THE CHURCH...A PARABLE
(Note...Let the following please be submitted to the Body of Christ for the
purpose of being judged by the Spirit, for He alone has been commissioned to
lead you into all Truth.)
In deference to the expressed will of God that He will not share His glory
with another, The human instrument used to pen this writing will remain
anonymous.
A parable...a spiritual truth revealed through the circumstances
of the life in which we live; an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
This parable is about the church. It is about her life over the last 1900
and some odd years. From her infancy up to and including her current status
as an adult, albeit somewhat immature. It is not a pretty picture. It is a
sad one, one that should wring anyone's heart with compassion and mercy.
Please, extend to her the mercy and grace of our Father in Heaven.
The Church is like...
A woman. We all know that, don't we? She is often depicted as the woman in a
husband - wife relationship. As was Israel who was often referred to as the
wife of God. For ease of communication, let's give her a name. How about
"Ekklesia"...the called out ones? A 'corporate woman' may even better
describe her as she is one entity composed of millions of believers around
the world and across the centuries.
The Church (Ekklesia) is like...
A woman with a past that she would rather not face. Sure, we all have our
pasts. Whether we want to face them or not, they are there. Ekklesia's past
was not always a pretty past. It is not one that she really wants to
remember. There are a lot of skeletons in her closet that she finds fearful
and humiliating to look at and ponder in the light that the Holy Spirit
shines on it. If she faces her past, she may have to change. But there is
comfort in the familiar. She thinks that the changes will, of necessity, be
painful; but in many cases it is not the changes that are painful, rather,
it is the resistance to change that is the more traumatic, especially if the
change is mandated by the Holy Spirit.
Ekklesia is like...
A woman who was abused in her childhood in almost every way imaginable. She
does not want to admit this fact. It is too painful. But she must
acknowledge that her childhood abuse is, today, affecting the way in which
she lives. She must face reality. She must face the truth and walk in it or
continue to walk in deception and fear.
Ekklesia is like...
A woman who was abused in her childhood by the very people who had been
given the responsibility to nurture and protect her. You see, Ekklesia's
true parents were not physically present to nurture and protect her. The
responsibility for this was given to others. These who assumed the
responsibility for her welfare did not always have her best interests at
heart. After a period of time, wolves crept in among them and introduced
destruction and death.
These wolves began abusing her in many ways, using her for their own selfish
and self-centered pursuits. They groomed her to submit to their control and
domination. Of course, they would tell her that this was for her benefit.
She had to learn about being in submission to the authority of her elders.
They threatened her with many things if she would not submit...death,
dismemberment, excommunication, beatings and other such animalistic
behavior. They also held these threats over her head if she even dared speak
of these things to anyone else. By doing so, they confined her in a tomb of
silence, a state of denial. She could no longer walk in truth. She had to
deny the truth if she were to survive. Rather than a growing and healthy
'submission one to another' that was based on mutual love, there came a sick
form of submission based on the fear of threatened consequences.
Ekklesia grew up living in these deplorable conditions, constantly burying
the horrifying memories of what had been done, and was being done, to her by
those who lorded it over her. She was never allowed to speak of her past
when she was gathered with her family. The only times she was allowed to
speak was when her 'elders' addressed her. She had to remain silent in the
presence of her 'elders'. She had to 'respect her elders', you know. Her own
feelings were not worth considering. So she had to bury her feelings also.
Neither were her thoughts about the Lord Jesus worth very much. Who cared
about her opinion? She was just a child. The only opinions worth considering
were those of her 'elders' who were trained up in various different schools,
the 'right schools'. That which Jesus taught her personally was disregarded
or, at best, considered only with the greatest of skepticism. And again, the
door to her tomb of silence was sealed even tighter. She longed for the
light, but was kept in the dark.
Ekklesia is like...
An adult woman with a horrendous past of childhood abuse to whom it is now
being revealed how that abuse affects the way she lives today. No matter how
much she wishes to deny it, past abuse has current effects. Her behavior
today is still a direct result of what happened to her in her youth. And it
stands in her path of receiving the fruit of the land into which her
heavenly Father wishes to bring her.
When Ekklesia gathers with her family, the spirit of fear is still in
charge. But it is not a healthy, reverential fear of God. Instead, it is the
fear of man. The fear of those who control and dominate her with their use
of religious, spiritual-sounding threats. Threats of excommunication,
dismemberment, and deception if they do not submit to the control and
lordship of whatever person is in control of that particular group. Threats
of punishment for insubordination should she even think of crossing the
'leaders'. Accusations of apathy if she does not partake of the man-made
programs instituted by whatever gathering she is in.
