Only the Best

(Part 2 of Abiathar)

© by Gary W. Crisp

In worship, if we all come together with one and only one goal in mind---that being to Lift Him Up and Worship Him---then we all can and should be liberated and mature enough to express our Love and Devotion “freely from our hearts”. This devotion should be flowing outward and upward to Him; we don’t need to be told in what manner to express that love. And let me add another little note -- There is nothing sweeter or more refreshing than to be in the presence of someone who truly knows Him and has been in His presence worshipping and adoring Him. We must not “seek our own”. We must seek Him. The church is filled with those who seek their own, because no one has wanted to address this impure and impudent situation. And, sadly, our plight has only worsened the past few years. Where did it begin? And when?

What Is “Best”?

When churches, pastors and leaders began choosing “only the best” to sing and serve before the Lord, the Body of Christ took a real nosedive. You wouldn’t have thought so, just looking at that line of action in the “natural” (but in the “natural” is when and where we get into trouble), and you wouldn’t have thought so, just trying to rationalize that attitude in your mind, but that type of thinking is “contrary” to the ways of the Spirit. Churches and spiritual leaders have for years been making choices and fathering positions without any concern for whether they were “truly spiritual” or not. They had lofty goals, high aims and obscured designs, and few people questioned them.

However, and sadly so -- the real goal was, and is, this: “We want to look good to the world and when other Christians observe us.” And they say, in defense of their actions, “We want to put our best foot forward; we must give our best to Jesus to show Him how much we care for Him, how much we love Him, and how much we honor Him”. Actually, all we are proving is that we have been caught up in the “strivings of the world”. After all, appearance is everything...right? And another thought: If our relationship with Jesus Christ is so “thin and delicate” that we are driven to constantly prove ourselves to Him...well, then we really do not have a true love relationship with Him, after all. It is really others we are trying to impress, not Jesus. He always accepts us as we are. Think about that for a moment. Do we believe it? If we did, there would not be the striving and the competition in the church today.

For years, churches have denied certain people the chance to minister or to be used in the “Ephesians 4 Way” (we’ll discuss this a little later). These people had True Callings, Beautiful Giftings and Pure Zadok Hearts, and yet they were “dismissed” as insignificant, “untrained servants”. And all the while, the other “more qualified” persons performed in front of the church each Sunday. Again...do not try and tell me that this does not happen. I saw it week after week, year after year, in some of the best churches in America. As these “Abiathar ministers” performed and “did their thing”, the true Levites were smitten, pushed aside, neglected and rejected. Some finally ended all of this abuse by dropping out of church altogether (see “What is a Home Church?” for more on that thought).

Others are patiently waiting for God to fulfill what they believe He has “invested” in their hearts and lives. They’ve survived the abuse, gone on in spite of neglect, and have even thrived and grown in their lonely isolation. It has not been easy, but God has been gracious in His watchcare over them. He’s given them strength, patience, understanding and grace. But most of all, He has given them the gift of forgiveness, so that they could forgive the injustices against them, for no true Levite can enter into the Throneroom of God with bitterness in his heart. No anger, jealousy or spite can accompany Zadok ministers as they kneel before the Lord in all His Glory, unless it is their intention to “lay it all down” at His Holy Feet in repentance. This may be why so many churches no longer truly worship; why they are no longer able to freely express deep intimacies unto the Lord; as they have become so “bogged down” in the mire of anger, bitterness and grief. They struggle beneath burdens and weights they were not meant to carry, sporting bruises and scars that He so lovingly desires to heal.

The “Nazi” Way

There are two very distinct “ways” to choose the best for God. One way is what I will call the “Nazi Way”. I use such a despicable and ignoble reference deliberately, because it suits our purpose nicely, and I hope it will have a “shock effect” on some of you who use these tactics. Maybe you’ll stop and think?

