Page 7 of Let's Resurrect the Church

CHAPTER SIX – 21st CENTURY CHURCH GOVERNANCE

  I do not think the three major systems of Congregationalism, Episcopalianism,176 and Presbyterianism will ever succeed in being fully Christ-centered churches. Don’t get me wrong, these churches do worship Christ to an extent (TAS, Keeping Christ in View), and undertake excellent and devoted community work. But, they have become so bogged down in bureaucracy, infighting, and divisive issues such as homosexuality177 that Christ cannot get the full attention and focus He required of the seven churches in Asia.178 As TAS says "… oh, what a pity that men have so systemized this thing as to rob it of its real spiritual value …" (TAS, The Cross, the Church, and the Kingdom, 65).

  In 2003, Robert Muthiah said, "… my thesis is that the priesthood of all believers can be re-embodied and re-conceptualized by attending to the practices resident within congregations. By engaging in Christian practices, limp and pallid congregations can be reinvigorated to live as the priesthood of all believers …" (Muthiah, Christian Practices …, 167). I searched the Internet in 2016, and I cannot find any follow-up publication or result from Robert's paper. Therefore, it appears nothing has changed in the thirteen years since year 2003.

  On October 17, 2015, I checked the Internet for current issues in the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and Church of England (COE). I didn’t have to dig too far back in history, because I found two major issues that were reported in the press only three and four days prior to my search. The COE article appeared in ‘theguardian’ online newspaper on October 13, 2015,179 and goes like this: “Andrew Foreshew-Cain says he is ‘pleased but shocked’ at his election to Anglicanisms governing body … the General Synod …”

  I must stress that it appears Mr Foreshew-Cain was legally voted in to the position and is openly gay. Therefore I am not criticizing Mr Foreshew-Cain because it appears he has been totally honest and transparent about himself. My beef is with the COE ever allowing this to happen. The article says that the COE elections were for 433 seats on the synod in England, and those voted in will serve a five-year term. I presume these are all paid positions, so I think I can safely conclude that the previous 433 people who held these positions earned a combined annual income of several hundred thousand pounds, but could not prevent an openly and honest gay vicar being elected to the governing body of the COE? (Zscheile, 153-154; Van Gelder, Understanding Polity …, 37).

  Then, I found an Internet article dated October 14, 2015 titled “George Pell and cardinals warn Pope of Catholic Church collapse ...” The article continues on to say “… civil war has erupted at the top of the Catholic Church, with 13 cardinals … warning the Pope … that threat of collapse has been accelerated by the abandonment of key elements of Christian belief and practice in the name of pastoral adaptation …” which centers around the “indissolubility of marriage and the Eucharist.” And just under this article was an article titled “Rebel cardinals accuse Pope of stacking”. And this article is dated October 13th 2015 (Rebel cardinals accuse Pope of Stacking. Source: skynews.com.au). I hope the seriousness of these issues convinces you that there are massive problems within two of the largest and oldest religions in the world. It appears there are approximately 219 Cardinals (List of living cardinals. En.wikipedia.org), and 38,155 deacons and priests worldwide in the Roman Catholic Church.

  I presume they are all being paid an income, so I shudder to think what their total combined annual income is. In any case, the end result is that around 414,000 (cara.georgetown.edu) Roman Catholic leaders cannot keep control of issues such as homosexuality (Fuller, 5), the status of re-married persons, and as to who can and cannot take part in the Eucharist. Is it any wonder that I want to stir Christians into action and develop a new style of church? ‘Houston, we have a problem!' As you can see, the evidence is there, I am not making any of this up: I am quoting directly from public sources. I hope I am wrong, but I don’t think these major religions can reverse the downhill process. Way back on June 29, 1972 Pope Paul VI said that “… from some fissure the smoke of the Devil has entered the temple of God ...” (firsthings.com).

  It appears that not much has changed in the 43 years since then. All the main Christian religious denominations probably think that because they are organized churches, they have instant and ongoing approval and authority from Christ. But, just opening a church and calling your building a ‘church’, does not automatically mean you have the blessing of Jesus Christ. Or, just because your church has been around a long time doesn’t automatically mean it is being blessed by Christ. The church at Ephesus had many good points according to Christ,180 but he threatened to take His blessing away from them unless they repented and went back to their first love, which is getting rid of useless activities and centering everything in and around Christ.181

  TAS says “… the place of the church, which is His Body, is a high position, drawing its life and fullness from above (see also Zscheile, 170). This is not of man, but of God. There is to be a maintaining of the position as detached from what is human manipulation and man’s control: earthly standards of government, of judgement; and to have everything from the Lord for His people. This is the Ephesian position, and when you come to the first message to the churches in Revelation, the terrible indictment is, ‘Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen.’ A heavenly position has been lost and they have come down on to a lower level ...”182

  Christ had a similar warning for the churches at Pergamos (Rev 2:14-16), Thyatira (Rev 2:20-23), Sardis (Rev 3:2-3) and Laodicea (Rev 3:15-18). So, Christ found faults with FIVE out of the SEVEN churches of Asia.183 That is a very high and troubling percentage. Alan Knox says “… a church that ceases to love God by ceasing to love another (regardless of how much truth they proclaim) could be in danger of having their ‘lampstand’ removed … because just as in the case of the Old Testament, the kingdom is removed from those who are disobedient (failing to love others, according to John) and given to those who are obedient …” (Knox; Muthiah, Charismatic Leadership …, 19).

  Speaking about the church at Thyatira TAS says "… Thyatira: seduced and corrupted, calling for uncompromising life … you are in a position of tremendous ascendency, of power to govern. Test it the other way. You find a compromised life, a mixed-up life, a life with contraries all entangled; some of the world, some true Christianity; some flesh, some Spirit, things which ought never to be brought together. Will you tell me that such a life has any power in it, any authority, any power of ruling and reigning? Not at all …" (TAS, His Great Love, 88-89).

  And biblestudytools.com commentary on Revelation 2:5 says, in relation to the word 'remove' that the original word 'Kineso' … can also mean to; shake; move; provoke; stir. This may be indicating that the level of God’s spiritual protection will be reduced, and allow the Devil more spiritual space in the church with which to shake, provoke and stir up fighting factions within the church. And “… without genuine Christians remaining, it is impossible for a church to produce light ...” (biblestudytools.com/commentaries/revelation/revelation-2/revelation-2-5.html).

  And, in my opinion, Presbyterianism has its limitations and problems. The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA) says “… There are no individuals with the power or authority of bishops in the way that word is used in some churches today … not all decisions in the life of a local congregation are made by simple majority at the congregational level … this federation means that while many of these aspects of the Church’s life and ministry are organized at a State and congregational level, final responsibility for them lies with the General Assembly of Australia (G.A.A.), and there may be times when local practice has to be changed to fit in with what the whole church has decided … the surrender of ultimate authority does not prevent the State churches maintaining their own activities in the areas concerned. But if the G.A.A. makes a decision that contradicts the rules and practices of that church the G.A.A. decision will prevail and that practice will be required to change [p. 4] … the minister is normally the moderator of t
he Session, and does not vote unless a vote is tied [p. 8]…” (An Introduction to the Presbyterian Church of Australia).

  Strong, inflexible words such as “surrender of ultimate authority … the minister … does not vote … the G.A.A. decision will prevail…” all smell strongly like a bureaucracy to me. I spent 34 years in two police forces, and police forces are bureaucracies by necessity. I spent 17 years as a police prosecutor and have compiled, read and made recommendations on thousands of police reports including complex fraud investigations. On average, I checked 20 briefs of evidence per month and an average of 380 legal e-mails per month for 16 years in the Queensland Police Service. That is why I am confident that the excerpts from the PCA handbook mean that local ministers of a Presbyterian congregation do not have much freedom to act. (An Introduction to the Presbyterian Church of Australia).

  The Apostle Paul uses words such as Christ “In Him”: “In me”, one hundred and thirty eight times (138) in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul said “… I preach Christ crucified …” It would take a lot to convince me or Paul Little184 that Christ is not supposed to be the spiritual center of the Christian life.185 Christ is everything,186 and too much ‘I don’t want to do this ministry anymore’, and ‘Eddy the edge trimmer’ rubbish is clogging the churches.187 The Devil is winning that battle. (Devil 1 … Church 0; again!!).

  Come on people, I am giving you real examples I personally witnessed. I am being harsh, but the hard fact is that when you go forward for God in a big way such as starting your own church you WILL; not maybe; but WILL be attacked by the Devil.188 TAS warns that “… The devil has concentrated his forces and attention especially upon Christians to destroy the testimony of what Jesus has done, to spoil this royal rule by undercutting and undermining its meaning of oneness, fellowship, unity …”189 and, "… this Church is to take the place of that evil government above this earth … but because of this calling … that mighty evil hierarchy is set to its last ounce to destroy this vessel called the Church …"190 and “… What the enemy is out to do is to pull us down to a place where we have lost the sovereignty of the Lord … You get so far and then you are beaten, brought to a standstill …” (TAS, The Recovery of Spiritual Power, 50; TAS, His Great Love, 105).

