

I see a society.

I see a society made up of meek souls,

Serving their neighbors with towels & bowls,

Perished ambitions to meet heavenly goals,

Israel & the nations transformed, made whole,

I see a society.

I see a society of pilgrims progressing,

Not to new ideas with emergent themes pressing,

But moving with fidelity through trial & testing,

To walk the ancient paths of true priestly blessing,

I see a society.

I see a society, turning from lust,

Turning from immorality with fervent disgust,

Turning from anxiety to radical trust,

Turning from stagnancy, lethargy, rust,

I see a society.

I see a society with Danielic hearts,

Living in Babylon, shielded from darts,

Faithful in prayer, building ramparts,

Holy fire burning in the inner-most parts,

I see a society.

I see a society lit with God’s light,

Fit to endure tribulation and plight,

Equipped to extend mercy in the darkest night,

Walking in weakness, seeing His might,

I see a society.

I see a society refined of its dross,

No longer jerked, pulled, pushed, moved, or tossed,

‘Round by the winds of the world, they’re embossed,

Branded and burdened to preach only the cross,

I see a society.

I see a society of sons and daughters,

Raising the dead, walking on waters,

Content just to be on the wheel of the Potter,

Not aching for platforms or titles, unbothered,

I see a society.

I see a society profoundly Christ-centered,

They’ve springs in the desert, flames in the winter,

Merciful souls, vessels of balm, menders,

Exemplifying another wisdom, fiercely tender,

I see a society.

I see a society, I see the Son,

His image shines forth, leaves dark powers stunned,

Their schemes undone, His glory has come,

Alongside the King, with horses we run.

I see a society.

I see a “Spirit-possessed society.”

The hour is late, saints. Shall we come into the reality He has called us to? The hour is late, indeed. Let us respond to Him without reservation.

Amen.

By Jerry Bolton

Recently on Facebook, I posted a video of Dr. John Piper responding to the question “How should Christian friends respond to a friend who has entered a homosexual relationship and moved to a church that accepts it?”. During the discussion that followed, I realized there’s something much deeper at stake, namely, “How should Christian friends respond to a friend who claims to know and follow Christ but has made a truce with their sin?“. Ultimately, “Holy Ostracism” isn’t about homosexuality in particular, it’s about any mode of sin that we might make habit and be unrepentant of.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 ESV
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people– not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler–not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

The answer? It depends on the person, and what they claim. In both cases, we love them.

If they don’t claim to be a Christian – to know and follow Jesus – we love them. In this case, loving them means that we (among other things) seek to propose (not impose) the Gospel; that God became Man, lived a perfect life, and was crucified by his enemies to save and deliver and redeem them… and arose again 3 days later to prove all of the above.

If they claim to be a Christian – to know and follow Jesus – we love them. In this case, loving them means that we do many things (worship together, “do life” together, bear each other’s burdens, serve Christ together, etc). It also means that, rather than sharing the Gospel with them, we hold them accountable to their claim OF it.

What does this accountability look like? Well, obviously, it’s rooted in relationship. If someone claims Christ and avoids his body (the Church), that’s a separate problem (equally grievous, but separate). So, assuming they’re in relationship with other believers – in this case, you – what does holding them accountable look like?

Simply, it looks like loving them enough to challenge them, question them, confront them, and rebuke them for their sin. Always gently, always in love, always with Truth (ie. the Word of God), always patiently and helpfully. It also looks like committing what Piper calls “holy ostracism” eventually.

Titus 3:10-11 ESV
As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Holy ostracism is something that, prayerfully, we do when someone refuses to deal with their sin (or acknowledge it as such despite the clear teaching of Scripture). It’s not something that happens overnight, it happens in response to a pattern of stubborn and selfish love for sin – a love for sin that eclipses love for Saviour and His Name & Glory. It looks like a severance of relationship because it is – it sounds like this: “We can’t be friends anymore until you either stop claiming to be a Christian, or repent and begin the process of making war with the sin you prize.”

Quite frankly, I have some friends who – because of the way they live – need to stop claiming they know and follow Jesus. They are hypocrites to the n’th degree and, much more than that, their “peace” and “truce” with their sin declares to the world that the Saviour doesn’t save. For this reason and others, “ostracism” is what scripture prescribes for that kind of circumstance.

Of course, I also have many other friends who claim to know and follow Jesus and their lives show it. Not in perfection, but in constantly moving forward and dealing with their sinfulness.

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 ESV
If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

If someone habitually and stubbornly refuses to deal with – for example – their pride (aka self-idolatry), they need to be held accountable and consider how, and IF, that is acceptable for a follower of Jesus. We present them with loving rebuke and correction – as brothers, not enemies – and if they consistently refuse to see the problem or to move forward against it, we break fellowship (and lovingly give them the ultimatum above). The rebuke is always loving, always geared toward restoration and reconciliation with God.

To refuse to help others in this way (I believe) weakens churches, weakens believers, and gives plenty of weight to outsiders’ charges of meaningful hypocrisy amongst Christians. There is nothing to be gained by refusing to break fellowship with the unrepentant, and much to be gained from “handing them over to Satan”.

1 Timothy 1:18-20 ESV
This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Obviously, one must be in a place in this person’s life to know about their habits and their patterns of living – this of course means that to be in a position to do ‘holy ostracism’, you must be in a place from which to ostracize. Of course, this is complicated by the way that things like Facebook and Twitter make friends who, in past ages, would have been more “stranger” and “acquaintance” than “friend” something much more. From the wonders of social networking, people’s lives are on display, and their attitudes and sinfulness with it. We don’t have to look far anymore to see “friends” who are pregnant (or have impregnated) outside of wedlock, or living with someone they’re not married to, or carrying on with a lifestyle of drunkenness and debauchery… all while claiming to be “Christian”. The trick with this is that although we might have the data, we don’t have the relationship and thus, holy ostracism’s goal (restoration to God) is unattainable in such loose contexts – not to mention we aren’t close enough to them to know if they’re dealing with their sin, repentant and putting themselves under spiritual discipline. It is this which leads me to believe that holy ostracism is something reserved for honest-to-goodness real life contexts where not only will it actually have meaning, but where its purpose can actually be worked out through the division of relationship. This hints at something at the heart – holy ostracism isn’t something done entirely for the sake of the person being ostracized. Why? Simply because holy ostracism isn’t always helpful for the person being ostracized. If it were, we could say that was the reason behind it. Really though, doing ‘holy ostracism’ is about God – it is always helpful for the name of Christ and for the collective integrity of those who claim His Name.

