The word "congregation," in place of ekklesia, is a good translation since "congregation" means "to gather a flock" and refers to people, not places or institutions... nothe same thing sir, God lives in people not buildings.The word is not good, it should not have been used. Tyndale knew it;s orgins...
Their quote sent me,
If church is derived from the word "circle," how then did the original Greek word ekklesia become "church" or "circle?"
Throughout England, pagan religious gatherings were always held at a circle. The Druids with their Stonehenge, the Celts, and Saxons also met at stone circles, to worship their gods. Many of these stone circles still exist throughout England and about twenty eight are found in the Wyclife's Yorkshire area. Many of the first English Christian buildings for worship were located on these circle sites or were built using stones from these circles. Through this association, the people of Wyclife's day continued to call these buildings a "kirk"(Scottish), a cirice (Old English), or chirche (Wyclife's version), each variation meaning "circle" and describing a place-occult-and not the people.
Although we can see Wyclife's rationale for using the word "church" or "circle" as common to his day, it was not suitable then or now, since it does not meet the meaning or intent of the original word—a reference to people. Because "church" or "circle" describes a place, the real meaning of ekklesia is lost. The better translation, "congregation", was used by most other translations after Wyclife, except the Geneva Bible and the one authorized by King James—the later being the foundation of our modern versions.
The loss is staggering, that was the goal in my opinion..
George Barna writes, "The church seems afraid to invest in new modes of being the church, breaking free from antiquated models and irrelevant traditions toward living the gospel in a twenty-first-century context."5
what we;re all about here@narrowway2011
Full restorration of the priesthood of all believers.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
NEW SIGHT.
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment [in light of eternity], is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Hi narrowway is not a
All religion is man made, we're part of relationship, mobile and on the move all the time. Faith sees without eyes. NW
Quick view
The ecclessia is not special place, but a people who gather to speak of the things God has done for them and through the... and things taught.We're the temple, thde power is in his people, we do not explain away his might in platonic logic.Which took place early on.
Dear one it is not denomination or church, as many kind people are there and seeking to know more of Jesus, limits it self to place others in as mediums often unintended but ends up that way, or sophistry of any type it does not contain the inventions of men who were added later on and added to the demise of the Spirit;s power and led the people into institutionalism, where the ability to think for them selves is relenquensihed.
Actual sophistry was practiced used by the early Greek magicians to to control the people by speech and entertain the itching ears for something new, it was latter adopted by the state controlled religions to control the people banning the former spirit led ecclesia. It has led to people's personal lives to abandon their personal responsibilities to depend on others to arrange their minds for them... easy stuff a life of ease and self which ends up destroyed, and latter spoke for.
Pgs Hopwood Angus, Walker, Tyndale, others several more this is fascinating to see the desire to get back to what contain the life changing power without the human additions.
Gathering is a fine time to worship but must be remember we are all servants the priesthood of the believers can not be merely lip serviced, and but needs to be acted out in full faith. thanks.
NW
Dear one it is not denomination or church, as many kind people are there and seeking to know more of Jesus, limits it self to place others in as mediums often unintended but ends up that way, or sophistry of any type it does not contain the inventions of men who were added later on and added to the demise of the Spirit;s power and led the people into institutionalism, where the ability to think for them selves is relenquensihed.
Actual sophistry was practiced used by the early Greek magicians to to control the people by speech and entertain the itching ears for something new, it was latter adopted by the state controlled religions to control the people banning the former spirit led ecclesia. It has led to people's personal lives to abandon their personal responsibilities to depend on others to arrange their minds for them... easy stuff a life of ease and self which ends up destroyed, and latter spoke for.
Pgs Hopwood Angus, Walker, Tyndale, others several more this is fascinating to see the desire to get back to what contain the life changing power without the human additions.
Gathering is a fine time to worship but must be remember we are all servants the priesthood of the believers can not be merely lip serviced, and but needs to be acted out in full faith. thanks.
NW
Christocetric theoloy by Jim fowler,
Ecclesiastical Intervention
Ecclesiastical Intervention
An expose of the ecclesiastical situation of our
time.
©1999
by James A. Fowler. All rights
reserved.
You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration.
You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article
provided that proper citation of authorship is included.
Allow me to be a story-teller and share a couple of stories:
The first has to do with a prominent man who had fortuitously managed to get the right "breaks" in life, and rose to a position of power in the nation. Outwardly he appeared to be a brilliant success. But inwardly he had numerous areas of personal dysfunction. There was apparent sexual obsession, a propensity to violence, an abuse of power and control, etc. Suffice it so say he was a man who indulged his desires. He had an abundance of material wealth and opportunities unlimited. But he was full of personal aspiration - "the lust of the eyes" - the selfish desire to possess for himself; he was full of personal gratification - "the lust of the flesh" - the selfish desire to please himself; and he was full of personal reputation - "the boastful pride of life" - the selfish desire to promote himself (I John 2:16). His desire for physical gratification led him to have sexual relationships with women outside of the context of marriage. On one occasion this man had gotten away with murder it was termed "justifiable homicide" by one with "diplomatic immunity."
This man had problems! Here was a man who was in "a state of denial." He was not facing up to his problems; he was running away from his problems. He was reacting to his problems with anger and hostility (fight), with anxiety and fear (fright), and with escapism and withdrawal (flight). This man was conniving and manipulative. He would pull any strings necessary to resolve the present distress. He was a master in crisis management, both nationally and personally. The end justified the means, and he could justify everything he did. He was constantly covering-up, putting out fires, putting band-aids on cancer. Typically, he could see other's faults but not his own, and was full of blame toward others for causing his problems.
Now this man was religious. He was a leader in the church. On an earlier occasion he had even been referred to as "a man after God's own heart". But he was still full of behavioral dysfunction. The "flesh" was winning out in self-indulged desires. He was going to have to live with the consequences of his selfish and sinful choices.
This all became particularly evident during an "intervention" session that was engineered to force this man to see his problems. He was confronted; he was exposed; his problem was revealed his self-indulgence, his sin. The intervention facilitator pointed at the man and said, "You are the source of the problem." "What are you going to do about it?"
Have you caught on to what I am doing? I gave you some clues in the story. The biggest clue was that this man was "a man after God's own heart." (I Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22) What character in the Bible is referred to in that way? Yes, David. I was just retelling in a contemporary form, the story of David and his encounter with Bathsheba as recorded in II Samuel, chapters 11 and 12.
Take the time to read the original version of that story in II Samuel 11,12. The interaction that takes place in this narrative can serve as a viable pattern for dealing with behavioral problems. We see that addictive behavior is often "acted out" in times of boredom and loneliness; we see a man involved in cover-up and denial and self-justification; we see Nathan, the prophet, doing an "intervention" a confrontational forced awareness of the problem and he does so by using an allegorical story that reveals the selfish injustice of David's actions; David was forced to address the need for repentance; but he still had to live with the consequences of his past choices.
Now, I am going to tell you another story that does not have the ingredients of a successful resolution of the problem. In this story the "denial" is not addressed, the "codependency" continues, there is no "intervention", and no recorded recovery. This story is not original either! But I am going to tell you right up front that this story is based on a fairy-tale from the Danish story-teller, Hans Christian Anderson, entitled The Emperor's New Clothes. Do you remember the story? For those of you deprived of a complete juvenile literary education, allow me to retell it to you. I will do so in an embellished adaptation, but you will get the story!
Once upon a time there was an emperor (a king) who was full of pride and self-centered concern. He was really enamored by royal vestments, royal robes. It was a real ego-trip for him to dress up and engage in the "pomp and circumstance" of royal eminence. One day he got "conned" by a couple of con-artists two alleged "weavers" who were out to fleece the king of his wealth. They offered to weave and stitch for him some royal finery "fit for a king." They began by weaving an intriquing tale in the mind of the king. They explained that their weaving was so extraordinary and supernatural that it was visible only to the elite and knowledgeable and invisible to those who did not have "eyes to see". "Take my order," begged the king, "Money is no object!"
Now the king was not about to admit that he could not see the clothing that these alleged weavers were weaving and stitching, for to do so was to admit that he was unenlightened and undiscerning. Those around him joined him in the "denial", operating as if everything was normal. It was a "cover-up" concerning the fact that there was no cover-up. To protect themselves they participated in the pretence and "played the game." The king's so-called friends and colleagues gushed with praise for the non-existent garments. "Oh, how beautiful; how majestic; how moving and inspiring!" They extolled the features of the fanciful and farcical finery.
In this case there was no "intervention"; only a humiliating exposure. The pompous pride of the emperor prompted him to organize a public parade to showcase his non-existent garments. The citizens of the kingdom, cowed by fear, said nothing about the absence of clothing. They only repeated pious platitudes of respect for royalty.
As the parade proceeded down the avenue, one child had not been "cued" for the pretense. As the king passed by, the child exclaimed, "The King doesn't have any clothes on!" They attempted to "shush" him, but the unspeakable had been spoken.
The king was publicly humiliated for the fool that he was. But despite the exposure of his exposure, he continued to "play the game", and exclaimed "The procession must go on!" The denial was continued. What a fool!
Have you recognized what I have just done to you, or for you? In the first story, I told you what I was going to do. In the second story I did it. And now I am going to tell you what I did.
In the first story I told you the story of David, Bathsheba and Nathan. In the second story I played the role of Nathan the prophet, and told you a story, in like manner as Nathan told David a story, and with a similar purpose to reveal a problem that is being covered up. In playing the role of Nathan the prophet, I also played the role of the child on the parade route who exposed the naked king.
Now you might say, "that was a silly story. Who would be so foolish?" And if I were to be as blatantly blunt as Nathan was, I would have to say to you, "You are the ones!" "You are the emperor and his subjects!" Actually, the institutional church is the emperor over the realm of Ecclesiastica, and religious church members are the citizens of the kingdom of Ecclesiastica.
The emperor, organized religion, is filled with self-centered concern, "pomp and circumstance", vested interests. But it got "conned" by a couple of weavers who could weave a good tale, and thereby fleeced the flock. We could identify them as Jimmy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, but there are many such "weavers" posing as ministers, preachers and evangelists. What has happened is that it seems that everyone in the kingdom of Ecclesiastica has joined in the "denial."
Like David, the institutional church is engaged in crisis management, the end justifies the means as it manipulates people in the "programs." It is engaged in a gigantic "cover-up" of the severity of the sin-problem. Like the citizens in the kingdom of the emperor, the members of organized churches are participating in the co-dependent denial which perpetuates dysfunctional socialization. "I'm OK; you're OK; we're OK; everything is OK in the institutional church." "It's beautiful; it's inspiring; it's awesome!" "We're comfortable with what's going on. "Hear no evil; see no evil; speak no evil monkey see, monkey do! "Don't rock the boat; don't be critical; don't touch the Lord's anointed (I Chron. 16:22). "If you think there are problems, then just overlook them. "Be quiet and "play the game." "We want the appearance of peace and unity at any cost. "Don't make waves. We want to maintain the status-quo."
Is this not the self-delusion of lying to themselves and others? playing the fool like the emperor and his subjects?
The institutional church is being humiliated before the world today for the "fool" that it is. It is deluded into thinking that it has something that is spiritual and invisible, and everyone pretends they are enlightened when in reality it is unclothed, and everyone is "playing the fool." Rather than being "clothed in righteousness", the institutional church of Christian religion is naked in its hypocrisy. But it continues to "play the game" of "churchianity" and to engage in "denial". "The procession must go on!" "Crank up the organ; bring on the robes!"
The risen and living Lord Jesus spoke to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22: Vs. 17 "you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." Vs. 19 - the need is to "repent." Vs. 22 - "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
No one today seems to be willing to hear what the Spirit of God is saying. No one seems to be willing to "speak out" and "intervene." It takes the intrepidity of a prophet or the innocence of a child to reveal the pretense! I guess that is what I am trying to do to do an "ecclesiastical intervention" to confront and reveal and make people aware of the problem, the blatant foolishness of the present situation in organized religion. I am playing the role of Nathan the prophet as well as the role of the child on the parade route. The child merely exposed the situation. The prophet purposefully intervened to seek God's intended end individual repentance and the restoration of functional humanity.
Some religious people will be as angry at me as David was when he heard Nathan's story and then he got "pinned" with the personal application. Some religious people would want to silence one who is speaking as I am speaking, just as they tried to silence the child who exposed the king's exposure. It is painful to have to admit "denial" and "co-dependency" and even the addiction to religion, much less spiritual nakedness. In fact, the Lord Jesus was "crucified" at the instigation of the religious authorities, for exposing the nakedness, the pretense, the hypocrisy of their religious system, and their unwillingness to accept Him for who He was and is.
We must understand the reality of the Christian gospel the vital indwelling dynamic of the risen Lord Jesus Christ and His Life lived out through us to the glory of God. I am unwilling to continue to play the "naked church" game, parading around clothed only in "pomp and circumstance", nor am I willing to see others deceived into playing that game either. That is why I am willing to be used as a facilitator for "ecclesiastical intervention." Do not settle for addiction to religion; settle only for the Life of Jesus Christ lived out in you!
You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration.
You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article
provided that proper citation of authorship is included.