  Eric Alexander gives us several examples of how the Devil tried to ruin the early church. For example, the Devil had Peter and John imprisoned (Acts 4): the dispute between the widows about food distribution (Acts 6); and the incident where Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5; Alexander, A Question of Priorities). It was God's wish for Nehemiah to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem (Neh 1-2), and he also had written permission from King Artaxerxes. But Satan stirred up all sorts of opposition to Nehemiah (Cole). As Steven Cole says: Nehemiah suffered "… the anger of others … mockery and sarcasm … threats and intimidation … negativism …" and his workers suffered from "… discouragement and exhaustion … [and] fear …" Cole says we have to "respond to the enemy's opposition with prayer, work, vigilance, and focus on the Lord." Cole says "… whenever godly leaders attempt to rally God's people to advance His kingdom, opposition will hit …" (Cole).

  TAS says that “… in ‘Ephesians’ the unity and solidarity of the Church are an essential basis for ascendancy. Israel’s responsible men had said that Ai: being so much less than Jericho; only ‘some’ of the fighters need go up against it. Thus the principle of oneness was violated or ignored. They lost sight of the fact that the prince of this world is the same in a local and particular situation as he is in the greater and more universal, and that the Divine principles are the same however ‘small’ the situation may appear to be …” (TAS, The Greatness and Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, 115; Muthiah, Charismatic Leadership …, 14-16; Fielder, A Spirit of Harmony).

  Furthermore, TAS says “… God is against division … the direction of the Holy Spirit is always toward fellowship and oneness; for this reason: that the Holy Spirit has come into relation to the testimony of Jesus. That which He did in His Cross is a very vital part of the testimony of Jesus, that which He did to destroy the disintegrating effect of sin and the Devil’s interference with God’s creation. The whole direction of satanic activity is to divide, to split up and cause friction, warfare, conflict. That has been the effect of sin and the Devil. God’s one unity of a universe was broken to fragments by satanic interference, and the whole universe was shot through with discord, with schism …” (TAS, The Anointing of the Holy Spirit, 65-66).

  TAS says "… one mark of the carnality of the Corinthians was their divisions, their natural preferences, likes and dislikes amongst people. Paul says, in effect, ‘If you were spiritual there would be none of that ...'"191 Chapter Four of the book of Ephesians, titled "Unity of the Spirit", says we are "… to live a life worthy of the calling … to live a life that exhibits godly character … and mature behavior …" (Eph 4:1-3 AMP). And, I believe James 3:13-17 says that a high level of godly wisdom will give you a humble, gentle, courteous, compassionate nature, willing to listen and full of good fruits. TAS says "… Babies are always scrapping and fighting. That was the Corinthians. But they had got past the babyhood stage, through 'the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God'…" (TAS, The Gospel According to Paul, 35).

  Ephesians 4:3 urges us to "Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful]." TAS says “… The real people of God have only one interest, and they are a unity because of this particular interest. What is the interest of Christians? Paul put it this way: 'To me to live IS Christ' (Phil 1:21). ‘My sole interest in life is the furtherance of the interests of Jesus Christ, the glory of Jesus Christ.’ That apostle sought unceasingly to further the interests of Jesus Christ and to make Him glorious wherever he went. We have one interest, and we put it in that one word: Christ. That is the unifying factor. If we have other things: private things, personal things, things in this world upon which our hearts are mainly set; if we have sectarian interests: very well, we shall not be one. We are one by this all-captivating passion: Jesus Christ …” (TAS, The Spiritual Meaning of Service, 58-60; Muthiah, Charismatic Leadership …, 14-16).

  TAS says “… now when the heart is centered upon the Lord Jesus, we have the greatest power and dynamic against division, against separateness, against everything that keeps us apart, and when the Lord Jesus is our central, supreme object, and it is toward Him that our hearts go out, then we come into a unity …” (TAS, All Things in Christ, 106-111) “… This maintaining of the unity is a positive thing. It represents a being on full stretch for something. It is not just a case of our desiring it, wanting it, of our considering it to be the best thing and even necessary, but of our applying it. It takes application to give diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit ...” (TAS, All Things in Christ, 184; 1 Thess 4:9-11; Fielder, A Spirit of Harmony). "I, therefore … beseech you to walk worthily of the calling … giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph 4:1-3 AMP). Just to repeat what I wrote earlier: ' Microsoft synonyms for ‘diligent’ include: hard work; assiduous; industrious; and meticulous'.

  Robert Muthiah says, "… Unity does not mean that differences are ignored and unity does not mean unanimity of perspective. The type of unity that marks the priesthood of all believers and that marks good discernment allows for differences and distinctions: in fact, this type of unity assumes that differences will exist. As within the Trinity, unity amongst the people of God requires difference. If there is no difference, there is nothing to unite. This type of unity transcends differences without ignoring them. The Spirit indwells and unites believers even when they hold different views on a given issue …" (Muthiah, Christian Practices …, 186; Van Gelder, 161-163; Zscheile, The Trinity …, 53; Tumblin, esp. 70-73; Jinkins, The Integrity of Ministry, 21-22; Muthiah, Charismatic Leadership …, 14-16; Fielder, A Spirit of Harmony).

  I have found lots of TAS quotes about 'unity' in the Church because it is such
a problem in many churches. I want you to learn about unity from several different angles so that you get the full gist of it and make it an absolute priority for your church (Jinkins, Leadership and Theory …, 209). On the other hand, what would happen if all members of a church were spirit-filled and focused largely on Christ? Well, according to TAS, “… When you get the multitude you have the whole harmony, and you have that as really the nature of the church. It has its separate and distinctive notes, but it is ultimately and finally a great harmony of testimony to Him …” (TAS, Knowing God in Christ, 107).

  Now that sounds better doesn’t it?? And remember, the Bible says the Devil disguises himself like an angel of light. Most people think the Devil will make people come at them with guns, knives, chains, yelling, arguing or shouting. He very rarely does that. The Devil is the master of deception and subtlety.192 The Apostle Paul said that the "… serpent [my note: the Devil] beguiled Eve by his cunning …" (2 Cor 11:3 AMP). Microsoft Word synonyms for 'beguiled' include "… enticed, charmed, captivated, mesmerized …" Well before the Devil lets his 'charming', professing Christians (1 Cor 15:2 AMP; Gal 2:4; 2 Thess 2:3 AMP) explode in your church, he will cause people, including carnal Christians, to undermine you with rumors, innuendo, gossip and white-anting.193

  In 1950 TAS said “… We are in this world, and we cannot avoid hearing many things that we should not wish to hear; but the important matter is not the sounds around us that strike upon our outward ear, but our reaction thereto, whether we consent to what we hear … I think this may specially apply to what we allow ourselves to hear about people. Untold damage is done by gossip and by criticism. Now, there is no point in having lips to talk if there are no ears to hear, and sometimes the sealing of unwise and uncontrolled lips may come by a refusal to listen. The priest is called upon to refuse to listen to a whole realm of things, to judge it and say, ‘I don’t want to hear that; I am not listening to it, I am not accepting it.’ You can, I am sure, see what a terrible lot of mischief exists today even amongst real children of God, caused by rumors, by talk, by passing on reports, by interpretations given to things; and how susceptible we are to that sort of thing …” (TAS, Spiritual Hearing, 12).

  The same problem of gossip among some so-called Christians is still a big issue as I write this in 2016. This is why I want you to take notice and change your attitude so that you do not ever gossip; and please tell Church leadership ASAP of any gossip you hear. If you disobey the biblical command to avoid gossip, complaining and rumors (1 Tim 5:13; Rom 1:29; 2 Cor 12:20; Col 3:8), then you are not living in the Spirit but in the flesh.194 When you start your own church, the Devil will be the one prompting your Christian friends to come to you with irresistible ‘puppy-dog’ eyes, pleading humbly with you to let them start a ministry in your church as a volunteer.195 The Devil will be the one prompting you with those irresistible thoughts of borrowing money to start your church as soon as possible, and convincing you that God wants quick expansion of your church.

  Phil Pringle started a small church in Christchurch, New Zealand and only built up to a congregation of about thirty-five people in the first three years. Phil said God used those three years to teach him and his wife about the basic operations of a church. Yes, Phil ended up with a massive church in Sydney, but he started small for the first three years. The Devil will convince you that God needs you to build the biggest church in history and plaster your own face and your name everywhere. Be careful (Rodin, 106, 109-110). Put on the FULL armor of God, not just the shield.196 If you only have a spiritual shield and no spiritual body armor, the Devil will attack you above or below the shield. You will drop or raise your shield to deflect his spiritual arrows. But while moving your shield up and down, you leave other parts of your spiritual body exposed. This will become very stressful and there will be no end to the bitter gossip and other shenanigans you cannot stop with a thousand fire extinguishers (TAS, Revelation of Jesus Christ, 119-120) "… And please note that while we are told to put on this armor, we are never told that we may take it off …" (Foster, Life in the Heavenlies).

