One
Verse to cure them all, One Verse to find them
One
Verse to show them Man's Religion and from the Shadows guide them
One
Verse to bring them all, and in the Light unbind them
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as
in my presence BUT MUCH MORE IN MY
ABSENCE [my emphasis], work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12
There is enough in this
one verse of Scripture rightly understood to forever cure the church of the
unhealthy emphasis of the leadership/personality cult that has paralysed her
for centuries. In our day especially where
the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) has given the organised church a renewed
injection of leadership mania we need to pay very close attention to what an
original apostle no less wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Just when it seemed like the
church would at last be freed from its unscriptural one-pastor-one-congregation
dependence and begin to grow up IN CHRIST the NAR came along and started the whole
sick story all over again. But this time
it went on steroids and gave the "new apostles" an authority, truth
be told, that not even the original apostles had. The sad truth is that hardly anyone pays
enough attention to stand up and refute this deception.
Paul expected the
disciples in churches that he ministered in to understand the nature of the new
covenant:
·
Jesus
is Directly the Lord of every single disciple for He lives vitally within every
disciple (John 17:21, 23)
·
He
alone is our True Leader and Teacher (Matthew 23:8-10)
·
He
is the only Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4) and all true under-shepherds will turn
every disciple's focus on Him as far as they possibly can
·
He
teaches every disciple Directly by the inner anointing of the Spirit (1 John
2:27)
·
In
the ultimate sense we are only truly disciples of Jesus Himself not of any man (Matthew
28:19; Acts 20:29-30)
·
No
one may preach and promote himself in such a way as to attach disciples to
himself and his ministry instead of to Jesus and His inner ministry (the
essence of the New Covenant)
·
Every
disciple ultimately has to stand on his own feet with his own faith and bear
his own load (Galatians 6:5)
·
All
true leaders lead in the shadow of Jesus, they do not push Him into their
shadow!
·
We
should follow true leaders only "as they follow Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1),
that is with the exclusive purpose of strengthening our own relationship with
Jesus as we observe their relationship with Him.
·
All
true leaders attach disciples to Jesus, not to themselves (2 Corinthians 11:3)
·
We
are to follow the One Kingdom Vision (to bring everyone in subjection to Jesus)
of our true Lord and Saviour, not the multitudes of visions of earthly leaders
in their selfish ambition
·
All
disciples are to "grow up into Christ", not in attachment to an
earthly leader thus remaining immature and unfruitful
·
Every
disciple will one day stand before Jesus alone and give account of his own life
to the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:10)
·
Yes
it is true, leaders will also have to give an account of those whom they led
and discipled (Hebrews 13:17), but the issue for them will be whether they
pointed disciples to Jesus (not themselves), for a growing relationship with
Him Directly is the ONLY SAFE PLACE for human beings!
So why should disciples
pay attention to this with "fear and trembling"?
"For it is GOD [my emphasis] who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13
Let him who has ears hear,
discern and separate himself with urgency and haste from this pervasive
error. This is no inconsequential
peripheral matter. It goes to the heart
of the very new covenant and it has caused incalculable damage to the eternal
purpose of God in Christ for His church.
Even more seriously (if
that is possible), it exposes people to the terrible danger of false conversion
because they attach themselves to mere human leaders and in some cases they
unwittingly expect the leader's faith to sweep them into heaven as it
were. This is a most solemn warning to
everyone who is involved in this error and deception in whatever way.
Some have been caught up in
this and others are ignorant of its dangers.
Still others do not want to disturb the status quo and are perhaps too
fearful to swim against the tide. But
then there are those who know what they are doing and who actively promote this
false and unscriptural idea of leadership and discipleship. Whoever you are, my prayer is that you would
hear the voice of God today and that He would lead you out of any and every system,
church or movement that keeps disciples wittingly or unwittingly from a growing,
personal relationship with Jesus their only true Leader and Lord.
"Truly,
truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs
in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd
of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper
opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads
them out. When he has brought out all
his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his
voice." John 10:1-4
