Chapter 8 - THE Ministry
Taken from Chapter 8 of the book "The Harlot Church System" by Charles Elliott Newbold, Jr.
While driving home one drizzling winter day after sharing with some believers in Georgia, I kept hearing the words rumbling around inside of me: "Quit the Ministry." That word was most troubling because I thought I had already done that. Still, there it was, relentlessly hounding me: "Quit the Ministry." Then I noticed the emphasis on the article: "Quit THE Ministry." I knew it was a refining word of God at work within me. THE Ministry, with the emphasis on the article "THE" and a capital "M," was a stronghold inside of me that had been passed down to me through the generations of religious tradition. This stronghold is what we call being in THE Ministry.
"What does it mean to quit THE Ministry?" I asked my wife, Nancy. As usual, with keen perception, knowing it had to do with me in particular, she thoughtfully answered. "It means not feeling responsible for the people in the little groups we minister to, making a syllabus or a book of everything that comes to you, systematizing everything into a formal teaching with the idea you have to teach it, starting a ministry school, putting out newsletters, nor pastoring anyone. It means to just be."
"I understand that," I told her, "but I don't know how to quit. How do I quit what has been programmed into me since childhood?"
From that beginning, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see some things about THE Ministry and began to set me free from the false expectations that go with being in THE Ministry.
IDOLATROUS EXTENSION OF SELF
On the outside, THE Ministry appears to be a noble life devoted to the sacrifice of Self; but when the inside is exposed, it is found to be a life of self-centeredness and self-exaltation. Just as it is with that Thing we call church, so is it with THE Ministry. It, too, is an idolatrous extension of Self, a Thing that exists outside of and in addition to the one in ministry. It is a mantle we put on ourselves that God has not woven for us.
We make a Thing out of being in ministry when we surmise, "I am in ministry, therefore, I have a ministry." Many well-meaning saints have started Ministries on the basis of an unusual testimony or an unusual gifting. It is good to have a testimony. It is good to share our testimonies. That is probably why we have them, but we do not have to go into THE Ministry just because we have a testimony. We do not have to go into THE Ministry just because we have a gifting to evangelize, prophesy, heal, teach, sing, or even preach. We do not have to go into THE Ministry just because we feel God's call to serve. God has called us all to minister. We are to do the ministry of the saints.
Paul, the apostle, illustrated how we are all members of the body of Christ and each has a different function. These functions are gifts and services to one another in the body. Paul said that if we have the gift of prophecy, then we are to prophesy according to the proportion of our faith. If we have the gift to ministry, then we are to minister. If teaching, then teach. If exhortation, then exhort. If giving, then give with simplicity. If ruling, then do it with diligence, If you show mercy, then do it with cheerfulness. Rom. 12:6-8. Nowhere does he remotely suggest that we are to get a private, non-profit corporation, name it, and solicit funds for it so we can be who we are in the body of Christ. Just do according to who you are.
When we start out in THE Ministry, we start something God has not started because we are wanting something for Self. We get possessive of this thing we call Ministry. We refer to it as "MY Ministry," or "THIS Ministry." We even make a business out of it. We name it, incorporate it, build a database for it, solicit funds for it, and traffic our giftings like five-and-dime store merchandise.