  That is why I am so adamant that starting a church extremely carefully from scratch is the best way to make a church really effective for Christ. FULL armor people, not just the shield.197 Rick Warren recommends you wait until someone steps forward and volunteers to do a ministry unless you plan to pay someone from the get-go. In other words, if you have the finances and you want to start a ministry; let’s say a youth group; wait until someone in your church volunteers to lead the group. Don’t try to coerce or push people into leading a ministry, otherwise they may whine and moan all the time. I am not suggesting that you play mind games with people, but you have to be wise, and in charge of your church because YOU, not someone else, are responsible for avoiding the faults Christ found in FIVE of the SEVEN churches in Asia.198 Starting and running a Christian church is not a game (TAS, Right Standing with God, 16) because people’s whole eternity is at stake: they either go to Heaven or Hell. YOU are trying to get as many people into Heaven as is possible.

  About one year after I become a Christian in 2007, I purchased a second hand book by Rick Warren at a book sale, titled “The Purpose-Driven Church”. I had never heard of the book or Rick, but I read it and studied it. It is theologically sound, filled with easy to follow but in-depth advice by someone who knows what they are talking about. I mentioned the book to the ‘I don’t want to lead this ministry any more’ senior church member. He said that it is an excellent book and reading that book was almost a prerequisite to becoming a leader of a ministry in our church. But, during the next couple of years I couldn’t see any evidence of Rick’s recommendations being applied in that church.

  That is why I strongly believe the three major church systems are fatally flawed by being bogged down in piffle that distracts them199 from the “first love”;200 Jesus Christ: who is the CENTER of everything.201 TAS says of the Church "… whereas once it stood up to the world victoriously, weathered the storms triumphantly, it has now moved away from its center, the Lord Jesus Christ, and brought in substitutes for His absolute headship and lordship. It has made other things its governing interests. The result has been disintegration, division … if only men, leaders and all the rest, would say, 'Look here, all our institutions, our missions, our organizations, all our interests in Christianity, must be subservient to the absolute lordship of Jesus Christ', you would find a unity coming, a oneness …" (TAS, The Gospel According to Paul, 87-90; Van Gelder, 161-163; Muthiah, Charismatic Leadership …, 14-16; 1 Thess 4:9-11; Fielder, A Spirit of Harmony)

  If a ministry leader wants to quit the ministry let them. Don’t make a song and dance about it. Bishop T. D. Jakes says if anyone wants to leave your church, just let them go and wish them well. If that person is approachable, you should use Christian kindness and patience and ask them if they want to discuss any reasons so the church can help that person or improve any area of that ministry. Michael McNichols relates stories of how pastors become so close to particular church members that there is a lot of sadness, depression and grief caused if those members leave the church. Please carefully study Michael McNichols article: "First and Second Loves …"

  Michael describes how God is to be our first love, and others, even Christians, are our second love. Michael says "… While the love of God may be expressed through people, all human relationships remain second-love relationships … Pastors are expected to bring a quality of relationship that is unblemished … and to present themselves as the ones who never stumble along the way …the pastor does exist for many reasons, but to become any person's first-love is not one of them … such expectations are idolatrous and destructive and are likely contributing to the sad state of the lives of pastors …" (McNichols, 56-57). At page 70, Michael outlines how to build trusted relationships both inside and outside the church.

  Back to the issue of someone quitting a ministry. If you as pastor only hear second-hand that someone wants to quit a ministry, find out
why that person has not told you first, and consider disciplinary action if that person remains a member of your church (Berlinger & Tumblin, Sensemaking …, 80-81). I understand there may be some backlash or criticism for closing a ministry, especially if it is a popular youth group ministry with large attendances. People, including Christians, and the local media, might criticize your decision along the lines of: ‘This is an essential ministry because these kids had somewhere to go where they would be safe and occupied every Friday night.’ If you are close to Christ, your reply should be along the lines of: ‘It is with great regret that I have decided to close this ministry, but it should be remembered the main purpose of this church is to worship, thank and praise God through Jesus Christ. We still preach Jesus Christ every week and I invite anyone and everyone to attend and worship Christ with us.’

  See how you can turn criticism into a free advertisement to proclaim Christ and remind people that a church revolves around Christ: church is not just a provider of offshoot ministries202 (Church 1 … Devil 0). Well done. If you are not prepared for this type of criticism you might panic and make the mistake of saying something like: ‘I know how important it is for this community to have a safe and enjoyable youth group every Friday night, and we will be working hard at trying to get this ministry going again as soon as possible.’ Technically correct, but one problem: the name of Jesus Christ does not appear in that sentence. You see, if you overburden yourself as a pastor with trying to run too many ministries and attending to church administration, this busy type of lifestyle will avert your eyes away from Christ and you will probably respond to matters in a way that non-Christian organizations do.203

  And, I notice most pastors in mainstream churches are overburdened with responsibilities that take up so much time, they constantly face burnout.204 G. Jeffrey MacDonald, a journalist and ordained United Church of Christ Minister, says that “… too many pastors are neglecting their physical health (Barton): and it’s killing them …” and “… though the joys are many, stress is continual, and outlets tend to be few. As a result, clergy suffer from chronic diseases such as hypertension at such alarming rates that it’s become a mark of the profession …”205 And one of Kyle Small's research subjects said that "… whether I want it to or not, my stress as a minister affects my family, my body, my mind, my spirit …" (Small, 67). And, Mark Miller-McLemore says that "… self-care is unrealistic for congregational ministry, especially in the mainline churches today …" (p. 122). (Devil 1 … Church 0).

  If the three major church systems are not going to change their 20th century structures, then the least they should do is keep their pastors wrapped in cotton wool, and genuinely look after them. Churches should ensure that no pastor is working more than forty hours per week, so they have sufficient personal time with family and growth with God (Miller-McLemore, 115). They should be given sufficient time to take on formal studies if they wish. You have to spend a lot of personal time with God each week to be able to keep up with Christianity and grow as a Christian.206 And, stress is increasing out of all proportion (Miller-McLemore).

  The World Health Organization says “… Current trends indicate that by 2030 depression will be the leading cause of disease burden globally …”207

  Therefore, I believe the Devil loves seeing pastors and other church workers flat out all the time208 so that they (Grudem, Pour it Out…):

  (1) Fall behind in their Christian growth:209 Paul said to Timothy "… devote yourself to … preaching and to teaching … practice and work hard on these things; be absorbed in them [completely occupied in your ministry], so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself [concentrate on your personal development], and to your teaching …" (1 Tim 4:13-15 AMP).

  (2) Become out of touch with God and possibly backslide in their levels of holiness:210

  (3) Are unable to get sufficient rest and sleep and therefore lose their sensitivity to other Christians causing friction (Barton). "… Murray Ross and Charles Hendry considered emotional stability of great importance in the leader's capacity to function …"211

  (4) Fall behind current trends and developments in Christianity and the world in general:212

  (5) Are forced to retire from ministry due to prolonged stress:213 and

  (6) Do not have enough time to nurture and enjoy their marriage.214

  God told Joshua to "… meditate on it [the Bible] day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it." (Josh 1:8; Parker 168). To me, that means if you don't study a fair bit of the Bible / Bible study aids each day, you will NOT be able "… to do everything written in it …" even if you try your hardest. Psalm 119:11 says "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (NIV).

  Therefore, some of your decisions will not be as godly or Christian as they should be. Towner says "… the pastoral leader bore the responsibility of presenting a pattern for follower replication through attentiveness to personal spiritual progress …" (Parker, 171). John Piper says “… the spiritual leader must be a person who meditates on the Word of God and who prays for spiritual illumination. Otherwise, his faith will grow weak and his love will languish and no one will be moved to glorify God because of him …" (Piper). Douglas Hicks says "… as one example, clergy participants in Lilly-sponsored sabbatical renewal programs and lay leaders in their congregations have reported that pastors who are able to be well-rested, renewed, and freshly prepared for the challenges of ministry also prove to be: in a word: more capable pastors upon their return to their congregations …" (Hicks, Reframing …, 91). I think Douglas is stating the absolute obvious, but I always want to add some academic credibility to any claim I make.

  Callahan and Eblen say that "… Without exception, all national research studies and lists of competencies included a mandate that the pastoral leader be a person of prayer and reflection …" (p. 208).215 It is obvious to me, then, that it is essential a pastor is never flat out or working more than forty hours per week, unless you expect them to work on their spiritual progress in the early hours of the morning after about four to five hours sleep. Parker says "… biblical literature consistently emphasizes the need for the visible character progress, and the untarnished lifestyle of the pastoral leader, which necessitates individual diligence and attentiveness to the pursuit of personal holiness and ethics …" (Parker 168-169, 183-184; Callahan and Eblen, 208-209; 1 Pet 1:15-16; 2 Pet 1:5-11 AMP; Motyer).