Allow me to be a story-teller and share a couple of stories:
The first has to do with a prominent man who had fortuitously managed to get the right "breaks" in life, and rose to a position of power in the nation. Outwardly he appeared to be a brilliant success. But inwardly he had numerous areas of personal dysfunction. There was apparent sexual obsession, a propensity to violence, an abuse of power and control, etc. Suffice it so say he was a man who indulged his desires. He had an abundance of material wealth and opportunities unlimited. But he was full of personal aspiration - "the lust of the eyes" - the selfish desire to possess for himself; he was full of personal gratification - "the lust of the flesh" - the selfish desire to please himself; and he was full of personal reputation - "the boastful pride of life" - the selfish desire to promote himself (I John 2:16). His desire for physical gratification led him to have sexual relationships with women outside of the context of marriage. On one occasion this man had gotten away with murder it was termed "justifiable homicide" by one with "diplomatic immunity."
This man had problems! Here was a man who was in "a state of denial." He was not facing up to his problems; he was running away from his problems. He was reacting to his problems with anger and hostility (fight), with anxiety and fear (fright), and with escapism and withdrawal (flight). This man was conniving and manipulative. He would pull any strings necessary to resolve the present distress. He was a master in crisis management, both nationally and personally. The end justified the means, and he could justify everything he did. He was constantly covering-up, putting out fires, putting band-aids on cancer. Typically, he could see other's faults but not his own, and was full of blame toward others for causing his problems.
Now this man was religious. He was a leader in the church. On an earlier occasion he had even been referred to as "a man after God's own heart". But he was still full of behavioral dysfunction. The "flesh" was winning out in self-indulged desires. He was going to have to live with the consequences of his selfish and sinful choices.
This all became particularly evident during an "intervention" session that was engineered to force this man to see his problems. He was confronted; he was exposed; his problem was revealed his self-indulgence, his sin. The intervention facilitator pointed at the man and said, "You are the source of the problem." "What are you going to do about it?"
Have you caught on to what I am doing? I gave you some clues in the story. The biggest clue was that this man was "a man after God's own heart." (I Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22) What character in the Bible is referred to in that way? Yes, David. I was just retelling in a contemporary form, the story of David and his encounter with Bathsheba as recorded in II Samuel, chapters 11 and 12.
Take the time to read the original version of that story in II Samuel 11,12. The interaction that takes place in this narrative can serve as a viable pattern for dealing with behavioral problems. We see that addictive behavior is often "acted out" in times of boredom and loneliness; we see a man involved in cover-up and denial and self-justification; we see Nathan, the prophet, doing an "intervention" a confrontational forced awareness of the problem and he does so by using an allegorical story that reveals the selfish injustice of David's actions; David was forced to address the need for repentance; but he still had to live with the consequences of his past choices.
Now, I am going to tell you another story that does not have the ingredients of a successful resolution of the problem. In this story the "denial" is not addressed, the "codependency" continues, there is no "intervention", and no recorded recovery. This story is not original either! But I am going to tell you right up front that this story is based on a fairy-tale from the Danish story-teller, Hans Christian Anderson, entitled The Emperor's New Clothes. Do you remember the story? For those of you deprived of a complete juvenile literary education, allow me to retell it to you. I will do so in an embellished adaptation, but you will get the story!
Once upon a time there was an emperor (a king) who was full of pride and self-centered concern. He was really enamored by royal vestments, royal robes. It was a real ego-trip for him to dress up and engage in the "pomp and circumstance" of royal eminence. One day he got "conned" by a couple of con-artists two alleged "weavers" who were out to fleece the king of his wealth. They offered to weave and stitch for him some royal finery "fit for a king." They began by weaving an intriquing tale in the mind of the king. They explained that their weaving was so extraordinary and supernatural that it was visible only to the elite and knowledgeable and invisible to those who did not have "eyes to see". "Take my order," begged the king, "Money is no object!"
Now the king was not about to admit that he could not see the clothing that these alleged weavers were weaving and stitching, for to do so was to admit that he was unenlightened and undiscerning. Those around him joined him in the "denial", operating as if everything was normal. It was a "cover-up" concerning the fact that there was no cover-up. To protect themselves they participated in the pretence and "played the game." The king's so-called friends and colleagues gushed with praise for the non-existent garments. "Oh, how beautiful; how majestic; how moving and inspiring!" They extolled the features of the fanciful and farcical finery.
In this case there was no "intervention"; only a humiliating exposure. The pompous pride of the emperor prompted him to organize a public parade to showcase his non-existent garments. The citizens of the kingdom, cowed by fear, said nothing about the absence of clothing. They only repeated pious platitudes of respect for royalty.
As the parade proceeded down the avenue, one child had not been "cued" for the pretense. As the king passed by, the child exclaimed, "The King doesn't have any clothes on!" They attempted to "shush" him, but the unspeakable had been spoken.
The king was publicly humiliated for the fool that he was. But despite the exposure of his exposure, he continued to "play the game", and exclaimed "The procession must go on!" The denial was continued. What a fool!
Have you recognized what I have just done to you, or for you? In the first story, I told you what I was going to do. In the second story I did it. And now I am going to tell you what I did.
In the first story I told you the story of David, Bathsheba and Nathan. In the second story I played the role of Nathan the prophet, and told you a story, in like manner as Nathan told David a story, and with a similar purpose to reveal a problem that is being covered up. In playing the role of Nathan the prophet, I also played the role of the child on the parade route who exposed the naked king.
Now you might say, "that was a silly story. Who would be so foolish?" And if I were to be as blatantly blunt as Nathan was, I would have to say to you, "You are the ones!" "You are the emperor and his subjects!" Actually, the institutional church is the emperor over the realm of Ecclesiastica, and religious church members are the citizens of the kingdom of Ecclesiastica.
The emperor, organized religion, is filled with self-centered concern, "pomp and circumstance", vested interests. But it got "conned" by a couple of weavers who could weave a good tale, and thereby fleeced the flock. We could identify them as Jimmy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, but there are many such "weavers" posing as ministers, preachers and evangelists. What has happened is that it seems that everyone in the kingdom of Ecclesiastica has joined in the "denial."
Like David, the institutional church is engaged in crisis management, the end justifies the means as it manipulates people in the "programs." It is engaged in a gigantic "cover-up" of the severity of the sin-problem. Like the citizens in the kingdom of the emperor, the members of organized churches are participating in the co-dependent denial which perpetuates dysfunctional socialization. "I'm OK; you're OK; we're OK; everything is OK in the institutional church." "It's beautiful; it's inspiring; it's awesome!" "We're comfortable with what's going on. "Hear no evil; see no evil; speak no evil monkey see, monkey do! "Don't rock the boat; don't be critical; don't touch the Lord's anointed (I Chron. 16:22). "If you think there are problems, then just overlook them. "Be quiet and "play the game." "We want the appearance of peace and unity at any cost. "Don't make waves. We want to maintain the status-quo."
Is this not the self-delusion of lying to themselves and others? playing the fool like the emperor and his subjects?
The institutional church is being humiliated before the world today for the "fool" that it is. It is deluded into thinking that it has something that is spiritual and invisible, and everyone pretends they are enlightened when in reality it is unclothed, and everyone is "playing the fool." Rather than being "clothed in righteousness", the institutional church of Christian religion is naked in its hypocrisy. But it continues to "play the game" of "churchianity" and to engage in "denial". "The procession must go on!" "Crank up the organ; bring on the robes!"
The risen and living Lord Jesus spoke to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22: Vs. 17 "you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." Vs. 19 - the need is to "repent." Vs. 22 - "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
No one today seems to be willing to hear what the Spirit of God is saying. No one seems to be willing to "speak out" and "intervene." It takes the intrepidity of a prophet or the innocence of a child to reveal the pretense! I guess that is what I am trying to do to do an "ecclesiastical intervention" to confront and reveal and make people aware of the problem, the blatant foolishness of the present situation in organized religion. I am playing the role of Nathan the prophet as well as the role of the child on the parade route. The child merely exposed the situation. The prophet purposefully intervened to seek God's intended end individual repentance and the restoration of functional humanity.
Some religious people will be as angry at me as David was when he heard Nathan's story and then he got "pinned" with the personal application. Some religious people would want to silence one who is speaking as I am speaking, just as they tried to silence the child who exposed the king's exposure. It is painful to have to admit "denial" and "co-dependency" and even the addiction to religion, much less spiritual nakedness. In fact, the Lord Jesus was "crucified" at the instigation of the religious authorities, for exposing the nakedness, the pretense, the hypocrisy of their religious system, and their unwillingness to accept Him for who He was and is.
We must understand the reality of the Christian gospel the vital indwelling dynamic of the risen Lord Jesus Christ and His Life lived out through us to the glory of God. I am unwilling to continue to play the "naked church" game, parading around clothed only in "pomp and circumstance", nor am I willing to see others deceived into playing that game either. That is why I am willing to be used as a facilitator for "ecclesiastical intervention." Do not settle for addiction to religion; settle only for the Life of Jesus Christ lived out in you!
A ship adrift?
What is is it to be Spirit led? like faith one operates out side of sight and into world where OF the impossible becomes more common than not, the pretense to micromanage God by our methods locations, programs and and any other thing that elevates itself as some sort of medium has fallen away, in grace the love affair is you and him, therein the is the place your seeking to grow by... faith operates far out of sight much of the time.
Day by day we exhibit faith in how we live.. being applied we;re in an age where the obsession of profiling and legalism has replaced the Spirit led life....... This is why we spoke to the translational mistakes made in the terminology related to those things added in the historical sections of these discussions.
We call this area discernment we feel in our lives I am carefully listening and not given to the emotionalism of the time no matter how good the candy looks, it never is as good as it looks.Love abounds in real wisdom and knowledge it avoids the two extremes always on the wrong side of issues and fact spinning.
As you read the key scriptures and step outside the predetermined ideas and let God open them to you you'll see another way filled with knowing him and those given over in great delight to do likewise. The word faith brings with it many pictures we can not manage by our own ways, walking on water, raising the dead, healing the sick for real, and exhibiting the wonders of living God through us and pleasing him by faith is somethingwhich can only take place in real awareness.
For it is impossible to please him with out faith!!! , God has no delight in the Luke warm , often Luke warm is associated with the externals, to do and predictability is death sentence to faith based blessings,, religion becomes the alternative to a life lived in faith and awareness. we;re experts on telling others what to do, Because we our selves enable to be consistent, so than what is the difference???, it is his righteousness is imputed to us not our own, dear one, they try mix them both it;s hold in faithless place in case the real God fails is the ministry of Satan's doubt... it works... It's easier to sit back and complain than it is to seek God's real presence.
Faith takes me away from all the guess work stuff and places in areas where real growth expands into a world where sight is forsaken for a higher place where self is set aside and going to him long be fore we run to others is the key practice.
In the end it is him you will speak to no one else will do in those moments. real fellowship is not being part of club, it;s you and God first and foremost until that is established and your well on your way it;s mostly a mere hit and miss effort.John 13-17 For example my fellowship with other people is based on the presence of God in their lives. It extends far beyond the artifice of one day a week but where life is lived out of a dynamic union .
I think sitting by and filling out work books and coloring books years latter miss the point of personal connection. below is fine article on real growth.
Moving Toward Maturity (March 16, 2003)
Last July a Champaign mother stirred up a great deal of controversy when it was discovered that she was still nursing her eight year-old son. When interviewed on "Good Morning America" the mother said, "Kyle is my only son and he's very important to me and he's going to be allowed to nurse until he decides to finish weaning himself." After the show aired the State of Illinois pressed charges, the boy was put in temporary foster care, and the mother was subjected to counseling and evaluations. Despite all she went through, at last report the mother was still nursing the boy on occasion and passionately defending the practice!
Why was there such an uproar over a mother nursing her eight year-old son? The answer is obvious. We instinctively believe that at some point children must move beyond milk, Gerber food products, diapers, and Fisher Price toys! A child must grow to eat solid foods and to become less dependent on mom. In our culture refusing to move beyond infancy is virtually a crime!
Some Christians never mature.
I appreciate the Amy Grant song you just heard titled "Fat Baby". She exposes an outrageous problem. The problem is that there are Christians who never move beyond infancy and toward maturity. Christians who have been drinking out of baby bottles their entire lives. Christians who cannot stomach much more than an occasional Sunday spiritual lunch. Christians who have sampled the deeper, solid food, but who prefer milk instead.
Christians who know John 3:16, who tote around their King James Bible, who know all the books of the Bible, who have even knelt at the altar, and who weekly go through all the motions, but who are lacking any real spiritual center. Christians who are baptized, sanctified, and redeemed by the blood, but whose daily devotions are stuck in the mud. Christians who are alive and saved, but who turn their noses at doctrine, who rarely feed on anything substantive, and who spend their whole lives being momma's boys.
Talk about outrageous! Outrageous is the fact that Christians can spend years, even decades in the Church, but never move beyond infancy. Yet this sad fact rarely makes the headlines. We don't talk about it. There is an elephant in the room, but no one wants to talk about it! Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV) rebukes us. "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
Notice how the writer of Hebrews describes the problem in Hebrews 5:11. They were, "slow to learn". Literally, the Greek text says that they were, "hard of hearing" or, "dull to hear." And it wasn't that these Christians needed hearing aids. Their ears were perfectly fine. They weren't hearing impaired. Their problem was that they were selectively listening to the counsel of God. Year after year they kept wearing out the verses and pages of the Bible. They kept regurgitating the same old worn cliches that once enriched their lives. Their problem was that they kept eating, eating, and eating, but they never digested the word of God. They attended Bible studies and classes, they listened to sermon after sermon, they tuned into Christian radio all day long, but never truly absorbed what they heard.