The Nazi Way is simply choosing those who:
  • have the “best appearance”; they “look good”, as King Saul did to Israel
  • have degrees or “letters after their names”, prompting us to believe that “learning” and “titles” somehow make them more suitable to “serve”
  • play an instrument, causing us to “scramble” to put them on our worship teams, without one careful thought of what might lay hidden in their hearts
  • have the “most power” (which we probably “gave” them)
  • will “bend” to our way of thinking
  • won’t think for themselves and “question” our way of thinking
  • seem to possess great giftings of God (giftings which we have designs on, which we want “for our team”, to serve our goals).
You may think I’m exaggerating my point, but I am not. I have sat and listened to some of this soulish reasoning. I have constantly been in the “wrong place at the right time” (or the “right place at the wrong time”, depending on your viewpoint), and I have overheard such musings...and I can safely and honestly assure you: I wasn’t eavesdropping.

One such incident occurred while my wife and I were attending a worship seminar (which makes this story all the more sadder), and we had a two or three hour break. Most people went out and had dinner; I was tired, so I stayed and went high up into the balcony, where I thought I would be alone and away from disturbing anyone or being disturbed. I was planning on taking a short nap, so I lay down and did just that. I was awakened by two people who, I later found out, were in charge of the worship service that night. On that night Steve Fry was to be the main speaker, and I was greatly looking forward to his ministry. As I “listened” to these two young men “making decisions”, I became a little concerned. This was their church and they were having this conversation in the balcony, where the control booth was located. I hadn’t known this, though I’m not sure it would have made any difference. My plan was to sleep until I heard people coming back into the church, and, sure enough, their talking awoke me.

Sorry...You’re Not “Worthy”

Once I knew what they were discussing, I would just as soon have left, but I kept hid (out of embarrassment for myself as well as for them). I hoped they would finish and depart; soon they did, and I was left with all that they had been discussing: Who would and who would not be singing that night in the choir and in the smaller group of “lead singers”---those who would lead the service in worship. That, in and of itself, was not such a big deal. But it was the way they spoke these things that troubled me: They talked about who could harmonize with whom, and about who could not harmonize at all. They discussed who could do this best, or that best, and who could not do very much at all. All of these things they said were very disconcerting. What is the reason I say this? Because these were people with whom they had worked on a regular basis; they were members of their very own church!

The people they spoke of were very obviously people who had committed their lives to God and must have felt some kind of calling to serve Him in that capacity of the music ministry. The people they spoke of were people they should have known and should have trusted, and any one of them should have been able to do any part of that ministry on that night. Instead, they were breaking down the group and referring to them as unfit or unacceptable pieces of meat. In their eyes, some were suitable for this, others were not suitable at all. Let me interject here: This practice is not uncommon at all. This shameful and carnal manner of choosing those “fit for ministry” is repeated over and over, in most churches across America. If these two young men really felt the way in which I heard them speaking, then more than half of these singers were not “fit” or “suitable” to minister before the Lord anyhow. At least not from a carnal standpoint.

Of course, it goes without saying, God views all of these things so very differently than most men do. And, I think, so do mature, Godly saints...and so do the truly ministry-conscious leaders (rare though they may be). Those who dwell among the ranks of the Zadok ministers see “ministry” much differently than do those who just want someone who can “perform” well, pleasing the masses. And I can say, without any hestitancy or any bias -- many have been the times when I have heard those who were “untrained” and those who were considered “unsuitable” (in the eyes of many) singing and ministering in the congregation of the Lord, and quite often they have had a more effective ministry in the Spirit than do those who are so “highly-trained”, “highly-sought-after” and considered to be “most suitable” and “most valuable”.

If I were to be completely fair and honest, I would have to say that I have heard (more times than I care to recall) those who are “so highly-trained”, “highly-sought-after” and considered to be “most suitable” and “most valuable” as they have stood before a congregation to “sing”. But, continuing with my fairness and in unashamed honesty, I also have to state that the “performances” of these kinds of people fall way short of true ministry. While they may be “perect” technically; while they might have scores of churches seeking their “services”, and while they might have steady seasons of applause, they still “fall short” (way short) of any kind of real, eternal ministry. It’s not that they can’t minister...some of those who are highly trained and perfect in their techniques can and do minister, but these are, to be sure, very rare exceptions, and these are, indeed, very few and far between.

