people demand a king

The church is always looking to governments and rulers for establishing order and hierarchies in how a church must operate. Not much as changed today as people still seek a “king” or man to rule over them.

Many pastors and their staff want to run church the way other “nations have” believing that is the order for God’s people.

“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”1 Samuel 8:4, 5  And the LORD told him: ‘…it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.’”  1 Samuel 8:4, 5, 7 NKJ

God sent Christ as a Samuel to His people. And yet, the church says: “You need a king! You must be ‘spiritually covered’ by a church or pastor.”

Most churches and leaders push the system insisting you should have some sort of authority and each person is to be to “covered” by one of those authorities. They want you to believe you can’t operate without their “spiritual covering” when Jesus is ALL the covering you need.

By pushing this idea of “covering” on their congregants, they are asking the church to reject God’s covering sent through Christ.

Man is placing himself as head of the Body.

Congregants and church go-ers, believe this authority of man to be true because we’re taught this all our  lives. In fact, it’s accepted as perfectly normal because it’s no longer demanded, it is just expected.

If you refuse the “king” (pastoral system or denominational affiliation) then you will most likely be accused of the witchcraft of rebellion.

When the truth is, accepting man’s “spiritual covering” or authority, is refusing Christ’s covering and authority.

Most church leaders also view you as having pride and sin because you oppose man’s spiritual authority over you, mainly because of their own desire for you to follow them.

But to resist the status quo requires quite the opposite of pride.

It takes humbling ourselves unto Christ to go against the grain of the world and especially go against the grain of church.

How often do church leaders, submit to congregants? Do church leaders even honestly evaluate their position and their possible hindrance to Christ? Or do they only evaluate themselves for the sole purpose of supporting their position?

If you question the way of church, suffering will come.

I’ve seen it time and again.

People are injured and maimed by the leaders. And if you dare to question a church’s leadership or its position or its operation, you become the enemy. Why so?

“Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” 1 Peter 5:5-9

You are to submit one to another for the purpose of being sober.

But leaders of church today, don’t feel they are to submit to their Body.  Good grief, that’d open all types of cans and worms and seems downright silly to their sensibilities. Of course, you are  to submit to their leadership.

Yet, it says, “all of you be submissive to one another.”

In other words, that’s a two-way street.

But if you do open a can of worms, then most leaders would rather say you are complaining or whining, or heaven forbid, character sabotage of the system in question.

Or they might think you are just to immature to understand their high theological ways!

The very flaw of the pastoral system and it’s hierarchy is what makes you inept to operate fully in Christ to begin with. It stunts your growth.

The system limits the Spirit’s operation in His Body, under man’s system or program, by saying His Spirit can only speak here, or in this way, or preferably not at all, as He will only disrupt the service.

They place themselves between you and Christ and wonder why you aren’t more mature in your walk.

But, when the Body begins to question the church, then the question-er is considered a trouble maker.

I’ve seen and watched an elder of a church say this pastor is “God’s Anointed” and to question how his church is operating is considered “gossip”.

“Danger, Will Robinson! Danger, danger!”

Beware.

The red flag has been raised, but it should also humble us to search our hearts. You don’t assume you are right. You assume you can learn something here.

So you seek the Holy Spirit for counsel, first. Clothed in humility, you come to Him to guide you in Truth and knowledge.

But if it flies in the face of what is being preached, woe to you to follow man, over God.

Yet, if you truly sinned, then repent.

But many times, I’ve seen the pastor use “gossip” as a whipping tool to silence the congregation. To keep others from asking questions, to berate the Body into accepting leaders without evaluating their actions, to place a man or pastor above the Body as the head, essentially replacing Christ.

As M.C. Hammer sang it: “You can’t touch this!”

Unless of course, you’re considered a “peer” because the system has a range of levels and depending on what level you are on, depends on who can rebuke, correct,  exhort, or use the gifts.

The Body is guilted into quenching the Spirit. They are not allowed  or given permission to discern Truth and it’s operation, or its lack, among the leaders.

Be vigilant!

This is wrong. They, themselves, place the scriptures of “submitting one to another” wherever it suits them best. They use this scripture for your “benefit” and not their own.

It stinks of rotten flesh.

Submitting does NOT mean you are under man’s rule. But it does mean you humble yourself to examination, not authority.

Allowing your evaluation in Christ, keeps you humbled under God’s mighty hand.

Yet, the world isn’t saved by Grace nor is everyone in the world aligned with Jesus, so evil is always present. This is the purpose of establishing systems and laws to govern behavior or consequences in the world, which we know are all under God’s authority. And those governing bodies also serve God’s purposes. Jeremiah 38:3, Romans 13:1

But His People, the Body, have been transferred to another Kingdom and you are part of His nation which doesn’t operate according to the world.

And since you are part of this kingdom, I warn you: demanding a king to rule over you is to your harm. Christ is still on the throne and man is capable of hindering you from fully operating in His Kingdom.

Here’s God’s warning to His people for this very thing:

I’ve inserted (the church or pastor or ect) in the parentheses of where “king or he” was originally in text. It still applies today:

He {God} said, “This is what the (church) who will reign over you will claim as his rights: (The Church) will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots (programs)and horses (always running to serve), and (His people) will run in front of (the pastor’s) chariots. (The Church) will assign (some) to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties (associate pastors, youth leaders etc), and others to plow (the pastor’s) ground and reap (the pastor’s) harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for (for the pastor’s) chariots. (The Church) will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. (The Pastor) will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants (the staff). (The pastor) will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants (the staff).  Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys (the pastor and his staff) will take for his own use. (The pastor and his church) will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.” 1 Samuel 8:11-17