Matthew 18:15-17 ESV
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

We don’t cut off lightly, but we must do it when someone claims to follow Jesus but lives habitually in a “backslidden” state of habitually not battling the flesh, not battling pride, not battling selfishness, not battling their natural, sinful impulses. Believers are marked by war – against sin, against self, against the flesh, against pride, against lust, against everything that arrays itself against our God and Saviour. Those who claim to believe but live in contradiction need to be confronted with the witness their life gives and called to repentance – and if they refuse to agree with God and turn from their wicked ways – they need to either stop claiming to believe, or they need to be subjected to holy ostracism.

Jerry Bolton’s personal blog Resonance of Reforming can be found at http://www.jerrybolton.com

As I was trying to sleep I kept thinking about two topics: love, and church structure.   I wanted to write about what I understand the love of God to be–within the character of the believer; for we all know that God’s greatest definition of Love is that He made us for Himself and loved us so much that he sent Jesus here to earth to live and die an honoring life of sinless obedience to God and then pave the way to reconciling us with our Maker and Completer. The following could be looked at as an outline from Gods word about how the manifestation love is to have in us on top of the joys which come from knowing Christ :

In God’s word it says there are only four reasons to cut someone off from fellowship, these being:

“Sexual perversion, sexual Immorality, Godlessness, or that the relationship takes away from your faith in Christ as your savior.”

So the reason I write this is because over the last 3 years I have heard many preachings and doctrines about love.   But what I have heard is an exclusive explanation of love.   The requirements differ depending on the view point, but all have conditional love based on a set of social requirements; either intelligence, social grace, certain regulatory things–such as a way of devotion and expressing God–but limiting how that is done. I am not saying that these views are wrong, I just see them too much as falling into that rebuke Jesus made concerning loving only those who do good to you, which is what got me up in the middle of the night to write this. As I look through the word of God, I notice not only a guideline for exclusion of people based on the four above, but I also see a guideline for unconditional love spelled out for us plainly:

Love  “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;”
“Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up”
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”
The three quotes above are the KJV, NKJV and NIV versions of 1 Cor 13:4

Patient.  Gentle.  Kind.  Long suffering (patient endurance of pain or unhappiness, patiently bearing continual wrongs or trouble)
It goes on to say in the NIV:
“It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”
“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
The passage goes on to say that love never fails which I believe means that love is supposed to be so inclusive and unconditional and pure that the very nature and revelation of it never leaves someone lacking astonishment at its makeup, but not only this for it is this state of this character which is imperishable and of which heaven will be based, or as close to it as we can understand.

My point is this: if we are called to an inclusive love that does not create a distinction between the great and the weak but in which we have the great (understanding the nature of love) serving and building up the weak–and if this is the case and we are trying to build God’s church properly–then why do we posture like the world?   Is it the world making us feel that we have to have a cool front to be included or relevant, and if so should we really care?

I also wanted to add the verses Mathew 5:43 and Romans 12:9-21.  In these passages it etches more things that are done because of love.   They speak of equality within the dictates of love defined from 1 Cor 13:4 and relates almost as a command on how we should act towards people, and if we look at it as a whole picture it obviously speaks of a general well being with people.  This verse even instructs on how to avoid unnecessary conflict, and tells us guidelines just as the ones from 1 Cor 13:4 that should be used with all people and all brothers who do not fall outside of the guidelines listed at the top of the page.

I think the reason we fall short of this is self seeking, and self observation before Christ.  All people want to be on the “right” track and therefore compete against their siblings in Christ consciously or subconsciously, and this however leads to horrible judgments that only Christ should and can make. Judgment therefore is the finite tool I believe that draws us to make classes and form exclusive churches… for lets be honest with ourselves: a church which practices conditional love and has a class system–within a belief which is going to bring trouble to the newly born, as well as the aged–cannot sustain life, because it becomes a social system and is based of the popularity of the circle.   A lot of people in North America born into the church upon seeing these inconsistencies are going to revert back to their regular circles because the dynamic is not properly different and the popularity matrix of the group within the church system–no matter how fun–can’t compete with one where there is no condemnation from the world.  Even worse so if the church body the person is being born into bares condemnation for things that are based on conditional standards.

At another point in Scripture, there is a verse that says something along the lines of “I would rather be harmed and cheated then do wrong to another and cheat someone else”. I think we need to take the advice of Romans 12:16 and not be conceited for conceit is not just “Oh I am so much better than you”, but it can also be “Oh well I am more right than you, I am more this, my time is more valuable, if you are not this type then I cannot fellowship with you”.

This edged it’s way into my mind, because like a lot of the verses I pointed out in my note, or in others where it states we are to love our enemies, I think about how great a love we are called to.   For while men like the apostles (assumption here) and like the Martyr Stephen, when they were being pelted by rocks for their faith still had the compassion to not be offended and yet loved those who pelted them, those who rejected everything they believed in and wanted nothing more but to tear him(them) apart and end him, not believing he would pop up in resurrection life but excluding him from what they believed was the only life…

And what did he do (and Jesus for that matter)?  His heart was torn for them and yet still he loved them. I must admit this for years has sifted the perishing part of me, and called me to re-evaluate my heart whenever I think on it.

I will soon write on church structure and tithing, but I would encourage everyone who reads this to make the burdens of love light.  Not that you have to be everyone’s best friend, but a general good will and inclusive spirit into righteous things is a good thing I think.  To each his own though.

Few books have come into my hands in the last few years that have made me want to get other people to read it. When I read a few reviews online about this book by Dr. Stephen Crosby stating it would cause ‘uproar‘ and ‘explosion‘ in the modern charismatic and apostolic movements, I thought it was just melodramatic hype trying to sell the book. I was wrong, this book is very solid Scripturally, very powerful, very relevant in many circles I’m acquainted with, and just plain liberating to hear someone say what many people like me are thinking, but yet not writing off the ‘apostolic’ and throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I got my hands on it from a woman in my church fellowship who was searching for Biblical answers in the aftermath of our horrific church split this past August. She had stumbled across a chapter of this book online, it made an impact on her, and so she bought it. She and her husband bought boxes of it, in the hopes of being able to give a copy to every person, couple or family on both sides of our church split, since the very issues that precipitated that falling out were over apostleship, church structure, and church government. I had little desire to read it since I had to read a good half dozen like it in Bible school, but since it was being offered for free, and I appreciated that this couple wanted to sow this into all of us, I decided to give it a read.

Boy am I glad I did. It was refreshing.

