Desiring God’s Ways, Only
1/6/2008
Can we start by agreeing that it would be a rrrrreally bad idea to just make up our own “convenient” form of “christianity” and “church”—ignoring and disobeying things God said in the process? Bad idea, right? But, men with something personally to gain or lose do that very thing all the time! Bummer, eh?
To use one tidy little illustration, to show the gall of humans, let’s talk just for a moment about the “religious title” thing. To call men by religious titles—in the religious world of men—is nearly omnipresent and ubiquitous. Often they will even dress and enunciate in some way that will draw attention as to how “spiritual” they must be. You see it from where they “platform” themselves on “Sunday morning” and by whether they can be sat down at any time, because Jesus is Head, not them. (“When revelation comes to the second, let the first one sit down.”) How COULD it be that men are SO willing to “title” and “be titled”, as one ittle-bitty example of a Principle—when it is so blatantly disobedient to the Word of their Master and Maker, Jesus? How common is it? “Churches” by the tens of thousands dare to wear Jesus’ Name, and then totally defy Commands of Jesus Himself that forbid “titles.” It is so commonplace it is frightening. “Pastor So-and-so,” “Reverend So-and-so,” “Brother So-and-so,” “Elder So-and-so,” “Father So-and-so.” Wow. To rebel against His clear Command… is to rebel against Jesus’ Holiness, and His right to be King among us. All of Heaven is aghast at the gall.
The “topic” of the actual Command doesn’t even matter. It is WHO Commanded that matters. Whether the Command is “thou shalt not murder” or “thou shalt not call mere men by religious titles,” or “thou shalt not gossip” makes no difference. To rebel against what Jesus and the Scriptures say in plain language is to make oneself a god, and to reject Jesus Himself. “If you love Me, you will obey Me.” Jesus has strictly forbidden calling men by titles or elevating them on a holy platform, separating them in any way as a “special” religious man or woman. “If you love Me, you will obey Me.”
It should be the simplest matter on earth, then, to discontinue this “religious title” practice of men’s religions, whether roman catholic—or the protestant version of roman catholic practices. This is not only rebellion against Jesus, but yields terrible fruit. Everyone pays a huge price for this sin, whether those “titled” or everyone else not so “titled.” Other “religions” and organizations and governments do this “title” thing—and that is fine for any human organization or religion of men. The buddhists, muslims, hindus—pretty much all of man’s religions and superstitions have medicine men, most of them with “titles” in a special “class”—those who are allegedly “more knowledgeable” or “more dedicated” or “special.” But, as Jesus Himself said clearly, NOT SO WITH YOU. If we are His, we will cease and desist from such human and disobedient sorts of flesh-practices, as they are not His Heart.
Why would men desire and conspire to ignore or defy God’s Word on this, or any topic? Because pretty much all such “minor variations” are intentional, and facilitate building an alternate empire that makes some men rich and powerful on $13 million book signing bonuses and $50 million annual incomes. Meanwhile, most of God’s People are simultaneously robbed of their dignity and growth by relegating them to an unBiblical paradigm of “laity” instead of Priests. Those with genuine Gifts from God are often conned by the system and betrayed by their own pride and ambition to become “clergy”—and violate Jesus and His People in the process. There are many such matters of Importance to God which are brushed aside when men are attempting to fit God into a box of convenience, rather than offering their bodies as a living sacrifice. The Priorities with which Jesus lived IN His Father while here physically must be ours. The Tree which grew out of His Life here can and must also embrace His passion for obedience if we are to find and bring joy to Father’s heart. Anytime we despise, or ignore, or refuse what the BIBLE says on a topic, we will be revealed as nothing more than a teetering tower of rotting planks, built upon loose sand. The “house” may look pretty for a while, but it cannot stand the test of storms that “will come,” according to Jesus.
This willingness to disregard the Teachings of Jesus and the Scriptures by those who “do not hear the VOICE of the prophets who are read” is something we should tolerate amongst ourselves no longer. Whether regarding “titles” or “child rearing” or the nature of the Church in the Bible… or disFellowship and other topics—this willingness to allow ourselves to ignore God’s Truth must change if we desire to please Jesus and be part of what He is Doing. The penalty and high price for ignoring God and borrowing “the Philistines’ oxcart” has been too destructive to marriages and teens and families, and to the Testimony of Jesus that is almost entirely absent in the “churches” of this generation.