A few months ago Lara and I were talking about our female dog, Addie. Lara joked that Addie seemed to become hard of hearing. We would come home and instead of greeting us, Addie would stay downstairs on the couch, snoring away, oblivious to our arrival. Or we would be going to bed and call out for Addie to come, but she wouldn't! We finally got to the heart of the problem. Addie doesn't have a hearing problem. She has a selective hearing problem. Her ears are fine. She can hear the slightest crinkle of a potato chip bag. She can hear the slightest bounce of a ball anywhere in the house. From anywhere in the house she can detect the closet door (the closet which contains her leash) being opened. But call her to get in her cage and sure enough, her hearing short-circuits.
This is the problem the writer of Hebrews is driving at regarding the Hebrew Christians. It isn't that we are hearing impaired. Instead we selectively hear and obey what we want to hear and obey, nothing more and nothing less. We prefer milk over solid foods because it is so much easier on our stomachs. We are comfortable being saved, and we are content with being nursed along. We are terrified at the thought that maybe it's time to grow into spiritual adulthood and start contributing to the nourishment of others instead of just feeding and sponging and demanding and nursing and consuming.
Still being fed.
This is the author of Hebrews second point. He says, "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" Let me amplify this verse. The Greek text says, "By this time you ought (are indebted to be, owe it to be) teachers, but, you still need milk!"
The writer of Hebrews is lamenting all the squandered potential he sees in the Church. He sees all these accomplished professionals in his midst. People who had risen to prominence in their community, in their workplaces, and among their peers. People who in their every day lives had taken enormous risks, had stretched themselves, had taken on challenges, and had demonstrated their ability. But these were the same people who in their spiritual lives had remained comfortable, had squandered their potential, had remained idle and unproductive, and had wasted away opportunity after opportunity to grow. They had refused to be challenged, to soar to new heights, to move on toward maturity, and to walk by faith. They could have and should have been teachers, but they were still stuck in kindergarten, in elementary school, learning their spiritual ABC's!
I still remember my half-day kindergarten classes, do you? The highlight of kindergarten was that every day just before noon, we'd march single file down the hallway to a refrigerator where we would line up to receive a small carton of milk and a freshly baked cookie. It was the same every day. Line up. Get milk. Get cookie. That's all I remember!
But oh, how I loved those days! That milk and cookie would make me feel so warm and full. Life back then was so easy and uncomplicated. My biggest challenge was learning to write my full name, Jonathan Edward Morrissette. But I'm glad Im not in kindergarten anymore, aren't you? I got bored singing the alphabet a long time ago, counting and drawing letters and learning to tie my shoes, and saying the names of the months in order. I'm glad I moved on! There is so much more to life than lining up at the refrigerator waiting for my daily milk and cookie!
Beyond spiritual kindergarten.
And I'll tell you something else. I'm glad I'm not in spiritual kindergarten anymore. I enjoyed those first steps of faith, learning how to read the Bible, how to pray, how to memorize scripture, and how to understand basic Christian doctrines. I sometimes think about those days when I could go to church and not worry about having a lesson prepared, or a sermon, or having an answer to a question, or being concerned how someone else was doing. But I'm glad I've moved on from those days, and I don't mean that in a prideful or self-congratulatory way. It's just that there is so much more beyond the elementary teachings and more to life than waiting for spiritual milk and cookies.
The writer of Hebrews is telling us rather candidly I think, that we are long overdue. Enough time has elapsed that we should all be teachers, but as it is, some of us are still waiting in line to get a milk mustache and to feel warm and full. When will some of us ever get around to moving toward maturity? That is the concern of the author of Hebrews and of every reasonable Christian.
The author of Hebrews is concerned that we move beyond milk and to put it bluntly, that we grow up. He's saying that it's time we develop a taste for steak. It's time that we develop a voracious appetite and feast on the deeper things of Christ and his kingdom. Hebrews 6:1-3 (NIV) says, "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so."
Beyond spiritual milk.
Let's pause here for a moment and rehash some of what we have been talking about. The problem is not that the author of Hebrews is a dull or boring teacher, because this has always been a common complaint Christians make of their teachers. The problem is that the Hebrew Christians were dull hearers. They were slothful. They were lazy. They were apathetic about the deeper things of Christ. They selectively listened and did not fully obey the whole counsel of God. As a result, their spiritual development was stunted. They were stuck on milk! Their immaturity was evidenced by their inability to share spiritual truth with others.
They had been Christians long enough to be able to share God's truth, but they were again in need of learning the basics concerning the Christian life.
Have you ever stopped to consider what milk is? Warren Wiersbe comments that milk is predigested food. As such milk is especially suited to babies and those who are sick or to those who do not have teeth! A sign of spiritual immaturity is Christians who need everything predigested. The mark of spiritual immaturity is Christians whose first question when they come to church is, "Got milk?"
Spiritual immaturity is Christians who always need someone to read and interpret the Bible for them. It's parents who are unable to teach their children about Jesus. It's church leaders who do not know how to share the gospel or cultivate deeper life in other Christians.
It's older men and older women who have never taken it upon themselves to mentor younger men and younger women in the faith. It is Christians who have to be entertained with music and drama and instruments and special lighting and sound effects and powerpoint and all the frills in order to get an ounce of enlightenment.
Spiritual immaturity is Christians who are most concerned about staying comfortable, singing the same songs, quoting the same Bible verses, following the same liturgy, and having everything their way. These folks are never looking beyond themselves at the opportunities to disciple young people and young families which are abounding in their midst.
The writer of Hebrews is raising the bar for church leaders, for parents, and for Christians. There is a time when every Christian must crave pure spiritual milk. Just as everyone has to come into this world as a baby, so everyone has to be born into God's kingdom as a baby. But it is tragic when a baby doesn't move on to maturity. As Wiersbe says, "No matter how much parents and grandparents love to hold and cuddle a baby, it is their great desire that the baby grow up and enjoy a full life as a mature adult. God has the same desire for his children. God wants us moving beyond infancy into maturity."
Marks of true maturity.
We're going to move on to cover the additional verses in Hebrews, but let me briefly sketch out what spiritual maturity looks like and then you can judge whether you are moving toward maturity.
First, a mature Christian is unshakably devoted to Jesus Christ.
This describes a disciple's relationship to God's only Son. A mature Christian is one who has mastered the elementary teachings about Christ, has developed deep convictions concerning the identity of Jesus Christ, and is vitally connected to Jesus Christ through prayer, daily devotions, scripture memorization, Bible reading, meditation, fasting, and Bible study. In other words, this is someone who has an insatiable desire to know Christ and search out the deeper things of God. This is a person who isn't content with what he already knows, but is actively growing and pursuing Christ, even into old age.
Second, a mature Christian is tirelesslycommitted to developing other Christians.
This describes a disciple's relationship to God's family, the Church. A mature Christian is one who has become accountable to other Christians for his own growth, but who is lovingly holding others accountable for their growth. It is a parent, a mature Christian who is actively discipling his or her children. It is a Church leader, a mature Christian who is actively mentoring an upcoming leader. It is an older man or woman, a mature Christian who is actively investing in the lives of someone younger in the faith. It is an older brother, or sister, or student, or whatever. It's the same. A mature Christian is patiently encouraging and investing in the growth of others.
Third, a mature Christian is consistentlymodeling Christ's lifestyle.
This describes a disciple's relationship to God's Holy Spirit. I know it is easy for younger people to beat up on their parents, for parents to beat up on church leaders, or for Christians to beat up on pastors. It is easy and tempting for us to question the spiritual maturity of others. But a mature Christian is not someone who is perfect in everything he or she does. A maturing Christian is someone who is becoming increasingly consistent day after day as God's Holy Spirit transforms him or her from the inside out. The question is, are you being transformed? Are you becoming more like Christ? Are you yielding to the leadership of the Spirit of God? Are you obeying your conscience? Are you a doer of the word and not merely a hearer?
Last, a mature Christian is intentionally multiplying new life in the world.
This describes a disciple's relationship to God's world. Hebrews 5:12 mentioned that we ought to be teachers. I pointed out that a more accurate translation is that we are indebted to be teachers. A sign of spiritual maturity is taking the new life we have received in Christ, and then sharing it with the world God loves. It's taking those tell, invite, pray cards seriously and inviting people to come and see Jesus Christ. It is inviting as many friends and family members as possible to our church on Friend Day and Easter so that they can hear the gospel and know Jesus Christ.
There is so much more to spiritual life than mere infancy. God wants to mature us and to accomplish great things through us for his glory. He doesn't want us to spend our entire lives lining up for milk. He wants us to be teachers and disciplemakers who make a difference. But it comes down to one thing. Are you listening?
Are you hearing God's call? Or are you selectively hard of hearing or dull of hearing? great question ....
Why was there such an uproar over a mother nursing her eight year-old son? The answer is obvious. We instinctively believe that at some point children must move beyond milk, Gerber food products, diapers, and Fisher Price toys! A child must grow to eat solid foods and to become less dependent on mom. In our culture refusing to move beyond infancy is virtually a crime!
Some Christians never mature.
I appreciate the Amy Grant song you just heard titled "Fat Baby". She exposes an outrageous problem. The problem is that there are Christians who never move beyond infancy and toward maturity. Christians who have been drinking out of baby bottles their entire lives. Christians who cannot stomach much more than an occasional Sunday spiritual lunch. Christians who have sampled the deeper, solid food, but who prefer milk instead.
Christians who know John 3:16, who tote around their King James Bible, who know all the books of the Bible, who have even knelt at the altar, and who weekly go through all the motions, but who are lacking any real spiritual center. Christians who are baptized, sanctified, and redeemed by the blood, but whose daily devotions are stuck in the mud. Christians who are alive and saved, but who turn their noses at doctrine, who rarely feed on anything substantive, and who spend their whole lives being momma's boys.
Talk about outrageous! Outrageous is the fact that Christians can spend years, even decades in the Church, but never move beyond infancy. Yet this sad fact rarely makes the headlines. We don't talk about it. There is an elephant in the room, but no one wants to talk about it! Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV) rebukes us. "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
Notice how the writer of Hebrews describes the problem in Hebrews 5:11. They were, "slow to learn". Literally, the Greek text says that they were, "hard of hearing" or, "dull to hear." And it wasn't that these Christians needed hearing aids. Their ears were perfectly fine. They weren't hearing impaired. Their problem was that they were selectively listening to the counsel of God. Year after year they kept wearing out the verses and pages of the Bible. They kept regurgitating the same old worn cliches that once enriched their lives. Their problem was that they kept eating, eating, and eating, but they never digested the word of God. They attended Bible studies and classes, they listened to sermon after sermon, they tuned into Christian radio all day long, but never truly absorbed what they heard.
A few months ago Lara and I were talking about our female dog, Addie. Lara joked that Addie seemed to become hard of hearing. We would come home and instead of greeting us, Addie would stay downstairs on the couch, snoring away, oblivious to our arrival. Or we would be going to bed and call out for Addie to come, but she wouldn't! We finally got to the heart of the problem. Addie doesn't have a hearing problem. She has a selective hearing problem. Her ears are fine. She can hear the slightest crinkle of a potato chip bag. She can hear the slightest bounce of a ball anywhere in the house. From anywhere in the house she can detect the closet door (the closet which contains her leash) being opened. But call her to get in her cage and sure enough, her hearing short-circuits.
This is the problem the writer of Hebrews is driving at regarding the Hebrew Christians. It isn't that we are hearing impaired. Instead we selectively hear and obey what we want to hear and obey, nothing more and nothing less. We prefer milk over solid foods because it is so much easier on our stomachs. We are comfortable being saved, and we are content with being nursed along. We are terrified at the thought that maybe it's time to grow into spiritual adulthood and start contributing to the nourishment of others instead of just feeding and sponging and demanding and nursing and consuming.
Still being fed.
This is the author of Hebrews second point. He says, "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" Let me amplify this verse. The Greek text says, "By this time you ought (are indebted to be, owe it to be) teachers, but, you still need milk!"
The writer of Hebrews is lamenting all the squandered potential he sees in the Church. He sees all these accomplished professionals in his midst. People who had risen to prominence in their community, in their workplaces, and among their peers. People who in their every day lives had taken enormous risks, had stretched themselves, had taken on challenges, and had demonstrated their ability. But these were the same people who in their spiritual lives had remained comfortable, had squandered their potential, had remained idle and unproductive, and had wasted away opportunity after opportunity to grow. They had refused to be challenged, to soar to new heights, to move on toward maturity, and to walk by faith. They could have and should have been teachers, but they were still stuck in kindergarten, in elementary school, learning their spiritual ABC's!
I still remember my half-day kindergarten classes, do you? The highlight of kindergarten was that every day just before noon, we'd march single file down the hallway to a refrigerator where we would line up to receive a small carton of milk and a freshly baked cookie. It was the same every day. Line up. Get milk. Get cookie. That's all I remember!
But oh, how I loved those days! That milk and cookie would make me feel so warm and full. Life back then was so easy and uncomplicated. My biggest challenge was learning to write my full name, Jonathan Edward Morrissette. But I'm glad Im not in kindergarten anymore, aren't you? I got bored singing the alphabet a long time ago, counting and drawing letters and learning to tie my shoes, and saying the names of the months in order. I'm glad I moved on! There is so much more to life than lining up at the refrigerator waiting for my daily milk and cookie!