Wherever you’re at in your local fellowship, or even opinions on the subject, this book will be a valuable study on what the Scriptures say, and the roles of the modern day ‘apostle’, ‘prophet’, and ‘elder’ within the modern Body of Christ, in contrast to what their intended roles are as stated in Scripture.

One thing I knew before going into this book is that despite what we’d all like to think about our own ideals of how we do should do church, and what our own denominational stances are–the Scriptures still don’t give a blueprint in the Bible on how church structure and government should be handled. We merely have principles to glean from. Yet, there seems to be no bigger cause of church splits than this very issue. I have to admit, that after the last 6 months I’ve grown sick of hearing the word apostle, but now I’ve been forced to admit–I’m just sick of the abuse of the concept, not the actual concept of apostles in the modern and local sense. I’m really just sick of controlling and manipulative false apostles passing themselves off as the real thing. Of course I see in Scripture the idea of modern apostles and prophets! I just don’t see much of what passes as those things in the contemporary church as actually genuinely being Biblical or what is demonstrated in the book of Acts or New Testament epistles.

It’s like in the Body of Christ, not just charismatics, we latch onto a concept, and it may actually be Biblical. In fact, we get an understanding restored that we’d been previously lacking or overlooking, and in the midst of seeking to restore something to Christianity, we fill the void with whatever comes along purporting to be that lost doctrine or idea. Such is what I think of modern day apostles and prophets. I’m not against them being for today, I’m just against most of the ones that call themselves those titles when they’re really not. We’ve filled the vacuum with substitutes in a desperate attempt to get those things back in their place in our church structure, and it’s caused untold damage in the process.

That being said, Crosby seems to have a lot of the same concerns as I do, but speaks with more authority, experience and insight than I have a right to speak from which makes me refer his book to you. I personally have heard for much my saved life, especially since being attached to charismatic circles, talk of making sure we have the correct form and then the blessings will fall and we’ll see revival break out–so long as we’re aligned properly to some ‘apostolic covering’. Of this, Crosby says early on in his book:

Inherent in the contingent blessing and recovered order mindset is a legal spirit of perfectionism and qualified grace: “If we just get things right enough, God will come through in greater measure than we have known.” In this premise, humanity’s obedience conditions God’s initiation. A dubious proposition, if true, that begs this question: How much obedience must we produce in order to release the blessing? How much has to be “in order” and aligned governmentally to qualify for the supposed release of the Spirit? If the blessing follows the alleged alignment, then we have merited it by our correctness of form. This thinking is idealism and perfectionism contrary to the spirit of Gospel grace. The truth is, none of us will ever be “right enough” in motive, spirit, expression, or form to merit God’s blessing. Our obedience is the fruit of God’s blessing, not the root of His blessing. Of course we need to pursue order and bring our churches in to order. We need His blessing in order to do so. We do not earn His blessing because we have accomplished it. (page 39)

Other things Crosby states and explains with extensive use of Scripture, is many of the concepts and examples used in the Bible for such forms of so-called apostolic leadership, are usually taken out of the Old Testament, of which we now have a BETTER covenant through Jesus Christ–one where all believers are a kingdom of priests, and not only some special anointed believers.

I particularly appreciated in the later chapters of the book, how the author empowers the reader to understand they don’t need special permission from their leader to step out in obedience to their calling. I’ve never had such extreme examples happen to me personally, but I’ve been in situations where people wouldn’t let me pray for a person needing deliverance because I wasn’t a pastor. I’ve had certain leadership in my life in the past who wanted me to seek their permission to make mundane daily decisions where I never understood why they felt the right to impose such authority over me. I’ve had someone suggest to me I have no business writing a blog or publishing a podcast because I’m laity (an unqualified nobody) and “who would listen to what I have to say if I had no clout or specific covering overseeing what I teach on it?” This opinion is oblivious to the fact I’m operating in my gifts, calling and skills, and that ‘audience’ doesn’t matter–obedience to Christ does.

So in closing so this isn’t so long you don’t bother to read the book, I was amazed to read a quote like the following in the latter portion of Authority, Accountability, and the Apostolic Movement:

Shocking as it may be to some, there is not a single New Testament verse that says the blood of Jesus covers us. Blood covering is a thoroughly Old Covenant concept; one that is temporary, not permanent. One of the most significant changes from the Old to New Covenant is what was only covered in the Old is washed, purged, cleansed and utterly removed in the New. Sin that is covered is sin that is still present. Jeopardy exists if the covering is removed. Sin that is washed has been removed. There is no jeopardy, no danger. The pitiable psychological and practical reality is that most Christians live like their sin is covered, not gone. They live their lives in the constant dread of being discovered as not being up to date on their sin, as if some of it was going to leak through the blood covering like ice cream on a dip-top cone on a summer day. They live in perpetual fear of sin leakage and the risk of the punishment it entails. (p. 136)

There is no greater jeopardy than to be confronted with ones sins before a holy God. If Christ has taken care of this dread, not by covering, but by washing, from what do believers need protection, and who on earth is going to provide it more than Christ has already done? Apostles? Hardly. (p.136)

I have no idea what to anticipate this book will do if read by certain people. It’s been out since 2006, but I can’t imagine very many so-called apostles are very happy about it. The best thing you could do with this book if you want to put it into the hands of some leaders, pastors and apostles, is to do so in a humble spirit and politely ingratiate yourself towards them. Crosby didn’t write this in a mean spirited or bitter attitude based on something in his past, so it would be a shame if people were turned off of this book by misunderstanding what it’s about or why you’re sharing it with them in the first place. But I think anyone in some form of leadership, or anybody who’s ever been burned by a church split, or by abusive leadership should read this book and pass it on.

Consider www.stevecrosby.com if you’d like to purchase a copy from the author’s site.  If you’d like to read a sample chapter of the book, click here.

Knowing exactly what authority is and what it is not, is absolutely critical in a world where we face it everyday. When a policeman flashes his lights behind you and tells you to pull over, by what basis does he have the authority to make you do what he says? When your child in the backseat orders you to stop at the supermarket to get ice cream, by what basis does the child not have sufficient authority over you so that you can continue driving on a clear conscience? Because people give us orders on a daily basis, it is essential to determine what our filter is by which we discern which authority is valid and demands obedience.

We live in a world where authority and submission are two very distorted terms and neither of them are very attractive words. We hate the thought of domineering authority, and we hate submitting to that authority. However one thing all humans have in common is that we desire to have authority over others. This paper will attempt to redefine these two terms from a biblical standpoint so that we can have a fresh and healthy understanding of what it means to submit and what it means to have authority and what it means to really be Christ-like in the area of leadership in the 21st century.

