THE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

PART III

Even though the early Church began with an awesome outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the reality that believers were now individual temples of the Lord, in the last 1700 years, since the days of the Roman Emperor Constantine, when he made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire and ordered Christians to come out of their homes and meet in buildings and auditoriums, Christianity has been dominated by a “brick and mortar” mentality. This has institutionalized the Church and greatly limited her spiritual fruit and growth.

Here are some of the elements that characterized this type of mentality:

1. The building became more important than the people.

The church is not a building. The church is the people. It doesn’t matter where the people of God meet for God will fill every structure as much as he can. The meeting place is not the issue. Have you ever heard someone say in a church service: “It’s so good to be in the house of God this morning?” I know what people mean when they say that, but it’s the wrong mentality. Every born again believer is the house of God (Heb 3:6). Individually and collectively we are the house of God. The house is a spiritual house, not a physical building.

This mentality that puts an overemphasis on the building confines the ministry of the gospel to the four walls. Instead of taking Christ to the people, we invite people to come to the church building. We invent new programs and new ways to advertize the church so people in the community can come to our church building.

John the Baptist preached in the wilderness. Multitudes came out to hear him.  Jesus never had a building where He operated from. He was out in the byways and highways at every intersection of life ministering to people. He taught the ways of God and ministered healing in the open air and in homes. He was anointed for burial at the end of a meal in the home of Lazarus. The last supper where Jesus and his disciples ate their last meal together, and where he instituted the new covenant, took place in a home. The early church began in a blaze of glory in the upper room of a house and then spilled out on to the streets of Jerusalem (Acts 2). Paul and his companions met by the riverside for prayer (Acts 16). We need to be more concerned about being the church than coming to the church. Having church simply means to gather together for the purpose of conducting kingdom business. That can be done anywhere at any time for where two or three believers are gathered in the Name of Jesus He is there (Mat 18:18-20).

2. Money became more important than the message.

If every motive of the heart could be revealed you would soon discover that many of the reasons we do what we do is because of money. Someone once said that our church services have become like theaters, and preachers the actors, people the audience, while the tithes and offerings are like the admittance fees. Ouch! Even good television ministries now spend more time using the public airwaves to fund-raise rather than preach the gospel. More time is spent soliciting viewers for money than it is ministering to their real needs. Often messages are preached that promise people prosperity if they will only give to their ministries. Money has not only become more important than the message, but it has become the message. What a sham we have made from the gospel!

I travel to nations preaching the gospel, training and equipping disciples, and carrying messages God gives me for the Church or the nation I’m traveling to. Because the majority of the nations I travel to are very poor, most of the time I do not receive offerings from my overseas ministry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked American churches to help me with my overseas expenses, and how more often than not, they responded negatively, usually stating that the church had other pressing needs. Most of the needs had to do with regular overhead costs like operating expenses and salaries, the maintenance of the church building, or some fund drive they just started.

Needs of the church building ranged from general renovation costs like remodeling certain rooms, redesigning the sanctuary, or purchasing a new boiler to heat the building for the winter. Weeks would go by and soon I find that the pastor himself is going on a church-sponsored overseas mission trip. It’s amazing how quickly the church came up with funds to send their pastor whose primary calling is not to the nations, but weeks earlier they could not make a contribution to help send one who has a calling to go. These are churches that I have relationship with. Again, this is evidence that we are more concerned about what happens inside the four walls than sending those whose primary ministry is outside the four walls.

Is it expedient that the bulk of traditional church funds be tied up in overhead, building maintenance, general expenses, and salaries? A friend of mine did a study on the availability of church funds after all the local expenses are paid. His studies revealed that only 7-11% of all church monies are flexible and can be earmarked for other needs outside the church. That is very sad and hinders one of the primary purposes of the Church: the evangelization and discipleship of the nations, and the sending of those who are called to go.

3. Organization took precedence over relationship.

Jesus did not come to the earth to start a new organization called Christianity. He came to reconcile man to God. Early in his ministry Jesus called all the disciples to himself. From them he chose 12 whom he named apostles. The first reason he chose them was so they could be with him (Mk 3:13-14). Without a church building or an organization Jesus impacted the 12 apostles until they went and changed their world.  Jesus placed emphasis on relationship.