Beyond spiritual kindergarten.
And I'll tell you something else. I'm glad I'm not in spiritual kindergarten anymore. I enjoyed those first steps of faith, learning how to read the Bible, how to pray, how to memorize scripture, and how to understand basic Christian doctrines. I sometimes think about those days when I could go to church and not worry about having a lesson prepared, or a sermon, or having an answer to a question, or being concerned how someone else was doing. But I'm glad I've moved on from those days, and I don't mean that in a prideful or self-congratulatory way. It's just that there is so much more beyond the elementary teachings and more to life than waiting for spiritual milk and cookies.
The writer of Hebrews is telling us rather candidly I think, that we are long overdue. Enough time has elapsed that we should all be teachers, but as it is, some of us are still waiting in line to get a milk mustache and to feel warm and full. When will some of us ever get around to moving toward maturity? That is the concern of the author of Hebrews and of every reasonable Christian.
The author of Hebrews is concerned that we move beyond milk and to put it bluntly, that we grow up. He's saying that it's time we develop a taste for steak. It's time that we develop a voracious appetite and feast on the deeper things of Christ and his kingdom. Hebrews 6:1-3 (NIV) says, "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so."
Beyond spiritual milk.
Let's pause here for a moment and rehash some of what we have been talking about. The problem is not that the author of Hebrews is a dull or boring teacher, because this has always been a common complaint Christians make of their teachers. The problem is that the Hebrew Christians were dull hearers. They were slothful. They were lazy. They were apathetic about the deeper things of Christ. They selectively listened and did not fully obey the whole counsel of God. As a result, their spiritual development was stunted. They were stuck on milk! Their immaturity was evidenced by their inability to share spiritual truth with others.
They had been Christians long enough to be able to share God's truth, but they were again in need of learning the basics concerning the Christian life.
Have you ever stopped to consider what milk is? Warren Wiersbe comments that milk is predigested food. As such milk is especially suited to babies and those who are sick or to those who do not have teeth! A sign of spiritual immaturity is Christians who need everything predigested. The mark of spiritual immaturity is Christians whose first question when they come to church is, "Got milk?"
Spiritual immaturity is Christians who always need someone to read and interpret the Bible for them. It's parents who are unable to teach their children about Jesus. It's church leaders who do not know how to share the gospel or cultivate deeper life in other Christians.
It's older men and older women who have never taken it upon themselves to mentor younger men and younger women in the faith. It is Christians who have to be entertained with music and drama and instruments and special lighting and sound effects and powerpoint and all the frills in order to get an ounce of enlightenment.
Spiritual immaturity is Christians who are most concerned about staying comfortable, singing the same songs, quoting the same Bible verses, following the same liturgy, and having everything their way. These folks are never looking beyond themselves at the opportunities to disciple young people and young families which are abounding in their midst.
The writer of Hebrews is raising the bar for church leaders, for parents, and for Christians. There is a time when every Christian must crave pure spiritual milk. Just as everyone has to come into this world as a baby, so everyone has to be born into God's kingdom as a baby. But it is tragic when a baby doesn't move on to maturity. As Wiersbe says, "No matter how much parents and grandparents love to hold and cuddle a baby, it is their great desire that the baby grow up and enjoy a full life as a mature adult. God has the same desire for his children. God wants us moving beyond infancy into maturity."
Marks of true maturity.
We're going to move on to cover the additional verses in Hebrews, but let me briefly sketch out what spiritual maturity looks like and then you can judge whether you are moving toward maturity.
First, a mature Christian is unshakably devoted to Jesus Christ.
This describes a disciple's relationship to God's only Son. A mature Christian is one who has mastered the elementary teachings about Christ, has developed deep convictions concerning the identity of Jesus Christ, and is vitally connected to Jesus Christ through prayer, daily devotions, scripture memorization, Bible reading, meditation, fasting, and Bible study. In other words, this is someone who has an insatiable desire to know Christ and search out the deeper things of God. This is a person who isn't content with what he already knows, but is actively growing and pursuing Christ, even into old age.
Second, a mature Christian is tirelesslycommitted to developing other Christians.
This describes a disciple's relationship to God's family, the Church. A mature Christian is one who has become accountable to other Christians for his own growth, but who is lovingly holding others accountable for their growth. It is a parent, a mature Christian who is actively discipling his or her children. It is a Church leader, a mature Christian who is actively mentoring an upcoming leader. It is an older man or woman, a mature Christian who is actively investing in the lives of someone younger in the faith. It is an older brother, or sister, or student, or whatever. It's the same. A mature Christian is patiently encouraging and investing in the growth of others.
Third, a mature Christian is consistentlymodeling Christ's lifestyle.
This describes a disciple's relationship to God's Holy Spirit. I know it is easy for younger people to beat up on their parents, for parents to beat up on church leaders, or for Christians to beat up on pastors. It is easy and tempting for us to question the spiritual maturity of others. But a mature Christian is not someone who is perfect in everything he or she does. A maturing Christian is someone who is becoming increasingly consistent day after day as God's Holy Spirit transforms him or her from the inside out. The question is, are you being transformed? Are you becoming more like Christ? Are you yielding to the leadership of the Spirit of God? Are you obeying your conscience? Are you a doer of the word and not merely a hearer?
Last, a mature Christian is intentionally multiplying new life in the world.
This describes a disciple's relationship to God's world. Hebrews 5:12 mentioned that we ought to be teachers. I pointed out that a more accurate translation is that we are indebted to be teachers. A sign of spiritual maturity is taking the new life we have received in Christ, and then sharing it with the world God loves. It's taking those tell, invite, pray cards seriously and inviting people to come and see Jesus Christ. It is inviting as many friends and family members as possible to our church on Friend Day and Easter so that they can hear the gospel and know Jesus Christ.
There is so much more to spiritual life than mere infancy. God wants to mature us and to accomplish great things through us for his glory. He doesn't want us to spend our entire lives lining up for milk. He wants us to be teachers and disciplemakers who make a difference. But it comes down to one thing. Are you listening?
Are you hearing God's call? Or are you selectively hard of hearing or dull of hearing? great question ....
NW the ecclesia with narrowwayand it;s people have left those places in our minds the desire is to expand far out side of doubt and move as fast as we can to hear our lord's leading.
what must be learnt by the inner eye of faith can not be seen by the outer eye of doubt.NW 2Corinth3 the pharisees could nto see their life was in book and personal gain, they were unable to see the God who became flesh to take our place and and there own.They had the book of the law but thier eyes were dead and blind to his presence much like today perhaps... we have the book coloring bokksand how to books and books on booksand yet not much changes?? perhaps someone is missing? our hearing skills are not set on him, {but on our seleves}. No power, faith and hope,have depended on the external rather than eternal world.
NW
Thursday, April 25, 2013
ALL
The goal was to get us back to united and undivided body, in which all can serve, elders all ages and levels of maturity we see each other as vital.
NW
Blessings
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Inside the looking glass again?
Thank you dear sender, the historical depths appear to be kept in obscurity, I do respect the truth, I am deeply touched by such honesty, I am aware of the back ground history and thank those taking the time to be more concerned about eternal matters than the short term. We welcome discussions such as this seekingto speak the truth is what it;s all about. I like to thank all those who have been with us, I have no intentions of changing coarse, the out reach is moving ahead and full steam... of grace, we;re praying for the night people we meet and allthe the others who live completely different lives.
Our personal quest has been to low deep in the past and the a life of faith in which highly proactive out reach takes place, the lethargic state is a loss in life as one can see the conditions of the seven assemblies in asia minor some of them were completely suffered for it, despite the warnings. It was huge concern to me years back asking the same questions where are we going? That question came up 12 years going when facing eternity things would change in my life as well.
The Roots of Ekklesia, the Assembly.
By Andy Zoppelt
The Greek word Ekklesia (ek-klay-see'-ah) is a word
that most translators, not all, have translated as “church.” Biblically there is
not one single ligament reason for the use of the word church to be in our
bibles other than to support a clergy system, church with the use of a building.
With that said, let us now look at the root, the meaning and the intent of the
word ekklesia found in our bibles.
Basically ekklesia is a word that is made up of
the preposition ek meaning “out” and
the verb kaleo meaning “to
call”. Combining the verb “to call” and
the preposition “out” spoke of a people that were “called out” for some specific
purpose. What makes this word significant is how it was intended by Jesus to fit
into His eternal purposes and His kingdom. Something we cannot afford to lose
sight of. The key to understanding the word ekklesia is in its connection to a city.
We pick up on this connection in Revelation 2 and 3, ekklesia is used seven times directly
referencing to a city function and government: the ekklesia at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos,
Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and the ekklesia at Laodicea. But also the ekklesia is referred to as the ekklesia at Colossae, at Philippi and
the ekklesia at Corinth, etc.. In
every reference it is connected to a city and a specific people of that city
with a specific purpose. Ekklesia
properly translated should be “assembly”, a Greek word that directly relates to
government and a group of people within the city to set policy and rules for the
city, a far cry from the word church.
There are only a few exception
where the plural is used referring to a number of cities as a whole. In
Galatians 1:2, “To the assemblies [plural] of Galatia”, Galatia represented a
providence with numerous cities, hence the plural. And that is true when
multiple cities are used elsewhere in the scriptures. The other exception is
when ekklesia is used referring to an
ekklesia meeting in some specific
home, we will deal with that later
.
But let one thing be made
crystal clear, the singular us of the word ekklesia always referenced to a single
city, in other words there were
never plural ekklesia(s) in a
city, only one. By the translator’s use of the word church, referring to a
building under the influence of clergy, opened the way for multiple churches in
a city violating Jesus purposes of building His called out assembly on Himself
in each city. The church has no reference to a city except in paganism and a
building. Back in 4500 BC and onward, the pagans built temples for every city
having its own Gods and priest. Any casual reader of scripture would clearly
know that Jesus never intended for our cities to be divided into numerous
churches (John 17 especially).
Recently I had been doing some
studies on Greece, their culture and their government and specifically on the
city of Athens. In the government of Athens I kept seeing this word assembly,
assembly, assembly, assembly and assembly (Greek ekklesia). It was clear that the Greeks
used the word as a political and governing assembly of called out persons
dealing with Athens. Athens had been ruled for centuries by monarchies, tyranny
and an oligarchy dominated by the rich and powerful. But around the period of
500 AD the Athens revolted against the oppression of these systems and created
the first roots of democracy with the use of an ekklesia or assembly.
“The central events of the
Athenian democracy were the meetings of the assembly (ἐκκλησία, ekklêsia).
Unlike a parliament, the assembly's members were not elected, but attended by
right when they chose…In the 5th century at least there were scarcely any limits
on the power exercised by the assembly. If the assembly broke the law, the only
thing that might happen is that it [the assembly] would punish those who had
made the proposal that it had agreed to. If a mistake had been made, from the
assembly's viewpoint it could only be because it had been misled.” Athenian
democracy, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ekklesia is translated every time as assembly and never
as church. The assembly, in its most simple definition was a group of men of the
city that basically governed the area around Athens. We see this use of this
governing assembly concerning the city of Ephesus in Acts 19 dealing with the
uprising over the effects of Christianity on the sale and trade of the silver
shrines of the goddess Diana. Here a riot broke out lead by Demetrius the silver
smith because of the fear of the loss of their trade. With tension building up
in this mob or unlawful assembly, the city clerk, representing the city
assembly, stood up and spoke, “For you have brought these men here who are
neither robbers of churches
[Tyndale used the word churches instead of temples here because he knew that
churches were pagan temples] nor blasphemers of your goddess. Therefore, if
Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the
courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one
another. But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in
the lawful assembly [ekklesia]. For we are in danger [as an unlawful assembly
to deal with the rules of Ephesus] of being called in question for today's
uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly
gathering."
The first place where ekklesia is used is in Matthew 16:18-19
and let’s see how it fits within the idea of government, “On this rock I will
build My called out assembly [ekklesia, His governing body of saints],
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it [a war-like people
overpowering God’s enemies. This assembly that Jesus points out has both
delegated power and authority within the kingdom of God not church]. And I will
give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven [passing down of authority from the King], and
whatever you bind [as an assembly] on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
The ekklesia was a body of saints under the
government of God in each city; this is no small matter, they were the light of
that city as one body receiving His power and authority…all references refer to
one body, one government and one kingdom.
Jesus was not going to collect
money to build a bunch of pagan houses of worship in each city called churches,
He was going to establish His rule in every city though His body of disciples.
They were a called out, holy people, one people assembled in every city. They
were never to be a bunch of divided churches with a clergy overseeing them,
hence our churches are not representative of His government and thus they are
not prevailing against the gates of Hell as Jesus’ representatives and
government. Scripture clearly and irrefutably shows that we were to be a tightly
knitted assembly of saints, knowing and loving one another and all sharing
together without the use of a clergy dominating it. This descending power
through the kingdom of heaven is scripturally made clear
“Now, therefore, you are no
longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the [all]
saints and members of the household of God, having been BUILT on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself [and by Himself]
being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building [the body of
Christ not a physical building], being fitted together, [it] grows into a holy temple in the
Lord, in whom you also are being
BUILT together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” NKJV
Today the church dominates our
thoughts and doctrine. Jesus never
intend for us to build churches that divide His body in any city, but man has
done this through a clergy ruling system over the churches. Jesus intended His
called out assembly to be uniquely related in a tight bond with one another.