Authority Redefined: The second mile

Firstly we must look at what Jesus says on the issue. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 is a startling passage. One with demands on humanity that such a minute percentage of Christians actually adhere to. In verse 41 Jesus says “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” At first glance this seems to be simply a passage on generosity, which it is, however Jesus was specifically dealing with authority in this passage. The Roman rule over Israel of the 1st century was a very oppressive and dominating government. Craig Keener says in his commentary on the situation: “Because tax revenues did not cover all the Roman army’s needs, soldiers could requisition what they required. Romans could legally demand local inhabitants to provide forced labor if they wanted and were known to abuse this privilege.”

In the same way in Matthew 27:32 when Simon was forced by a Roman soldier to help carry the cross that crucified Christ, they could at any time force anyone into service by hypothetically making them walk a mile with them. Nothing was more hated or unjust in the eyes of Israel then their Roman oppressors and here Jesus seemed to be encouraging allegiance and submission to these brutal soldiers. “But wont it then look like we are helping our enemies fulfill their agenda?” such questions must have been circling through their minds. Instead Jesus commanded allegiance above and beyond what the oppressive Romans would ask of them!

Is Jesus actually teaching ultimate submission to all authority, even ungodly authority such as that of Rome? Surely not! That would be simply ridiculous and contrary to scripture elsewhere. What if the preaching of the gospel was outlawed, as it was later in the century? Surely in that case rebellion against authority is required. There must be another solution. Let us look at another passage from Matthew that seems to teach the exact opposite of such an idea.

Authority redefined: Christ Calls for Anarchy

In Matthew 23 Jesus utters probably the most profoundly offensive rebuke against a group of people than that of the entire New Testament. An entire chapter is devoted to this sharp judgment against the pharisaical religious authority system. In verse 8 he says: 
”But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your [Leader], and you are all brothers …Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. (NASB)”

What a radical thought! Essentially Jesus said “You are all brothers and you have no leadership authority over you except for me!” If taken literally, almost 100% of our current Christian congregations are disobeying this command! Let us attempt to see what Jesus was teaching about leadership by looking at another passage. Matthew 20:25-26 says “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you!” Here Jesus is issuing another painful attack on authority. The most honest interpretation of the passage (both from the words used and the grammatical structure of the Greek) is that Jesus is not only condemning the misuse of evil authority here but simply the act of “exercising authority over” people! So what is the answer? In Matthew 5 Jesus seems to demand recognition of all authority, and here he openly condemns the use of authority! Jesus provides the answer in the verse directly following his statement in Matthew chapter 20. It all has to do with our understanding of submission.

Redefining Submission: The Autocratic Slave

Jesus says in Matthew 20:27 referring to leadership “whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave” Here Jesus is directly equating authority with slavery. Those who have authority according to Jesus are those who are powerless to execute any authority on a human level. “Looking at the parables of Jesus, we have a window on the position of the slave in society. The slave owes his master exclusive and absolute obedience (Matt 8:9), for no one can serve two masters (Matt 6:24). His work sometimes earned neither profit nor praise, for he was only doing his duty (Luke 17:7-10).”

Slaves are those disgusted and despised individuals; those at the lowest place in society. If one word could describe this group of people it would be “submission”. Slaves submit; by definition they can do no other. So in equating authority with slavery, essentially Jesus is equating leadership with submission. They are the same in His eyes. It is a radical paradox. Do you want to lead someone? Submit to him. Do you want to exercise authority over someone? Be his slave. For according to Jesus we “are all brothers” and we have no leader but Him. Ephesians 5:21 says “ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Paul is teaching that we mustn’t simply submit to our leaders, but to “each other”. Submitting to “each other” means everyone submitting to everyone. That’s the gospel; being slaves to each other. There is no one in the body that we must submit to that isn’t submitting to us in return. There is no pyramid structure with a man or a group of men at the top. The gospel teaches that there is Christ on top and then a group of slaves on an equal level serving Him and serving each other.

Having understood this, the passages we discussed earlier make a lot more sense. Why should we obey an ungodly Roman soldier who demands us to go with him a mile? Because it’s an opportunity to submit to him and be his slave! What a great opportunity to show the love of Jesus and to be “first” in the eyes of the kingdom even though you are last in the eyes of the world.

Why according to Matthew 23 should we call no one a leader? Because there is no human being on earth who demands submission that in turn is not commanded to submit to you in return. Even the head of the biggest denomination or the president of the United States, is commanded to submit to his brothers and ultimately to us! It’s a level playing field.

Slavery: The answer to both Submission and authority

According to Jesus this difficult subject of submission and authority can be summed up with slavery to God and service to men. Let’s look at Jesus’ example. The ruler of the universe who has “all authority” (Matt 28:17) and “Upholds all things by the words of his power” (Heb 1:3) came to be the ultimate servant of humanity. Luke 22:27 says “who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” If Jesus came as a servant how can we, in our organizations and church structures claim to exercise authority over others in the name of Christ when Christ himself never did while he was on earth? Isn’t it odd that in the gospels there is not one example of the ruler of the universe exercising or lording His authority over another individual? Not even one example of Him making someone do something they don’t want to do from his own authority.

” if we look at the life of Jesus, we find a very different model of authority. No-one could deny his effectiveness – nor that he changed the world – but he never lorded it over anyone – or forced people to accept his teaching. In Jesus, people encountered the authority of a love that was prepared to give its life for them.”

We have transformed Jesus’ teaching into something it was never intended to be. What Jesus came to uproot and turn over in the gospels we have quickly “Christianised” and placed in our church structure. We have embraced the way the gentiles do leadership when Jesus said so strongly in Matthew 20 “Not so with you!” Look at our examples of church “leaders” in the New Testament, the apostle Paul being the most prominent. Did he lord his authority over his church or did he lay his life down as a slave for his flock? The latter is clearly the case. The man poured out his life through pain, suffering, persecution, manual labor, weeping in prayer, travailing in intercession. He was not their Lord; he was their slave. A leader in our current western church structures might demand such things from their followers, instead our New Testament examples are revealed as ultimate servants.

Application: Ultimate obedience and Necessary Rebellion

Through this teaching we can know which authorities to obey and recognize and which authorities to disregard and rebel against. In saying there is no authority except from God (Romans 13:1) or there is no Leadership but Christ, the New Testament is making a sweeping statement completely illegitimating all other worldly authorities claiming authority in themselves. We should look at worldly authority as an opportunity to be a servant and to lay your life down, however it may happen that the Lord commands you to do contrary to that which they command of you. Why is it that the apostles were called revolutionaries and rebels, accused of organizing nationwide rebellions and upturning cities? Because they recognized that there was no authority from God and that it is always necessary to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). We can discern when obedience is required and when disobedience is required, simply by being a slave. There is no authority valid on earth except for Christ’s; our responsibility is simply to be the servant of all.

