Dear Bill

Chapter twelve

I repeat, there are three, only three, requirements for successful christianity…. 1) abide in Christ, 2) submit to the Holy Spirit, 3) sign the bible.

Why are these three vitals ignored by local pastors and celebrities? There are no nice answers.

First, pulpit-people do not themselves abide in Christ primarily – Jesus is less than “first love”. (Their speech affirms this.) And second, pulpit-people are not themselves governed by the Holy Spirit. (Their perpetual repetition affirms this.) And third, pulpit-people long ago gave themselves over to the way it is. (Their obedience to “tradition[s] of men” affirms this.)

In my third book, “The Way It Is”, I tried to remove the veil between (so called) laity and (so called) ministerial. I suppose my perspective is quite different than yours, my precious brother-in-Christ. And not yours only but possibly every person in your bubble of contemporaries.

But being minority, even tiny minority, doesn’t make me wrong, no more than super majority makes you right. The bible is right. While you have the numbers, I have the bible. While you have generations of evangelicals in your corner, I have the bible in mine.

I am going to assume you have “ears to hear”. Surely someone as influential as you must want to be certain you comprehend the condition of Christ’s church. (Paul: “What comes upon me daily; my deep concern for all the churches.”)

A quote from “The Way It Is” about a fictional pastor of a fictional church….

‘Pastor’ John is a man of divided loyalties. He is a product of both the Holy Spirit and the word of God which he has studied more than most AND the denomination that schooled, trained and certified him.

It was his proven willingness to cooperate that procured him the position of pastor of Bread of Life Assembly, and he is determined to prove himself faithful to those above him. There is much pressure on John to conform to That’s Just the Way It Is!, and to lead others into conformity. Like the plumber and doctor in the congregation, he needs that paycheck to feed his wife and kids. And like the plumber and doctor he has no desire to change his occupation.

John has his eye on a larger congregation. The bigger the church, the better the pay and benefits. He wants to be a good provider for his growing family, and there’s retirement to think about. But the competition is heavy; he must prove himself responsible to those higher in rank or his chances of advancement will decrease.

‘Pastor’ John is a connecting door between two spiritual spheres, one being the denomination that endorsed him, the other the assembly he serves. Whereas the ‘laity’ lives in one world, John lives in two. From the one he is sent, to the other he has arrived. The one has trained him, the other is his ministry. The one has his loyalty, the other his energy. He listens to one, he speaks to the other. His peers and friends live in one sphere, his followers in the other. The perspective he receives from one he passes on to the other.

John’s ‘ministerial’ realm is exclusive to fellow ‘ministers’ and the people John serves. Most in the ‘laity’ do not know how the denomination operates – its bylaws and governing process. People will never meet those who make decisions that, through ‘Pastor’ John, affect their lives. There is a wide gap between the two spiritual worlds, bridged only by ‘Pastor’ John.

‘Pastor’ John is five feet, eight inches tall (about average). If, spiritually speaking, he were five eight, he would be much taller, about six foot six, in the sight of the congregation. And growing.

Every time he ministers behind the pulpit, he increases in their estimation. He becomes wiser, more discerning, more anointed, more favoured. Bigger, increasingly bigger. Such is the power of the pulpit. To the wife he is bigger than husband; to the children dad and mom are comparatively spiritual midgets.

On Sunday morning ‘Pastor’ John steps to the pulpit. This is his hour. He is meticulously attired in his suit-and-tie uniform, hair recently trimmed, shoes polished. He has been trained for this hour, he has had much practice, he has prayed, he is ready to go.

John breaks his sermon into three easy-to-remember points. He raises and lowers his voice and inserts a few jokes to keep monotony from setting in. He is an impressive, authoritative figure. He is practised, poised, professional. Preaching over, he has grown in stature in the sight of his listeners.

And the people have imperceptibly shrunk in their own valuation. As John becomes bigger, they become smaller – less wise, less anointed, less valued. And more subservient to this man who obviously has a special position in God. John does not often preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” He speaks of principles and keys and responsibilities and being good enough. But rarely Jesus.

John has taken various courses in psychology that will help obtain promotions within the sphere of the way it is which provides his livelihood. Since there is a mixture in John’s heart, there is a mixture in his message. And since there is a blend in his preaching/teaching, there is a mixture in the hearts of the assembly. The Jesus he presents to Bread of Life is not New Testament Jesus, not the miracle-working Jesus, not Christ the healer. Whereas Paul’s preaching was not “with persuasive words” or “excellence of speech”, but “in demonstration of the Spirit and in power”, John’s preaching is void of power but dependent on “excellence of speech”.