Whatever and whomever divides, conquers and breaks down those bonds is His
enemy, regardless how ignorant or sincere they may be. “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does
not gather [together as one] with Me scatters abroad.”
A few verses further down in
Ephesians, Paul gives God’s eternal purpose relating to our being built
together, “TO THE INTENT that
now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known [How?] by the called out
assembly [of the cities, not church] to the principalities and powers in the
heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose
which He accomplished in Christ Jesus
our Lord,” Ephesians 3:10-12
No place does the idea of
church fit here. Paul is only repeating what Jesus said earlier about the gates
of hell using principalities and powers. This united assembly in each city would
be given Jesus’ power to bring down, through the wisdom of God, “the
principalities and power in heavenly places.” This again is not happening
because we are churches and not the governmental assembly under our one King
Jesus. No amount of preaching behind a pulpit can patch the massive hole between
the idea of church and the kingdom of God. At some point we must go by God’s
word and not a clergy inspired translation. We say we love Jesus, but do we
follow Him or man? The work we are doing as church will never come close to the
work we would be doing as an assembly. In fact the work of the church is
destroying the work of Jesus by eliminating the assembly.
There are several things
attached to the word assembly for His saints, one, they were a unified called
out people and second they dealt with the government being on His shoulders and
of His authority over them and the gates of hell under them; issues under Jesus’
authority within the kingdom of God. The government is on His shoulders and if
we are a part of that government we will all be tightly knitted together as one
by drawing from Him as our Head. We are to be a city on a hill lighting up that
city with Jesus our King. When the Ephesian assembly lost its first love
mentioned in Revelation 2, Jesus said He would remove His candlestick, in other
words they would no longer be His
light in Ephesus. They were a good people, they were one in the city,
they had many virtues and work, yet Jesus made it clear that without first love
they were not His. Hence being bound together in love is one of the essentials
that we cannot do without if we are going to belong to Him and go to heaven.
Paul further makes the point
of love binding them together later in Ephesians 4:15-16, “but, speaking the
truth in love, may grow up [as one unified body] in
all things into Him who is the head — Christ —
from whom the whole
body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies [not a
clergy system but a body system], according to the effective working by which every
part [not likely to be a church service led by the clergy] does its
share, causes growth of the
body for the edifying of itself in
love.”
The Ephesian assembly toward
the end of the first century evidently lost that first love. The question now
is, did we ever have the first love that they had in the first place? Our
foundation is not built on Jesus where all is being governed from heaven; this
is no minor flaw or side issues leaving us to do other things. Most of us started out with some church in
the city that specifically spent their money promoting themselves and they
maintained their own identity with their own leaders, with their own name on the
building, they divided themselves from the rest of the assembly with their
clergy doing the ministry in each city…this is a one hundred and eighty degree
turn from scripture, God’s eternal purpose is to be a united light in our city;
otherwise we will experience the gates of hell prevailing against us…something
we are seeing in this country. God’s enemies divide, the church divides, God’s
body is a tightly loving group, the church is an indifferent, lethargic
audience, God has everyone sharing, the church has only one person sharing and
the rest silent, God has no clergy, the church has a clergy, God has no building
with names on them, the church has buildings with names on them. We are not a
governmental ekklesia giving light to
our cities and working within the kingdom of God in our cities. What we are
doing is not the path to eternal life. There was no head of the Athenian
assembly, there is no local head in the Christian assembly and our only head is
Jesus. .
Part II the clergy
Because it is the purpose of
westernized Christianity to support the career of the clergy in his business
[incorporation] within our cities we have established a building, churches for
him or her to conduct their religious activities in Jesus‘ name… not so
according to scripture.
“But Jesus called them [His
disciples] to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord
it over them [them=laity=people], and those who are great exercise authority
over them [laity]. Yet IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU
[not rule over the laity]; but whoever desires to become great among you, let
him be your servant [diakonos
(dee-ak'-on-os); the word we get deacon from, means on who serves like a
waiter.]. And whoever desires to be
first among you, let him be your slave [doulas, (doo’-los) bondslave, one bound
to his master] — JUST AS the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve [diakoneo (dee-ak-on-eh'-o) same as diakonos, a servant], and to give His
life a ransom for many [the full extent of a servant]." NKJV
Again Jesus pushes the point
to include titles, “But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your
Teacher, the Christ, and you are all
brethren [no clergy/laity]. Do
not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in
heaven. And do not be called
teachers [I am sure that would include pastor etc.]; for One is your
Teacher [Jesus embodies the position of teacher, all that teach, teach from
Him “the” teacher], the Christ. But he
who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and he who humbles himself will be exalted” Matthew 23:8-12, NKJV
It is also clear from
Philippians 2 that Jesus “made Himself of no reputation,” He didn’t advertise
Himself or some church. Jesus is our example. Those disciples after Pentecost
aspired to be servants and bondslave and often referred to themselves as such.
They never referred to anyone as Pastor Jim or Elder Bill like we do; Paul
didn’t even refer to Himself as Apostle Paul. He referred to himself as Paul a
sent one of Jesus Christ. Apostle is the Greek word brought into English and
then redefined. Where apostolos in
Greek means “one sent” and comes from the verb apostello, to send. It is like our
runner and run, remove the verb and we have a title. Our translators again well
knew what they were doing. Today the titled ministries have set themselves above
the people or laity as the present day Nicolaitans; Nico- conquer and laitan- people, means, those who conquer
the people. The clergy has removed the ministry out of the hands in the assembly
and they have made a career out of being clergy and have elevated themselves
above the laity, the people. In Revelation 2, Jesus stated that He hated the
deeds of the Nico-laitans or the dividing the clergy from the laity. The point
is that we are all brethren and everyone functions within the meeting of the
assembly without elevated titles of distinction.
“I believe that assigning
someone the role of ‘pastor’ within an institutional system creates many
problems including demoting everyone else within that system to ‘lay person.’”
From Simple Church Journal 4/24./13
The house assembly is like the
families of the city assemblies.
Matt 12:25, "EVERY kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation, and EVERY city or [every] house
divided against itself will not stand.” NKJV
The body of Christ as a whole
is made up of what scriptures calls the kingdom; it is thus broken down into the
city ekklesia and the house ekklesia. The house assembly is where we
find the intimate fellowship among the saints and where they function as part of
the city assembly in unity and purpose. The assemblies of the cities throughout
the world make up the entire kingdom of God. The city assembly maintains the
purity and unity of the city, the house assemblies gather for personal ministry
and intimacy. Satan’s plan is to divide. The issue of being nice, successful,
moral are not the bases of being saints, the five foolish virgins were obviously
morally pure and the Pharisees were righteous and nice people. Our righteousness
must exceed their righteousness, we are to be a holy people filled with love and
united as one body and functioning as one body in every city. We are to be built
together as one in Jesus and not a bunch of churches with numerous programs and
pastors drawing people to their churches. (I did a full article on the clergy
system; I just don’t want to take up the space to go on).
My question to you the reader
is, do you go to church or are you a part of the governing body of Christ in
your city. It is better to meet with two or three in Jesus’ name, than a
thousand in the name of the church.
thanks much.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Inside the looking glass
There is no destructive profiling here, lord willing our desire is to supersede those practices to see each of the body as vital contribution and spoke of here into grace.
I think those caught up in various cults find it hard in life frustrated by those actions,and inward desire to experience the forbidden things leading to cohabitation, with and end up chancing other things, the problem their is those Spirits are self interested, over time it becomes destructive though they ofter self highs and focused on placing man as as his own God was the fruit of the desire behind the original fall.
Legalism does the same stuff just with another name, have to be careful easy to do so, Real love is without it. Take care.
NW
Monday, April 22, 2013
getting things cleared up
God Hates Religion
Religion is often characterized by absolutism, authoritarianism and activism
which do not derive from God Himself.
©1999 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved.
You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration.
You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article
provided that proper citation of authorship is included.
God Hates Religion
A survey of the Scriptures reveals that there is one category that God hates above all others. God hates religion! Many will be confused, if not offended by such a statement, for they have identified God with religion. Religion, therefore, needs to be defined and differentiated from the Christian gospel.
The English word "religion" is etymologically derived from the Latin word religo, meaning to "bind up." Religion binds people up in rules and regulations or in ritualistic patterns of devotion.
Christianity, on the other hand, was never meant to be a religion. Christianity is the dynamic spiritual life of the risen Lord Jesus indwelling the spirit of man so as to create functional behavior to the glory of God. Granted, men have attempted to force Christianity into the molds and forms of religion. That is evident by all the steeples and sanctuaries and ecclesiastical programs that dot the landscape of our society.
It is the propensity of man to formulate religion to take that which is of the invisible God and attempt to make it visible, tangible and controllable. Man-made religion! The apostle Paul refers to it as "self-made religion" (Colossians 2:23), and goes on to indicate that it is of no value against fleshly indulgence. In essence, Paul is saying that "religion is of no value against man's sinfulness." In fact, religion is a co-dependent enabler of the sins of mankind. It is itself an addiction.
Religion is essentially idolatry. Men worship their man-made formations and structures their ideological idols formed in the concrete of inflexible minds. When the apostle Paul came to Athens (Acts 17:22), he observed their idols and exclaimed, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects." The Greek word that Paul used for "religious" literally means "to have great respect for demons."
To document that God hates religion, note the following passages of Scripture:
Religion is inevitably the result of man taking that which is of God and forming it, formulating it, in such a way that men end up "playing God." Men can form idols out of wood or stone in an attempt to represent God, or they can formulate ideological idols (belief-systems, doctrinal definitions, theological theses). The men who thus form and formulate become the "chief priests" of the new religion because they are regarded as knowing the most about what God is like, and well they should for they formed "it."
There are three features which seem to be basic to all forms of man-made religion. Religion involves absolutism, authoritarianism and activism. Now there is nothing wrong with absolutes, authority or activity. God is absolute, authoritative and active. But when any man or group of men attempts to establish themselves as the arbiters or regulators of God's absoluteness, authority or activity, they then begin to "play god," and religion is the result as they impose their perspective of absolute, authority and activity on others.
Absolutism
God is absolute. All other absolutes are derived from His absolute character. But when any man, or grouping of men, think that they have determined the absolutes of God absolutely and set about to impose them absolutely on others, then you have the absolutism of religion.
It is the natural propensity of man to want to get everything figured out. We have a "lust for certainty." We want everything to be "cut and dried," black and white, right and wrong, with no loose ends. We do not like paradox, antinomy or dialectic.
Most men cannot accept that the Infinite God is bigger than their finite ability to understand. So we set about to reduce God to fit within our rationalistic and intellectual reasonings. We reduce God to fit within our mental "box," then we nail it shut, construct our creed, and absolutely affirm that we have God figured out. We have reduced God to no bigger than our cranial cavity.
Religion advocates the absolutism of a particular belief-system. We formulate our doctrine, our theology, and demand that others affirm it absolutely as we do no variation; no freedom of thought or opinion; no doubt (for doubt would indicate that one does not believe it absolutely.)
Such absolutism is the basis of "fundamentalism." Fundamentalism is a religious idolatry that tends to worship a particular formulation of fixed fundamentals of faith. These fundamentals usually include both the detailed doctrines of a belief-system, as well as the meticulously prescribed behavior patterns of an ethical-system.
Religion employs the absolutism of a particular and prescribed moral law, a closed-system of ethics. These behavioral laws (judicial, theological or sociological) are comprised of dos and don'ts, "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots," rules and regulations, and codes of conduct. They are legalistically applied with rigid inflexibility and with perfectionistic expectations of absolute obedience.
Such absolutism in belief and behavior leads to the absolutism of exclusivism: "We are absolutely the only ones who have found truth; Ours is absolutely the only way." Thus religion begins to employ the rejective "tests of fellowship" which demand acceptance of their belief-system and conformity to their behavior patterns or else they will disallow you to be a part of their socialistic group identity. They disallow individualism and freedom of thought. Identity is found in the whole. Any deviations are met with condemnatory judgmentalism and guilt manipulation unto conformity. Severe forms of corrective social "discipline" are employed to keep people "in line," subscribing to the absolutism. Threats of excommunication from the authorities in charge are used to create absolute conformity and absolute obedience.
Authoritarianism
Activism
God is an active God, and He wants to act in us by the expression of His character and ministry. But when any man, or group of men, claim that they are the directors of God's activity and that they have discerned what God wants to do in you, how God wants you to act, beware of religious activism.
Religion is perpetuated by the activism of the people. People want a sense of meaning, a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, a sense of identity, a reason to be. These are God-given desires. Religion offers a false-fulfillment of these desires. Religion repeatedly encourages people to become more involved, more active. Involvement, commitment, dedication, consecration -- these are the hallmarks and the "passwords" of religion. Religion fosters a fixation, a compulsion, an obsession, an addiction to religious activities, explaining the absolute necessity to be thus engaged in the activities in order to please God, and for the good of the whole -- never admitting that it is primarily for the good of the religious authorities!