Why Do We Think We Must
“Train” and “Perfect” God’s Gifts?

My wife and I know a woman who was trained in some of the best operatic schools, both here and abroad. She had performed in some of the best opera houses in America, and because of her “abilities”, and because she was a member of our choir, our choir director began “suggesting” to some of us “lesser-trained people” that we should go and take lessons from this “more-professional singer”. Now, this lady was a nice lady, and my wife and I knew her before all of this took place in our choir, but -- at the behest of our choir director -- we both went and submitted to this new training for our voices. To be fair, not all of it was bad, but my wife, especially, already had an excellent voice. We did learn some breathing tecniques and some other very minor things, but most of the time was a waste for both of us (both of time and money -- yes, we had to “pay” to gain this knowledge). Most of the training was to “bring to perfection” voices that -- in all truthfulness -- were already acceptable to the Lord, and we eventually dropped this training, seeing no further use for it.

Regarding this lady who sang opera: To those within the opera world, her voice was “perfect”, and yet she very seldom even came close to ministering “in the Spirit”. Oh, yes, many in our church “doted on her” and applauded her, and many constantly asked to hear her sing, but I can tell you -- from first-hand experience and from knowing those people in our church -- most of the time her singing was merely “operatic”, and those who enjoyed her singing enjoyed the operatic style -- not the content, and they certainly did not enjoy any ministry. And, lest I “lose” any of you here, striving to be “operatically perfect” is not ministry. When I say she very seldom even came close to ministering “in the Spirit”, what I mean is: She had too much training and tecnique in her way. But, oh, during those very rare times when she “got out of the way”, then the Holy Spirit could use her real talents (those given by the Lord, not the ones created and trained by men). Often, we take the Lord’s Talents, given to us for His Glory and His Purposes, and we “train them and perfect them”, until there is no likeness remaining of God’s Gift to us. We have, as stated in Matthew 25:18 & 24-30, basically “hidden” the talent the Lord has graciously placed within our hands. The danger usually comes when we seek man’s approval, man’s applause and man’s rewards. When we do this we will, no doubt, receive our rewards...here, before men, and not there, before Him, Who should be our sole focus for pleasing, serving and glorifying.

Including singers, song-writers, preachers and teachers, some of the greatest ministers of the last three hundred years have been those who were “untrained” and “unlearned” -- those who just simply heard and responded to the Call of God in their lives. As a matter of fact, when some of these were “pressured” to gain some formal training, in order to “perfect” their Gift, they actually lost ground, rather than gained it. Upon realizing this, most of them would withdraw from the hand of men, submitting themselves once more to the Hand of the Lord...a much safer place to be, wouldn’t you agree?

As we already stated, God values things and people and ministry much more highly and much more differently than we do. When we stand before the Lord on That Great Day, giving account of all we have said and done, it will not be how “well” and “perfect” we have done something, nor will it be how “often” we have done it, nor will we be judged according to how many hundreds or thousands we “did it in front of”. Instead, we will be judged according to “what motive” we did all of these things. In other words, where, in all honesty, was our heart in the matter? And we should all know this, for a very certain fact...God does (now) and will (then) know every little motive of our hearts; nothing can or will be hidden from Him (Romans 8:27; Hebrews 4:12-13). And, as we have said: God is seeking those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

The Sad Machinations of Ministry

Back to that night where these two young men were “making their decisions”...all I could think was: If the singers in this church knew of the way decisions were being made (not to mention the manner in which they were being spoken), they would be hurt. Some more deeply than others. And the fashion in which these singers was chosen was hurtful to that whole evening. It was a grieving of the Spirit, whether anyone besides myself ever knew what had happened or not. I believe that is one of the things that grieves Him the most: When we think He doesn’t hear or see our little schemes and plans. Sometimes I wish He would just take a huge Holy Spirit Broom and “sweep out” all of these insensitive, soulish, carnally-minded people that we have in our churches who have been given leadership positions and call themselves “ministers”.

