Today I woke up and suddenly I realized that Noah did not have a pastor. How on earth did he ever manage to understand that there was going to be a flood without someone to speak into his life? How did he ever manage to build that huge ark without the messenger of God whom God had chosen to put His word into, to go and tell Noah what to do? How did Noah survive all that time and keep the devil at bay while he was getting that ark built without a spiritual covering to keep him safe? Moses didn't have a pastor either. How did he ever manage to lead the entire nation of Israel out of Egypt without a pastor to tell him what God wanted him to do.
We have been taught that we must have a pastor. That without a pastor to "speak into our lives" that we will not have the guidance from God that we need. That we need to become a "member" of a church in order to have a "spiritual" covering. Without that covering we are just out there unprotected and a prime target for the devil. That the pastor has some great insight into life and we are to do what he says and follow his instruction and advice because he hears from God "for us" and without this pastor we cannot hear from God on our own. That if we don't do what our pastor says then we are no doing what the Word of God says.
It is like as new testament believers we have been taught that we are in many ways no better off than the old testament children of God. They had to have a priest to go to God for them but we have to have a pastor to hear from God for us and instruct us in what He would have us to do.
These pastors seem to forget that we actually have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us to lead and guide us into all truth just like they do. We all have been given the same measure of faith just like they have. We have the same authority over the devil that they do. We are a part of the same body of Christ that they are. We are joint heirs with Christ just like they are.
I have watched so many people make terrible decisions and mistakes based on what a pastor told them to do and told them it was God. I have heard pastors say things that they said God told them that weren't right. I have watched pastors manipulate and control others. I have seen pastors delve into others lives and tell them how to live when they and their own families do not live according to the Word of God. I have seen pastors that are not men of their word.
Abraham , Noah, Moses and many others somehow managed to make it without a pastor. They actually did what it took to know and communicate with God themselves and they did not even have the Holy Spirit on the inside of them. I do not need a pastor to tell me what God says or what His word says. I do not need to be told how to read and be a doer of the Word of God. I do not need someone to tell me what songs I need to sing to worship God. I am a child of God. I know Him. I am His sheep and I hear His voice and the voice of another I will not follow. I made that mistake for over a decade and I will not make it again.
Abraham, Noah and Moses made it and so will I. I will make it with God. I will make it as the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, I will make it in victory, I will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of MY testimony..... Not what a man tells me to do.
A Reflector of His Bountifulness
11 years ago
4 comments:
I guess these men had a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father instead of one by proxy through some "mere man." Since I have left that controlling church I now have a fresh new relationship with my Heavenly Father. So good!
Great insight in your blog.
Great post.
You know, this whole thing isn't new. Look up "shepherding movement." The most recent version of pastoral covering teaching is very similar, with a few twists to make it more updated and less obvious to its victims.
Sadly, I don't think these pastors "forgot" that we have the Holy Spirit. I think they're purposefully and willfully controlling and manipulating people. Any time a person wants to control another, it's devilish.
You know there is a verse in the Bible that says we don't need a teacher because we have the Holy Spirit. I know that many people like going to church and learning from a pastor and that's great, but the main amount of our learning should be done as we read our Bibles and spend time with God on our own. Things are backwards these days - Jesus is supposed to come first, not the church or the pastor.
Another great post. It's so wonderful that God can fix our mistakes. And he loves us no matter what.
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