Activism seems to become an end in itself within religion: the activism of financial giving, the activism of keeping all the rules, the activism of church attendance, the activism of participating in all the ordinances and rituals, the activism of recruiting others to the "cause." Such activism is a not-so-subtle form of "works" salvation, which leads to physical fatigue and exhaustion and other forms of addiction.
Religious activism sometimes takes the form of social protest. People are enjoined to stand up for God's absolutes in political activism. Sometimes they go so far as to engage in criminal and terrorist activity even wars. In the midst of such they usually develop a persecution-complex: "It is 'us', the good guys of God's army, against 'them', the army of humanism or satan; and only by our ardent activism will God win!"
So often religion defines spirituality by the amount and intensity of one's activism. "If you are really going to be 'spiritual' and close to God, you must be doing what God wants you to do," i.e. our proscribed form of activism.
Much of religious activism is perpetuated by people simply as an escape from reality, an escapism from the day-to-day functionality of life. It is much more difficult to stay right where you are and be the father or mother, husband or wife, employer or employee that God intends you to be, than to carry a sign and chant choruses or to busy oneself in the program of a religious organization.
Religion results in dysfunctional socialization. It will never produce the functional loving community of mankind that God desires. Religion is unloving and self-serving. What religion offers is a pseudo-love, an addiction to the sense of belonging, an addiction to the sense of being cared for and sought after, an addiction to the sense of meaningful existence and purpose and identity.
This expose of religion is in no way designed or intended to impinge upon the reality of Christianity. Careful distinction between religion and Christianity must be made. As stated in the beginning of this article, Christianity is the dynamic spiritual life of the risen Lord Jesus indwelling the spirit of man so as to create functional behavior unto the glory of God. Religion is the man-made aberration that attempts to impose absolutism, authoritarianism and activism upon other men.
which do not derive from God Himself.
You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration.
You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article
provided that proper citation of authorship is included.
A survey of the Scriptures reveals that there is one category that God hates above all others. God hates religion! Many will be confused, if not offended by such a statement, for they have identified God with religion. Religion, therefore, needs to be defined and differentiated from the Christian gospel.
The English word "religion" is etymologically derived from the Latin word religo, meaning to "bind up." Religion binds people up in rules and regulations or in ritualistic patterns of devotion.
Christianity, on the other hand, was never meant to be a religion. Christianity is the dynamic spiritual life of the risen Lord Jesus indwelling the spirit of man so as to create functional behavior to the glory of God. Granted, men have attempted to force Christianity into the molds and forms of religion. That is evident by all the steeples and sanctuaries and ecclesiastical programs that dot the landscape of our society.
It is the propensity of man to formulate religion to take that which is of the invisible God and attempt to make it visible, tangible and controllable. Man-made religion! The apostle Paul refers to it as "self-made religion" (Colossians 2:23), and goes on to indicate that it is of no value against fleshly indulgence. In essence, Paul is saying that "religion is of no value against man's sinfulness." In fact, religion is a co-dependent enabler of the sins of mankind. It is itself an addiction.
Religion is essentially idolatry. Men worship their man-made formations and structures their ideological idols formed in the concrete of inflexible minds. When the apostle Paul came to Athens (Acts 17:22), he observed their idols and exclaimed, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects." The Greek word that Paul used for "religious" literally means "to have great respect for demons."
To document that God hates religion, note the following passages of Scripture:
"...every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods." (Deuteronomy 12:31)These passages bear out the fact that God hates religion, and all of its procedures and programs; rituals and regulations.
"I have had enough of burnt offerings...Bring your worthless offerings no longer...I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts; they have become a burden to Me... So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you... I will not listen..." (Isaiah 1:10-15)
"I hate, I reject your festivals; nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies...take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps." (Amos 5:21-24)
Religion is inevitably the result of man taking that which is of God and forming it, formulating it, in such a way that men end up "playing God." Men can form idols out of wood or stone in an attempt to represent God, or they can formulate ideological idols (belief-systems, doctrinal definitions, theological theses). The men who thus form and formulate become the "chief priests" of the new religion because they are regarded as knowing the most about what God is like, and well they should for they formed "it."
There are three features which seem to be basic to all forms of man-made religion. Religion involves absolutism, authoritarianism and activism. Now there is nothing wrong with absolutes, authority or activity. God is absolute, authoritative and active. But when any man or group of men attempts to establish themselves as the arbiters or regulators of God's absoluteness, authority or activity, they then begin to "play god," and religion is the result as they impose their perspective of absolute, authority and activity on others.
God is absolute. All other absolutes are derived from His absolute character. But when any man, or grouping of men, think that they have determined the absolutes of God absolutely and set about to impose them absolutely on others, then you have the absolutism of religion.
It is the natural propensity of man to want to get everything figured out. We have a "lust for certainty." We want everything to be "cut and dried," black and white, right and wrong, with no loose ends. We do not like paradox, antinomy or dialectic.
Most men cannot accept that the Infinite God is bigger than their finite ability to understand. So we set about to reduce God to fit within our rationalistic and intellectual reasonings. We reduce God to fit within our mental "box," then we nail it shut, construct our creed, and absolutely affirm that we have God figured out. We have reduced God to no bigger than our cranial cavity.
Religion advocates the absolutism of a particular belief-system. We formulate our doctrine, our theology, and demand that others affirm it absolutely as we do no variation; no freedom of thought or opinion; no doubt (for doubt would indicate that one does not believe it absolutely.)
Such absolutism is the basis of "fundamentalism." Fundamentalism is a religious idolatry that tends to worship a particular formulation of fixed fundamentals of faith. These fundamentals usually include both the detailed doctrines of a belief-system, as well as the meticulously prescribed behavior patterns of an ethical-system.
Religion employs the absolutism of a particular and prescribed moral law, a closed-system of ethics. These behavioral laws (judicial, theological or sociological) are comprised of dos and don'ts, "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots," rules and regulations, and codes of conduct. They are legalistically applied with rigid inflexibility and with perfectionistic expectations of absolute obedience.
Such absolutism in belief and behavior leads to the absolutism of exclusivism: "We are absolutely the only ones who have found truth; Ours is absolutely the only way." Thus religion begins to employ the rejective "tests of fellowship" which demand acceptance of their belief-system and conformity to their behavior patterns or else they will disallow you to be a part of their socialistic group identity. They disallow individualism and freedom of thought. Identity is found in the whole. Any deviations are met with condemnatory judgmentalism and guilt manipulation unto conformity. Severe forms of corrective social "discipline" are employed to keep people "in line," subscribing to the absolutism. Threats of excommunication from the authorities in charge are used to create absolute conformity and absolute obedience.
God, because He is absolute, is authoritative. But when any man, or group of men, claim to be the designated instruments of God's authority and attempt to express such authoritatively, especially in an autocratic or totalitarian way, you then have the authoritarianism of religion.
The bulk of mankind are followers, who will follow a leader like sheep. There always have been and always will be some men, therefore, who set themselves up as leaders and authorities claiming to represent God and to speak authoritatively for God. They often claim to have a special "in" with God, a "hot-line" with God, or they claim to have a special vision, a special "calling," a special understanding, or a superior spirituality. Some people inevitably follow such people and regard them as religious authorities – gurus.
The well-known proverb states, "Power corrupts; and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The selfish propensities within men cause them to abuse power and use people to their own ends as they lead. Such results in authoritarianism. It may be but a subtle emphasis on "pastoral authority" or the spiritual authority of an elder or a "shepherd," or it may be a special esteem granted for those in exalted positions of so-called "clergy" or priests, ministers, preachers, presbyters, etc. These are then developed into an hierarchical order of ecclesiastical positioning and politicizing.
These self-designated religious authorities often foster a dependency attitude of the people upon themselves. Directly or indirectly they encourage loyalty and commitment to the organization they lead, or to themselves. As incentive for such they often convey the idea that they hold the eternal fate or spiritual destiny of others in their hands, in their power.
The sense of personal equality before God is lost. People are expected to learn their "place" and told not to "get out of order." "Do not ask questions; do as you are told." "We will do the thinking and the feeling for you." "We will do the Bible study and the praying – the relating to God." "We speak for God, and we will tell you what is true." What is this but mind-control propaganda, advocating blind, unquestioning submission and obedience. It is an undemocratic system of non-equality wherein the religious authorities have no accountability to the people they serve.
Such religious authoritarianism creates a "fantasy-bond" of the people toward their so-called "priests." There is a projected idealization of the authorities as being especially close to God -- almost "gods" themselves. The religious authorities then exploit the people, utilizing superstition and fear to control people's thinking and behavior by shame, guilt and threatened loss of identity or eternal destiny.
Religious authorities must create a sense of direction and momentum for the people; a sense of doing something and going somewhere. There must be a program of activity that will keep people "involved," feeling that they are meaningfully expending their lives and energy for God's "cause." This is also fueled by the self-serving purpose of financing and perpetuating the religious system.
The bulk of mankind are followers, who will follow a leader like sheep. There always have been and always will be some men, therefore, who set themselves up as leaders and authorities claiming to represent God and to speak authoritatively for God. They often claim to have a special "in" with God, a "hot-line" with God, or they claim to have a special vision, a special "calling," a special understanding, or a superior spirituality. Some people inevitably follow such people and regard them as religious authorities – gurus.
The well-known proverb states, "Power corrupts; and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The selfish propensities within men cause them to abuse power and use people to their own ends as they lead. Such results in authoritarianism. It may be but a subtle emphasis on "pastoral authority" or the spiritual authority of an elder or a "shepherd," or it may be a special esteem granted for those in exalted positions of so-called "clergy" or priests, ministers, preachers, presbyters, etc. These are then developed into an hierarchical order of ecclesiastical positioning and politicizing.
These self-designated religious authorities often foster a dependency attitude of the people upon themselves. Directly or indirectly they encourage loyalty and commitment to the organization they lead, or to themselves. As incentive for such they often convey the idea that they hold the eternal fate or spiritual destiny of others in their hands, in their power.
The sense of personal equality before God is lost. People are expected to learn their "place" and told not to "get out of order." "Do not ask questions; do as you are told." "We will do the thinking and the feeling for you." "We will do the Bible study and the praying – the relating to God." "We speak for God, and we will tell you what is true." What is this but mind-control propaganda, advocating blind, unquestioning submission and obedience. It is an undemocratic system of non-equality wherein the religious authorities have no accountability to the people they serve.
Such religious authoritarianism creates a "fantasy-bond" of the people toward their so-called "priests." There is a projected idealization of the authorities as being especially close to God -- almost "gods" themselves. The religious authorities then exploit the people, utilizing superstition and fear to control people's thinking and behavior by shame, guilt and threatened loss of identity or eternal destiny.
Religious authorities must create a sense of direction and momentum for the people; a sense of doing something and going somewhere. There must be a program of activity that will keep people "involved," feeling that they are meaningfully expending their lives and energy for God's "cause." This is also fueled by the self-serving purpose of financing and perpetuating the religious system.
Religion is perpetuated by the activism of the people. People want a sense of meaning, a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, a sense of identity, a reason to be. These are God-given desires. Religion offers a false-fulfillment of these desires. Religion repeatedly encourages people to become more involved, more active. Involvement, commitment, dedication, consecration -- these are the hallmarks and the "passwords" of religion. Religion fosters a fixation, a compulsion, an obsession, an addiction to religious activities, explaining the absolute necessity to be thus engaged in the activities in order to please God, and for the good of the whole -- never admitting that it is primarily for the good of the religious authorities!
Activism seems to become an end in itself within religion: the activism of financial giving, the activism of keeping all the rules, the activism of church attendance, the activism of participating in all the ordinances and rituals, the activism of recruiting others to the "cause." Such activism is a not-so-subtle form of "works" salvation, which leads to physical fatigue and exhaustion and other forms of addiction.
Religious activism sometimes takes the form of social protest. People are enjoined to stand up for God's absolutes in political activism. Sometimes they go so far as to engage in criminal and terrorist activity even wars. In the midst of such they usually develop a persecution-complex: "It is 'us', the good guys of God's army, against 'them', the army of humanism or satan; and only by our ardent activism will God win!"
So often religion defines spirituality by the amount and intensity of one's activism. "If you are really going to be 'spiritual' and close to God, you must be doing what God wants you to do," i.e. our proscribed form of activism.
Much of religious activism is perpetuated by people simply as an escape from reality, an escapism from the day-to-day functionality of life. It is much more difficult to stay right where you are and be the father or mother, husband or wife, employer or employee that God intends you to be, than to carry a sign and chant choruses or to busy oneself in the program of a religious organization.
Religion results in dysfunctional socialization. It will never produce the functional loving community of mankind that God desires. Religion is unloving and self-serving. What religion offers is a pseudo-love, an addiction to the sense of belonging, an addiction to the sense of being cared for and sought after, an addiction to the sense of meaningful existence and purpose and identity.
This expose of religion is in no way designed or intended to impinge upon the reality of Christianity. Careful distinction between religion and Christianity must be made. As stated in the beginning of this article, Christianity is the dynamic spiritual life of the risen Lord Jesus indwelling the spirit of man so as to create functional behavior unto the glory of God. Religion is the man-made aberration that attempts to impose absolutism, authoritarianism and activism upon other men.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Only one way? up!
Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:21-240 Does it matter? sure does..
Little time left?
In a world where evil exists, A dose a real love would make a huge difference, Jesus says love one another as I have loved you? sound good?, be great, an alternative to total stupidy.