If she does not submit to the men in control, she is accused of being in
rebellion against Jesus Himself. Never mind that she loves Jesus more today
than she ever has in her life. But the spirit of fear being imposed on her
by those in control is sapping her life. Early in her life she had been led
by a Spirit of love, trust, and compassion. Now her actions are motivated by
the fear of missing the Lord Jesus. Those who assume to have authority do
not believe that the love of God is sufficient to draw His people onward and
upward. So they use shame, guilt, and condemnation to drive her wherever
they wish. Although Jesus did not come to condemn the world, the clergy
class certainly makes generous use of this form of control.
Ekklesia has a great fear of revealing the deepest and darkest secrets of
her heart, for she has been made to believe that she will be rejected by the
Lord Himself if she is not sinless. Thus, when the members of Ekklesia
gather, they rarely face the darkness in their own hearts. Let's just talk
about nice things that make us feel good, or the trivial and mundane matters
of our lives. Let's leave the dark things hidden in that closet. If she does
not allow the darkness to be brought to the light, will she be restored?
If she does speak with other family members about the darkness of the past,
it is almost always outside of the family relationship and gathering. But
even there many times she is made to feel ashamed. Who wants to feel shamed
by their family? Where is their compassion? Why do her 'elders' not take
responsibility for the things they have done to shame and condemn her into
silence? Can they not see that the silence is killing her from the inside
out? Do they not care?
Ekklesia had lost the ability to be led spontaneously by the Holy Spirit.
For centuries now she has been led, not by the Spirit, but rather by
traditions and ritual, a practice that had been laid aside at her birth. But
the ravenous wolves restored ritual and tradition under the pretense that
they were needed in order to keep order. God is a God of order, you know, so
everything must be done in prescribed fashion.
Ekklesia has been made to partake of all these rituals and traditions of men
by using guilt as a hammer to drive their point home. If she does not
participate, she stands accused of not being supportive of her family. She
stands accused of being rebellious. Is this right? I don't think so.
* Will Ekklesia ever be released from her tomb of silence?
* Will she ever be given the freedom to express herself without fear of
reprisal and judgment when her family gathers together?
* Will she ever come to the place of being free from the condemnation of
men?
* Will she ever get out from under the control of men who do their best to
keep her under their thumb?
* Will she ever be free from guilt for all the things she has done in
unconscious response to the ways in which she was abused?
* Will she ever appropriate the mercy of her Father in Heaven to wash away
her shame?
* Will she ever stop seeking the approval of man and begin resting in the
approval of her loving Father?
* Will she ever be broken for all the undue glory she has heaped on man,
glory that was only due to her Father in Heaven?
* Will she ever be free from all the rote ritual that men have imposed on
her?
* Will she ever be free to love the Lord Jesus Christ as moved by the desire
of her heart instead of as a guilty response to a self-imposed duty?
* When, oh Lord God, will Ekklesia be released into the glorious freedom of
the Sons of God?
Father in Heaven, cause us to see the truth about our condition,
So that we may know the truth and be set free!
There are many who would claim that it is not important for the members of
the Body of Christ to talk to one another. Rather, that it is much more
important that the people listen to their 'great' preachers, to men who
supposedly have been specially selected to hear from God, and then to relay
what they have heard to 'their' sheep. This is not the Word of the Lord
according to Malachi 3:16-18..."Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one
another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.
"And they will be Mine," says the Lord of hosts, "on the day that I prepare
My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who
serves him." So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the
wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."
Those who fear the Lord, according to Malachi, are not the ones who run
around seeking to hear words from popular prophets like so many are doing
today. They are not ones who fill the seats of temples made with mans hands
listening to those who sit in the seat of Moses. You see, Moses was the man
who the people required to go listen to God for them. They did not want to
take the time to hear God's voice themselves for they knew that when He
spoke, He would consume more and more of their carnal nature.
Rather, Malachi tells us that we will distinguish between the righteous and
the wicked by whether or not they speak to one another. And those who feared
the Lord and esteemed His name (instead of the names of the popular
religious people) would be placed in a book of remembrance before the Lord.
Tell me please, what right has any man to forbid the members of Ekklesia
from conversing with each other when they gather together? Especially any
man who claims to be a man of God? Ekklesia must have the freedom to
converse if she is to be expected to heal from the abuse of her past. We are
greatly remiss if we continue to confine her in a tomb of silence. Tombs are
full of dead men's bones that our Lord desires to clean out. He is not like
the Pharisees who do nothing more than whitewash the outside of those tombs.
It does no good to give the appearance of a beautiful life on the outside
while the inside is still filled with death and decay. He said we must wash
the inside of the cup first if the outside is to become clean.
Will we allow Her to be made whole?