OBLIGATIONS OF THE MINISTRY
When one chooses to enter THE Ministry as a career, profession, or mind-set, he needlessly adopts a system of false obligations he feels inside of himself that enslaves him to that Thing we call THE Ministry. Here are some of those false obligations:
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to think of himself, behave himself, and perform his duties in a certain way in order to live up to the expectations that go with his ministerial position. He feels obligated to produce sermons, perform rituals, conduct services, visit parishioners, develop programs, print bulletins, mail out newsletters, increase numerical growth, boost the finances, write books, sell tapes, be on television and radio, dress the code, and in some circles heal the sick and work miracles. These are the kinds of things that falsely attest to his success.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to set up the playground in which we can play church, so that he can lead the rest of us in playing church. Playing church is doing anything religious that is not inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is faithfully doing all of those things we do at church that make us feel like we have done our religious duty. We play church by the way we dress up to go there, by the pretentious ways we greet each other, by the programs and rituals we follow, by the way we line up in pews, and by the way we do things at each other without ever having a sense of involvement with each other. We more accurately express what it means to be the body of Christ when we do things with and for one another. Our gathering together should be "to consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching." Heb. 10:24-25. We accomplish these things by being sensitive to the Holy Spirit who alone knows how to minister to our individual needs. We minister to one another by the Spirit with the gifts of the Spirit named in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to justify his ministry. He relies upon phony outward proofs of his success by counting noses, increasing the budget, multiplying his salary, building bigger buildings, making more visitations, keeping longer hours in the office, counseling more people, increasing the number of programs, acquiring more invitations to minister, scheduling more TV appearances, engaging a wider listening audience, and selling more books and tapes. Could this be the driving force for those who post the attendance and offering records on the church wall each Sunday with a comparison to "this time last year?"
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to present himself in a certain way to his public that will impress them so they will approve of him. It may be in the way he dresses, the way he grooms his hair, or the way he talks; it may be in the kind of car he drives and house he lives in.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to be pious and religious, pretending to be more spiritual than he truly is. He becomes hypocritical as he puts on his phony religious mask. Piety and religion have nothing to do with the simplicity of following Jesus in honesty and brokenness and allowing His Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to stay somewhat aloof from other saints. As a result, those in THE Ministry often form exclusive fraternities as evidenced in the existence of ministerial associations, the holding of clergy conferences, and other gatherings that bolster the unscriptural existence of clergy and laity.
The one in THE Ministry today more frequently feels obligated to establish a legal corporation to provide tax exemptions for their contributors. Often, however, this paper entity becomes more than a tax provision. It becomes the name and image of "his" ministry. He presents himself as the president and founder of it. He speaks of "this Ministry" in the third person as though it was the source from which the ministry of Christ flows. In so doing, he makes himself appear bigger than God has made him to be.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to start something--anything. He cannot present himself as idle. He organizes, institutionalizes, formalizes, establishes, and systematizes things. He, with deep heartfelt concerns, starts things in his own strength and has to keep those things going in his own strength. When he stops working his plan, his plans stop working for him. But what God starts in Holy Spirit power, God finishes in Holy Spirit power.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to build his reputation and to market his talents, gifts, and wares. Consequently, he has to have his own public relations program to promote himself. He proudly puts his name and his face on the work that he believes God has called him to do. Whereas James wrote, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." James 4:6, 10.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to know more about the Bible and religion than those he ministers to. Thus, he is obligated to achieve academic prowess which often opens him up to pride and intellectualism. He is not content for people to just know. He has a need for people to know that he knows. He feels obligated to compete with other ministers to know as much or more as they and to be as good or better than they. He sometimes feels it is necessary to keep those he ministers to ignorant; thus dependent upon him.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to solicit support for his ministry whether from his "partners" or from a salaried position. When he receives a salary for his so-called leadership role in the body of Christ, he makes a distinction between himself and the sheep. He ignores the fact that he, too, is a sheep and that all sheep are in ministry. The one in THE Ministry lacks faith in God's ability to use him in season and provide for him without having to manipulate others into supporting "his" ministry.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to have a title for himself--Pastor, Reverend, Bishop, Apostle, Doctor. The more prestigious the title, the better. Bob Hughey says, "Titles divide; function unifies. A testimony is more important than a title."