These are the types of “things” to which I keep referring. They seem innocent and harmless on the surface, but what we need to understand is: As in the case of these two “ministers” making choices as to who would be suitable and who would not, these two “leaders” would forever be viewing and critiquing their singers in the same soulish and unfair manner. What a terrible, terrible shame. And we wonder why the Body of Christ suffers so.

True Growth, Real Maturity, Spiritual Unity
• The Ephesians 4 Way •

Besides anything else we might have learned from the preceding paragraphs, ministers are supposed to be helping the body grow, mature and move more and more into unity the “Ephesians 4 Way”. Let me place this highly important passage right here at this point. This area of Paul’s teaching is one of my favorite, and these few verses are preferred above any others. Ephesians 4: --

“[1] I therefore...beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, [2] with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; [3] endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace. (Editor’s Note: that certainly doesn’t sound like Abiathar, does it?)

(And how does He intend for us to do all of this? As in the outset of this teaching, it is still True: He never asks of us anything without giving us the means with which to accomplish it). “[7] But unto every one of us is given Grace according to measure of the Gift of Christ. [8] ...and when He ascended up on High, He led captivity captive and He gave Gifts to men. (This is how He finishes the Work that He began in us: With and by His “Gifts of the Spirit”.)

“[11] And He gave some, apostles; some, prophets; some, evangelists; some, pastors and some, teachers. (Why did He pour out His Grace and Gifts so richly and so fully?) “[12] For the perfecting of the saints (i.e. maturing and becoming entire and complete In Christ), for the work of the ministry (so His ministry may be accomplished), and for the edifying of the Body of Christ (to build up and strengthen us); “[13] Till we all come to the Unity of the Faith, being filled with the knowledge of the Son of God, maturing to a perfect man, unto the measure of the Stature of the Fullness of Christ.

(And if we do this, then:) “[14] We will not be as children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and by cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. [15] But we will speak the Truth in Love and grow up into Him in all things; and we will grow up into Christ, the Head; [16] From whom the whole Body is fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies; all of this according to the effectual working in the measure of every part; this making increase of the Body to the edifying of itself in Love.”

Little Children, Humble Servants & Suffering Saints

We can see many things in this passage, not the least of which is that the sole purpose of Gifts is to bring the Body of Christ to a place of wholeness, oneness and health. That’s all; to bring us to Him as whole, as healthy, as spotless and as pure as possible: One in Him. If we could just pause a moment, and think of what is truly important in the Kingdom of God, we may be surprised. Think of the many times the apostles argued over who was greatest (Mark (9:33-37), who should sit next to Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 20:20-24), or who cast out the most demons or healed the most people (Luke 10:17-20)?

While this last portion of scripture may not clearly reveal that they argued specifically about who cast out the most demons or healed the most people, I believe (human nature being what it is) that’s exactly what they were discussing and why Jesus said what He said: “The most important thing is that you -- each one of you -- are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, (covered and protected by the very Blood of that Lamb)”. Jesus brought them back to the most basic of Truths: Salvation. Salvation, and who we are in Him, supercedes everthing else! In the beginning it is the most important; at the end it is the most important, and everything in between hinges upon that one fact: Who we are in Him!

