I feel we’re throwing too much weight upon the Ministry in our Churches, and letting them carry the rap for all the things we feel are not right in this time.

The Ministry has its failings, there is no doubt about that. The love of power, position and money has in fact torn at the very fabric of what the ministry was called to do.

They’ve had a big hand in stunting the flow and knowledge of the gifts of the Spirit and not allowing full Apostolic order. But they are not alone in the demise of the church as we know it today.

The Saints, the laity as it is called, have forgotten their true place in the Kingdom of God. Cutting to the crux of the matter, let’s say they make up the absolute majority of the Body!

They, have allowed themselves to be rocked to sleep, have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to things they truly knew were not correct leadership, and became passive and stale.

No saint, or laity, whatever you want to call yourself, will stand before the White Throne Judgment and blame all of their problems and shortcomings on the Pastor — or the organization their Church belongs to, for that matter.

Each person is going to answer for their own life, their own actions, their faithfulness or the lack of.

Too many of us are using the Pastors and other parts of the ministry as scapegoats, allowing them to carry all the responsibility of the congregation and Body. And now, we are being called into question.

If we are beaten down today, it is because we have allowed it. Whomever came up with the idea, and I have a good opinion who it was, that the saints were no longer required to know God for themselves, or to study His Word for themselves, or to recognize their position in the Church, actually instituted false doctrine.

Where did the Word ever say that if you simply did whatever you were told, accepted all behavior of the ministry and left all the decision making up to one authority figure, or left it all to some Church Board, you would be redeemed and excused from all apostolic responsibility?

The truth of the matter is that any minister who does not teach the people their true place in the Kingdom, is not a true Bishop and will harm a lot of folk.

Common sense, much less Bible sense, tells us that we are to be rooted and grounded in God’s Word, for ourselves.

We as sheep, are to be eating meat and growing into mature children of God, not continuing to be some passive, milk drinking, poorly developed and underfed pushover with no backbone!

I have felt impressed for some time, that in all of this finger pointing we are doing at the ministry, we cannot forget that many of them would not be doing the things they are doing, if we the people were not letting them get away with it.

In many of our Churches, you rarely heard much said about the office of Deacon. For good reason. The deacon is a watchdog, not for the pastor but for the assembly of the LORD’s People.

He has the same basic qualifications as a Bishop and has an Apostolic ordained place in the church. We are the Saints of The Most High God, not spineless wimps who cannot speak for themselves.

We are given gifts of the Spirit just like the offices of the five-fold ministry, and we are to indeed prophesy under the anointing and be used of God in any service He decides to use us.

There’s enough judgment coming upon the ministry for the cruel and unscriptural things they have done. Let’s look more at ourselves.

Paul told Timothy to “preach the Word.” That’s been part of our problem right there.

Too many preachers gave out their own interpretations and ideas and did not back it up by the Word. Preach the Word, not your own beliefs.

Don’t tell me it’s not the saints’ fault that they did not hold them accountable for this, because it is. Jesus Christ and his Apostles gave clear directions on how the church was to operate and nothing good was mentioned by the blind following the blind.

I will say many of us didn’t know better. But I’m telling you, we do now!

We complain loudly about wealthy preachers and ministries and totally forget that those dudes would not be rich if we did not give them our money!

Start war if you want, but the tithes and offerings were to be brought into a Storehouse and not one man or woman’s pocket. If that’s happening, it’s because we allowed it.

Excuse me, but this “Prosperity” gospel some of us detest, would not have gotten anywhere if some of us were not so desirous of worldly gain and money ourselves.

Cut the money strings and these fat cats would dry up over night. The saints forgot they were supposed to look out for one another and had Bible based reasons for doing it.

Evangelists are struggling, dear God. Missionaries are struggling and we are allowing it.

Paul said to “reprove, rebuke, exhort.” The ministry once did. The problem was, too many overdid it and some still do, forgetting that the next words said “with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

But children have to be corrected and that means God’s children too. Minsters need to be corrected and God set Presbyters into the church for doing just that.

Too many presbyters started playing politics instead of overseeing their ministers like God intended them to do. Some of these officers said it was not their job to interfere in any local Church’s business.

Well, what was your position if it was not to give direction to the Church?

That said, some of us know only too well how mean Church folks can be, how unruly, stubborn and even destructive, but they should have been dealt with by other God-fearing and spiritual saints too, not leave it all for the pastor and his family.

We like to quote “all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.” However, we saints, as well as the ministry, have left off the very next words “for reproof, for correction” and no longer want sound doctrine, but prefer to let our ears itch for something that sounds nice and tickles our fancy or simply entertains us.

Paul clearly told Timothy that the time would come when it would be just like what we are seeing today.

I don’t know any other way to say this, but there will be no “end-time revival” without the Saints.

The Body will birth children, not just the preachers alone . It will take every single saint, full of the Holy Ghost and moving in the Spirit, to accomplish what God wants to do in these days ahead.

Our saints are sitting quiet. They know better. Too many are old enough to remember what real Apostolic anointing is truly like and how the entire Body of Christ is to be operating.

They know how to take up the harp and sing a song under the true power and can discern between what is real depth and what is professional entertainment.

They have not forgotten but they must stir themselves. They will have to take the lead in many places. They know how.

All parts of this body are supposed to be working together, fitly joined together, not top heavy, whop sided with too many members dozing.

We the people have a right to hold the ministry accountable. We have a right to require true demonstration of the Spirit in our services and see our loved ones healed and delivered.

But we have to wake up. You can have all the generals in the world but if there is no Army, no foot soldiers, there will be no victory.

The people will follow a true man or woman of God. If we are blind and asleep it’s because we want to be.

We need to everyone shake ourselves, remember we all have a special and absolutely needed place in His Kingdom and all rise to do the job He has called us all to do.

If you can’t work for God to your full potential where you are, find some place you can. God is raising up men and women who will fill His positions with love, compassion and humility and very soon, someone will be glad for every gift you can bring to the table, every talent that has been placed in your hands.

They will not be threatened or intimidated by your ability in the Spirit, because they will recognize where it truly comes from and that all of these gifts and talents working together will bring all of us into the next dimension God has for His people, we the Church.

First published: February 16, 2011.

~ Robert Blackburn

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Robert Blackburn

 

 

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