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to clone others to be like him or his kind of church. He needs to clone them in order to own them. If he does not own them, he fears losing their support.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to be set apart from the "laity" by being ordained. Many church traditions ordain their clergy through what the historical church calls "apostolic succession." Apostolic succession is the perpetuation of spiritual authority by the successive ordination of clergy from the time of the apostles. One must be ordained in apostolic succession in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox traditions in order to administer the sacraments and orders. While Barnabas and Paul were confirmed as apostles by the prophets and teachers in Antioch (Acts 13:1-3) and elders were to be appointed in every city (Titus 1:5), the common tradition of ordination as it is practiced in western Christianity is not found in the New Testament. Barnabas and Paul were not set apart by the twelve apostles but by certain teachers and prophets in Antioch. Acts 13:1-3. The anointing for ministry comes from God and not from men. Eph. 4:11.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to perpetuate the industry of THE Ministry. THE Ministry is big business. It drives the economy of seminaries and Bible colleges, churches with their staff positions, new church construction, church furnishings, Ministries, publishing houses, recording companies, book stores, conferences, and radio and television shows. It is a web of economic support in which the Minister himself becomes entangled and from which he cannot easily break away. Those in THE Ministry live compromised lives under the influences of man-pleasing spirits. The merchants who peddle their wares to those in THE Ministry and those who are in THE Ministry are dependent upon each other for their existence. This mutual dependency for existence is another reason why this whole system is a stronghold not easily pulled down.
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to perpetuate the institution of THE Ministry as well as the institution of church. THE Ministry is an institution within the institution of church and is the singular most powerful force that perpetuates the institution of church. If we were to remove this erroneous notion of THE Ministry from the equation of church, this Thing we call church would fall apart. Similarly, without the church system, THE Minister would have no context in which to practice his craft. Church is sustained by money. Once the money ends, the church institution folds. Likewise, when the money ends, THE Ministry ends because those in THE Ministry depend upon the money and the system.
THE DATABASE
The one in THE Ministry feels obligated to build a database in order to maintain visibility with his supposed supporters. He lives under the fearful code: "out of sight, out of mind." He may keep a record of the baptisms, weddings, and funerals he has performed, as well as the number of attendees to his meetings and new members he takes in as though they were notches in his spiritual gun handle.
He who owns a database for the purpose of increasing himself in ministry wants to broaden his sphere of influence.
He tends to think he owns the people on his database.
He tends to think that he has a responsibility toward the people listed on his database--that he needs to answer to them.
He tends to think the people on his database owe him support for "his ministry."
He tends to measure his success in THE Ministry by the size of his database. Names are like trophies. The more he has, the more he wants and the better he thinks he is. He may periodically, with pride, inventory the numbers just to see how many are on his mailing list.
He can become obligated to his database even if those names are no more than a short fax or e-mail list. The database can own a part of him and put him in bondage to it. He has not quit THE Ministry until he has trashed his self-serving databases. Inability to trash his self-serving database may indicate that it is an idol in his life.
The key word here for those in THE ministry is "self-serving." Most of the "newsletters" I have seen read like a brochure promoting the one in THE Ministry who sent it out, most of whom are seeking financial support for themselves.
We must honestly evaluate: Does our database exist to increase ourselves or Jesus? John the Baptist caught a glimpse of the Kingdom of God when he said, "He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30. THE Ministry is a ministry of the increase of Self, while true "ministry" is the ministry of the increase of Christ in others.
FULL-TIME PROFESSIONALS
The one in THE Ministry often seeks it as a full-time career or occupation in the hope that it might provide an income for him. Such was the case with John and Sue. Ellie wrote about them:
It had been some time since I had heard from Sue. I was happy to hear from her but felt the same emotions I feel when friendly telemarketers call. Uncertain about my perception, I continued a friendly conversation. Both of our families were free not to be a part of a local church and had independently decided to stay home on Sunday mornings. Since then, however, Sue and her husband, John, had started a church of their own.
Finally, she got around to asking where we were going to church. I told her we felt we were not to be in a church at this time. She sighed and made a comment about how much time they were spending in prayer. "When you start a work you need to spend a lot of time in prayer" she said. "In fact," she added, "we still don't really know if." Her voice and vocabulary failed her. I could tell she was sad to think their work might not continue to provide them with a livelihood. In an attempt to encourage her I said, "No matter what happens, the growth you are seeing and the relationship you are developing with these other people is eternal and above The Ministry and A Work."