The preaching is different because the men are different because their relationship with Christ is different. Paul was a bondservant of Christ, John a man of divided loyalties, trying to serve both Christ and the way it is.

John is not less spiritual than most, perhaps even more so. He didn’t create the way it is; he is, in part, its product. He is a victim of victims. He is in bondage to those in bondage. When he stands before Christ at the judgement seat he will have an assortment of “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw”, just like the rest of us.

I know of some who sit in the office of pastor who have a passion for Christ that is far above my own. But the point is, ‘Pastor’ Whoever should not be idolized. Pastor-worship is sin. Though the way it is has made him to appear to be something he is not, the Word teaches that he is simply a brother, spiritually taller than some, shorter than others. He is not ‘Reverend’. He is not your pastor.

If this book were addressed to christian catholics, I would tell them they must refute man-worship – the priest, bishop, cardinal, pope. I would tell them there is a reverence that is good in God’s sight, a reverence for each other on the basis of who we are in Christ. And I would tell them there is a reverence that is un-sanctified, one that lifts one brother above another, based on position established by the way it is.

I would tell them we are all priests unto God, and God did not appoint someone to make sacrifices on our behalf. There is one High Priest, and under Him we are all equal. There is no ‘clergy’; there is no ‘laity’. And you, looking in from the outside, can see clearly that such homage to man is sin. How much easier it is to see the flaws of other faiths.

Do not make the same mistake. Your bible teaches that partiality is sin. Allegiance to non-biblical traditions is disloyalty to Jesus Christ. Do not let your heart be a mixture, a blending of the way it is and the Word of God. Commit yourself to the bible, God’s lone authoritative Word, and to the lordship of the “Spirit of truth”.

The evangelical ministerial is not a holy thing, though most assume somewhere in the fuzzy, mysterious background of evangelicalism there must be an approving Jesus.

Lord Jesus, “head of the church” – His church –, does not want us considering a work that is of the flesh to be His work. (Paul: “I do not want you to be ignorant.”)

Question: How can we be certain the evangelical way isn’t God’s way? Answer: Read the bible.

I have more to say about evangelical pastors in general. Why? Because I, too, “do not want you to be ignorant”. And neither does Lord Jesus. So please bear with me….

I wrote a series of short articles entitled, Dear Pastor Whoever which I post weekly on social media. I share a few of these with you…

Dear Pastor Whoever….

You and Father Whoever down the street have more in common than one might think. Both of you are intermediators between a complex religious hierarchy and your congregation. Both are titled. Both are wage earners. Both are tethered to the religion that endorsed you and placed you behind concurrent pulpits. And sadly….

Sadly, your loyalty to God’s Word is wanting. Neither one of you can sign the last page of your Bible as a declaration before Lord Jesus that you will obey His Bible (as you progressively understand it). It’s so easy for all to see that should Father Whoever make and keep such a solemn vow he would soon be unemployed. Life-as-is would be no more. He may be forced to learn a trade. Or perhaps McDonalds is hiring. For sure, he would never be an employee of catholicism again.

And should you, Pastor Whoever, make and keep a solemn vow to obey the Bible, you too would soon be unemployed. You would be the fly coming under the wrath of an angry fly swatter. Bam! Evangelicalism can no more tolerate rebellion than can catholicism.

Oh the irony! Both church leaders, assumed by trusting congregations to be Christ’s appointees, cannot give allegiance to Christ’s Bible. Both ‘shepherds’ are forced to lead their people away from the lordship of Christ and into stagnant tradition. Oh the irony!

Please reconsider the walk you walk, and the talk you talk.

Respectfully, Larry Jones

And one more, my brother-in-Christ….

Dear Pastor Whoever….

Ask yourself a very important question: Am I appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ as shepherd of His sheep, or have I been appointed by men? This question, it seems to me, should be answered before the up-coming “judgement seat of Christ”. And certainly the congregation has a right to know. So let us reason together….

As you know, many of your colleagues teach their congregations that Lord Jesus no longer heals. Signs and wonders, healing miracles, all supernatural manifestations, ceased, it is said, with the passing of the first apostles. This teaching is called cessationism. Simply said, cessationism is a doctrine that declares the discontinuance of the supernatural. I suppose millions have suffered and died unnecessarily because of this false teaching…. but that’s not the point.