NW
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
THOSE TRAPS WE FALL IN..
Religion and the Church at Laodicea
Revelation 3:14-22
©1999 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved.
You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration. You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article provided that proper citation of authorship is included.
The original name of the city of Laodicea was Diospolis, meaning "city of Zeus." Antiochus II renamed the city in the middle of the third century B.C., naming it after his wife, Laodice. The name Laodicea is etymologically derived from two Greek words, laos meaning "people," and dike meaning "to judge" or "to decide." This name became particularly appropriate for the citizens of Laodicea, since they seem to have been quite interested in self-determination and self-rule and deciding for themselves.
The city was located on a plateau about 100 feet above the Lycus River valley. The Romans developed Laodicea into a major trade center, the hub of three major trade routes. Laodicea was part of a tri-city area ( Col. 4:13) that included Hierapolis, six miles to the north, and Colossae, eleven miles to the east. Ephesus was about 100 miles to the west of Laodicea.
Being an important trade center, many in Laodicea became quite wealthy. Laodicea became the banking center of the region. The citizens were apparently so affluent and the city coffers so well-invested that when a major earthquake damaged the city in 60 A.D., they declined "imperial disaster aid." The historian Tacitus noted that they "recovered by their own resources."
One drawback to this well-settled city was the lack of a natural water supply. There were hot-springs in Hierapolis, six miles up the river valley, but by the time the water flowed down to Laodicea it was tepid and so full of minerals that it was distasteful. Jesus may have been alluding to this fact in the comments He makes to the church at Laodicea.
Religion was alive and well in Laodicea. Since the city had originally been Diospolis, "the city of Zeus," there was obviously a temple to Zeus, the foremost god in the Greek pantheon. There was a famous medical school in Laodicea apparently associated with Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing. This medical school had developed a "Phrygian powder" which was used as an eyesalve. Adding to the religious diversity of Laodicea were 7000 adult Jewish males who had been granted the right to preserve their religious customs in Laodicea.
The Church of Jesus Christ in Laodicea was probably established during Paul's extended stay in Ephesus (Acts 19:10; 20:31). Epaphrus may have been a native of the region who became a Christian under Paul's ministry in Ephesus, and later shared the gospel of Jesus Christ in the tri-city area (Col. 1:7; 4:12).
In beginning His message to the church at Laodicea, Jesus identifies Himself as "The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God" (3:14). The self-sufficient Laodiceans needed to remember the source of all sufficiency. Jesus Christ, as God, is the creative source of all things. "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:3). That form of religion which seeks to deny the deity of Jesus Christ, often interprets the statement that Jesus is "the Beginning of the creation of God" to mean that Jesus was the first thing God created. (They do the same with Col. 1:15). Not so! Jesus was "in the beginning with God, and was God" (John 1:1). As the eternal Word, Jesus is the "faithful and true Witness" who expresses and images God visibly within His creation. In His redemptive mission He faithfully exhibited the reality of deity within humanity even unto a martyr's death, wherefrom He was raised from the dead. Jesus is the "Amen," the essence and the validation of God. Religion in every age tends to think that man can create his own destiny, give witness to the veracity of his own conclusions, and affirm such with the punctuations of his own "amens."
As in all His addresses to the churches, Jesus begins His observations of the situation in the church at Laodicea by saying, "I know your deeds..." (3:15). In this case their deeds are not "wrought in God," and are therefore "dead works."
Jesus continues His observations charging, "You are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." The Christians in Laodicea were not "fervent in spirit" (Rom. 12:11), burning with zeal and excitement about the life of the Lord Jesus. Neither were they totally chilled to the point of apostatizing. Instead they were just lukewarm, tepid, apathetic and indifferent. Does this not picture the bland tepidity so often evident in religion? Attempting to cater to everyone at the same time, they take the "middle of the road" approach in order to appease the majority. Jesus is not content with such half-hearted neutrality. On an earlier occasion Jesus said, "He who is not with Me, is against Me" (Matt. 12:30). Jesus finds such dispassionate compromising to be nauseating and repulsive. He rejects such and would rather "spit you out of My mouth," that is, expel and repudiate such insipid and disinterested followers who do not appreciate what they have been given in Christ, and misrepresent such by their attitude and behavior. Vituperative antagonism is to be preferred over vacillating and vapid neutrality.
The Laodiceans had been lulled into misplaced security and misplaced sufficiency. They claimed that they were "rich and wealthy, and had need of nothing" (3:17). In the Old Testament the prophet Hosea lamented that some of God's people, and in particular Ephraim, said "Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself" (Hosea 12:8), and the Lord was provoked to anger. Jesus had mentioned the rich man who said, "Soul, you have many goods...eat, drink and be merry," and God said, "You fool; this night your soul is required of you" (Luke 12:19).
Religion often fosters a false-security in physical wealth and riches. Time and time again religious "prosperity doctrines" have promised health and wealth to unsuspecting followers. Many religious groups cater only to the affluent and wealthy who can "dress for success." Perhaps the Laodiceans had been drawn in to such religion folly.
The Laodiceans were "banking" on their material riches, and were forgetting the prior command of Jesus when He said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:19-21).
In their self-sufficiency the Laodiceans claimed to have "need of nothing." It is the utmost of arrogant audacity for any man to claim that he is so self-sufficient that he has "need of nothing." Man is a derivative creature who is nothing, has nothing and can do nothing (John 15:5) in and of himself. We are needful creatures. We are in need of everything being provided for our identity, sustenance and activity. "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves, to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God" (II Cor. 3:5). "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).
Contrary to this need-awareness explained throughout the Scriptures, religion promotes humanistic self-sufficiency. The abundance of religious "self-help programs" being offered encourage people to assert, "I can do it; I don't need any help!" Joining the Laodiceans, they claim to have "need of nothing."
When a Christian recognizes that Jesus Christ is his sufficiency for all things, for his identity, his sustenance and his activity, then it can be affirmed that he is "lacking in nothing" (James 1:4). This is a recognition of spiritual sufficiency in Christ, rather that the false-sufficiency claimed by the Laodiceans based on their physical and material abundance.
Despite what the Laodicean Christians thought they had, Jesus explains to them that they are "wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked" (3:17). They thought they had it all physically, but spiritually they were bankrupt. They were deceived, having no spiritual discernment. In their complacency they were not even aware of how miserable and wretched their condition really was. Thinking themselves to be rich, they were spiritually poor. Thinking themselves to be wise and to be able to "see things as they really are," they were spiritually blind. Thinking themselves to be clothed in moral cloaks of right behavior, they were spiritually naked. Were they not in the unenviable position of the emperor in the tale told by Hans Christian Anderson of The Emperor's New Clothes? Parading around in the pretense of having the best of everything, they only revealed their spiritual bankruptcy, blindness and nakedness.
Jesus advises the Laodicean Christians to make some faith responses whereby their spiritual lack can be supplied by Himself. In terms that the consumer-oriented Laodiceans could understand, Jesus urged them "to buy from Me..." (3:18). What Jesus has for us is not really "for sale" in any monetary market; it cannot be "bought." God's gracious provision can only be received by faith our receptivity of His activity. The prophet Isaiah foretold the availability of all things in Jesus Christ within the new covenant, saying, "You who have no money come, buy and eat...without money and without cost. ...Delight yourself in abundance" (Isa. 55:1,2). In fulfillment of this, Jesus makes available the solution to all the spiritual needs of the Laodicean Christians by advising them to "buy without cost," receive God's grace from Him.
The first investment the Laodiceans are encouraged to make is "to buy from Jesus gold refined by fire, that they might become rich" (3:18). The Laodiceans thought they were rich already (3:17), as do many religious organizations with accumulated assets and holdings totalling billions of dollars. Religion does not understand spiritual riches in Christ. Jesus indicates that we need to acquire that which is of spiritual value, which He calls "gold refined by fire." "Gold refined by fire" is best explained as the tested life of Jesus Christ, which was tested in the crucible of crucifixion. "In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3), the "wealth that comes from a true knowledge of Christ" (Col. 2:2). When we receive Him by faith we have "the treasure in earthen vessels" (II Cor. 4:7), the "surpassing riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7; 2:7), the "riches of the glory of His inheritance" (Eph. 1:18). Continuing to derive the fulfillment of all our needs by faith in Christ, we discover such "faith...more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire" (I Peter 1:7), for we might also experience the testing of the "gold" of Christ's life in the fires of personal adversity and suffering. His is the tested life more valuable than physical gold, which will persevere no matter how hot the fire gets.
Secondly, the Laodicean Christians and all Christians in every age are "to buy...white garments, that they might clothe themselves, and the shame of their nakedness may not be revealed" (3:18). Public nakedness was the ultimate shame and humiliation of the ancient world. Through the prophet Nahum the Lord says to Nineveh, "I will...show to the nations your nakedness, and to the kingdoms your disgrace" (Nahum 3:5). Christians are to clothe themselves in "white garments," representing the purity and holiness of the character of Christ. Later in the Revelation the bride, the church, is clothed in "fine linen, bright and clean...the righteous acts of the saints" (19:8), in preparation for the marriage of the Lamb. Religion seeks to substitute the ecclesiastical robes of hierarchy and the moral cloaks of social conformity, but the risen Lord Jesus requires that we "put on" the character of His righteousness in our behavior.
To solve the problem of spiritual blindness, Jesus advises Christians "to buy...eyesalve to anoint your eyes, that you may see" (3:18). Remember that the Laodicean medical school was renowned for its "Phrygian powder" that helped to relieve physical eye problems. After healing the man born blind Jesus said that those who "see may become blind," and "those who do not see may see" (John 9:39), because His priority was to address spiritual blindness so that people might see spiritual realities. The Psalmist requested, "Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Thy Law" (Psalm 119:18), which revealed Jesus Christ. Paul prays for the Ephesians that the "eyes of their heart might be enlightened, that they might know the hope of His calling" (Eph. 1:17). Only by the presence of Jesus Christ in us do we "see" and "appraise spiritual things" (I Cor. 2:15) in order to see from God's perspective.
Having explained that spiritual riches, spiritual clothing and spiritual eyesight are found only in Himself, Jesus warns, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline" (3:19). Concerned that all men might be restored to the fullness of God's intent, Jesus is actively engaged in the disciplinary processes that keep Christians "on track." By the correcting and reproving work of His Spirit, He seeks to preserve us in His finishing work. "Whom the Lord loves He reproves" (Prov. 3:12). "Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord" (Heb. 12:5). "He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness" (Heb. 12:10). Religion attempts to skirt around the reproof and disciplines of the Lord. Focusing on a syrupy and sentimental understanding of a loving God who always forgives and never censures, they by-pass God's active discipline and direction in Christian lives. What kind of a loving Father would forego the "tough love" that seeks the highest good of His children? Not the God who "is love" (I John 4:8,16).
The commands of Jesus to the Laodicean Christians, and to every Christian, are "be zealous" and "repent" (3:19). The word for "zealous" in the Greek text is from the same root as the word for "hot" in verses 15 and 16. This does not mean that we are to turn on the head of emotional excitement and excess, as happens in many religious environs. Rather, as the Christian allows the life of Jesus Christ to be operative in him, there we be a fervor, a passion, an enthusiasm about functioning as God intended. In order to do so, we must first "repent" of all the false religious methods of living the Christian life. We must "change our mind" so as to recognize our own inability, and "change our action" by allowing for the receptivity of His activity in our behavior by faith.
The ready availability of Jesus Christ to provide everything necessary in the Christian life is expressed in Jesus' words, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me" (3:20). Though religionists have long misused and abused this verse as an evangelistic appeal to unbelievers, it is the appeal of Jesus for intimate communion with Christians. Christians have already received the Spirit of Christ into their spirit or else they are not Christians (Rom. 8:9), but Jesus does not "force" His way into our behavioral expression. He makes His presence known by "knocking at the door," and those who are His "hear His voice and open the door." Jesus said earlier, "My own know Me...My sheep hear My voice" (John 10:14,16). "Everyone who is of the Truth, hears My voice" (John 18:37). Christians who are receptive to what Christ wants to do in their lives, open the door to participate in spiritual fellowship with the risen Lord Jesus, allowing Him to reside, abide and settle-in to the abode of their soul. Dining with Him now, partaking with and of Him, they look forward also to the "supper of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:9) when they will "eat and drink at His table in the kingdom" (Luke 22:30).
Thus Jesus promises to those Christians who overcome the solicitations to revert to religion by faithful receptivity from the One who has "overcome the world" (John 16:33), "I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (3:21). Religion indicates that we "overcome" by conquering, battling or working diligently for "God's cause." Not so. We overcome by identifying with the Overcomer, the Lord Jesus Christ. In one sense we are already "seated with Him in the heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6), but there is a yet future consummation of Christ's victory when we "shall sit upon the throne, judging the tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). Having endured, "we shall also reign with Him" (II Tim. 2:12). Christ overcame all temptations by the same faithful receptivity of the Father, and "sat down with His Father on His throne." Christ is "seated at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion" Eph. 1:20-22). "The High Priest has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (Heb. 8:1).
Christians must have spiritual discernment "to hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (3:22). Only as we "listen under" the tutelage of the Spirit of Christ will we respond in obedience to be and do all that Jesus Christ wants to be and do in us. Thereby we can avoid the religious perversions that were creeping into the seven churches, and the similar satanic solicitations by which we are constantly tempted to misrepresent who we are in Christ.