When the government says you cannot pray in schools. We must react by not recognizing that authority as legitimate, and ask the question how can I best be a servant and slave in my school? As a slave to God and men, prayer is absolutely essential and so rebellion to that rule is necessary. When the government says do not preach the gospel. We must react by saying I do not recognize that as a legitimate authority on my life and in order to be the world’s servant I must disobey. When a policeman pulls you over, you can best be his slave by obeying. When your child asks for ice-cream, you can best be her servant or slave by disobeying her command knowing that it would spoil her appetite before dinner!

Conclusion

The answer to being the best leader in a congregational setting or any other setting is simply by being the ultimate slave. In the same way, being the ultimate follower of God and other human leaders has the same answer, ask yourself how you can best be their servant and slave. Submission means consistently putting others needs and benefit before your own. The moment you look at your needs as more important than others you have disqualified yourself from being a Christ-like leader or follower. If our congregations and church structures were to embrace this principle, we would see a people resembling the church Jesus came to redeem, and the Jesus people would truly begin to arise.

If you know how to pretend to be on fire for God in the presence of professing Christians, when you are, in fact, as cold as ice, you are a hypocrite.
If you spend more time praying, reading the Bible, Worshiping, etc… in church when others are watching, than you do in secret when only God is watching,YOU MIGHT BE A HYPOCRITE.
If you are more concerned about how you appear in the eyes of mortal men than how you appear in the eyes of The all-seeing God, you are a hypocrite.
Those who say there are a lot of hypocrites in “the Church” should consider two things.

1. Hypocrites are not TRUE Christians. They are only pretending to be. They go to Church services because it is part of their act. They are actors.
2. They are not really IN “The Church”, because they have never been born “from above”.
   They may be able to deceive everyone else, but they cannot fool God, and they are also aware that they are faking. If you pretend long enough you can get pretty good at it.

Judas Iscariot was a hypocrite. He could have been nominated as “best actor”. Even when Jesus told His disciples, “one of you will betray Me“, no one suspected Judas. When Jesus said to him, “what you do, do quickly”, the others thought he was going to give money to the poor. He was a good actor.

Are you a good actor?

The words of the resurrected Jesus to the church in Ephesus ought to hit home just as much in our generation as they did over 19 centuries ago:

“…you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.” (Rev. 2.2b-3)

In our day there is a proliferation of men “who call themselves apostles, and they are not…”

We have men trotting the globe in three-piece suits and private jets, 6 or 7-figure salaries and all the earthly esteem a man could covet. They have organizational oversight of several congregations. Some even boast that they are the apostles over hundreds of assemblies. They shine on full-color conference advertisements and are skilled proclaimers of the “successful life.” My heart aches with concern for some of these men, particularly the ones living extremely lavished lifestyles, maintaining massively marketed ministries, and thinking they are doing God a service. As the saintly old Leonard Ravenhill once remarked, “There’s a lot of public ministry ‘in that Day’ that’s going to go down in ashes, my brother.”

There are other brothers given the title of ‘apostle’ who are not guilty of some of the abuses I’ve written about here. Yet I fear that there is yet too much of a mixture in most of what is presently called ‘apostolic’ in the western world, to the extent that in most cases I remain respectfully unconvinced when introduced to the men who are bearing these titles. I do not doubt their sincerity. Yet mere sincerity or good intentions are not the qualifications of the men whom God is wanting to send. Have we been willing to do things His way? Have we really been jealous for His glory?

FOUNDATIONAL SERVANTS

There is something transcendent about the truly foundational servants the Lord is seeking in this last hour of history. They are not professionals, nor are their works the result of ingenuity, cleverness, or skill. They have been SHATTERED by a vision of the Most High, and have become like Jacob. They limp through life, knowing that they would not have become what they are but by the grace of an encounter with Him. They have an authority from another age. They have a compassion that is more than human sentiment. They have a faith that pierces the most disparaging and discouraging of situations. They have a joy that beams. They associate with the lowly. They have a fierce loyalty to the God of holiness. They abide in peace. They do not fear men.

They do not cease to pray. They have become, over time, men OF God. They are reverent and faithful stewards of the abiding life of Christ.

There is something presumptuous and vain about much of what is called “prophetic” and “apostolic” in our day. There is a self-appointed prematurity about many of the ministries who bear these titles. I fear for our lightness in these areas, especially in the charismatic realm (of which I’ve been a part for over a decade).

“…those who CALL THEMSELVES APOSTLES, and they are not…” (Rev. 2.2)
“Jezebel, who CALLS HERSELF a prophetess…” (Rev. 2.20)

We can be sure that as this age draws to a close, we will see an increase in signs and wonders, both true and false. We can also be sure that there will be an increase in those who are considered apostles and prophets. The question is vital then,

“Who are we to receive as apostles and prophets?”

We may run the risk of rejecting the true on the one hand, or receiving and endorsing the false on the other. I believe the Scriptures have given us a framework for wisdom in this area, and it behooves us to obtain a radical jealousy for the glory of God, that we might pray and believe for the emergence of the same kinds of servants that He Himself is wanting to raise up and send.

(I am assuming that those reading have already overcome the lie that apostles ceased to be in the first century.)

CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE APOSTLES IN PAUL’S LIFE AND TEACHING

1. A profound revelation of Jesus Christ, and an intimate walk with the Lord.

“For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
…God…was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him…” (Gal. 1.12, 15-16)
“…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…”

True apostles will be secure in a revelation of Jesus. They will be impart peace and righteousness. They will walk in joy. They will also be sober men. This will all result from the depth and intensity of their walk with the Lord. It will be deep and intimate, and it will rub off on those who they spend time with.

2. A spirit of humility and love towards all men.

“Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God…” (Tit. 1.1)
The False apostles “all seek after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 2. 21)
“…I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you…”
“I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls…” (2 Cor. 12.14-15, seg.)

Apostles will carry a meekness. They will not throw around their names or earthly influence. They will have a radical inward dependence upon the Lord, and will not be moved by the threats of opposers or the flattery of admirers. They will be servants in the reality of life among the saints. They will not be superstars or self-imposing figures. The fragrance of the crucified Lord will emanate from them.