Jesus taught, “By their fruits you will know them.” Can we not con- clude that a Christ-appointee would not teach heresy? And if one did teach heresy, is that not a sure sign that he is not appointed by Christ to shepherd His sheep? Assuming cessationism is a false teaching, and assuming half of your colleagues propagate this false teaching (I think the percentage is actually higher), would you agree that at least half of all the Pastor Whoevers could not be Christ-appointed? Regardless of your personal position on this doctrine, you must agree that at least half of your colleagues are teaching heresy.

“But, but, but”, you may conclude, “while 50% of us are wrong, 50% are factual.” True, but the half that are correct are themselves divided over other serious matters that have divided evangelicalism into numer- ous sects. To me, this suggests that most must be man-appointed, not Christ-appointed. Since you can so clearly see this is the case in other religions, why not yours?

Evangelicals assume you have been placed by God. That is what has been heavily inferred. And so they have accepted your leadership over that of the true Sent-one, the Holy Spirit. Sad. Very sad.

So, my brother, in your opinion, how have the multitudes of Pastor Whoevers within your religion (evangelicalism) been doing? This obvious question, though an obvious question, is rarely asked.

Let’s go to a pastor of a past time for his assessment of evangelicalism, A.W. Tozer:

“Let me state the cause of my burden. It is this: Jesus Christ has today almost no authority at all among the groups that call themselves by His name. By these I mean not the Roman Catholics nor the liberals, nor the various quasi-Christian cults. I do mean Protestant churches generally, and I include those that protest the loudest that they are in spiritual descent from our Lord and His apostles, namely, the evangelicals.

It is a basic doctrine of the New Testament that after His resurrection the Man Jesus was declared by God to be both Lord and Christ, and that He was invested by the Father with absolute lordship over the church which is His Body. All authority is His in heaven and in earth. In His own proper time He will exert it to the full, but during this period in history He allows His authority to be challenged or ignored. And just now it is being challenged by the world and ignored by the church.

The present position of Christ in the gospel churches may be likened to that of a king in a limited, constitutional monarchy. The king…. is in such a country no more than a traditional rallying point, a pleasant symbol of unity and loyalty, much like a flag or a national anthem. He is lauded, feted and supported, but his real authority is small. Nominally he is head over all, but in every crisis someone else makes the decisions.

…. Among the gospel churches Christ is now in fact little more than a beloved symbol. “All hail the power of Jesus’ Name” is the church’s national anthem and the cross is her official flag, but in the week-by-week services of the church and the day-by-day conduct of her members someone else, not Christ, makes the decisions.

…. Those in actual authority decide the moral standards of the church, as well as all objectives and all methods employed to achieve them. Because of long and meticulous organization it is now possible for the youngest pastor just out of seminary to have more actual authority in a church than Jesus Christ has.

Not only does Christ have little or no authority: His influence is also becoming less and less. I would not say that He has none, only that it is small and diminishing.

…. The idea that the Man Christ Jesus has absolute and final authority over the whole church and over all of its members in every detail of their lives is simply not now accepted as true by the rank and file of evangelical Christians.

My brother, I could go on and on quoting this brave brother who traversed the world telling evangelicals (etcetera) that which they didn’t want to hear.

My strong conviction is this: The cure for all evangelical woes, some expressed in the above quotations, is that which I have already stated: 1) abide in Christ and 2) submit to the governance of the Holy Spirit and 3) solemnly sign the last page of the bible. The problem is….

Power is a hard thing to let go. Just ask Pharaoh. Every congregation is lead by a little Moses with lotsa power. He has what many secretly want…. an audience. Unlike most in the congregation he is heard, never ignored. He can sway, reprove, even dominate. His identity is his position of captain of his spiritual ship.

This little Moses is not Christ-centred. (There I go, ‘generally speaking’ again.) He is certainly not Christ-appointed. His ministry is a mixture, bible and “tradition[s] of men”. His true lords are those who positioned him, and them he faithfully serves. Under no circumstance would he set his people free to 1) abide in Christ independent of him and 2) be governed individually by the Holy Spirit (who he himself has long ago discounted to chase after the way it is), and 3) allow his people to determine for themselves the truths and priorities of the bible.

NOTE: All quotes from A.W. Tozer printed by permission.

NOTE: The Way It is and Dear Pastor Whoever articles can be located at www.larryjones.ca