Almost all of the disciples’ arguments and discussions, about who was the greatest or who deserved the most recognition, resulted in the same sort of teaching: “You must become as little children; or you must become a servant to all; or you must be willing to drink of My cup of suffering”. Jesus, over and over, spoke of the importance of being childlike or of becoming servants, and both He and Paul clearly show us that there will be times of suffering. “If you want to be great, become a servant to all.” Paraphrasing that, we can deduce: If you want to be great, prepare to suffer! We don’t really hear this teaching very much any more. What we hear is “how great we are in God’s eyes, and how much the enemy must fear us because of it”. The enemy doesn’t fear us because of who we are or because of how great we may think we are...he fears us because of the Blood of Jesus applied to our hearts and lives. He fears us when he sees the flinty determination in our eyes to do the Father’s will. He fears when true worshippers gather to exalt and lift on high the One True King. And he fears Unity. And unity is the one thing that the church of the twentieth century does not truly have. Oh, we may have gifts and we may have prophets, and we may even have our revelations and some spiritual manifestations and even a few apostles, but we do not have True Unity.

Is “Unity” Really That Important?

Unity does not, I repeat, does not mean allowing only a select few (that have been chosen in some “political” manner) to minister in the House of the Lord. Those which man has chosen usually bring shame and even abomination into the House of God. Why do we consistently do it or allow it to be done? We claim it is for God’s sake that we do it; we claim it is to please Him; we claim any number of things, as long as it justifies our goal: To have our way.

I have never, and I mean never, been in the midst of a church where the sole purpose was to bring the church to a place of unity. How can I say such a thing? Because, in every single church, in every place I have been, I have seen the same type of spirit raise its ugly, defiant head to challenge the Work, the People, and the Anointing of God. While there may be some half-hearted, vain attempt to “dispose of” the vile display, there never is a true effort to purify the results and aftermath (and there is always an aftermath) brought on by such a display. Why? Because part of, if not all in some situations, is rooted deep within the fabric of that church; deep in the very core of leadership; or even within the “pillars of the church”. Often it can be found hidden deep in the families that “have been so faithful over the years”. Sometimes it is rebellion. Sometimes jealousy. Sometimes it may even be the fact that some who control the church aren’t even saved!

I have sat in churches where there were people sitting in the pews that had the Call of God on their lives; this has been so in every church I have ever been in. Why hadn’t these people been “sent forth”? Why hadn’t they, as in Ephesians 4, been prepared for the work of God? I have heard all of the excuses, but the fault lays at the feet of those who come up with the excuses. The fault is that the leaders, the pastors, and the teachers in those churches had not done their jobs. They had not been faithful to “their” calling. And, in some leadership in some churches, I doubt the calling of God was ever there, witnessed by the fact that those in charge had never allowed the proper growth and strengthening of their lambs. Why? Because many fear that the lambs they feed and bring up in the House of God may become Samuels: More important than themselves; wiser than themselves; more anointed than themselves.

I have seen it time and time again, where a pastor senses someone’s anointing or gifting, and they steadfastly resist what I believe to be God’s gentle urgings: “Let this one grow; send this one forth; permit this one a chance to minister before you and the people, but especially before Me!” There is a fear that grips us all from time to time: We’ll never be worthy or good enough; we’ll never achieve what so-and-so achieved, or be as great as this one or that one. Any time our hearts compare our own frailties to others, we will always feel unworthy.

This is another area within the churches where leadership has usually missed the mark. This being the area of instilling confidence in the hearts of young ones. How many of us, as parents, refused to teach our babies that they could walk, speak, or ride a bike as they grew in our presence? Instead, we encouraged, aided and helped to teach them everything we possibly could. We did in the natural what Paul tells the church to do in the spiritual. We taught, and do teach, our chilren in order for them to grow and mature, so that they could one day become perfect and entire; so that they would be socially, morally and emotionally strong. We want our children to be the kind of children that grow to adulthood successful and free from as much harm as possible, so that they, in turn, can raise their own kids to be just as successful. For, after all... who wants unruly and unsociable “grandkids”?