  Tullian Tchividjian, who stepped down as pastor of a Mega Church in year 2015 kindly went public about his downward journey. One of the things he said was that “… God opened up a lot of doors, gave me a significant platform, writing books, television stuff, traveling, conferences, I became a different person. Not consciously … but very, very subtle and tempting to believe your own press …”216 Does this sound exactly like what TAS wrote about in 1930: "… 'The heart is deceitful above all things.' This deceitfulness is found in the fact that so many who started well, making great sacrifices, paying a great price, suffering much for their stand, and being greatly used of God, have eventually come to a place of self-importance, importance to God, importance to God’s work,217 and this quite imperceptibly, so that they still regarded themselves as the truest and humblest of men, but not recognizing that their real spiritual ministry and message had gone, and an 'ability' which is of man has taken the place of that ability which is of God through utter dependence and brokenness upon Him. This deceitfulness works so slowly, so minutely, so adorned, as to defeat any detection but that of the eye which is 'as a flame of fire,' but at length, however great may be the seeming gain, for all the deepest spiritual purposes of God that servant is a disappointment, a heartbreak, and is set aside …" (TAS, The Servant of the Lord, 39; Alexander, Let Him Who Boasts …).

  TAS says "… the essence of sin is independence from God … yes, the kingdom of Satan is really built on independence … there are many ways in which this independence works out. It works out along the line of s
elf-sufficiency …"218 TAS lists the "… Features of the Righteous One as meekness, yieldedness / obedience, dependence, and selflessness born of love …" In relation to dependence TAS has this to say: "… then dependence … with all its many forms … or through the various less blatant expressions of independence on to the place where even the sanctified man begins to show signs of spiritual pride because the Lord blesses him. It is so easy to assume that, because He has blessed, a step taken can be repeated without the need for going back to the Lord and saying, 'Lord, even though the last hour was a mighty hour, nothing can be for the next hour unless it comes from Thee.' That subtle movement, the taking of the second step because the first one has been blessed, springs from the spiritual pride: presumption … if there is one thing that stands right out as you follow Him in those years here on the earth, it is this matter of His dependence upon the Father (Jn 5:19; TAS, The Rights of God, 24-25) … our whole being revolts naturally against the idea of dependence. Our pride will not let us be dependent, we are independent by nature … that is the poison of Satan in us (James 3:8) … but dependence is the way of power … power results from having the Lord with us …" (TAS, The Cross, the Church, and the Kingdom, 106-108)

  And, unfortunately, Tullian and his wife cheated on each other. The Devil got what he wanted: destroy the marriage. If you are a senior member of a church and have some type of say in church affairs, be warned that if YOU do not allow the pastor sufficient time and rest to nurture the pastor’s marriage, I believe you will have to answer to God when you are judged by Christ (Rom 14:10-12; Heb 13:17 AMP). God was so angry with Israel that after he spoke through the prophet Malachi, He gave no prophecy to Israel for four hundred years.219 And what was one of the things that made God angry? He said “I HATE DIVORCE” (Malachi 2:14-16). I notice there has never been any misinterpretation of those three words!!! They are pretty clear are they not??? TAS says "… The Sermon on the Mount is … the setting forth of the moral foundation of the Kingdom …"220

  And take notice that divorce is one of the major topics covered by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:31-32). That is how important marriage is to God, so I strongly recommend you follow suit and look after your own marriage and those marriages of your church staff that you can have a positive effect on. Hebrews 13:4 also provides a strong warning against adultery in a marriage. I would go as far as saying that senior members of every church must not only take active steps to ensure sufficient time for a pastor to nurture his or her marriage, but, if the pastor defies this advice and becomes a workaholic, senior members should, out of respect for the importance of marriage in God’s eyes, warn an overworking pastor to spend more time nurturing their marriage, or else disciplinary action will be implemented. You might think that is harsh, but remember: “… the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked …” (Luke 12:48).

  If you are a senior member of a church you have been entrusted with maintaining a high standard in ALL matters pertaining to the kingdom of heaven, and marriage is one of the most important kingdom covenants. Therefore, senior members are entrusted to take every reasonable step to try to promote their own marriage, their pastor’s marriage, and every other member’s marriage. Now, even if you start your own church and are not answerable to anyone, still take it easy on yourself. Even if you become popular, resist the temptation to do anything that will involve more than forty hours per week of commitments. Keep it all under control. Let’s say for example, you get the opportunity to travel to Christian conferences and appear on Christian TV. If you have a partner (wife / husband) and young children and it will involve several days or weeks away from your family, err on the side of caution and stay with your family.

  On the other hand, if you are married with no young children and your partner is willing to travel with you, go for it, but only as long as you and your partner can have some time off to do fun activities together such as shopping, visiting relatives or sight-seeing. In 2015, Ron Luce closed down his ministry after 30 years because he became tired, and says tiredness affected his relationships and his ability to listen in-depth.221 BUT, Ron said that when he started his ministry he was absolutely determined to keep his marriage strong. And in 2015 he is still with his wife and intends to spend a lot more time with his family because he now has young children. That makes Ron Luce a champion of marriage in my book! Well done Ron. And Karl Vaters (Christian author and pastoral ministry of over 30 years) says "… work on your marriage as much as your church …"222

  When I came back to Christ I was only working thirty-eight hour weeks, 8am-4pm, Monday to Friday, and lived 5 minutes from my workplace. This gave me plenty of spare time to focus on my Christian growth. This is evidenced by the fact that in the nine years since then I have received a Certificate in Theology; studied at least 60 academic books, around 300 academic articles (all listed in my first book HTBAC); hundreds of hours (probably in excess of one thousand hours) of the Christian TV Channel; published two Christian books; and spent quality time with my wife and boys. If I had worked fifty or more hours per week over those nine years, I would not have made anywhere near the level of Christian progress that I did: and too many pastors are working those long hours.

  LifeWayResearch conducted a telephone survey of more than 1,000 pastors in USA which indicated that “… a full 65% of them work 50 or more hours a week … 8% saying they work 70 or more hours …” and that “… meetings and electronic correspondence consume large amounts of time for many ministers …”223 Ruth Barton was at a church meeting trying to work out how to "… attract more people to join the church …" when someone pointed out that members had "… at least five time commitments per week …" Ruth felt that was too onerous and "… was already trying to combat CFS (Christian fatigue syndrome) in her own life …" Ruth noted that "… life in the church often gets reduced to so much activity, so much busyness … that we will not make it over the long haul …" Ruth notes that when the disciples returned from "… their first ministry excursion … all excited about their newfound powers … Jesus … immediately instructed them 'to come away and rest with me and rest a while' …" (Mk 6; Barton; Miller-McLemore, 125-126)

  I think it’s time for churches to delegate lots of administrative duties to trustworthy and reliable members (Zscheile, 179-180). Alli Worthington’s grandfather used to say that “… If the Devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy ...”224 Alli tells how she broke the cycle of ‘busy’ in her own life and the warning signs she should have heeded. Alli says one of the first signs is “… An Inability to Control Your Emotions …” I agree with Alli from my own experience; from friends; and from seeing dozens of police officers suffering for being way too busy (7 Signs You’ve Become Too Busy for Your Own Good, by Alli Worthington). In his article about leadership, Robert Martin says he is "… not trying to rid pastors of their many responsibilities …" (Martin, 85). But I am.

  Ron Luce, the founder of Teen Mania tells us that "… in the last 10 years of the organization, I found myself getting increasingly tired, and tiredness takes a toll on you in a strange way … when you’re tired, you don’t give as much, you don’t love as much or as deeply, you don’t listen as carefully. All of those things start to add up ..." 225 TAS says "… Oh, well, if I study, if I get a lot of teaching and Bible knowledge, and am always busy in the Lord's work, I shall become something? No, not at all! In the dealings of God with you, you will find you will be emptied and brought down to nothingness in yourself, until you reach the place of pure, selfless love for the Lord for His own sake …" (TAS, His Great Love, 92; Lee, On Dying and Reckoning …).

  Any senior member of a church who is not frequently checking the welfare of their pastor has not reached fullness of spiritual maturity, or has backslidden. Any senior Christian who is extremely close to Christ will reflect the love of Chr
ist through genuine concern for the pastor and other church workers (Norheim, 77; Muthiah, Charismatic Leadership …, 19). But remember, just because you are spiritually mature does not mean you have common sense. Moses was the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, and we know how close he was to God. The archangel Michael argued with the Devil over Moses dead body (Jude 1:9)!! Wow, how amazing is that. Moses was so important that he appeared with Elijah when they spoke with Jesus at the Transfiguration!! There were many, many holy men and women in the Old Testament including Enoch, who was taken up by God without having to die, and many prophets who were executed for obeying God.

  But Moses and Elijah were the two men chosen by God to appear at the Transfiguration!! Wow, what a privilege and honor! But when Moses was the judge and administrator of the Israelites, he overworked himself and did not know how to delegate. Moses' father-in-law had to intervene and urge Moses to delegate to “… capable men … who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain; and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens …” (Exodus 18:13-26). Tilstra says "… Management and spirituality are complementary yet distinct processes for the religious leader. Pastors and other religious leaders are inclined to spiritualize away legitimate management issues … Pastors and other religious leaders need to boldly tackle spiritual issues with spiritual solutions and management issues with management solutions. More importantly, they need the wisdom to discern one from the other. That discernment grows in the environment of reflection and freedom from ego strangulation …" (Tilstra, 50-51; 2 Cor 13:5 AMP; TAS, The Dynamic of Spiritual Helpfulness).

