This might make some people angry, and some will agree.
THE IDOL OF A "BIG MINISTRY"
-by George Davis and Michael Clark.
Christendom today venerates one icon above all others. It is the most
deceitful, illusive and beloved idol known to religious man. While other
idols are more obvious and more readily cast off, this one object of
worship is often the last god to go. It is talked about on every
"Christian" television and radio broadcast and is the topic of an untold
number of "Christian" books. Many people spend their lives in undying
devotion, burning incense to it from the wee hours of the morning to the
late hours of the night. What is this idol that bewitches so many
well-meaning Christians today? Is it a statue of some Phoenician god set
up in a secret sanctum? No. It is more subtle than that. It is the god
of ministry.
Behind this idol is an even more beguiling and sinister object of
worship. As in the movie "The Wizard of Oz," if you pull back the
curtain behind the flash, fire, and smoke of a lot of "ministry" today,
you often discover a different culprit altogether. Cowering behind the
curtain called "My Ministry" is the self-exalting fraud of
self-interest. Much of what is done in the name of ministry today comes
from an inordinate romance with our own reputations, and resembles a PR
campaign, complete with regular mental polling to determine your
ratings. At the end of the day, success is determined by going down an
unseen checklist of all the people that can hurt or help your cause and
realizing that all of them have been placated. Yes, "nothing succeeds
like the appearance of success." (Christopher Lasch).
Jesus contrasted this idolatry to His own devotion to the Father. He
told the Pharisees, "I don't receive glory from men, but I know you,
that you don't have God's love in yourselves. I have come in my Father's
name, and you don't receive me. If another comes in his own name, you
will receive him. How can you believe, who receive glory from one
another, and you don't seek the glory that comes from the only God?"
(John 5:41-44) Let's ponder these words for a moment.
One predominate trait of this idolatry is expressed in Christ's words,
"If another comes in his own name, you will receive him." How often have
we seen this? Great crowds gather to hear and see men of renown who come in their own name, but he who is true, who seeks the honor of the One true God, and refuses to accept honor from men is not received. One of
the unwritten qualifications for this good ol' boys club is "You pat my
back and I'll pat yours."
How often do we see men in ministry coming in their own names? There is
Bobby ____ Ministries, Kenneth _____ Ministries, ________ and
Associates, _____ _____ University, ______ Bible Institute and so on.
Carnal man loves to have his name in lights. Carnal followers love to be
identified with big name personalities. Can you see John the Baptist
with a huge sign on the cliff above the Jordan that read, "John the
Baptist Ministries" or "Baptisms are us"? No, John did not come in his
own name. When messengers from the religious leaders in Jerusalem asked who he was, he simply answered, "I am the voice of one crying in the
wilderness." John did not come to lift himself up, but to make the path
straight for the only One who God wanted to glorify, the very Son of God.
Jesus told those Pharisees, "I don't receive glory from men. But I know
you . . ." There is little doubt what Christ is saying here. Because
these Pharisees did not have God's love IN them nor seek God's honor,
they did not truly worship God. Instead, they honored themselves. They
looked for honor from men and not the honor that comes from God alone.
Their religious cloak was only a ploy to gain power over the righteous.
Paul puts it this way, "But he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.
For (because) it isn't he who commends himself who is approved, but whom
the Lord commends" (2 Corinthians 10:17-18 emphasis added). Elsewhere he wrote, "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I
striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn't be
a servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10). It doesn't get any plainer than
this. If the favor of men is our focus, we cannot be the servants of
Christ. We are not true if we do not seek the glory that comes from God
alone. To receive glory in this life for the work of God is to miss
receiving it from Him in the next. He will say to us as we stand in
judgment, "I say unto you, you have had your reward."
When our sense of accountability is horizontal toward man rather than
vertical toward God, we cannot possibly be faithful to Christ. When we
look for praise from man, jealousy and unbelief creep in. Jesus said,
"How can you believe, who receive glory from one another?" Belief is
more than adhering to a system of doctrine; it is faithfulness to God's
leading and obedience to Him alone. You live what you really believe.
Man's Good Ol' Boy Networks
Unless a man is free from private ambition and free from the need for
man's approval, he cannot be a true servant to the people of God. Paul
wrote, "For being free from all, I have made myself bondman to all, that
I might gain the most possible." (1 Corinthians 9:19, Darby) You cannot
truly serve another and do what is best for them if you are fearful of
falling into their displeasure. This fear is what makes today's good ol'
boy networks work. In associations like these, the members are
constantly trying to make themselves look better and win the approval of
the power clique in hopes of moving up the ladder.
One ministry that is making great inroads on today's apostolic/prophetic
community has a single man at the top who instructs the other ministries
under his venue to cut off anyone who will not yield to their authority.
He and his ruling board also advocate removing pastors who will not come
under their power from their ministries. Having been raised in the
Catholic Church, I (Michael) see the same controlling, top-down
structure here in this Protestant group that I saw in my youth. The
proverb has once again been proven, "Like mother, like daughters" (see
Ezekiel 16:44-45).
This movement goes by different names, such as Third Day, Third Wave, or
New Apostolic Reformation, and is the religious equivalent of the New
World Order of the governments of the Beast system. These Third Day
ministries professes to think outside the box, but a closer analysis of
their structure reveals the same old box with a new look. The thing that
they will not touch is the hierarchical structure that has been in place
for the last 1700 years. If anything, what is coming is a greater
concentration of power to the few at the top. These elite few are taking
to themselves the titles of apostles and prophets. The thinking goes,
"If we just tack scriptural names and titles on what we have built in
the past, then God will bless it." Nothing has really changed. The
controlling spirit behind it is still the same.
The motive of the heart determines whether you are true or not in the
eyes of God. The current preoccupation with accountability in the church
is to insure that the ones at the top remain there. The ambitious who
are climbing toward the top use submission to get their piece of bread.
Solomon wrote: To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of
bread a man will transgress (Proverbs 28:21, NKJV). These people can be
bought and in fact have been. They sell themselves for promotion in the
eyes of honored men. As Jesus put it, "No one can serve two masters;
either he will hate the one and will love the other; or else he will
hold to the one, and despise the other" (Matthew 6:24). No wonder the
church is filled with apostasy these days.
Our Lord "made Himself of no reputation." He didn't come to win friends
and influence enemies or use soul power to build a large following.
Jesus did not render eyeservice and He was not a man-pleaser. His eyes
were trained on the Father and He did only the things He saw the Father
doing. Who was Jesus accountable to? Who did He honor? Who did He
receive honor from?
Choose the cross, dear saint, not the way that seems right to men but ends in death. Jesus is the Pattern Son. Follow Him alone. Then when you stand before Him you will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant," not "I say unto you, you have already had your reward."
: :smt023