True, in real life, this does not always happen, but let us at the very least acknowledge that, in a perfect world, every parent would be so kind and generous to their children. How much more should this be true in the things of the Spirit? I have sat in more churches than I care to recount, under more adverse circumstances, in more soulish and carnal atmospheres, in conditions that are miraculous if anything grows---but nothing is sadder than where the little lambs, the young ones in the Lord, are so callously ignored and neglected. We will be held accountable for how we treat “the least of these little ones”. Some of these “little ones” never will rise to their potential, nor will they ever enter into a ministry unto the Lord, unless we begin to clean out the “old ways”.

Purge Out the “Old Leaven”

What are the “old ways”? What is “old leaven”? Anything that opposes Paul’s teachings on what will build a strong, healthy church (as we saw in Ephesians 4) is “man’s way” or the “old way”, which is ultimately “leaven”. Why can I say that? Because “man’s way” is tainted with sin and sinful ideas, and this is “leaven”, and leaven permeates and infects the entire house. If we want our young lambs, our young sheep and even our older sheep to “walk worthy of their vocation”, we will have to “shake up the church” and clean out the “old leaven”. Actually, God has been doing that for quite a few years now, revealing the hearts and lives of big-time ministers, TV evangelists, and any of those who had merely become “performers” rather than ministers; and those who had joined their hearts to Abiathar, rather than Zadok.

God will share His Glory with no man, and yet we still see men and women on TV and around the world attempting to bring glory (though it is not glory, it is soulish shame) to themselves. Those who once had a wonderful call of God on their lives have “sold out”, and not to God. You don’t hear many speaking out against such things, but I know there are those out there who see the shame and weep “between the porch and the altar”, and eventually I believe God’s people will turn back to the “Just Way”. But the time is here, now, today to begin the move back to building a church where “lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance” have real meaning, and “pride, harshness, impatience and violence” are plucked out of the midst of God’s people by their vile roots. And all men and women of God endeavor to keep the Unity of the Spirit, in the Bond of Peace.

While we should be working together, perfecting the saints so that His work can be done, and edifying the Body so that the five-fold ministries can go forth, we are instead caught up in petty, wily and questionable means, engineering our own ways and doing our own wills. What do I mean by this? I have heard and seen how people fought and finagled their way so that they could always sing or minister on Sunday mornings (the choicest time, when more people were present), and then fight for Sunday night when they couldn’t get Sunday morning. The “left-overs” were Wednesday night.

Do not sit there, desiring to tell me this didn’t happen. I saw and heard it with my own eyes and ears, as well as suffered the pangs when my own wife, who has a wonderful gift of singing, was ignored and cast aside and all but told she was not as important as the others. There is truly no bitterness in these words. I tell them to you because they happened and are true, and they caused great damage to the church and its people. Odds are, many that read these words can relate, having suffered the same sort of humiliation and rejection. Some of you who used manipulative ways to get those “choice times of ministry”; who had everything so easily given to you, need to recognize the consequences of your actions and acknowledge the resulting blemish that has since marred the Body of Christ.

I could relate story after story of how I heard and saw music directors scheming and planning how they were going to get “this person or that person to sing”, while claiming “that person won’t be singing in this event”. They had the power to control people’s lives and callously destroyed many in the process. Don’t tell me that one day, as we all stand before His Presence, we won’t be held accountable for this kind of treatment. And yet, those who do it act as though they have the right to do such things. That is contrary to all that Jesus taught, not to mention Paul’s teachings. We are accountable.

The Unruly Reign of Abiathar

Many ministers got caught up in this Abiathar-inspired thinking of: “We only want the best for our Lord”. In 1985, I sat in the office of a pastor, who was also the president of a Bible college we attended, and I had an interesting conversation with this minister. I was trying to explain how the new music director (who chose to be called “the Chief Musician”) was driving the choir (who were now called “the Levites”) with a fist of iron, bringing people to the point of tears. He berated and belittled and took great pleasure in mocking and making someone look foolish.