  And what happened in Acts Chapter Six? Some of the widows were missing out on food, so the Twelve Disciples appointed seven Christians “full of the Spirit and wisdom” to look after the food issue so that the Twelve Disciples could give their attention to (a) the church gardens and flowers? NO: (b) The church fete? NO, NO, NO: So they could (c) give “… ALL their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word …” (Acts 6:1-7). Eric Alexander says "… I believe that in the Church of Jesus Christ in this generation we face precisely this kind of danger; that of forgetting where our true priorities life, of failing to distinguish between the merely good, and the vital and fundamental. We need to have a clarifying of our vision and a re-echoing of this holy determination of the apostles. The focus of our concentration needs to be a wholehearted commitment to prayer and the Word of God …" (Alexander, A Question of Priorities). And do you ever see Jesus counting out money and balancing books of account? No, that responsibility was delegated to Judas (John 12:4-6).

  The Bible has ALL the answers. Therefore, I believe churches that insist on using the three major church systems should operate like this:

  (1) The pastor is to look after corporate prayer and the ministry of the word which requires a lot of personal time for Bible study, reflection,226 rest, family time and personal prayer:227

  (2) A sufficient number of senior church members “full of the Spirit and wisdom” should be appointed to conduct ALL other church business, then they will know all about the functions of a church to prepare them for leadership:

  (3) The pastor, who, in the local church setting, is figuratively the leader like Moses, must constantly build-up Christians (TAS, The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, 93; 2 Tim 2:2) so that the church always has sufficient numbers of wise, capable, God-fearing, trustworthy Christians who are full of the Spirit, who can take on all administrative tasks of the church.

  There should be so many mature Spirit-filled Christians that there is always someone who can conduct a church service and deliver wonderful, motivational sermons that link everything to Christ. Bill Hybels says "… One would think that strong, gifted leaders would make sure that no emerging leader would mature to the point where his or her own leadership might be threatened. Actually, the exact opposite is true: The greatest thrill a mature, gifted leader can experience is the gradual achievement of the God-given vision through the combined efforts of younger leaders who some-day will carry the kingdom baton … a leader creates a culture where more and more people can rise up to lead …" (Hybels; Echols, Transformational / Servant Leadership …). Building up mature Christians into leadership roles may cause difficulty for some leaders because “… sometimes it’s detrimental to our bottom-line to have people draw too close to Jesus …” [because amongst other things] “… they might … leave when God calls them into full-time ministry, challenge the status quo, [or] make us feel threatened by reducing the clergy / laity dividing line …” (Are We More Invested in Bringing People to Church? Or to Jesus? By Karl Vaters).

  If the pastor / leadership team think like this, then that is pride. As Eric Alexander says, "… Now humility is one of those very difficult things to talk about. Yet I am more and more persuaded that true biblical humility is one of the key elements in true usefulness to God …" (Let Him Who Boasts …). And, as I have learned the hard way in my own life, pride hides: you sometimes don’t realize you are acting out of pride. The only way for leaders to keep their pride in check is to have a healthy Christian walk by spending lots of time studying the Bible (Parker 168; Josh 1:8), and a healthy prayer life (TAS, The Rights of God, 24-25; Madsen, Lessons From Joshua; Motyer, The Gospel of The Humanity of Jesus). And this must be DAILY development, otherwise I believe you will start to backslide.228 Parker says (at 167) "… the present day leaders' spirituality is dependent on intentional times of solitude and Selah for interaction with the Divine …" It is easy to drift away: (Heb 2:1-4) and it can be so subtle you don’t even notice it.229

  As TAS says, " … it is … possible to preach and be a Christian worker, and know nothing of the grace of the Lord Jesus in your own life: to be just a contradiction. There is far too much of that. Paul would never countenance anything like that. If he is going to speak about ministry and about testimony in the world, he will demand a basis, that grace shall have done its work at least in measure, so that in this way the love of God is now manifested. There is now humility …" (TAS, The Gospel According to Paul, 31-32; Norheim, 75; Muthiah, Charismatic Leadership …, 19; Alexander, Let Him Who Boasts …).

  Margaret Ashmore says that “… a day without prayer promotes self-sufficiency …”230 And your DAILY prayers should be detailed, not just a quick prayer for the sake of convincing yourself you ‘technically’ pray to God each day (Long, 48-49). The Bible says that the early Christians devoted themselves to prayer (Parker, 181; TAS, The Rights of God, 24-25; Alexander, A Question of Priorities). Amongst other advice, the apostle Paul urged Christians to be "… devoted to prayer [continually seeking wisdom, guidance, and strength] …" (Rom 12:12). In my first book HTBAC I included a list of important topics to incorporate into your daily prayers. Parker says that "… prayer was a significant part of congregational life for leaders and followers … Porhill purports that prayer is one of the two primary pastoral priorities as found in Acts 6:4. Constant prayer fostered oneness … the corporate prayer offered by the people of the church on behalf of Peter was continuous and fervent … thus, the church prayed strongly to God and prayed with heart felt words … the church leaders also prayed corporately in some form of ordination of new leaders to the work of ministry …" (Parker, 181-183; Foster, Life in the Heavenlies).

  But, remember, YOU, the pastor, have to teach members of your church how to pray about EVERY topic. Therefore, if you have not devoted a lot of time to personal prayer with God about many issues in your own Christian journey, how are you going to teach others? None of the churches I have attended provided any guidance on how to pray. Professor Roberta Bondi believes "… that the starting point for all education for ministry is Christian formation that helps the student learn the long-term ways of prayer and self-reflection that will sustain her or him through seminary and through all the years of ministry which will follow it …" (Callahan, Leadership in EC …, 65-66; 2 Cor 13:5 AMP; Forney, Integrative CL …, 33; Callahan and Eblen, 208; Jinkins, The Integrity of Ministry…,
1, 5; Tilstra, 50-51; Motyer, The Gospel of the Humanity of Jesus).

  And remember; when you consider any new ministry or activity for your church, your measuring stick is: ‘How will starting this ministry ultimately glorify Christ?’231 Everything else comes second.232 What MEASURABLE EVIDENCE is there to prove your belief that this ministry will ultimately glorify Christ?233 I understand that even if your church structure is close to ‘perfect’, the most devoted Christian will ‘drop the ball’ and make the occasional mistake because the spirit and the flesh constantly war against each other. So, do not allow the Devil to score easy points against you by leaving even slight cracks in your church structure (TAS, What it Means to be a Christian, 59-60).

  I don’t think churches using the three major types of governance can change sufficiently enough to bring Christ closer to their center, because of three major problems, namely church membership, voting rights, and bureaucracy.234 In 1995, Rick Warren told us that if people want to be members of his church they have to go through a well-structured membership class. If churches haven’t adopted Rick’s criteria in the twenty years since he first told us, it is very doubtful any church will have the ability, desire or consent to change.

  The problem at the moment is that many churches have allowed people to become members without requiring them to reach a set standard or high enough standard of Christian knowledge and Christ-like behavior. Therefore, many churches have members who are not serious Christians: or as TAS terms them: professing Christians.235 And in many churches, including those using the congregational and episcopalianism methods, members have voting rights (Greg Jones, 119). And church meetings are famous for being out-and-out boxing matches full of strong-willed personalities.236

  TAS has a thing or two to say about membership: “… On what ground does the membership of the assembly subsist or consist? Spirituality is the governing factor, and it determines relationship from start to finish. There is no other ground recognized by the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God, for membership of the church, the House of God, of the assembly … if you have not got spiritual people in the assembly you are better without them, and certainly you must safeguard the Lord’s interests from their interference and from their having any place whatever in the ordering or the influencing of the things of God’s House. This is a law which may be simple, in some senses weak at its beginnings; that is, you may have a babe in Christ, but there is spirituality at its beginning, and a true babe in Christ is one ready to be taught and recognizes the need of being taught, and needs to know everything as to walk, and knowledge, and everything else. But this matter of spirituality is the law by which the church grows …”237

  For two thousand years the Church has had the Parable of the Weeds for guidance.238 The meaning of this parable has caused a bit of contention over the years and I understand that. Some say it does not refer to the Church, but to the world at large. I believe the word ‘world’ includes any situation where non-Christians mix with Christians, whether that is in churches or elsewhere. The Bible says the Devil is the “ruler of this world” at the moment, until Jesus Christ returns (2 Cor 4:3-4). To me that means the Devil can cause trouble for Christians ANYWHERE in this world. And the Bible says the Devil acts like an angel of light. In other words, he is very subtle and uses deceit and trickery more often than not. TAS says “… this (mixing Christians with non-Christians) is a wile of the evil wisdom of the Devil …” (TAS, The Gospel of the Kingdom, 19-21). The word ‘wile’ includes “trick, con, scam deception …”

  In 1931 TAS said “… What is the curse of the church today? The link and relationship of mere professors with true believers: a mixed multitude. Those who have come into the things of God, but not by new birth …” (TAS, The Recovery of Spiritual Power, 53) and "… all the way through the Bible, along two lines … murder and mixture. If the adversary cannot kill, as he sought to kill Moses and others … directly, he will entice them, he will ensnare them, he will somehow bring in mixture, by mixed marriages, mixed worship …" (TAS, The Cross, the Church, and the Kingdom, 119).