The original name of the city of Laodicea was Diospolis, meaning "city of Zeus." Antiochus II renamed the city in the middle of the third century B.C., naming it after his wife, Laodice. The name Laodicea is etymologically derived from two Greek words, laos meaning "people," and dike meaning "to judge" or "to decide." This name became particularly appropriate for the citizens of Laodicea, since they seem to have been quite interested in self-determination and self-rule and deciding for themselves.
The city was located on a plateau about 100 feet above the Lycus River valley. The Romans developed Laodicea into a major trade center, the hub of three major trade routes. Laodicea was part of a tri-city area ( Col. 4:13) that included Hierapolis, six miles to the north, and Colossae, eleven miles to the east. Ephesus was about 100 miles to the west of Laodicea.
Being an important trade center, many in Laodicea became quite wealthy. Laodicea became the banking center of the region. The citizens were apparently so affluent and the city coffers so well-invested that when a major earthquake damaged the city in 60 A.D., they declined "imperial disaster aid." The historian Tacitus noted that they "recovered by their own resources."
One drawback to this well-settled city was the lack of a natural water supply. There were hot-springs in Hierapolis, six miles up the river valley, but by the time the water flowed down to Laodicea it was tepid and so full of minerals that it was distasteful. Jesus may have been alluding to this fact in the comments He makes to the church at Laodicea.
Religion was alive and well in Laodicea. Since the city had originally been Diospolis, "the city of Zeus," there was obviously a temple to Zeus, the foremost god in the Greek pantheon. There was a famous medical school in Laodicea apparently associated with Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing. This medical school had developed a "Phrygian powder" which was used as an eyesalve. Adding to the religious diversity of Laodicea were 7000 adult Jewish males who had been granted the right to preserve their religious customs in Laodicea.
The Church of Jesus Christ in Laodicea was probably established during Paul's extended stay in Ephesus (Acts 19:10; 20:31). Epaphrus may have been a native of the region who became a Christian under Paul's ministry in Ephesus, and later shared the gospel of Jesus Christ in the tri-city area (Col. 1:7; 4:12).
In beginning His message to the church at Laodicea, Jesus identifies Himself as "The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God" (3:14). The self-sufficient Laodiceans needed to remember the source of all sufficiency. Jesus Christ, as God, is the creative source of all things. "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:3). That form of religion which seeks to deny the deity of Jesus Christ, often interprets the statement that Jesus is "the Beginning of the creation of God" to mean that Jesus was the first thing God created. (They do the same with Col. 1:15). Not so! Jesus was "in the beginning with God, and was God" (John 1:1). As the eternal Word, Jesus is the "faithful and true Witness" who expresses and images God visibly within His creation. In His redemptive mission He faithfully exhibited the reality of deity within humanity even unto a martyr's death, wherefrom He was raised from the dead. Jesus is the "Amen," the essence and the validation of God. Religion in every age tends to think that man can create his own destiny, give witness to the veracity of his own conclusions, and affirm such with the punctuations of his own "amens."
As in all His addresses to the churches, Jesus begins His observations of the situation in the church at Laodicea by saying, "I know your deeds..." (3:15). In this case their deeds are not "wrought in God," and are therefore "dead works."
Jesus continues His observations charging, "You are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." The Christians in Laodicea were not "fervent in spirit" (Rom. 12:11), burning with zeal and excitement about the life of the Lord Jesus. Neither were they totally chilled to the point of apostatizing. Instead they were just lukewarm, tepid, apathetic and indifferent. Does this not picture the bland tepidity so often evident in religion? Attempting to cater to everyone at the same time, they take the "middle of the road" approach in order to appease the majority. Jesus is not content with such half-hearted neutrality. On an earlier occasion Jesus said, "He who is not with Me, is against Me" (Matt. 12:30). Jesus finds such dispassionate compromising to be nauseating and repulsive. He rejects such and would rather "spit you out of My mouth," that is, expel and repudiate such insipid and disinterested followers who do not appreciate what they have been given in Christ, and misrepresent such by their attitude and behavior. Vituperative antagonism is to be preferred over vacillating and vapid neutrality.
The Laodiceans had been lulled into misplaced security and misplaced sufficiency. They claimed that they were "rich and wealthy, and had need of nothing" (3:17). In the Old Testament the prophet Hosea lamented that some of God's people, and in particular Ephraim, said "Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself" (Hosea 12:8), and the Lord was provoked to anger. Jesus had mentioned the rich man who said, "Soul, you have many goods...eat, drink and be merry," and God said, "You fool; this night your soul is required of you" (Luke 12:19).
Religion often fosters a false-security in physical wealth and riches. Time and time again religious "prosperity doctrines" have promised health and wealth to unsuspecting followers. Many religious groups cater only to the affluent and wealthy who can "dress for success." Perhaps the Laodiceans had been drawn in to such religion folly.
The Laodiceans were "banking" on their material riches, and were forgetting the prior command of Jesus when He said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:19-21).
In their self-sufficiency the Laodiceans claimed to have "need of nothing." It is the utmost of arrogant audacity for any man to claim that he is so self-sufficient that he has "need of nothing." Man is a derivative creature who is nothing, has nothing and can do nothing (John 15:5) in and of himself. We are needful creatures. We are in need of everything being provided for our identity, sustenance and activity. "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves, to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God" (II Cor. 3:5). "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).
Contrary to this need-awareness explained throughout the Scriptures, religion promotes humanistic self-sufficiency. The abundance of religious "self-help programs" being offered encourage people to assert, "I can do it; I don't need any help!" Joining the Laodiceans, they claim to have "need of nothing."
When a Christian recognizes that Jesus Christ is his sufficiency for all things, for his identity, his sustenance and his activity, then it can be affirmed that he is "lacking in nothing" (James 1:4). This is a recognition of spiritual sufficiency in Christ, rather that the false-sufficiency claimed by the Laodiceans based on their physical and material abundance.
Despite what the Laodicean Christians thought they had, Jesus explains to them that they are "wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked" (3:17). They thought they had it all physically, but spiritually they were bankrupt. They were deceived, having no spiritual discernment. In their complacency they were not even aware of how miserable and wretched their condition really was. Thinking themselves to be rich, they were spiritually poor. Thinking themselves to be wise and to be able to "see things as they really are," they were spiritually blind. Thinking themselves to be clothed in moral cloaks of right behavior, they were spiritually naked. Were they not in the unenviable position of the emperor in the tale told by Hans Christian Anderson of The Emperor's New Clothes? Parading around in the pretense of having the best of everything, they only revealed their spiritual bankruptcy, blindness and nakedness.
Jesus advises the Laodicean Christians to make some faith responses whereby their spiritual lack can be supplied by Himself. In terms that the consumer-oriented Laodiceans could understand, Jesus urged them "to buy from Me..." (3:18). What Jesus has for us is not really "for sale" in any monetary market; it cannot be "bought." God's gracious provision can only be received by faith our receptivity of His activity. The prophet Isaiah foretold the availability of all things in Jesus Christ within the new covenant, saying, "You who have no money come, buy and eat...without money and without cost. ...Delight yourself in abundance" (Isa. 55:1,2). In fulfillment of this, Jesus makes available the solution to all the spiritual needs of the Laodicean Christians by advising them to "buy without cost," receive God's grace from Him.
The first investment the Laodiceans are encouraged to make is "to buy from Jesus gold refined by fire, that they might become rich" (3:18). The Laodiceans thought they were rich already (3:17), as do many religious organizations with accumulated assets and holdings totalling billions of dollars. Religion does not understand spiritual riches in Christ. Jesus indicates that we need to acquire that which is of spiritual value, which He calls "gold refined by fire." "Gold refined by fire" is best explained as the tested life of Jesus Christ, which was tested in the crucible of crucifixion. "In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3), the "wealth that comes from a true knowledge of Christ" (Col. 2:2). When we receive Him by faith we have "the treasure in earthen vessels" (II Cor. 4:7), the "surpassing riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7; 2:7), the "riches of the glory of His inheritance" (Eph. 1:18). Continuing to derive the fulfillment of all our needs by faith in Christ, we discover such "faith...more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire" (I Peter 1:7), for we might also experience the testing of the "gold" of Christ's life in the fires of personal adversity and suffering. His is the tested life more valuable than physical gold, which will persevere no matter how hot the fire gets.
Secondly, the Laodicean Christians and all Christians in every age are "to buy...white garments, that they might clothe themselves, and the shame of their nakedness may not be revealed" (3:18). Public nakedness was the ultimate shame and humiliation of the ancient world. Through the prophet Nahum the Lord says to Nineveh, "I will...show to the nations your nakedness, and to the kingdoms your disgrace" (Nahum 3:5). Christians are to clothe themselves in "white garments," representing the purity and holiness of the character of Christ. Later in the Revelation the bride, the church, is clothed in "fine linen, bright and clean...the righteous acts of the saints" (19:8), in preparation for the marriage of the Lamb. Religion seeks to substitute the ecclesiastical robes of hierarchy and the moral cloaks of social conformity, but the risen Lord Jesus requires that we "put on" the character of His righteousness in our behavior.
To solve the problem of spiritual blindness, Jesus advises Christians "to buy...eyesalve to anoint your eyes, that you may see" (3:18). Remember that the Laodicean medical school was renowned for its "Phrygian powder" that helped to relieve physical eye problems. After healing the man born blind Jesus said that those who "see may become blind," and "those who do not see may see" (John 9:39), because His priority was to address spiritual blindness so that people might see spiritual realities. The Psalmist requested, "Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Thy Law" (Psalm 119:18), which revealed Jesus Christ. Paul prays for the Ephesians that the "eyes of their heart might be enlightened, that they might know the hope of His calling" (Eph. 1:17). Only by the presence of Jesus Christ in us do we "see" and "appraise spiritual things" (I Cor. 2:15) in order to see from God's perspective.
Having explained that spiritual riches, spiritual clothing and spiritual eyesight are found only in Himself, Jesus warns, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline" (3:19). Concerned that all men might be restored to the fullness of God's intent, Jesus is actively engaged in the disciplinary processes that keep Christians "on track." By the correcting and reproving work of His Spirit, He seeks to preserve us in His finishing work. "Whom the Lord loves He reproves" (Prov. 3:12). "Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord" (Heb. 12:5). "He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness" (Heb. 12:10). Religion attempts to skirt around the reproof and disciplines of the Lord. Focusing on a syrupy and sentimental understanding of a loving God who always forgives and never censures, they by-pass God's active discipline and direction in Christian lives. What kind of a loving Father would forego the "tough love" that seeks the highest good of His children? Not the God who "is love" (I John 4:8,16).
The commands of Jesus to the Laodicean Christians, and to every Christian, are "be zealous" and "repent" (3:19). The word for "zealous" in the Greek text is from the same root as the word for "hot" in verses 15 and 16. This does not mean that we are to turn on the head of emotional excitement and excess, as happens in many religious environs. Rather, as the Christian allows the life of Jesus Christ to be operative in him, there we be a fervor, a passion, an enthusiasm about functioning as God intended. In order to do so, we must first "repent" of all the false religious methods of living the Christian life. We must "change our mind" so as to recognize our own inability, and "change our action" by allowing for the receptivity of His activity in our behavior by faith.
The ready availability of Jesus Christ to provide everything necessary in the Christian life is expressed in Jesus' words, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me" (3:20). Though religionists have long misused and abused this verse as an evangelistic appeal to unbelievers, it is the appeal of Jesus for intimate communion with Christians. Christians have already received the Spirit of Christ into their spirit or else they are not Christians (Rom. 8:9), but Jesus does not "force" His way into our behavioral expression. He makes His presence known by "knocking at the door," and those who are His "hear His voice and open the door." Jesus said earlier, "My own know Me...My sheep hear My voice" (John 10:14,16). "Everyone who is of the Truth, hears My voice" (John 18:37). Christians who are receptive to what Christ wants to do in their lives, open the door to participate in spiritual fellowship with the risen Lord Jesus, allowing Him to reside, abide and settle-in to the abode of their soul. Dining with Him now, partaking with and of Him, they look forward also to the "supper of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:9) when they will "eat and drink at His table in the kingdom" (Luke 22:30).
Thus Jesus promises to those Christians who overcome the solicitations to revert to religion by faithful receptivity from the One who has "overcome the world" (John 16:33), "I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (3:21). Religion indicates that we "overcome" by conquering, battling or working diligently for "God's cause." Not so. We overcome by identifying with the Overcomer, the Lord Jesus Christ. In one sense we are already "seated with Him in the heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6), but there is a yet future consummation of Christ's victory when we "shall sit upon the throne, judging the tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). Having endured, "we shall also reign with Him" (II Tim. 2:12). Christ overcame all temptations by the same faithful receptivity of the Father, and "sat down with His Father on His throne." Christ is "seated at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion" Eph. 1:20-22). "The High Priest has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (Heb. 8:1).
Christians must have spiritual discernment "to hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (3:22). Only as we "listen under" the tutelage of the Spirit of Christ will we respond in obedience to be and do all that Jesus Christ wants to be and do in us. Thereby we can avoid the religious perversions that were creeping into the seven churches, and the similar satanic solicitations by which we are constantly tempted to misrepresent who we are in Christ.
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