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"Woe to Those at
Ease in
Joseph Herrin
(6-17-2000)
THEME:
The clergy/laity system is a corrupt, unscriptural system. It was created to
meet the fleshly desires of both groups, clergy and laity. The clergy, like the
Pharisees, love the place of honor that comes from elevating themselves above
the mass of professing Christians. The laity, like the children of
Amos
6:1
Woe
to those who are at ease in
WOE
An
exclamation of sorrow, grief, misery.
EASE
(ez)
(sha'anan, shal'anan, chiefly, "at ease"): Used 19 times in the Old
Testament and once in the New Testament... in an ethical sense, indicating
carelessness or indifference with reference to one's moral or religious
interests...
(from
International Standard Bible Encylopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (C)
1996 by Biblesoft)
Hebrews
12:22-23
But
you have come to
I
share these references and scriptures at the beginning of this article to make
it clear who is being referred to and what they are being warned against. As
the scripture in Hebrews so clearly reveals,
I
have previously written and posted the article Houses of Ill Repute to
proclaim Gods displeasure with the Christian Religious System as it stands
today. We are told that Judgment begins at the house of God and even as
Yahshua cleansed the temple at His first appearance, He will do so once again
as He returns a second time. The temple in this case is built of living stones,
you and I.
Even
as it could be said Woe! to those who met the judgment of Christ at His first
appearing; they were driven out of the temple with a whip, and some 40 years
later this very temple and the Jewish Religious System it represented was
destroyed so that not one stone remained upon another, even so this judgment
will be repeated and what has become a den of thieves will once more become a
house of prayer.
The
main attraction to remain in this unscriptural role is that it affords a sense
of ease and a lessening of the demands of discipleship. The common
understanding of clergy and laity is that the clergy are people who have
devoted their whole lives to God and to serving Him in whatever capacity they
are gifted and called in. The main focus of the ministers efforts correlate to
his particular gifting and calling.
If
the minister has the call of a pastor, he will be focused on shepherding,
nurturing, feeding, and tending to the flock of God entrusted to him. In such a
case the laity often become the focus of all ministry in the body. Rather than
ministering according to their own callings and giftings they are viewed as
subjects to be ministered unto. These often receive years and years of
nurturing by their shepherd, but are never brought to maturity nor released
into service themselves. They are perpetual children under the care of a
benevolent minster who serves as their spiritual father.
If
the minister has the calling of a teacher then the laity is often viewed as his
students attending his school. Week after week, sometimes two or three times on
Sundays, as well as Wednesday nights, and on other occasions, they sit under
this teachers tutelage and are instructed. However, by being viewed as laity, they
often remain as students. They are seldom given opportunities to put into
practice what they are learning. They are citizens of the world who are
majoring in Christian understanding, with a distant minor in actually learning
what it is to walk out their own relationship to the Father. Similar to college
students, they are given lectures week after week, but there are usually few
opportunities to apply what they have learned, except through admonitions to
tithe and to be faithful to attend all classes.
If
the minister has the calling of an evangelist then the laity either becomes the
focus of his evangelistic efforts, or they become extensions of his own calling
as he encourages them to evangelize the community they are in. In such a case
the body is at least active, sometimes very active, in attempts to reach the
lost, but many of the members are operating in callings and giftings that are
not their own. Although all saints are told to be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you... (I
Peter 3:15), not all saints have the gift or calling of an evangelist. They are
often pressed and manipulated into roles and activities that are foreign to
their personality or equipping.
These
three callings seem to be the most predominant among those referred to as
clergy. There are also those who have the calling of the prophet or apostle. If
these too try to function while maintaining the false division of clergy and
laity, similar aberrations will be manifested among those to whom they
minister.
In
all of these situations the ministers calling becomes the focal point of the
body. Those who like teaching will gravitate to the teachers. Those who want
the comfort and sense of belonging afforded by a pastor will be attracted to
these ministers. Those who desire the appearance of great activity, or who have
evangelistic hearts themselves, will often seek out groups headed by ministers
who are evangelists.
In
everyone of these situations, the minister is the one who does most of the
work. The body often becomes an extension of the minister and expands the scope
of the ministers work. The minister becomes the choreographer of the life of
the church. He recruits different ones to fill slots, or, in larger churches and
certain denominations, committees may be formed to handle the work of
recruiting and enrolling people in what is deemed to be the mission of that
particular fellowship.