  Just like police have to outwit the schemes of criminals, you and I have to outwit the schemes of the Devil. If you were the Devil where would you try to trick and con Christians with maximum effect? What better place than in churches, where most Christians gather?239 I believe he places pretend Christians, professing Christians, half-Christians and non-Christians into churches where they sing along and worship with the Christians.240 In order to be successful in a church, the Devil has to assist these professing Christians and half-Christians to get some type of power in the church to nullify the effect of the Gospel. I believe he uses churches that have a low bar for membership, and who give members voting rights in that church. Most of these types of churches very rarely discipline members or rescind memberships.

  TAS says "… there is a vast difference, beloved, between vital union with God in Jesus Christ and religious formalism … along that line the enemy is destroying the whole testimony of the Church by packing it full of active, energetic, unconverted people …" (TAS, Christ the Power of God, 46). That is why I believe every church must prevent non-Christians or professing Christians from becoming members in the first place. Thom Rainer says one of the four major hindrances to Church Revitalization is that “… They do not emphasize member expectations in an entry level or membership class …” (Four Major Ways Pastors Hinder Church Revitalization, by Thom S. Rainer)

  In his book, The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, TAS says that to succeed in your church as the pastor you need to “… get away from this ‘pulpit and pew’ conception …” and be a servant leader (see my essay at end of this book) who builds everyone up in Christ, through ‘mutual ministration’.241 Claybury International has a Christian Leadership Academy, where “… the practical leadership style taught … is Christ-centered servant leadership …"242 TAS says “… In the church there must be leaders, but the leader must also be a follower. Paul gave us the pattern when he exhorted the Corinthians: ‘Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ’ (1 Cor 11:1) …”243 The greatest concern of leaders like the Apostles Paul and John "… is to lead with a deep intimacy with the Triune God (See Eph. 1 and John 17 respectively) and to discern how to participate with him in Christ's ongoing ministry in the world …" (Horsthuis, 104). Stone, Russell, and Patterson say "… 'that both transformational leadership and servant leadership emphasize the importance of appreciating and valuing people, listening, mentoring or teaching … ' it has been forcefully argued that servant leadership and transformational leadership are the dominant leadership concepts in the New Testament …" (Echols, Transformational / Servant Leadership …, 99, 102).

  Alan Stones "… delineated nine key elements of the servant leadership style: (1) begin with service to the Master, Jesus Christ; (2) faithfully exercise one's gifts for the body of believers; (3) remain open about failures and cognizant of need for continuous growth; (4) exercise critical thinking skills based on Scriptures; (5) change leadership style to suit situation and constituency; (6) faithfully engage in discipline of prayer (Madsen, Lessons From Joshua); (7) dedicate self to purpose of the group; (8) commit to fellow-workers in the task; and (9) share responsibilities …" (Callahan, Leadership in Ecclesial Contexts …, 77; Echols, 121). See also Karl Vaters' twelve distinctions between 'bosses' and 'leaders' (12 Ways to Know If You're Pastoring Like a Boss - Or Like a Leader).

  There is no use being a pastor if you think you are more important than the congregation. Scott Sauls "… thinks it's easy to put pastors … on a pedestal … they turn pastors … into objects instead of subjects … celebrities instead of neighbors … this tends to widen the gap between congregants and their pastors … especially ... in large churches. …" (Darling). You, the pastor, are responsible for avoiding this type of isolation. It can begin very subtly so watch yourself like a hawk (Rodin, 113). TAS says “… What applies there applies in every other direction of the anointing. It is the whole testimo
ny, not fragmentary. Anointing is one, is relative, is entire, is connected with the fullness and finality of the testimony of Jesus … our individual anointing in Christ is not that we should be constituted something in ourselves,244 but that the full testimony of the Lord Jesus should be realized through every anointed member. The whole testimony is in view …”245

  In brief, what specifically is 'the testimony of Jesus'? Harry Foster says "… It is the setting forth in living expression of the person of Jesus Christ …" (Foster, Life in the Heavenlies). TAS summarizes the testimony of Jesus thus: "… The testimony of Jesus is firstly, Who Jesus was and is … Christ is God … secondly, what Jesus is in relation to man … He is man's representative … thirdly, what Jesus did in His cross. That embraces the universality of His death, His burial, His resurrection and His reign … finally, what God has eternally purposed concerning Him relates to His sovereign Headship over all nations as King of kings and Lord of Lords …" (TAS, The Anointing of the Holy Spirit, 43-46).

  Yes, you should know more about God than the congregation, (TAS, Leadership, 50) because our ministry is a priestly ministry246 like the Levites who had “… a living, fuller and more inward understanding of Christ …” than the children of Israel247 and “… the priest’s lips should keep knowledge …”248 Sharon Callahan's study "… discovered that respondents looking to religious leadership value a leader's spiritual depth above every other competence they identify …"249 You also have authority in areas such as discipline (1 Cor 5; Osborne) and general administration of the church,250 but you need the servant leader attitude of Jesus Christ. John Piper says “… Spiritual leadership is aimed not so much at directing people as it is at changing people ...”251 Scott Cormode says " … the heart of a pastor's vocation is to inspire and commend, to deepen the spiritual lives of a congregation: being able to preach well just is not enough …" (Cormode, Constructing Faithful Action …, 227, 251-252). Kimberly Long says that it is not only essential for people to come to worship "'hungering for an epiphany' … [but] … those who lead worship must also come hungering for an epiphany, expecting to be changed: and communicating that expectancy and openness to those who gather for worship …" (Long 48-50).

  That is, both the pastor and congregation help each other grow in Christ by devoting themselves to mutual increase in Christ,252 and increasing Christ in every church activity. (TAS, Spiritual Maturity, 5) Jacob tried it in reverse!! He cunningly supplanted his brother to get “… authority, the place of supremacy …”253 It took twenty years for Jacob to learn “… that authority is reached by the way of subjection … to the Father …” Just like Jesus Christ taught us: “… Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground (Norheim, 72-73) and die …” [to die is] “… to surrender yourself, let go of your own life, deny your own rights, it brings forth much fruit …”254 Paul said he remembered Timothy's "sincere and unqualified faith [the surrendering of your entire self to God in Christ with confident trust in His power, wisdom and goodness …]" (2 Tim 1:5 AMP). Joseph “… learned to be a servant in the hard school of Potiphar’s house, emptied of everything in order that he might learn how to reign and how to have fullness without pride …”255

  Unless the whole church dies to itself, the Devil will continue to have a field day, (TAS, What it Means to be a Christian, 59-60) “… not only directly but through carnal Christians …"256 TAS warns that "… you will suffer more at the hands of professing Christians than you will at the hands of the world … if you mean to go right on with God …”257 That is why I urge you to take your time and prepare your church thoroughly. Develop excellent policies and disciplinary procedures, without turning them into ‘control mechanisms’ as I explain further on in this chapter where I discuss the policies of The Village Church USA (as posted on their site in March 2016), and parts that I believe are 'controlling'.

  To be perfectly clear, I believe churches should allow anyone including non-Christians to attend and worship at their church without ever putting any pressure on them to make them members. And, I believe you should inform everyone of this fact in any initial advertising such as flyers that you send out to introduce your church and on any Website you may construct. But, if you start a church from scratch you should take Rick Warren’s advice and have clearly structured membership classes that enable you to keep the bar very high for a person to achieve membership. This will result in a Christ-centered church, with much more Christ-like voting in church meetings.258

  TAS gives good grounds for having a ‘high bar’ for your church membership. He says “… If there is one man or woman connected to the will of God, some company of His people in the body of Christ meet face to face with something the Lord has called upon them to do, and they stop short half or three quarters of the way and do not go right through, this has an arresting force upon the rest … At Corinth one man was holding up the whole assembly because there was something there God had said must go: idolatry …” (TAS, The Recovery of Spiritual Power, 35). TAS says "… Only together do we arrive at the fullness of God. The fullness is given to us in as far as we, the many, are ONE body. That is why every division means loss to us and for the time being also loss to the Lord … in the Old Testament no one was allowed to come to the temple with empty hands … only that which is of Christ is worthy to be presented, because our unity is only based on that which is of Christ …" (TAS, The Rights of God, 69; Muthiah, Charismatic Leadership …, 14-16).

  And don’t forget, Rick Warren cancels membership if he has to, and so should you. (Church 1 … Devil 0). Problem solved by preventing the problem in the first place. But, I admit there will always be some problems, even in the best churches (Fuller, 21; Goff, 55), and it is usually in the form of rumors, whining, and complaining. The Apostle Paul was forced to spend way too much time teaching CHRISTIANS to stop gossiping etc. (TAS, Revelation of Jesus Christ, 119-120). The New Testament tells us that everything that happened to Israel in the Old Testament was for us to learn from (1 Cor 10:11). Bildad says "Inquire, please, of past generations, and consider and apply yourself to the things searched out by their fathers …" (Job 8:8 AMP). What excuse do we have nowadays compared to the people in the New Testament? We have much more information such as two thousand years of recorded church history, and unlimited Christian information on the Internet: much of it is FREE?259 Make sure your congregation knows from the first week how seriously you consider gossiping and rumormongering (TAS, The Gospel of the Kingdom, 49-50).

