Teaching

You know it's true: for many people to be a Christian means going to church on Sunday and hearing a sermon. No one really expects to hear something that will actually change much of anything. Most of the people see the Church as God's way to maintain people, rather than equip, commission and send forth.

On the other hand, many pastors don't look at themselves as leaders, but rather as called to comfort, minister to and meet the needs of people. This perception of ministry has caused people not to expect much of their pastoral leadership. Some believers don't even feel their pastors understand the "ordinary" lives the "lay" people live. It's almost as if the world of "ministry" is this better, more spiritual world and the world of the ordinary folks is, well, not so spiritual.

Then there are ministers who possess an extraordinary gift, charismatic personality, carry a powerful anointing and have been able to rise above the average in terms of leadership. They influence tens or even hundreds of thousands. They're on TV, radio and on the Internet. Their books sell in the millions.

As soon as a leader makes it "big" (whether it's because of a supernatural healing or other gift or a great oratory or leadership skill) many in the church begin to feel that somehow this person's job is to impact the world more than most. Expectations arise. Expenses follow suit. A system develops. And before you know it, believers lean back and expect the great and mighty leader to wave the magic wand, meet their needs, save their relatives and bring crime in the city down.

Why do we have such an imbalanced view of leadership? Is there a better way? How much better can the Church be if we are able to see leadership from a Kingdom perspective?

LEADERS - BROTHERS AND COMPANIONS IN THE KINGDOM

A new and fresh look at the first century Church shows us that they interpreted everything from a Kingdom perspective.

I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Rev. 1:9

The apostle John was about to bring a very significant part of the puzzle to the table--the puzzle of the grand picture of the Kingdom of God. That's really the primary purpose of the book of Revelation - to brings understanding the Kingdom's nature. Some have calle the book of Revelation "the fifth Gospel". It's the Good News that even through suffering may come and is already here, we are indeed called to rule and reign with Christ in the earth. It speaks of the clash of the Kingdom of God with Satan and his rulers. It's a book that reveals to us what's going on in the spirit world. It's NOT a book of predictions to stir up every religious maniac in town.

My point here is that John is about to speak of such incredible revelations dealing with Heaven and yet he starts by being so transparent about his humanity and calling himself a brother and companion in the tribulation and the Kingdom. He spoke as a brother, unashamed of his weakness and inability to change his circumstances and yet being an example of someone who was able to meet God anywhere. He wasn't living in the past, thinking of the good old days with Jesus. John was living in THE NOW and THEN. He was truly relevant, not only to his day, but to many generations after.

Could this be the reason the early apostles had so much authority in the lives of people was also because they were very honest and real? I believe this honesty, this being real gave them great leverage against the religionists of the day whose success depended so much on mystical and ritualistic elements.

DANGER OF "IDOLATRY"

Why is it important for leaders to be humble, transparent, real and after all, human?

For one, it's very practical. God doesn't anoint (i.e. empower) anybody's act. When you are you, God gives you His grace to be who you're called to be and do what you're called to do. Who cares if some people won't understand, respect and celebrate you and your ministry? Somebody will. The people who respond to who you truly are, are the people you're supposed to be with and build with.

The people who respond to someone's act, well...they're there for the show. As soon as the actor makes the wrong step, they're gone. Show is over. Sadly, that's the story of many ministries.

Another practical side of leadership being real is the effect it will have on most people in the church.

It will counter the idolatry which is part our carnal nature and also, it will remind people that only together, all of us doing our part, we'll be able to get the job done in the earth.

One of the deformations we have inherited from the revivalist-shaped Christian idealism of the 20th century is the overemphasis of and the unbalanced expectation from the anointed vessel of God. On one hand we should know how to expect God to use extraordinary individuals in the Church. This is valid and very important. I've often said that God delegates his authority to individuals, not to groups of people or institutions. God is still into raising up above-average kind of leaders. But there is a fine line we're not to cross and it's called idolatry. Idolatry is very simply counterfeit worship: applying the right expectations (of God) to the wrong place (an idol).

Technically, extreme respect of and admiration for a minister is not real idolatry. It's important to make the distinction. But the unbalanced perception and response some people have when it comes to men and women of God resembles the fruit of idolatry. Hence we use the term in our language.

Ministers may be aware or unaware of such issues in people's lives. They may encourage or be totally against such manifestations of the weaknesses of the human nature. It totally depends on the integrity of the leader in question. There are some who see such weaknesses in people and take advantage of them. That's evil and God will hold such leaders accountable.

Others get the shock of their lives when people respond to them or the gift of God in them in an inappropriate way.

The apostle Paul had this happen to him in the city of Lyaconia. Strangely enough, the idolatry which was in the people rose up to worship Paul and his team when they saw the power of God manifested through Paul.

And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Acts 14:11-12

They even went on to bring a sacrifice to them. Paul was very disturbed.

Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Acts 14:14-15

This and other stories in the Bible show us that our carnal nature tends to want to expect from an anointed vessel of God not what only God wants to give us through such, but even beyond that. If leaders and people are aware of this, we will protect each other from the pitfalls of pride and unabalanced expetations.

"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness....idolatry..." Gal. 5:19-20

Old paradigms of leadership have reinforced this notion by traditionally elevating the man or the woman of God to a superhuman status. However, this isn't a biblical notion. Christ didn't expect his apostles to be superhuman. Au contraire, both the Gospel story and the other New Testament writings are very honest about the human side of the apostles, as well as the church of the first century.

However, some things changed with time, especially with the institutionalisation of the Church by the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD. From a persecuted, underground sect the Church became institutionalized. The church lost it's cause. Persectuion has a way of naturally sifting through the phonies from the real leaders who were ready and willing to live or die for Christ. The government and the clergy of the Church came out of the institutional instead of the supernatural, "organic" five-fold of Christ the Head.

The mystical replaced the pure and true supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the earth.

Catholicism created a religious system, which incorporated imagery, fragments of Biblical revelation and paganism. This can be seen in the worship of statues (in the Western) and icons (in the Eastern) Churches. However, Catholicism created not only a very monolithic religious system because of the synergy of mysticism and Biblical imagery and thought, but also a very stable hierarchical structure that revolves around the papal office, much as the Solar system revolves around the sun. Take away the pope and Catholicism is gone in a very short time. Centralization of power is the reason the Catholic Church has survived through the centuries, regardless of who was the Pope. The paradox of centralization (as in dictatorships) is that even though corrupt, it provides a false sense of security and people tend to support it.

One of the successes of the Reformation of the 16 century is the creation of new national church structures independent of Rome and the Pope.
Yet again, one of the Reformation's failures is the assimilation of the new back into the old and ultimately the authority of Rome and the Pope being left untouched.

BELIEVERS MUST GROW UP

As I have ministered through the years in different cultures, I have noticed how the saints respond to authority is often times defined (maybe even on a subconscious level) by the popular stereotypes of the culture and its behind-the-scenes power structures.

In Communist countries people have a certain submissive way of responding to leadership authority. We can see certain patterns in countries with a colonial past. And ultimately, you can see specific patterns in countries and cultures who were themselves once superpowers. My friend Jim Anderson, who ministers restoration to women, told
me years ago: "We go and minister to women in countries who were under Russia's boot and it's amazing how much they have been oppressed. But then we go to Russia who was "the boot" itself and that's a real challenge to help open their eyes to their condition and then to the fact they were the ones who were part of creating the system itself."

What a challenge!

It has been said that the best explainers of a country sometimes are those who come from the outside.

The reason Jim can go into Russia and God can use him to open the eyes of women to see how precious they are in God's eyes, how immorality and sex is not what gives them value and so on, is because Jim is coming from the outside. He's coming as a Kingdom man with values and revelation that even great ministers of God within the land simply don't have.

The same is true in many ways for the Western world. If you can find Kingdom people who are not culturally or religiously "under" the power structures that dominate and mold Western thinking, you may hear some things worth listening to.

After more than 10 years of moving back and forth between cultures and civilizations, I've noticed some things about the Western world. As I've studied and analyzed the way Western thinking processes the Bible and more specifically the way Protestantism has developed both historically and in its present forms, I cannot but
notice how much it resembles Catholicism. From the way we mix the supernatural with the mystical, to the monolithic structure of our beloved denominations, to the way institutional leadership is created and what it creates, we model Catholicism.

Western Christianity still revolves around the "holy man in a holy building" concept. And even though the Gospel message is being preached and the Word bears fruit, the average western Christian gets saved from their past life of sin only to be bound to semi-reformed Catholic structures. We like to believe they are so different and free from past Catholic baggage, but in reality they don't stand the New Testament litmus test - the headship of Christ, the fivefold ministry and the way ordinary people are integrated and engaged in bearing Kingdom fruit.

Whether your church or denomination defines itself as Protestant, independent, Charismatic or Pentecostal, the real litmus test remains its fruit. And if what we see in a denomination or a local church is fear, legalism, religiosity, inferiority, lack of faith, compromise,man-pleasing, lack of power in prayer, lack of power in worship and lack of holiness in the lives of the people and leaders, we're still looking at a semi-reformed Catholicism, only now with a denominational pope or a big-ego modern style minister who acts as if everything revolves around
them.

Why is it so difficult for the Body of Christ to come back to our true roots, Hebraic worldview, thought processes and core spirituality?

It's time for reformation and it must begin with leadership.

Bishop Joseph Mattera from New York makes a statement in his book, Ruling in the
Gates: "Revival is not enough!"

I join my voice with his and add: "The time for reformation is now!"
George P. Bakalov