What
is lacking in this is the maturity that can come to the saints only through
hearing from God personally and responding in obedience to His leading. The
intimacy of knowing God, hearing His voice, communicating with Him, and
responding to His summons in obedience is absent. The laity is trained to be
man-led rather than Spirit-led.
This
is a much more comfortable pattern for many saints, than discipleship. It is
easier to listen to the pastor and respond to his direction than it is to
develop a hearing ear before God and become responsible for ones own life and
relationship to God. Many pastors dont require anything of those they minister
to, other than to attend and pay tithes. This is low-impact Christianity at its
peak. The Christian can be assured of an eternity in heaven and live his life
with little consideration of what the Lordship of Christ actually entails. It
is having your cake and eating it, too. Friendship with the world is not much
of an obstacle. All one is really asked to give up is a few hours of his time
and some money, and according to all statistics there are few who opt for this
low requirement type of faith that give much of either.
However,
if the particular pastor at one church teaches greater responsibility before
God, and this seems too demanding, or if he exhorts the members to do something
they feel uncomfortable in doing, they can simply go from body to body until
they find a comfortable match. And sometimes, if the members dont want to do
the leaving, they will ask the minister to leave and they will hire or appoint
one who is more to their liking.
This
option is not available to those who are true disciples and are being led of
Gods Spirit. If God asks something of His child that is difficult, a decision
is mandated. Either obedience or disobedience must be chosen. However, these
tough choices and uncomfortable moments can be wholly avoided by choosing to be
laity and opting to be led by a clergyman instead of God.
When
God led the Israelites out of bondage to
Is
this not a picture of the clergy/laity system? Believers who are terrified at
what a personal relationship to God and true discipleship would cost them, have
opted to have a mediator stand between themselves and God. This mediator is the
false class called clergy. It is the Pastors, the Priests, the Ministers, the
Bishops, etc.. These clergymen are those who are deemed to have dedicated their
lives to God and who are satisfied with the requirements of the Lordship of
Christ upon them. Let them meet with God and those who are unwilling to make
the same commitment can then continue to live much as they please while making
a few concessions to the minister who is mediating between themselves and God.
This
is a totally unscriptural pattern. Paul told Timothy:
For
there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ
[Yahshua]...
I
Timothy 2:5 (NAS)
I
would like to interject here that I am in no way speaking against the proper
functioning of ministers nor am I belittling their calling. There is a genuine
place for ministers among the body of Christ. They have a high calling and a
clear commission from our Lord. It is not the existence of ministers that is a
problem, it is the false way that many of them are perceived within the
majority of the body of Christ that embraces the error of the clergy/laity
separation. I have discussed the true calling of ministers in the articles
mentioned previously.
It
was Yahshua who gave ministers to the body of Christ, but these ministers were
not to replace Yahshua in His role as mediator, they were to point men to
Yahshua. The ministers were not to be the ones who did the work of service
before God. All saints were called to this. This is made clear in the scripture
passage that speaks of Christ giving these ministers to the body.
11And
He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and
some as pastors and teachers,
12for
the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the
body of Christ;
13until
we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the
fulness of Christ.
Ephesians
4:11-13 (NAS)
All
saints are called to do the work of service and are called to attain to the
knowledge of the Son of God, to come to maturity and to the full stature of
Yahshua the Messiah. Yes, this is demanding. It means that the saint must focus
on this calling and give up his attachments to the world and the pursuit of the
things of the world. It calls for loving God with all your heart, all your
soul, all your mind, all your strength (Mark 12:30). It is those who are at
ease in
Woe
to those who are at ease in
Yahshua
knows those who have pursued Him unrelentingly and without holding back, and He
knows those who have chosen the path of ease. This is why He said, Behold, I
am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according
to what he has done (Revelation 22:12).
If
you would hear God say to you Well done, good and faithful servant, then you
must do well. Dont shrink back from God because you are afraid of what His
holiness will require of you. Let go of your attachment to the idols of
38But
My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no
pleasure in him.
39But
we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith
to the preserving of the soul.
Hebrews
10:38-39 (NAS)
Father,
When
our flesh cries out in terror of the requirements of coming into your presence,
may the spirit within us rise up and put the flesh to death. Give us a glimpse
of the joy set before us so that we might embrace the way of the cross, the way
of discipleship. May we be so enamored of You that all else seems petty and
fleeting in comparison. You are the joy set before us. You are the prize we are
striving for. You are the object of our faith. May You be glorified as all
creation sees your righteous ones passionately pursuing You.
Amen