3. Rejoicing in affliction and hardship as sacrificial servants.

“When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison…
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God…” (Acts 16.23a, 25)
“…rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation…” (Rom. 12.12a)

They will likely provoke opposition and persecution as the result of their living and preaching. They are conveyers of a Kingdom that runs completely against the grain of those whose lives they are addressing, and this will not be a ministry which is free from the ramifications and conflicts of the most ultimate kind of war. But they will not have a self-centered suffering complex. They will simply abide in the Lord and labor with Him, rejoicing even in the resulting sufferings, and teaching the churches to abide in joy in the midst of all trials. They will not be softies, whining and complaining when things don’t go their way.

4. Supernatural servants, engaged in prayer, seeing miracles.

“The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.” (2 Cor. 12.12)
“For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that…I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach the gospel…” (Rom. 15.18-20a)

They will be men of the Spirit. They will have a history in God, a fervent life of prayer, and the activity of Holy Spirit power will be evident in their labors. They will serve to release others into faith for a supernatural walk with God. They will not discourage the spirit of prophecy or other spiritual gifts. In fact, they will impart and help release them in the community. They will heal the sick and drive out demon spirits. They will be a presence in any locality they visit, pushing back the powers of darkness and introducing the Gospel of the Kingdom to all who encounter them.

5. They will be jealous for purity, holiness and the intimate knowledge of God.

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” (1 Cor. 15.33-34)
“…so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”
“For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.” (1 Thess. 3.13, 4.7)

They will be men of holiness, seperate from the wisdom of this world. They will despise the immorality of their age, and passionately love the presence of God and the inbreaking of His mercies and judgments. They will preach repentance and mercy. They will challenge the churches to walk in righteousness and freedom. They will despise anything that does not issue from the life of God, whether it be an immoral issue or a religious doctrine or expression that is devoid of the power of God’s truth and love. They will breathe holiness, and impart the sense of God among the saints.

6. They will have lives and ministries that are formed through a communal experience of reality.

“and all those who had believed were together…”
“Now there were at Antioch…prophets and teachers…ministering to the Lord and fasting…” (Acts 2.44, 13)

They will not be loners or self-appointed leaders. They will have experienced life amidst a group of saints who know their faults and still love them. They will be raised up out of a true church experience- life together, in a setting that’s intimate enough for the confession of sin, personal encouragement, personal confrontation, and all the dynamics that come as we give ourselves to the Lord alongside other believers. They will be real men, not performers. They will delight in the fellowship of the saints, and will pursue the formation of healthy relatedness for the churches in which they labor. When they are appointed and sent, it will be by the Spirit of God, through a company of souls who know the Lord and who know them. They will never become relationally inert.

7. They will possess a burning consciousness of the mystery of Israel and the end of the age.

“I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers;”
“…I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.” (Acts 26.6; 28.20)
“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uniformed of this mystery- so that you will not be wise in your own estimation- that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in…” (Rom. 11.25)

They will not have an immature view towards Israel or the end of the age. They will not be ignorant of these realities, nor will they merely be educated or caught up in sentimental issues pertaining to Israel. They will have revelation of the nature of God’s dealings with Israel [and thus mankind], and will be conscious of the words of the prophets pertaining to the end of the age. They will carry a fervent spirit of prayer, a burden and love for the people of Israel. They will have a jealousy for these foundations to be implemented in the heart of the Church. They will walk in a consciousness of coming judgment, inwardly aware of the redemption that will overtake the earth “in that day.” They will see their own labors as connected to that final revelation of Jesus.

8. Intensely involved in the preaching of the Gospel- to Jew and “Greek”.

“…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” (1 Cor. 9.16)
“I am eager to preach the gospel…For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1.15, 16)

They will have an especial grace to invade localities with the Gospel, both in message and demonstration. Things will change where they preach. There will be an upsetting of “things as usual.” Atmospheres will shift. There will likely be opposition, but there will be great salvation simultaneously released. They will carry this burden and preach out of it- from the Synagogue to the Streets. Wherever souls are found in darkness, there they will be “eager to preach.” They will preach “Christ, and Him crucified.”

9. A radical concern for the churches- their family lives, and their doctrine.

“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy;”
“But I am afraid that…your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Cor. 11.2-3)
“Wives, be subject…Husbands, love…Children, be obedient…” (Eph. 5, Col. 3)
“Speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.” (Tit. 2.1)
“…in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified…” (Tit. 2.7)

They will not be concerned for raising up impressive ministries. They will have a radical jealousy for the glory of God in the churches. They will not settle for all kinds of compromises or low views of God in the lives of the saints. They will pray and intercede for a fuller revelation of God to come to His Church. True apostles are seeking something holy. They are pursuing the revelation of God to His people. They are not satisfied with anything other than the fullness. Families saved and transformed. Lives made whole and complete in the Spirit of the Kingdom. They will labor for this. They long to see truth, righteousness, and joy released upon the earth. They will not be at peace with marital disorder, bad doctrine, compromise, lovelessness, divisions, laziness or any such thing in the lives of the saints. In a fatherly way, and to the degree that they have time and grace for it, they will see to the death of all that opposes the increase of the intimate knowledge of Christ in the Church.

True apostles are being formed even as we speak. They are learning how to abide in the Lord in the secular work place, in unheralded ministries, in the raising of their children, or in other ways. They are learning to love fellow believers, and even enemies. They are being tried in ways that no mere Bible school could provide. They are searching the Scriptures. They are on the wheel of the great Potter. True apostles are being formed. And so is an apostolic church that will reveal God, even to the point of death. What about you, dear friend? Are you allowing the Potter to mold you, or have you removed yourself from His wheel? You can trust Him. You can give your life to Him afresh. There is nothing greater than being one with Him.

This is not meant to be a complete statement. But I believe that we can be assured that the men who call themselves apostles, and have not these qualities, can justifiably be questioned. Let’s not be duped by the false. Let’s give ourselves completely to the Lord, and cry out for the raising up of these servants! Let us cry out for the emergence of a church of this kind. The Lord is jealous for His glory. He is jealous for us, friends.

Father, release Your Spirit upon us. Raise up the foundational servants You have always desired. Demonstrate Your wisdom to the powers of darkness. For Your Name’s sake, for the salvation of Israel, and for the transformation of the nations. Amen.

I’ve been thinking recently ever since my time in Pensacola, FL of an analogy that has stuck with me ever since seeing something while there.