Sue replied in all sincerity, "We really feel called to the ministry, and if the ministry is going to be our livelihood, then at some point it has to be viable and more than just a couple of families meeting in a living room."
Ministry in the Holy Spirit comes out of who we are in Jesus and is not a position to attain to in the world. When we need to have a congregation in order to provide an income for ourselves, we have a harlot condition in our hearts. We are seeking something for Self. If we are truly called to be elders who shepherd God's sheep, we are to feed His sheep. God forbid that we would seek to feed off them.
THE SEDAN CHAIR
"It was supposedly a time of celebration," Bill Shipman recalled. "We were sending some leaders from our church to Chicago to start a new church. We showered them with expensive gifts while ignoring the needs of others in our midst. One couple," he remembered, "needed a refrigerator. They were having to buy ice. It was an imbalance."
Bill, sharing a vision he had from the Holy Spirit about this, saw these men being lifted up on very ornate and gaudy sedan chairs.
The chairs were gilded and had curly swirls and fancy tapestries hanging down with tassels on the top. The sedan chairs looked heavy. These men were being lifted up and carried by the little ones in the church. The little ones were glad to try to carry them as they started out across a desert.
The Holy Spirit spoke a word of warning to those leaders being sent out saying, "You are going out, but you're going out on your own will. You're not going in My will."
Soon after they went out, I saw that those who were carrying the leaders became weak and the sedan chairs tottered. The people kept trying to hold them up financially, praying for them, interceding for them, but everyone kept getting more weary. Finally, out of exhaustion, everyone had to let go. The sedan chairs fell and broke up.
"These brothers and sisters in Chicago were having a hard time financially," Bill said. "They sold their homes before they left. They did not make the best use of God's resources the way it was done. It was done in self-centeredness. People began to leave. They could not hold them up any longer. The leadership felt abandoned, but it wasn't abandonment. The children should never have been made to carry the fathers; the fathers are made to carry the children."
FALSE FLOW CHARTS
"False leaders still want to dust off those sedan chairs and get the people under them," Bill observed. "This is happening around the world. The leaders of this Haitian mission proudly displayed their organizational flow chart. The name of the main leader in the mission was positioned at the top of the pyramid. Next in line were other leaders with the people forming the base line. They asked me, 'What do you think about this?'
"'Do you really want to know?' I asked in return.
"'Sure, Brother Bill.'
"If Jesus walked in right now, He'd rip it off the wall and turn it upside down, and say, 'Now, that's a flow chart.'"
Bill concluded. "True leaders put the people in the place of honor and carry them in sedan chairs that are graced with tender care and mercy. If the minister does not see himself as one among the bride of Christ, he will rape the bride by using her to increase himself."
The Babylonian Minister views himself as not only having been set apart but having been set above the "laity." He is the "professional." He takes on titles for himself in his personal ambition to build for himself a city, a tower, and a name. Reputation is very important to him. Though he calls himself their servant, more often than not the flock is called upon to serve him, his plans, and programs. Yet, he is forever busy doing the work of the church in the place of the people--church work, not kingdom of God work.
Tradition has obligated this one-man-show ministry to fulfill many functions that are not within his gifting. Many in THE Ministry enter into pride when they try to take on responsibilities that do not pertain to their giftings. Such pride and ambition often leads to frustration and burnout.
SERVANTS
Whether we say we are "in THE Ministry" or "have a Ministry," we assume something that is foreign to the idea of ministry in the New Testament. THE Ministry with the upper case "M" is a Babylonian concept whereas the idea of ministers with the lower case "m" is quite New Testament. We do not have "a" Ministry. We are all the ministry of Christ. THE Ministry, as it has come to be conceptualized, is a hindrance to true New Testament ministry, because it stifles the saints from fulfilling their ministries. THE Ministry is in direct opposition to true New Testament ministry.
