It is in the consciousness or subconsciousness of man generally not to speak ill of the Supreme Being – God, the Father of all creation out of fear and reverence. This is common for believers and unbelievers alike, not to speak evil about God or to Him directly because of the fear of what may or can happen to them. It seems like the reason for our behavior modification is out of the fear of the consequences of speaking ill of God and if there were no consequence whatsoever does that mean we will let loose our tongue on Him? But today, it seems as if this fear and reference for spiritual things directed towards God is gradually been overlooked and fading away. People pass all manner of comments without looking back and make nasty jokes about God and His acts as if He is bored and He needs someone to entertain Him. Our attitude towards God as believers leaves a lot of questions in the heart of those whom we are meant to take the gospel to. The apostle Paul told Timothy the young minister to be an example of the believers in conduct (see 1Tim.4:12).
I must say that many are lagging in this area. Our conduct to spiritual things is treated likely, we are becoming canal in our thinking as regarding spiritual things and this is greatly affecting our effectiveness as a Church. Let’s take a queue from a passage in Mark 3. Jesus healed a man that was demon-possessed and the teachers of the law said that He is possessed and not just that, He used the power of the prince of demons to cast out demons. Then Jesus said “I tell you the truth, all sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whosoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28-29 NIV).
Would you say that the Pharisees had insulted God by accusing Him of being possessed of Beelzebub? I could remember during my secondary school days, while we were being inaugurated as prefects (I was made the Library Prefect), the students were made to understand that the prefects were acting on behalf of the school authorities, anyone who disobeys the prefects, disobeys the school authorities. So, based on this knowledge, we went about doing our work and the students complying to the school rules and regulations. Jesus didn’t send Himself; He was sent by the Father (John 5:23, 30), He only did that which the Father does (John 5:19), and spoke what the Father has commanded Him to (John 5:30). Therefore, these Pharisees insulted and rejected God by rejecting the One He sent. There’s no way one can receive salvation by rejecting Jesus. And now, Jesus Christ is no longer on this earth (bodily present), but before He left, He promised two things which are the building of the Church and the coming of the Spirit (Matt 16:18 and John 16:5-7).
The ascension of Jesus brought about the fulfillment of these promises. The Church which is Christ’s body (see Eph.5:23, Col.1:18) is now carrying out the will of the Father. Jesus said “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). The church whom Jesus has sent to do the will of the Father is currently facing persecution as prophesied. But the interesting thing is that these persecutions are not just coming from unbelievers but also from believers. They’ve treated spiritual things like canal men and insulted God by insulting the authorities that God has instituted in the church. The social media has made things easier for them, if you don’t like something in a church, you go on social media to become an advocacy and drag the authorities there. Don’t be a part of this deception. Grace doesn’t give anyone the license to go against authority especially in the church.
Why tear down what Christ is building. This may be difficult for some to bear but know this, the church is not a human right organization, where you come to air your views. The day you came into Christ, you cease to have a view of your own but rather the view of the One whom you serve. Miriam and Aaron didn’t like the decision Moses (their younger brother) took, he married a woman from a nation outside of Israel, and they began to talk against Moses, claiming that they too can also hear the voice of God and God heard it and wasn’t pleased by their actions (see Num.12:1-15). Not every decision that authorities in the church take that will please you and they are not accountable to you but to God. Because you don’t like such things, maybe teaching or extension of meeting hours, doesn’t mean you should go around to speak ill of them, by doing so, you are speaking against God. Because culture is shifting doesn’t mean the Church will have to shift to it, no matter how Man wants to evolve, the principles and standard of God’s Word remains forever. In a bid to become culturally relevant, be careful not to lose the purpose of the Church. We have not been called to conform to this world.
The gates of hell cannot stop the progress of the Church. It will try but it won’t succeed. Christ is the Builder. So, don’t allow yourself to be used by the devil as a hindrance to work of God and the building of His Church.
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2 comments
Nice write up but my question is; if what a pastor is saying or doing does not follow what the word says, we should not complain?
Should we just keep mute and keep following the wrong lead?
The Bible never teaches that we should complain or murmur against authorities/pastors in the church when they what they preach and live goes contrary to God’s Word.
There are many sides to this, if through study you realise that what the pastor is preaching is not in alignment with God’s word, you quietly leave that assembly and look for a place where you believe the accurate teaching of the Word is.
You could also approach the pastor and ask questions based on what you have studied and hear what he/she has to say.