What has become popular in churches today is to organize flow charts with names and titles of people who oversee certain departments in the church, and others report to them. I realize that within larger churches these departments, organizational systems, and charts can aid in maintaining order in the operation of all church functions and activities. What we need to realize, however, is that this hierarchical chain of authority, can also greatly limit relationship-building because it keeps things at a professional and formal level. Professionalism and formalism kills the organic nature of the Church and of the kingdom of God, and usually keeps relationships only at a superficial level. Can we truly function organically and still maintain order in our churches? I believe we can, as long as we maintain a balance, and we work according to relationship and give precedence to relationship.

When I first got saved it was not a department in the church or a program that discipled me. It wasn’t even a new convert’s class or the pastor’s sermons. The person that led me to the Lord was the one who discipled me. Others that God brought into my life also helped. Individual empowerment and accountability through relationships are what caused me to grow spiritually.

4. Liturgy became more important than liberty.

Liturgy is a form of public worship or a ritual officially prescribed by the Church.  Ritualism and formality kills the liberty of the Spirit of God. One time the great apostle John G. Lake was called away during a service where the Spirit of God was in manifestation and the saints were enjoying great liberty. Upon returning Lake found the atmosphere of the meeting had changed drastically to one of formality. This is what happens when you follow a prescribed program instead of the Spirit of God.

I have some dear friends who pastor a church in New Jersey. They have trained their people to have an exaggerated expectancy for the manifestation of the Spirit of God every time they meet. Even their church business meetings are often interrupted by the Spirit of God because they make room for Him. I’ve been eating with these pastors at a restaurant and they have ministered to me in tongues and interpretation, and then received a word of knowledge for a waitress and ministered to her. You cannot operate in that unless you’ve cultivated an acute awareness that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit and He is always present with you. Liturgy kills that kind of liberty.

5. Schedule became more important than the Holy Spirit.

This point coincides with the last one. You cannot rush the Holy Spirit or restrict him to a schedule. Adherence to man’s agenda and schedule without concern for what the Holy Spirit wants to say and do will grieve Him. God forbid if He should want to speak during our song sessions. He should speak before or after the songs, but not during it, and certainly not during the offering.

One time in a church service a man was called up to pray for the nation. The praise and worship team had just finished a high volume, high intensity series of songs that released an anointing to meet people’s needs. The atmosphere was also primed for inspired utterances to come forth. Anyone with sensitivity could discern that it was time for something else to happen by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Someone needed to step in and take the service in another direction.

Guess what happened? The man was called upon to pray and according to schedule, he prayed. The Spirit’s agenda was bypassed. Things proceeded according to the traditional pattern of the regular church services.  Prayer is good, but in this case, the man’s prayer killed the anointing. This happens quite frequently in church services and meetings.

One time in a church service my wife had a word of knowledge for a physical condition. This happened during the preliminary part of the service. A good number of people responded so I decided to help her minister to the people. When the pastor saw how many people responded he told me to hurry because he wanted to move the service along in order to accomplish other things in that meeting. In other words, things had to go according to schedule without lengthy interruptions even if they were Holy Ghost interruptions. It didn’t really matter that there were so many people who were afflicted in their body and needed healing.

6. Titles became more important than servant-hood.

The political church structure puts emphasis on positions and titles, but it is the true spiritual authorities and anointings that God recognizes. Just because you have a title does not mean you function accordingly. Titles also have a tendency to make one proud and give them a superiority complex. This is why Jesus said: “He that is greatest among you let him be your servant.” Greatness is marked by servant-hood. Titles and positions can puff people up until they believe the one who is served is greater than the one who serves.

Paul said he was the least of the apostles and that God had declared them to be last and made them a spectacle to the world. He understood that apostles were not at the top of the ecclesiastical authority chain, but were foundation layers whose role was to serve and empower everyone.

The early apostles would gag today if they could see how self-appointed apostles profit from their ministries and down lines of people who tithe to them or how they receive pampered treatment.

Often titles and positions are used to intimidate others into submitting to their own visions, agendas, and desires. True ministers are not looking for fame or celebrity, nor are they grasping for titles; instead they are looking to be spent for the benefit of others.

7. Attendance became more important than effectiveness.

Regular attendance, volunteerism, and giving are the things that are greatly esteemed and evaluated in the traditional church. These things are considered the marks of true spirituality. But it should be apparent that a believer can be consistent in these areas and yet lack the fire and fervency that comes from true fellowship with God. The opposite can also be true. Some believers may not be as consistent in their attendance, volunteerism, and giving but are being very effective in their daily walk with God, reaching out to others, caring and sharing their lives with them in making disciples outside the sphere of the four walls of the church.

