Dear Bill

Chapter four

An evangelical church road sign read: “WE CAN DO MORE TOGETHER”. I emphatically disagree though that seems to be the mantra of every religion.

A poster reads: “CHRIST AND I ARE AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY”. Ahhh, that’s more like it!

Evangelical narrative: What we do we do together. Togetherness is godliness. Jesus loves unity. We accomplish much more together than individually. So…. bunch with the bunch, hang with the gang, flow with the flow, be a team player.

We all started our christianity Jesus-and-me. (Paul: “Who loved ME and gave Himself for ME.”) At the coercion of the salaried, Jesus-and-me soon became Jesus-and us. ‘Us’ requires a leader and that leader is not the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit can only lead Jesus-and-me christians. The salaried know Jesus-and-me christians have little interest in financing their religious ambitions. So….

So there is an unspoken, even unintended and undetected struggle between the salaried and the Holy Spirit. Both vie for the devotion of the congregation.

Almost always the salaried wins. He wins because he coerces and the Holy Spirit doesn’t. He wins because he has made himself so visible while, in contrast, the Holy Spirit is out of view. He wins because the powerful pulpit has made him bigger than he is. Much bigger.

This ongoing rivalry between the Holy Spirit and the salaried may be unintentional, and undetectable and indiscernible by most. Most, but not me. I’ve been around the block too many times. Never (repeat never!) have I heard ‘the man’ admonish the congregation, before collecting ‘tithes and offerings’, to check with the Holy Spirit for His authorization. Never did the man say to attend his services only at the Spirit’s beckoning. Never does he consult with the Holy Spirit to determine who gives the message this sunday. Actually, he rarely mentions the Holy Spirit. It’s like He is not in the room!

Jesus said, “If I depart I will send Him [the Holy Spirit] to you.” “He will guide you into all truth.” “He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak.” So, I conclude, this is God’s divine order:

Jesus, the “head of the church”, governs His church through the Holy Spirit.

Said another way: JESUS…. HOLY SPIRIT…. CHRISTIAN. We can all say God’s divine order is: JESUS…. HOLY SPIRT…. ME.

You can say: JESUS…. HOLY SPIRIT…. BILL.

I can say (and do say): JESUS…. HOLY SPIRIT…. LARRY.

Jesus governs our christianity, to the degree we bow to His lordship, through the Holy Spirit. We all know there is “one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” But there is also a Mediator between Christ and christian, the Holy Spirit. (“Whatever He hears, He will speak.”)

But religion, including the entire evangelical religion, doesn’t work that way. There is no such deference to “the Spirit of the living God”. He is the invited guest they all hope doesn’t show up. So the illicit evangelical order is thus:

JESUS…. HOLY SPIRIT…. RELIGIONISTS…. CHRISTIAN. (Jesus governs His church through the Holy Spirit who in turn governs through pulpit-people who in turn govern the christian. So says evangelicalism. So says catholicism.)

Every church have made themselves, perhaps inadvertently, mediators between Christ and christian. And there can’t be two mediators. If the church is the Holy Spirit isn’t.

This is not complicated. This fully explains the impotence and lethargy (and very existence) of evangelicalism. This is why there is so little passion for Christ’s Great Commission.

Jesus wants to rule His church through the Holy Spirit. Not in small bunches, not in mega bunches, but individually. “WE CAN DO MORE TOGETHER” is simply not true. That sign should read: “WE CAN WASTE MORE TOGETHER”. The only entity that rivals religion for waste is secular government.

A.W. Tozer: “It is time for us to seek again the leadership of the Holy Ghost. Man’s lordship has cost too much. Man’s intrusive will has introduced such a multiplicity of unspiritual ways and unscriptural activities as positively to threaten the life of the church. These divert annually millions of dollars from the true work of God and waste Christian man-hours in such vast numbers as to be heartbreaking.”

Obstructing the divine order of Jesus…. Holy Spirit…. christian is not only unproductive, it is wrong! To violate God’s will and ways and words is wrong! To usurp the governance of the Holy Spirit, and thus the governance of Jesus Christ, is wrong! Just plain wrong!

There is an unhealthy trust pew-people have for pulpit-people. Credentials, titles, the salary, the pulpit…. these create an unreasonable aura of credibility. It’s like Pastor Whoever has a halo over his head. Impressionable sheep submissively line up every sunday for the next fleecing, a small price for acceptance and approval. “Cursed is the man who trusts in man” does not apply to pastors; they are far above skepticism. Are they not God’s appointed?

Warning to all and every: The judgement seat of Christ is just around the corner!

A follower of Christ will do so much more than a follower of christians. I can only offer myself as an example, for your consideration. (Certainly there are many others who have accomplished more but none so familiar to me as me.) I do this to eradicate the notion “we can do more together”. I will unfold my adventures-in-Christ intermittently throughout this letter. These are not the ‘Acts of Larry Jones’ but rather ‘Acts of the Holy Spirit’.

But first I must convince you of my ineptitude: no trophies, no diplomas, a high school dropout, no credentials, no reputation, not much money. Leadership skills?…. you gotta be kidding. Charismatic?…. hardly. Special calling?…. not that I know of. Scholarly?…. I wish. How about a skillful orator?…. most definitely not a skilled orator.Talk about the Lord using “the foolish things of the world”. However….

Christ is my centre, my boast, my Lord, the vine in which I abide (though not fully, not yet). He alone is my qualifications.

I have done what very few can do: I signed the last page of the bible, under Revelation chapter 22, in the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as a declaration to obey the bible (as it is progressively revealed).

I told the Lord that I would choose His ways above man’s ways even if His ways don’t work. (I know, I know…. that’s an impossibility.)

Bill, may I ask, what’s so strange about obeying the bible?

Before going further I must clarify. I am not suggesting I have accomplished great things; I am suggesting that because of my ongoing submission to the Holy Spirit much more has been accomplished through me than typical/average evangelical. Yes, that would include the 10,000 or so members of Bethel.

Said another way, 10,000 times Larry Jones would equate to millions and millions of people snatched from “the power of darkness and conveyed…. into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

Each of the 10,000 bears fruit. (I am not suggesting otherwise!) But I am talking much fruit. (“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”) Okay?

I am saying a follower of Christ bears much fruit. (“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”) And I am saying a follower of christians bears, comparatively, little fruit.

Unfortunately followers of Christ are rare, perhaps much more so than you assume. Before you reject this “hard saying” please read the next chapter….