For those of you who don’t me know–or at least not well–I am all about practical jokes. In fact, on a weekly basis one or two of my roommates were the victim of some kind of funny prank on my part, and usually with my third roommate’s collaboration when we all lived together during my second year at FIRE School of Ministry. That easily was my funnest living arrangement or at least the house was the best house I’ve lived in.

We did it all–put pennies on Arian’s ceiling fan so when he turned on his light they shot everywhere like bullets; we put all of our alarm clocks in Jeff’s room and set them 20 minutes apart beginning at 3:30 am. You name it. I regret very little of them since they went over usually well and to the best of my knowledge I never crossed any lines or hurt anyone’s feelings.

Anyway, these two roommates and I once went away with a classmate for the weekend, and he took us to a practical joke store in his hometown of Atlanta. I bought gum that gives the victim gas; gum that turns a person’s mouth blue; and this powder–which was my favorite. It was some kind of polymer (plastic) that if you put it into someone’s drink–coffee, water, juice, soda-–you name it–it would solidify it in a matter of seconds. But here’s the catch–you had to make sure the prank victim didn’t try to drink it after that (which would be hard because it was solidified). With the added ingredient, the polymer had made the liquid undrinkable. The warning in the instructions actually used the word poisonous.

One time I put it in my roommate’s water and he went to drink it and this solid almost jello-like blob fell out of his mug. I put some in a guy’s sweet tea at our cell group one night, and after a long time he finally announced out loud when he discovered it that “there’s something wrong with this sweet tea!” This went over great every time.

As simple of an illustration as this is to me, it is profound. You see, this plastic added an ingredient that ‘preserved’ the drink in its original form and would make it unable to be contaminated or go bad, but rendered it undrinkable. At the expense of preserving it permanently was the inability to do with the liquid what it was intended for–to drink. It made it no longer fresh. Yet in the Church, we add all sorts of ingredients to our spiritual lives that render the true refreshing of the Holy Spirit undrinkable for others and even ourselves.

“Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3b)

Like so many movements in church history, God was doing something, but when something was added to it by men, it no longer flowed or was drinkable. And by and large we’ve been content with our unnatural preservatives.  Sometimes moves of God naturally waned and reached their usefulness, but men whose livelihoods or jobs depended on the move of God sought to preserve them out of their own selfish gain or survival or both.

To make this more applicable–take some groceries I’ve bought while overseas in other countries–especially Holland. I noticed that the expiration date on many products, but particularly dairy-is sooner than the expiration date on products I’d buy in North America. Why? The lack of preservatives. They may cause the product to last longer, but it lowers its quality and is in fact less healthy. Such is what I’m talking about on a spiritual level.

For example, somewhere along the line we added the ingredient to the Church that it’s OK not to have faith for big things, therefore we don’t see them and then find ways of explaining away the Bible passages that do talk about them–”the age of miracles are past” many say. “Sound doctrine” became more important than actually doing something with our doctrine. Even though the ‘proper faith’ that is commonly taught doesn’t actually heal any sick or produce any tangible results.

I once talked on MSN with someone who described to me a discussion that happened in one of his classes in Bible school that week and it prompted him to observe the real reason Christians spend so much time arguing with others about why NOT to believe for miraculous or explaining away the gifts of the Spirit, is that we don’t want to admit it is doubt and unbelief that causes us to form these doctrines. We don’t want to admit that many of our doctrines are the fruit of our failures.

Somewhere along the way, we became happy with institution (I’ve heard the term “the impotency of institution”) where we’re more preoccupied with the programs, the institutionalisms and the denominationalisms–which are a form of self-preservation contrary to the death to self that comes in the cross of Christ-–and neglected the organism of what a Body of believers is supposed to be by definition. Somewhere along the way, the poison of self-righteous religiousness was added, and sucked the life out of what is supposed to be Christianity. Not all are bound by this poisonous religion. But it has more pull in the Church as a whole than we’re willing to admit.

There’s lots of undrinkable elements to the body of Christ currently, and you can think of your own if you’d like to meditate on this further. Like sacred cows, “undrinkable elements” of Christianity include–if you notice it in your own thinking or just in “acceptable Christianity”-–things that are commonly accepted as correct doctrines or practices, but yet do absolutely nobody any good whatsoever if you put it into practice.

If the dying world around us were to need our water, would they be able to drink it?

I am just finishing up a new biography on one of the most beloved prophet-hearted teachers in American history. It’s entitled A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A.W. Tozer, and it’s written by Lyle Dorsett. I have long loved Tozer’s writings and messages. For over a decade I’ve relished in his insights and fed off of his knowledge of God, and the intensity of his worshipping heart. I’ve read some of the other bio’s on A.W., but this biography is a real gem, and I’m commending it to all of the pastors and laborers in our fellowship here in Kansas City.

It tells of his formation as a man of prayer and incessant worship. It tells of the trials he endured and the stretchings he experienced. It inspires us to forsake a vain pursuit of ministry-breadth, and calls us back to the pursuit of depth in the secret place. Tozer’s relentless longing for the presence and person of God grabs us by the collar of our professional or subjective ideas on ministry, and plops us down in the dust on the backside of the desert. Before long we see the glow of the bush again, and remember why and how we ever put our sandals back on and proceeded to face the people.

I am jolted again. This man labored for 4-plus decades- contending for the faith, reaching out to souls in darkness, setting aright faddish movements and faulty doctrines. Most of all, every soul that was remotely close to A.W. Tozer knew that there were at least 5 hours a day where he was intently removed from all contact with anyone other that the God of Majesty. He knew what it was to behold the uncreated One, to love Him, to listen to Him, to gaze upon Him with delightful and sometimes awe-full attentiveness. He didn’t need adrenalin, entertainment, or programmatic pick-me-ups to bear up his walk with the Lord. He had what Moses had…what David had…what the prophets had…what Paul had. He had a singleness of heart in pursuit after the God of Israel, and he was not willing for anything to stand in the way of that impassioned vision.

I wonder how far we have fallen from this kind of Davidic intensity.

Still, there is another stinging thing in the story of A.W. Tozer. Many believers who have been profoundly affected by his teachings are unaware of the manner of his life at home, and even the manner of his death. He died in a Canadian hospital room in the year of 1963. He was all by himself. He was alone in his death as he was in his life.

One of his colleagues noted that one of the last remarks he ever heard Tozer make was this:

“I have had a lonely life.”

The young revivalist may read this and unleash a heroic cry: “Yes! This is the price that every true man of God pays. You cannot follow the Lord and make friends with every one around you.”

Indeed, this is true. When we cling to the Lord in this life, there will be great opposition and trial. But mere loneliness is not a sign of prophetism, and isolation from family and friends is not necessarily a hallmark of an eternity-centered life. We were created for community.

