LET…. MY…. PEOPLE…. GO !!

Chapter twenty-five

Let….My….People Go !! is undoubtedly the most difficult book you have read and I have written.

I do not say this lightly: I am of the opinion that our Lord Jesus is giving a strong rebuke to the entire realm of evangelical leadership. Most of Christ’s church-on-earth is under your dominance. He is saying to you as God said to Pharaoh, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”

When writing, I repeatedly asked the Father and His Son to author Let….My People Go !! through the Holy Spirit. All impurities are due to my interference and/or my insensitivity to the guidance of “the Spirit of truth”.

You may consider my words as being unduly harsh, but that’s only in comparison with most other writings, not the words of Jesus Himself. (For example, seven times Jesus repeatedly said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”)

Please consider: It was money and power that made the pharisees pharisaical. And please consider: You have the money and you have the power. And please consider the famous quote: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

As weeks roll into months and months into years your people drift further and further from Jesus while their relationship with you and the religion you represent tightens.

Remember the words of Jesus, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” Who are these “little ones” we dare not cause to stumble (mislead, cause injury)? Are they not Christ’s spiritual lambs?

The judgment seat is coming! The judgment seat is coming! The judgment seat is coming! Doesn’t it make sense to review your christianity now before that day of accountability?

2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. for correction.” To self-correct you must examine your christianity under the light of Scripture. Make sense?

I read these words of Jesus this morning: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” What are Christ’s words that “will by no means pass away”? Lord Jesus: “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man.” The “sayings” of Christ, what do they include? Jesus to His Father: “Your word is truth.” What “word” was Jesus referencing? Surely your answer to these questions must be, “all Scripture”. To determine the degree of success or failure as overseers you must bring all details under the scrutiny of that Bible you have repeatedly declared to be God’s infallible word. Amen?

This shouldn’t be difficult (although it might prove painful). Simply question all details relative to your oversight of your congregations and then try to find chapter and verse to justify these specifics. For example….

Is being attached to a denomination (association) Bible or Bible-plus? Is that diploma displayed on your office wall Bible or Bible-plus?

Is the Bible college that credentialed you Bible or Bible-plus? Is the title “Pastor” Bible or Bible-plus?

Is your salary Bible or Bible-plus?

Are the collections you take sunday mornings Bible or Bible-plus?

Is teaching fellow saints to surrender ten percent of their income Bible or Bible-plus?

Is control of a pulpit Bible or Bible-plus?

Is your board-of-elders Bible or Bible-plus?

Is dividing your congregation into ministerial (clergy) and laity Bible or Bible-plus?

Is refusing to earn wages from manual labor, etc. Bible or Bible-plus?

It’s the pluses added to the Father’s “word”, Christ’s “sayings”, that should make you nervous about your upcoming account to Judge Jesus. Building on a plus is not building on Christ’s words but words of another. Every plus in your ministry will cause you to “suffer loss”.

Those losses are eternal losses.

I keep repeating, “The judgment seat is coming! The judgment seat is coming!” because it is, and because you live your christianity as if it isn’t. I suggest that those courageous enough to self-audit would ask yourselves some thorny questions regarding the people you oversee (see Hebrews 13:17)…..

Are the people for whom you must give an account followers of Christ or followers of christians?…. Do your people exalt Jesus Christ?. Do your people rely on the Holy Spirit to guide them through their christianity?. Are your congregations laying up, primarily, “treasures on earth” or “treasures in heaven”?. Are they sufficiently cognizant of the upcoming judgment seat of Christ? Do they preach, privately and publicly, “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”?…. Do they evangelize?….

Do they support evangelists prayerfully and financially Are they taking Christ’s Great Commission seriously?

Fully understand that your congregations are either your validation or your repudiation.

Now I want you all to do a little supposing….

Suppose a catholic priest approached you saying he had recently received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and you discern he has truly been “born of the Spirit”. He shares with you the conflict he has trying to consolidate the Bible with catholicism, and he asks for your advice. What advice would you give him?

Hopefully you would respond, “Flee catholicism! Exit! Run, don’t walk! Vamoose! Skedaddle! Get out now!”

Because you and catholic priests have so much in common I give you the same advice: “Flee evangelicalism! Exit! Run, don’t walk! Vamoose! Skedaddle! Get out now!”

Lord Jesus hates evangelical “tradition of men” as much as catholic “tradition of men”. Lord Jesus hates people calling you Pastor (my shepherd) as much as He hates people calling priests Father. Lord Jesus hates evangelical array of “commandments of men” as much as He hates catholic array of “commandments of men”. Lord Jesus hates your disrespect for the Bible as much as He hates priests’ disrespect for the Bible.

Paul to the Corinthians: “I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted.” (NLT) Has “your pure and undivided devotion to Christ [been] corrupted” by religion, by power, by love-of-money? If you really want to know ask Lord Jesus. Are you prepared to “appear before the judgment seat of Christ”? If you really want to know ask Him. Does Jesus want you to forsake all “tradition of the [evangelical] elders”? If you really want to know ask Him.

To be prepared for Christ’s judgment seat you must apply John 15:5 to the remainder of your christianity-on-earth. (“He who abides in Me…. bears much fruit.”)

My brothers-in-Christ, before you is, potentially, a better life, “much fruit”, a wealthy eternity. Will you seize this better life?

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Several years ago I did a most unusual research. I wanted to verify what I had long suspected: Evangelical churches are not Christ-centered but man-centered. As you read this article keep in mind that anyone can do the research that I did, and I encourage everyone to do it.

I live in Kelowna, B.C., Canada, a mid-sized city with a number of evangelical churches – a few quite large, some quite small, and most somewhere in-between. (Just like your city?) I chose what I perceived to be the five largest churches and listened to three messages (that they each had released for public consumption). Pencil in hand, I noted every time the preacher-guy used the words 1) Jesus (Christ, Son, etcetera), 2) God and 3) church.

Jesus taught us “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Do you agree that if the “heart” of an individual or a group of christians is similar to the “heart” of New Testament writers the ratios between 1) Jesus, 2) God and 3) church would be similar? And do you agree that a major discrepancy indicates something is seriously wrong with that individual or that group?

Before going further I want to disclose what the ratios of Jesus, God and church are to each other in the New Testament, excluding the gospels.

(Are you still with me?) The ratio between Jesus and God is close to 1 to 1. (For every time Jesus is cited God is likewise cited once.) The ratio of Jesus and church is approximately 13 to 1. (For every 13 times Jesus is mentioned church is mentioned only once.)

Now let’s look at the ratios of Kelowna’s five largest evangelical churches….

The ratio between Jesus and God is approximately 1 to 3. (For every time Jesus is mentioned God is mentioned 3 times.) The ratio between Jesus and church is approximately 1 to 1 1/2. (For every time Jesus is mentioned church is mentioned one-and-a-half times.)

Question: Why do Kelowna’s salaried preachers speak God 3 times to every single time they speak the name of Jesus? My answer: Speaking God does not bring serious conviction of wrongdoing. Speaking “the name which is above every name” does bring conviction. There is power in that name!

Question: Why do Kelowna’s salaried pastors speak church more than they speak Jesus? My answer: Church takes up much more space in their hearts than does Jesus. Love for church (oneself, christians, christianity) outweighs love for Jesus Christ. Their speech gives them away.

If Kelowna is emblematic – and I believe it is – every city’s evangelical churches are also more man-centered than Christ-centered. No, evangelical churches are not CHRIST-less, but they certainly are CHRIST-impoverished.