  Your membership classes should include thorough teaching about your disciplinary policies. But, implementing new or tougher membership classes, disciplinary procedures, and policies for rescinding membership in an existing church will be very difficult, if not impossible (Jinkins, The Integrity of Ministry …, esp. 1-2). Bard Norheim says "… The problem is that people tend not to like surprises caused by change, and surprised people tend to behave badly …" (Norheim, 60). This is why I recommend we have to start new churches. If you are an existing church and you successfully implement these changes, at least within a decade or two your membership will be wholly made up of devoted, mature, Spirit-filled Christians.

  But, your church will still be weighed down with the old attitudes of members who are ‘half-Christians’ / professing Christians for as long as they are members.260 And that could be several decades. That is too long. Jesus Christ expects prompt action to make each church wholly centered on Him.261 I was at a church meeting where they were discussing the topic of finding a replacement pastor. I heard a senior member of the church say that they wanted the new pastor to be one who has a young family. What for? What a Spirit-filled, devoted Christian SHOULD have said was, ‘We want a Spirit-filled pastor who leads each one of us closer to Jesus Christ’.

  Tullian Tchividjian was appointed pastor of a church in USA at age thirty six. I am not criticizing Tullian in any way, but I noticed an interesting line in that post: “… Church elders hoped that Tchividjian’s youth, vision, and name (i.e.; Billy Graham’s grandson) cou
ld revive the fortunes of the ageing congregation …"262 Dear oh dear! The problem was obviously in the congregation: "… revive the fortunes of the ageing congregation …" That sounds like they were all tired people with no ZEAL and FERVOUR for God.263 TAS says "… one of the most difficult things is to tend and minister to the immature, the spiritually delayed in their growth …" (TAS, His Great Love, 103).

  On the other hand, Spirit-filled Christians living on the resurrection side of the Cross264 will always have a zeal and fervor for God regardless of their age. TAS says that "… in these two ways Joshua represents the energy of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit has His way in our lives we will always be going forward, and we shall neither look back nor shall we stand still …"265 And, if Tullian had these qualities, he would not have taken on this job unless he checked that ALL members had this fire in their belly for God. There is little point in a Spirit-filled Christian trying to pastor a 'tired' congregation of members who have no zeal and fervor for God, because, unless you have the freedom to discipline them in a biblical manner, it will be like trying to move a mountain: the job will suck the life right out of you (Greg Jones, 118).

  As I said in my first book, HTBAC, there is a MASSIVE difference in the attitude of a ‘half-Christian’ and a devoted Christian.266 I know because I have been both. Even a devoted Christian has to constantly fight to keep a lid on their pride, because pride hides and you sometimes don’t know you are responding out of pride (TAS, The Necessity for Weakness). If a mature Christian has problems with pride, half-Christians or people who pretend to be Christians will create chaos if you allow them to become members of a church.267 That equals out-and-out warfare (TAS, Knowing God in Christ, 120).

  TAS says that “… If there is an element of untruth anywhere in the church in any member or in any place, that structure will collapse, it will not weather the storm … it would be too strong a word to say that these men [the Twelve Disciples] were in a lie during those years [the three and a half years with Jesus], but they were not in a true position. They may have thought they were, but they were not, and the Lord knew that ... so by the space of 40 days … He would leave them in the place where they were able now to say … we know this Christianity and this Christ is not a teaching, a doctrine, or anything like that to us; it is a living reality … We know it is true. So John wrote years afterward: ‘We know Him Who is true …’”268 And TAS says "… the assembly is only the aggregate of the individual; the assembly can never be more than its individual members are …” (TAS, Knowing God in Christ, 115, 161).

  Dr. Dale A. Robbins says "… Church conflict frequently has to do with ‘power struggles’ within the congregation. That is, a contention for influence or control … God’s word tells us to pray for, respect and cooperate with those authorized spiritual leaders of our church (Heb 13:17, 1 Thess 5:12-13). Insurrection is nowhere sanctioned in scripture … according to the Apostle Paul, the general root for strife and division is spiritual immaturity and carnality … (1 Cor 3:3)”269 "… factions, divisions, parties, works of the flesh … may it be after all that in sectarian parties the flesh is at the root? Of course that is not always true, but we ought to be very honest with ourselves to see that on no ground whatever before God but the ground of the purest, most transparent, crystal clear spiritual principle do we stand where we stand … Christ has brought us in Himself out from that … and we must not go back and live there. Oh that we saw what a mighty thing this death of Christ is to bring us out of the whole body of the flesh, to bring us right out by the Cross …" (TAS, Christ the Power of God, 33-34).

  Carnal / half / professing Christians do not have sufficient spiritual knowledge nor spiritual maturity to know many "crystal clear spiritual principles". The apostle Paul wrote: "… And having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of righteousness [of conformity to God's will and purpose]. I am speaking in [familiar] human terms because of your natural limitations [your spiritual immaturity] …" (Rom 6:18-19). Therefore, if you have a low-bar for membership, your church is in trouble right from the start. Have fun with that one!!! Of course, you could bring in a rule that allows you to rescind that person’s membership, but, unless you rescind for a breach of discipline, they will 'kick and scream' and make everybody’s life hell. They may even kick and scream if you discipline them for an obvious breach of discipline. This is reality people. And what if that member is a major financial contributor to the church? What wages or programs are you going to cut to readjust (Greg Jones, 110)? Are you willing or able to take a personal wage cut? Karl Vaters says, “… as a pastor I have too much invested in getting people to attend church; my salary depends on it; my sense of self-worth depends on it …”270

  But, as Thom S. Rainer says, one of the eight common characteristics of successful church revitalizations is that “… the leadership of the church was willing to let go of members … few leaders like to see members leave, but some churches have a ‘back door revival’ before true revitalization can take place …” (8 Common Characteristics of Successful Church Revitalizations, by Thom S. Rainer). This is why I recommend you develop well-thought out policies for membership. I recommend you make a Website for your church and include your policies for public view.

  This shows complete transparency;271 leaves people with no excuse for not complying with them; furthermore, other people can use them for their churches or personal education. In 2016, LifeWay Research published the results of their studies of 734 pastors who quit the pastorate.272 Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay said “… almost half of those who left the pastorate said their church wasn’t doing any of the kinds of things that would help …” such as “… having clear documents, offering a sabbatical rest … if you are burning out, chances are when conflict arises you’re not going to respond well, and that will make the conflict worse …” (Parker, 165-169)

  Here is a real-life situation about church guidelines you will hardly believe, because even a police veteran like me could hardly believe it. Karen Hinkley and her husband Jordan Root were Covenant Members of The Village Church USA. In 2015, Jordan’s Covenant Membership was cancelled because he had viewed child porn. Karen divorced Jordan. The church disciplined Karen because they deemed her grounds for divorce were not biblical!! WHHAAAT? I read The Village Church Membership Covenant in early 2016.

  While I find the Covenant fairly well thought out, I think it is way too long and detailed, and controlling in vital areas. There are several topic headings in the Covenant. It starts with an explanation of the membership covenant. Nothing technically wrong with it, but I would not include it. This should be explained and discussed personally to people who want to be members. The same applies to the following headings: “What Is The Church?”; “What Is a Covenant?”; “Statement of Basic Belief”; and “Statement of Theological Distinctives”

  The next is “Biblical Obligations of The Village Church”. The first part: “Elders to The Village Church Body” and “The elders covenant” are fine because you expect much more from elders of the church because they have had many years to learn how to apply biblical principles in a church setting. But, I don’t think I will include them in my church policy because a person should not be an elder in the first place if they are not displaying these qualities. Next is the “Biblical Obligations of the Members to The Village Church Body” I think this is the area you have to be very careful with. I do not think I will include this type of section in my church policy because it can cause confusion.

  For example: “… I covenant to submit to the authority of the Scriptures as the final arbiter on all issues …” Technically correct, but the pastor or leadership team actually have to be the final arbiters on all issues, because they have to interpret the scripture and apply it to the particular behavior of a church member (Eph 3:10). Therefore, if your pastor or leaders are not fully crucified Christians, they are going to mix their emotions in with the disciplinary policies. I believe my opinion is supported by Colossians 3:16 w
hich says "Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind: permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom …" (Col 3:16 AMP; Titus 2:15; 1 Thess 4:1-2, 6 & 5:11-14; 2 Thess 3:14-15 AMP). To me, Colossians 3:16 says you must have a very high level of Godly wisdom BEFORE you teach and train other Christians or you will get it all wrong (James 3:13-17). And when that happens, the church leadership treat people just like the world treats its people: terribly. It appears this is what happened to Karen Hinkley.