Some former students of mine were commenting to me one time about how their attendance at our corporate church services was actually hindering their personal lives from being more effective in their witness for Christ. Between work and family life and attending at least two or three evening church services per week they were having a challenge in their time management trying to schedule other evenings for the discipleship of new converts they had won to the Lord at work. Why not just bring them to the corporate church services? Because more often than not, the services did not appeal to the new converts and address current issues in their lives.

I am not saying that believers should stop attending services, volunteering, and giving. What I am saying is that we should not measure true spirituality by these things alone. Charles Finney made the following statement:

“There is a certain type of Christian that although being constructively involved in the church and pass off as being very good Christians are useless in a revival. I do not mean that they are wicked, but they have a form of piety which has no fire and efficiency and actually repels new believers, and wards off the truth.”

8. Tithing took precedence over testimony.

If tithing is to have any precedence at all in the Church today, why didn’t the New Testament writers emphasize it? Why didn’t the apostle Paul even mention it? Surely if it was a principle doctrine and practice during Paul’s day he would’ve spent much time talking about it. But the truth is that neither Paul nor any of the other writers hardly mentioned it. Giving, yes; tithing, no! We must come to terms with this, and admit that the possibility largely exists that perhaps this is a tradition of men not even taught or practiced by the early church. And if you think this excuses you to give less than a tithe, ask yourself this question: Should he under grace that has had the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost give less than he who gave a tithe under the law? Under the new covenant of grace everything we have is the Lord’s. Why limit it to 10%? Our very lives belong to Him. He is Lord and Master of all that we have, all that we are, and hope to be.

If we had more testimony of changed lives people would give voluntarily so that more lives could be changed. But once again, the sad truth is that coercion and manipulation are often used today to increase people’s giving because so much of the church’s operating expenses and programs are dependent on the people’s tithes. In other words, the tithes of the people are what are keeping the church doors open and its workers employed. Is there anything wrong with that? If you measure the actual fruit of evangelism and discipleship and put that up against the kind of money that rolls into churches on a monthly basis you would see that something is terribly wrong with our system. The “brick and mortar” mentality has kept the majority of the funds being used inwardly instead of outwardly.

9. Appointments of men became more important than appointments of God.

The work that our missionary team founded in the nation of Liberia many years ago has now gone through several different leadership transitions in a 20 year period, but there has been a great spiritual decline in the last several years. Often people have blamed the lack of resources and funds for the decline, but we’ve discovered that the real reason is in the leadership appointed. Wrong leaders who did not have the apostolic grace that previous leaders had to lead a national work are what attributed to the steady decline of the work.

It doesn’t matter how educated, organized, or orated someone is, if he lacks the God-given grace to function in the position appointed him it will be a failure.  Men who are selected to positions based only on social or academic standing are often not God’s choice. Paul and Barnabas were separated and sent by the Holy Ghost, not men (Acts 13:1-4).

The common practice in many church governments today is for the congregation to vote for a pastor, or for church boards to appoint someone to a ministry position, or to make spiritual decisions that they have not the grace to make. This causes all kinds of short term and long term problems. In the New Testament they knew people by the grace given to them, and they allowed the Holy Ghost to bear witness with them before placing men in positions of authority. In other words, anointings are given by God, but positions are appointed by men. Authentic New Testament churches grow according to anointings, not official positions.

10. Clergy was considered sacred but the laity was considered secular.

Under the old covenant the prophet, the priest, and the king were anointed by the Spirit of God and set apart for ministry. No one else in that dispensation had any measure of the Spirit upon them. Under the new covenant, however, all believers have the Spirit of God in them and upon them. Yet today, while all clergy are still considered sacred, all laity are categorized as secular. This separation and categorical distinction of clergy and laity has greatly hindered the advancement of the great commission, and taken a measure of personal responsibility and involvement away from the individual believer.

I’ll take this a step further. Not only is the clergy considered sacred and the laity secular, but the church building has been considered sacred. The church property is sacred including all church vehicles. The church computers are sacred. All church furniture is sacred.  Meanwhile the homes and property of all individual believers is considered secular. It’s an Old Testament truth influenced by the “brick and mortar” mentality.

In the New Testament every believer is sacred because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. All his possessions, if set apart for God’s use, are sacred. Every believer is called a saint and has a God-given ability, gift, and function in the body of Christ. Yes, there are ministers who have a calling and grace to preach and teach the Word of God, but they are not to be considered more sacred than any other believer. They simply have a different function within the body that carries with it a greater responsibility and authority by which they will be judged more severely.