As Gordon Fee points out, the idea of salvation in the mind of Paul was never primarily a thought toward whether an individual person would be able to make it to heaven or not. Salvation, in the hebraic mind of the early apostles, was a picture of God’s Kingdom breaking into a society and wrenching loose a group of souls from the spirit of this age, that they might be formed and fashioned together by the power of the Spirit into a Body that expresses the very nature of Christ. In other words, we need Christ (!), but we are not likely to experience Him fully if we don’t also experience Him through our experiences in family life and church life.

Life is a fragile thing. “Man is but a mere breath,” the psalmist declares (Psm. 144.4a). I wept on numerous occasions in the reading of Tozer’s biography. For the first time I saw areas of his life that I had never seen before. Gaping holes. Perhaps he was oblivious to them. Perhaps his engagement with ministry travels, reading, writing, preaching, and the remarkable amount of time he spent in “speechless adoration” of Christ filled his plate to the extent that he was incapable of figuring in other necessary Kingdom responsibilities and privileges.

The most heart-wrenching of these blind-spots was his inability, over the course of 40-plus years, to connect relationally with his wife Ada and their 7 children. He also struggled with connecting relationally to the vast majority of the saints who were under his care for all of those decades. They say that he and Ada never fought or argued (as best as we know), nor was there ever a known issue of infidelity or abuse. There was simply this radical, unexplainable inability to relate with his wife and kids to the extent that he would be a presence in their lives. He would be drawn to them as long as they were babies, but when it got past that, he struggled to father them. The story goes that his father was a hardworking farm-man who was quite non-relational himself. I would assume that this passed to his sons and daughters, and it certainly seems that way with A.W.

When Tozer died, though Ada had scarcely (if ever) complained about their distant relationship, she made several things clear. Both she and the children (all adults by the time of his death) were in agreement that they knew very little about this man whose teachings and writings have sent waves of revelation through many hungry hearts. This, to me, is a tragedy of tragedies.

It is not enough to say that “a prophet is not without honor except in his own town.” (Mt. 13.57) Too long have preachers been presumptuously putting themselves in the sandals of Jesus, and blaming the unhealthy condition of their families on the requirements of ministry. We are not Jesus, friends.

Most of us have spouses. Most of us have children. What shall they declare at our funerals? What will our children leave with when they move on into adulthood?

I was told that after A.W. died, Ada was asked if she missed him. She had been re-married by this time. Her reply was tragic to me. She said something like this: “A.W. was God’s man, but my new husband is my man.” Oh, that it would not be said of us! May we be wholly given to Him, and to those whom He has given us.

Ironically, a few weeks ago I had just picked up this Tozer bio, and was really getting into it. The kids were playing outside so I decided to sit on the patio in my chair. The plan was to get into the bio (I have a thing for books, in case you didn’t know) while being close enough to supervise the children. As I was reflecting on the fact that Tozer’s children barely knew him, I was looking at his face on the front of the book. Just then, my son Simeon said,

“Daddy, will you play ball with me?”

There was a trembling that went through my soul, and it was as if Tozer was bellowing from the heavens, “Bryan! Don’t look at him the way I looked at mine. Look him in the eye. He is a little boy with a soul, and with his own thoughts, and he is sensitive to you. His heart is beating for you to father him. He is awaiting you, and he will never forget your response to him in this moment. There is a vast difference between ’supervision’ and fathering.”

I set the book down, and played catch with my son.

I do tremble, friends. I tremble at the busyness of our American ways. I tremble at the awesome responsibility and privilege of raising these boys and girls. I weep over the fact that it is so easy for us to be engaged in ourselves- even religiously- to the neglect of our spouses, or children, or congregation members, or unbelieving neighbors.

As I was praying into this some days later, I had a strong word of Fatherly caution from the Lord:

“You’ve got one shot at this, son.”

18 or 20 years is all we have with our children. What shall they take from us? Will they feel like it was a mere obligation for us to feed them and care for them? Will they feel like we really didn’t want them around? Will they feel like all of our talk about the nature of God was mere flourish or rhetoric? Will they feel that they are valued and cherished? Will they have been fathered? mothered? Or just raised? I believe that God desires to give us wisdom and love enough to be a literal representation of Himself in the home. We will certainly miss the mark here and there, but He will enable us to actively engage them with a whole heart. To hear them, for real. To speak into them, for real. To love them, for real. That’s fathering and mothering, and it’s an awesome privilege available to us all.

“One shot…”

The great revivalist Leonard Ravenhill, who was in many ways mentored by Tozer, used to say that you can’t catch up your prayer life when you get to the judgment seat of Christ. I certainly agree, and he was a man to back up his talk with a real value for prayer and intercession.

I’d like to acknowledge another cut in this fine diamond of discipleship. We can’t catch up our parenting, or the way we treated our spouses, or the depth of our humility toward others at the judgment seat either. We have one shot, saints. It will be a journey, and we will all trip up and fall in one way or another along the way. But abandoning ship is not an option. We’ve got to face our spouses, face our children, face our congregations, knowing that we’ve got “one shot” with all of them.

Whitefield said to speak every time as if it were our last, and “compel them to cry, ‘Behold, how He loves us.’”

I want to burn with a passion for God like Tozer did. I want to know the long seasons of adoration, awe, and intercession. I want to stand as a pillar in the household of faith. I want to exalt Christ and cling to the cross, fixing my eyes on Him while the latest fads rise and fall.

I also want to love and tremble toward those who are closest and most familiar to me. We all have those who are most familiar…spouses, children, parents, neighbors, fellow believers. I want to see a generation of preachers raised up who are aware of the mercies of God, are immersed in His love, and who walk with a “one shot” consciousness. They look at each person with a radical value, a Spirit-dependent outlook. They make priority for prayer and scripture as Tozer did, while stretching out the tent of time and relationship for those whom the Lord has given them.

Every occasion is another “shot.” Every conversation with the wife…”one shot.” Every seemingly irrelevant question from a child…”one shot.” Every interaction with an unbeliever…”one shot.” Every time of secret prayer and scripture reading…”one shot.” Every opportunity to father our sons and daughters…”one shot.” The self-absorbed are distracted, double-minded and cowardly. But the true servant of the Lord sees the “one shot” and takes it, while others are passing by as the proverbial stranger in a rush-hour traffic jam. May our eyes be opened to see that every occasion is another shot at learning and dispensing the very love of Christ.

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children. – Psalm 90.12, 16