The word "ministry" in the New Testament is translated from several Greek words. Doulos (slave) and diakonos (servant) are two of the terms that have been translated "minister." All saints are ministers/servants according to the pattern set forth in the New Testament. While there are some the Lord Jesus appoints to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds (elders), and teachers, they are given to the body to equip the other saints for the work of service (ministry). Eph. 4:11-12. Those equipping servants (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers) are not clergy positions within the church. They are not offices. The term office is not a Greek New Testament word. 3 {15} Servant appointments are functions within the body of Christ. Those who exalt themselves as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are spots in our love feasts and clouds without water. Jude 12.
Those who have the mantle of a true elder do not use their giftings to lord it over the saints. They see themselves as being equal among the flock. Paul warned the elders from Ephesus when they were together with him at Miletus to "be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the called-out-ones of God which He purchased with His own blood." Acts 20:28. Elders are among the sheep and not positioned piously over the sheep.
Paul warned them to keep watch over their own hearts because, after his departure, he knew that savage wolves would enter in among them, attacking the flock. Some among them would gain prominence, distort the truth, and draw away disciples to follow them. Acts. 20:29-30. Ministers of churches today are just as territorial. They chase off anyone they perceive might steal "their" sheep. They seem to forget that the saints of God are not their sheep! They are His sheep!
The servant does not seek to exalt himself--to increase himself in power, position, riches, and domination. He is content to remain nameless and faceless in order to serve when, where, and how the Holy Spirit leads. He does this without expecting anything for Self.
FOLLOWING JESUS
I called Bill Shipman to tell him I had quit THE Ministry. After pondering my announcement for a moment, he answered with glee in his voice, "I thought we were just supposed to follow Jesus."
Quitting THE Ministry does not mean inactivity. We have a walk to walk. We are to follow Jesus wherever He goes, and we do not have to turn it into a business, put a name on it, or put a title on ourselves.
Each of us has a gifting--a ministry--with a little 'm,' whether large or small, that we are responsible to steward. We have a responsibility to respond to the Holy Spirit when He prompts us to operate in that gift or ministry for the edification of the body, that we might build one another up into a spiritual dwelling as the household of God. Eph. 2:19-22. These are functions and not positions.
THE Ministry implies that some among us are big shots and the rest of us are inconsequential. It implies a one-up, one-down relationship between those who are especially gifted from all the rest of us. If ever there were big shots in the Kingdom of God, the chosen twelve apostles would certainly qualify. Nevertheless, Jesus told His twelve that they were not to be like the princes of the Gentiles who lorded their authority over the people. Matt. 20:25-26. With the twelve then, and even so for us today, "whoever will be great among you, let him be your minister [diakonos which literally translates "servant"] and whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant [doulos which literally translates "slave"]; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister [diokonesai which literally translates "to serve"], and to give His life a ransom for many." Matt. 20:27-28.
The five equipping servants of Ephesians 4:8 have the anointings to equip the rest of the body of Christ for the work of service, but this does not make them greater than the rest of the body of Christ. Those with the apostolic anointing are at best under-rowers. Recounting his conversion experience before Agrippa, Paul quoted the Lord as having said to him, "But arise, and stand upon your feet for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister." Acts 26:16. The word for minister used here comes from the root huperetes which literally means "under-rower." This nautical term generally denotes any subordinate who works under the direction of another. Apostles are subservient to the authority of Christ who sets them apart and sends them out. In 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:1 Paul includes Apollos and Cephas as under-rowers: "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ." This term was also used in reference to John Mark in Act 13:5.
I find that when I try to do ministry--that is, when I try to make it happen in my own strength, the anointing evades me. When I rest in being who I am without trying to do ministry, the anointing compels me. I am far more productive for the Kingdom when I maintain resignation from THE Ministry than when I actively pursue it. When I pursue THE Ministry, I miss the Kingdom. When I pursue the Kingdom, ministry (not THE Ministry) pursues me. True ministry is the measure of Jesus that He desires to pour out through me.
Many individuals who are in this Thing we call THE Ministry are Nicolaitans and have a Nicolaitan spirit.
