Get Off the Sand

I am beginning to think the people who run my old church are pure fakes. I have come to believe that the church’s primary function is to promote one family.

It’s very sad. The more I know about them, the less I respect them. In fact, I have no respect for them whatsoever. In my mind, a selfish preacher is worse than a sincere prostitute.

When you live by faith, it’s not easy to accept the notion that a Christian leader is depraved. We are taught to believe in God unconditionally, and that’s correct, because God is perfect. He never lets us down. He always makes the right decision, so we can trust him without reservation. The faith we have in God tends to mingle with our opinions of our leaders, so when they do stupid things, we do what we do when God seems disappointing. We tell ourselves they must have their reasons. In God’s case, this makes sense. But with people, it’s not always appropriate.

Because Christians are conditioned to believe and be patient, we are often too patient with scoundrels. We explain away the things our common sense tells us. And we don’t want to be guilty of self-righteousness, so we are slow to condemn. The result is that we end up putting up with charlatans way too long.

What’s the answer? How do you avoid this problem? Truthfully, I don’t think you can escape it entirely. A skilled weasel will pop up from time to time, and no matter what, they will occasionally fool you temporarily. But the Holy Spirit will wake you up and unmask them, if you stay in touch with him. The Bible says he provides wisdom and knowledge, so while your little tiny brain may lead you into the bushes for a time, the Holy Spirit will eventually lead you back out.

These people told me what they were. Sometimes they were arrogant, in spite of their limited educations and their fairly ordinary abilities. Sometimes they were rude. They were often ungrateful. One of them admitted he would not say certain things in front of the church, because it was “suicide.” They seemed greedy. They sucked up to prominent and powerful people, even seating Luther Campbell in a place of honor. They let utter fools preach in their church. They did things that seemed to demonstrate a startling ignorance of the principles laid out in scripture.

They told me what they were, but I didn’t listen at first. I think this is because I was too much like them. I wanted God to fix my problems. I thought about that more than I thought about love or sacrifice. I was not strong in the Spirit. I had not been praying in tongues as much as I should have, and I had neglected the Bible and good teaching. In short, I was carnal, even though I had good intentions. Carnal people are blind. Only Spirit-led people know the truth. The more I built myself up in the Spirit, the more I saw the problems, and the more I felt I had to be honest about them.

If there is one difference between them and me, which I am willing to state without feeling self-righteous, it is that I am not a hopeless egotist. I will listen. Eventually. I don’t think I know everything. I don’t dismiss other church members when they offer their ideas. I don’t think I’m more important than other people. I believe that’s why I’m doing so well, while they appear to be stuck in the mud, in declining ministries.

They probably don’t see their ministries as declining, but that’s how it is when you surround yourself with yes-men. You don’t know there’s a problem until the earth opens under your feet, because everyone is telling you God just can’t get enough of you. Attendance is good; things must be going well! But people who serve at the church are very unhappy, and at any moment, vital individuals could take off, leaving the central family with the difficult job of reestablishing relations with a huge congregation mostly comprised of poor blacks (who are staying poor in spite of the prosperity gospel).

They will never be on TBN regularly. They will never have a giant church like Keith Craft’s. They don’t have the natural talent, they alienate people who do, and they don’t have God’s help. That’s what I think. They are going to be lifelong also-rans from a third-tier megachurch that can’t pay its debts.

This is starting to sound depressing. I intended to write a message of hope, so let me turn it around. The point I wanted to make is that we are all in danger of being conned, unless we have guidance from the Holy Spirit. That guidance will come, if you pray in tongues for a good long time twice or more each day. You have to do other things, but those things will follow on their own, if you pray in tongues and maintain a submissive, teachable attitude.

Paul referred to tongues as “living water,” and one function of water is to cleanse. This is what the Bible refers to as “sanctification.” Carnal preachers will try to stuff you with filth and garbage. The living water will wash it out, over time. This is what is happening with me, and I know God didn’t create me to be the only one who got the benefit. If you reject the Spirit, expect to be fooled for the rest of your life. You have supernatural enemies who are smarter than you are, and they don’t play fairly. You will lose.

This works for me. It works for people I know. It will work for you. But it’s not going to happen if you’re praying in tongues once a month for twenty seconds. Get up to an hour a day and see what happens.

I hope someone will read this and give it a try. I would really like to see other people get what I’m getting, instead of chasing their tails and saying they don’t understand why God won’t help them.

If you’ve been asking for God to show you the way out, maybe he just did.