  The next one says: “To regularly participate in the life of The Village Church by attending weekly services …” What if you are a shift-worker and work two Sundays per month? Technically you are in breach of this rule!! For this very reason; namely common sense; this is a ridiculous requirement. Again, you lead a church by having continual and meaningful relationships with your congregation.273 Echols says that "… Servant leaders develop trust because they care about those they lead … "274 If a member does not turn up one Sunday for some unknown reason, make the genuine effort to check up on their welfare. They may have been sick or some other genuine problem occurred in their life. Robert Muthiah says, "… For our relationships to have Trinitarian correspondence, they need to be intentionally cared for. The relational sphere must be present because 'within congregations, families and friendship need leadership so that gospel meanings can be embedded and healthy relationships can be nurtured' …"275

  You should not make a rule for church attendance: just show genuine concern for members as a Shepherd does his flock. If your church is too big for you, as pastor, to keep track of everybody, then ensure that each group leader (e.g.: Bible study leader) keeps a reasonable track of the members. This is important training for group leaders. And the only way you are going to know if group leaders are connecting with the congregation is by regularly asking them. Jesus Christ did not write one little bit of his teaching: He left no written record. He communicated face-to-face as much as possible. Once Jesus ascended to Heaven and the Holy Spirit replaced Him, the Holy Spirit inspired the disciples and others to write letters that we now call the New Testament.

  But, when you are operating a church, train yourself and your group leaders to try to connect with people face-to-face (Forney, A Calm in the Tempest…, 28-33). If you haven’t got the skills or confidence to do that, then you are not yet ready to be a pastor or hold any type of leadership role in a church (Cormode, Constructing Faithful Action …, 240). Roberta Gilbert says "… In every relationship, no matter how emotionally mature, emotions are continuously signaled and received nonverbally … but thoughtful verbal communication is an important hallmark of high level relationships … without the clear and open expression of feelings within a system, it is difficult to imagine how intimacy or trust might be established …"276 Proverbs fifteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-three, and twenty-five through to twenty-nine provide wonderful advice on the art of communication.

  What about this one from The Village Church: “… to steward the resources God has given me, including time, talents, spiritual gifts and finances. This includes regular financial giving, service and participation in community that is sacrificial, cheerful and voluntary.”

  I’m sorry, but I will never make financial giving a ‘requirement’. The congregation should be taught that financial giving is NOT mandatory, and that they should only give if they want to (2 Cor 8:1-15; 2 Cor 9 AMP). Refer to Chapter Four of this book where I urge churches to be fully transparent about the amount of money received and what the money is spent on. This should be a weekly announcement: not once per annum at the Annual General Meeting. I believe that if you are passing your church collection on towards charitable and worthwhile causes, people will give because they see you are applying THEIR money with honesty, compassion, and transparency. You won't need a written rule for 'giving' if you do it this way. This is a new world where people crave transparency from ALL organizations.

  The next bit about marriage is interesting and is written in such a way that I (as a police prosecutor of twenty years) would interpret as 'controlling'. It says “… I will seek to preserve the gift of marriage and agree to walk through the steps of marriage reconciliation at The Village Church before pursuing divorce from my spouse …” Excuse me!! Marriage is a covenant between man and woman and God, not between the married couple and the church. I’m sorry, but there should be no requirement to go through a church marriage reconciliation process. This may be a well-intentioned requirement by The Village Church, but boy did they get this wrong in Karen’s case (Turner). If I was caught in possession of, or viewing child pornography, I would be absolutely stunned if my wife stayed with me. What was The Village Church thinking?? Child pornography is vile, a criminal offence in most places, and I think most women I know would leave their husbands: and I would support their decision to leave.

  The next sections about holiness, premarital sex, adultery and pornography are unnecessary because they are covered in the Bible. The Village Church "Member Covenant" is about 2,600 words in length, which is way too much, in my opinion. Richard Ascough says: "We see in both the Corinthian and Galatian correspondence that Paul was a minimalist in giving direction to the communities that he founded. Rather than lay down a set of rules he advocated a few simple concepts (mutual love, mutual slavery, Spirit guidance) and expected that from these the communities would grow and flourish …" (Ascough, 32, 35; Rom 1:11-12). The point I want to make out of this is that I urge you not to create enormous volumes of rules and covenants for your church. Keep it simple.

  Sorry: I can’t help myself because I love this last one: “… To do the following should I leave the church for righteous reasons: to notify the appropriate staff member on the campus I attend. To seek another church with which I can carry out my biblical responsibilities as a believer ...” You've got to be kidding me: now that is control if I ever saw it. Sorry, but I am going to be tongue-in-cheek here! So you can ‘commit an offence’ and leave yourself liable to discipline by The Village Church if you exercise your constitutional and democratic right to go to another church just because you feel like it?? Wow. What are they going to do: issue a warrant of arrest for you for leaving The Village Church without a ‘righteous reason’? What the heck is a righteous reason, and who decides what is righteous? Imagine getting summoned to the ‘great council of The Village Church’; and you fail to appear; and they hear the case in your absence (ex parte) and convict and fine you several hundred dollars!!! Do you go to jail if you refuse to pay?? Sorry, but I find that absolutely ridiculous. I believe the leaders of The Village Church should make themselves very familiar with Michael McNichols' article titled "First Love and Second Loves: Revisioning a Paradigm of Hope for Pastors". If people want to leave your church, just let them.

  And Karen asked “… The Village Church [to] refrain from any future communication …” but “… church leaders had refused to comply with that request for weeks and were proceeding with church discipline …” Hey, the last time I looked, America is a democracy: they should have left Karen alone. How insensitive: Imagine how Karen felt when it was discovered that her husband had been viewing child-porn for ten years? Karen claims that Jordan told her “... he preferred prepubescent girls ages four and older but that he had seen child pornography involving infants and teenagers as well …” That is sick, gross, vile and shocking, and I think Karen will be shocked and emotionally fragile for a long time. As a police officer I have encountered this type of case, and it is not unusual for a wife / partner to be emotionally scarred for several years. And The Village Church failed or refused to consider this?? Wow.

  You see there is a major problem with these detailed requirements of The Village Church Membership Covenant. YOU: the church; are responsible for ensuring that every church attendee is taught all these requirements as the normal part of teaching people about the Christian faith through the Bible. YOU (the church) have to
ensure that all the behaviors included in the Membership Covenant (as of February 11, 2016 when I accessed their Membership Covenant) are well and truly understood by every attendee BEFORE they become members. You prepare your sermons to cover all these topics. And you clarify all these types of requirements in the mandatory membership classes for your church. You keep church records that list what you have taught and who attended those classes. Then, you don’t need to have all these ridiculous requirements. In fact, I will go as far to say that if anyone becomes a member without fully understanding these requirements, THE CHURCH has failed in its duty to teach the “… manifold wisdom of God …” (Eph 3:10).

  I found a 2014 article by Sara Goff titled "Developing Affective Competence Through Spiritual Practice", which explores how we should develop interpersonal skills with others by learning how to handle our own, and other people's emotional processes. This article backs up what I have subconsciously thought for years. That is, not many people, including Christians, are taught how to communicate properly with other people; especially about how emotions impact relationships. Sara confirms my suspicion where she writes: "… other than in psychotherapy, where else in society are people encouraged to learn and practice these skills …" (Goff, 46). This is why I am urging every pastor to take responsibility and teach your congregation all these interpersonal communication skills face-to-face when preaching and in all other contact with congregants (Reed; Forney, A Calm in the Tempest…, 28-33).

  Otherwise, you will have to learn the hard way through mistakes that are hard to fix later on. For example, in relation to Karen's case, Matt Chandler said “… It is clear that we have not communicated: in multiple cases now; the gentleness, compassion, and patience that our elders are called to walk in …” (Parker, 167-168). You reckon!!!! Please note that Karen was pleased with the genuine face-to-face apology she received from Pastors Matt Chandler and Josh Patterson. But, what amazes me is that it does not appear The Village Church changed the Membership Covenant when I accessed it in February 2016?? Why not?277

  I won’t go into too much detail about standards and selection criteria for any paid positions you intend to create in your church, because in some places charitable institutions such as churches are exempt from workplace laws, but, please check with a solicitor. When you have implemented paid positions, please aim to employ mature staff who are Spirit-filled Christians. Include this in the Job Position Description. I have found many excellent examples FREE on the internet. BUT, even if you find the perfect Job Description on the Internet, still run it by your solicitor BEFORE you implement it. Remember, you will have to know someone for a long time before you can be satisfied that they are mature, reliable, employable Christians.

  To be an effective spiritual leader you have to be a good judge of character (Piper, The Marks of a Spiritual Leader). This takes many years, and if you live a sheltered life, you may not even become a good judge of character (Goodman). I was quite gullible and naïve even up to about 21 years of age. This is due to the fact that my parents gave me virtually no instructions or life advice, therefore I had to learn too many basic principles of communication as an adult: That is why I am glad I served in the police for 34 years, because police constantly deal with lies and fibs that people throw at them every day, therefore you learn how to judge people very quickly. I know all this means it will take a long time to build your church but it is important you take your time and maintain a tight ship to prevent cracks appearing for the Devil to prise open. Please, please, please: DO NOT get over-excited and try to grow your church quickly. The temptation WILL be great, I understand that, but take your time and enjoy it (Callahan, Leadership in Ecclesial Contexts …, 64-65). And, don’t forget to pray to God daily, if possible, seeking His help in every area of your own life and to guide you in every step of preparing to start your own church. (Church 1 … Devil 0): That’s better!!