Was this bullish new music director gifted? Oh yes, he was very greatly gifted, which made it that much harder for me to first see that his actions were wrong. I couldn’t reconcile the fact that such a gifted man of God (who had personally helped me grow as a singer and song-writer, as well as prophesied a wonderful word of encouragement to me and my wife in front of the entire church) could be in the need of such correction. He was bruising and dividing the singers (as well as the church), and he was definitely grieving the Spirit of the Lord. That was truly my main concern: The grieving of the Holy Spirit. For when the Spirit of God is grieved, all the Graces and Gifts of the Father are greatly hindered, if not altogether stopped. Grieving the Spirit quenches the Spirit.

Anyway, as I sat there...in front of this saint that was known all over the United States and many other countries...as I sat there in front of this minister who had written countless books and even been awarded an honorary doctorate degree...as I sat there in front of this person, whom I had admired for years...I trembled. I was nervous and fearful and full of uncertainty. I had spent days, if not weeks, searching my heart, trying to be certain that my motives were pure. Finally, after much prayer and with a heavy and fearful heart, I arranged for a meeting with this minister, who apparently had no idea why I had requested a meeting (for they looked at me rather quizzically). When I finally revealed why I was there, to explain the music director’s harsh and harmful ways, their mouth dropped open in disbelief. While they didn’t say it, I knew they wondered: “How dare this man speak evil of one of my ministers?” But, as I said before, that is one of the problems we see today: He was one of their ministers...not the Lord’s.

I will not go into too great a detail as to what was said that day, but I will say this much: That was the first eye-opening moment for me in which many pieces of a much greater puzzle began falling into place. I had seen and heard many things before that day, but something this minister said made it all become a little more clear. The minister accused me of being “against excellence”, that somehow I did not want to see “the best for the Lord” brought forth. I unsuccessfully tried to explain that my one main concern was that when we harm the Body in any way, no matter how insignificant it may seem, the end result is grieving the Spirit of God. And grieving the Spirit of the Lord affects us all; we all will suffer as the consequence (and so will any “excellence” that we vainly attempt to bring forth -- it, too, will suffer).

I truly thought this minister would understand that point, if nothing else, because this minister had been one of the teachers at another Bible school, 15 years earlier -- they had been someone who had stirred in me my first yearnings for wanting to know Him more. But they would not budge. Instead, they kept coming back to this point: That I was somehow, for some reason, “against excellence”. To say I was dismayed would be an understatement. I was devastated.

My parting words to this revered minister were very simple, and I truly believe they were placed in my mouth by the Spirit of the Lord. My words were this: “Any time we sacrifice the Spirit of the Lord for the sake of excellence, then we are wrong.” I was surprised as I spoke these words, but more at this minister’s lack of accepting them (or even taking a moment to consider them!). I walked out of their office in shock, in pain, and it was not too much longer afterwards that we left that school and church. Soon after, this minister moved on to another part of the states, resigning their pastorship and headship of the college, and not too many years would pass until (after disastrous results with different pastors) that church was no more. It had actually become something of an anathema in that part of North Texas.

From the mid ’80s onward, we began to see a real push in the teaching of “Excellence!” It was all about how “we must put our very best before the Lord; He deserves only the best!” The mindset among many of those in the church became: “God will only accept the very best!” Boy! Talk about “Old Testament thinking”, where only the finest of the flock could be accepted for sacrifice, and how only certain “Law-fulfilling Levites” could minister before the Lord. However, the heart and cry of the New Testament is: “Just as I am, without one plea; but that thy Blood was shed for me!” We come to Jesus “just as we are”: Lost, undeserving, filthy-clothed sinners. And His Blood, His Grace and His Mercy cleanses us and changes us and makes us something of value and something beautiful in His Sight.

Through Christ Jesus, We are Redeemed --

Make no mistake about it...we will rule and reign with Him, but not here and not now...at least not like some would have us believe. And yet many Christians feel it is their birth-right -- nay, their duty -- to rule and lord over other believers here and now. And that is truly a sad, sad thing.

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