Have you ever been shunned? Have
you ever felt out of place with a group of people having a conversation? You
want to join in; you feel you have something to say or to contribute, but by
the time you can find a possible opening in the conversation they have moved on
to something else. If you then contribute, they look at you as though you had
just arrived from another planet. Their faces seem to say, "Who are
you?" "You are not qualified to give input." or "Go back to
sleep." Or worse still, they completely ignore you or don't hear you, so
you end up talking to yourself. Well,
unless you are one of those people that everyone looks to as the life and soul
of the party, you will feel like an outsider.Certain youngsters have that
problem at school when they find they are not part of the popularity crowd.
Many of them end up as a loner and most of the others kids see them as a loser.
Well unfortunately this happens a lot in the world. Hence much of the violence
and killings in our public (government) schools has stemmed from this problem.
So what about Christians? What about the Church? Is that same spirit operating
in the Body of Christ?
Disagreeing with Leadership?
What happens if you as a church
member or a regular attendee disagree with some of the teachings or philosophy
of the leadership? In some cases you may be excommunicated; in many cases you
will probably be shunned. Being shunned means you are not welcome; you are to
be avoided. In fact the rest of the sheep that swallow whatever they are fed
without question, will be instructed to avoid you. This is done with the hope
that you will either mend your ways or leave. If you are verbal with your
disagreement and attempt to share your feelings with others you will swiftly be
barred and finally excommunicated.
There are even some church
leaders that will insist that you cut yourself off from your immediate family,
if they (family) don't see eye to eye with the teachings of your church.
Imagine being in a church where you are not allowed to see your parents, or
your children are never or seldom allowed see their parents or grandparents. It
happens - it has no grace in it nor any love-just a demand that everyone agrees
with the theology of the church leader- or leaders. Very sad.
None of us are perfect and no one
has all the answers. If being accepted by a church you have to submit to their
leadership and trust them implicitly without question and you agree then you
are foolish. So if this has happened to you, or quite likely will, what do you
do? You eventually find yourself in a position where you feel to have to say
something. So make sure that your disagreement isn't just because of
personality clashes with the leadership. Make sure that you have a viable
reason. If you are convinced biblically that the church is becoming cultish,
and it's practices are unscriptural and dangerous, and legalistic, then it's
time to give them a warning. This should be done in love and without any
personal vendetta.
Is the Church on a Sound Foundation?
There are four major principles
that measure whether the church is operating on a sound foundation. (If you are too emotionally involved then
just say you are moving on, and maybe you can say something later when you have
gotten some healing. But you have to take time to let Jesus love on you - you
don't have go the next week and "join" another church. You have to
chill out a bit and go have some fun).
1. It doesn't operate contrary to the nature of God and the spirit of Jesus.
2. It doesn't corrupt the teaching of the scriptures.
3. It doesn't offend your conscience through manipulation.
4.
It allows you hear God for yourself and learn to
listen to the witness in your spirit.
The witness or the anointing
within you is to teach you. The Bible
says if these foundations are not part of your church and you have been shunned
because you won't go along with their practices then it's time to leave. So
turn your "Shun" into a "Shunt" (which means to turn aside or push or shove something
out of the way). Or shift from one track
to another. You have been on the wrong track long enough; it's now time to get
on the right track. Being shunned is bad and sad, but being shunted or shunting
is good and allows you to move on into your calling and destiny.
Remember! Check the signs of the
new track you are looking for. Don't just think it's fine because they preach
well, or seem to be really orthodox. Sense their spirit. When you attend a new
church don't commit yourself right away. Take your time until you have the
witness of the spirit. First impressions are seldom accurate. "Why?"
you ask. Because the Sunday morning scene is the showplace to attract. What
goes on behind the scene is what really matters. Who are the elite ones that
belong to the inner circle? The Sunday morning meeting, the pastor's preaching,
the worship team and the nice facility; is not the church.
Spiritual Life and Freedom of the People
The real church is seen in the spiritual
life and freedom of the people. If there is only religious life and religious
bondage and a special privileged elitist membership then it's a counterfeit of
the real church. It's better to
fellowship with people that have a loving, gentle, open, spirit who may be a
little off in some of their doctrine, than fellowship with a hard line church
which strains at crossing every "t" and dotting every "i" and believing that
they are the only ones that hold all truth and revelation. After all, who of us
isn't wrong in some point of doctrine? No
one is perfect and knows it all. Remember that the Holy Spirit is the teacher
and He will lead us into all truth.
If the church that you were with
has offended your conscience and they have rejected you, then look for a church
where everyone is expected to be able to hear from God and not just the
leaders. The five-fold ministry gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor
and Teacher, were given by God to equip the Saints in order that they may do
the work of the ministry and build up the Body of Christ. (See Eph. 4:11-12)
The best place for Christians to practice and develop their faith and make
mistakes without fear of retribution should be in the church. Unfortunately
that seldom happens, because of religious control.
Perfect Love
Where loves flows in a church
there is no fear. For perfect love casts out fear (see 1 John 4:18). This is not advocating that every Tom, Dick,
Harry and Mary, stand up every Sunday morning at church and scream and argue,
"I can hear from God." No! Obviously not, but in the spirit of true
submission of one to another, true leaders will encourage and teach all the
saints to learn to hear from God and be able to fulfill their spiritual
destiny. How wonderful to have a church full of mature and effective Christians
which are an asset to the local church rather than have spiritual babes that
continue to need their diapers changed and be spoon fed.
Leaders need to understand that
they can't have it both ways. If they want to wield absolute control, then they
will never produce mature saints and will end up with a history of damaging
many poor people. That elitist spirit will bring a spirit of control in every
organization whether it's secular or religious. "But
Jesus called them to himself and said, 'You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over
them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great
among you, let him be your servant.'" (Matt.20:25-26)
That's simply how the church is
to be. Hard to find? Probably! But not impossible. So don't give up. If you
are a leader or pastor, mold your church after the true pattern that Jesus
established for the early church. After all, Jesus Christ is the head of the
church. He is the true pattern. Not a famous preacher, not a denomination, or
the big mega church, or the small exclusive group who believe they are God's
special elites, or anyone else for that matter. Don't only pattern your church
after the early church; but also catch the same spirit. Give the Holy Spirit
his proper place. He has been an outcast for too long. "But
speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head
- Christ - from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every
joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its
share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." (Eph.4:15-16) Amen!
To understand more about how religious spirits or groups of religious spirits operate in churches to destroy the anointing, can be found on Kathie's CD set Spiritual Strategies on www.identitynetwork.net.
David Walters
Getting Free of Religious Spirits & Walking in the Supernatural
Teaching CD
by Kathie Walters
Price: $10.00
Price: $10.00
Click HERE to order.
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