HarvestNET.org

[Reformer]

REFORMATION RUMBLINGS
BUFF SCOTT, JR.
_________
Finding Our Way Back
[Is It Possible?]

A few days ago, I received a note from one of my readers who ministers in Portugal. He writes that in his part of the world anyone who aspires to be in full-time ministry, such as pulpiteering, is opting for laziness. He says, “They obligate their ministers to work.”

This brother touches a button that I have touched upon for decades—the special clergy. If you have been reading me closely enough through the years, you know how I feel about the system that has attached itself to the body of believers like a leech. It is a cancer that prevents other bodily organs from functioning as God intended—namely, encouraging and building each other up.

The clergy system is a counterfeit “skill” that denies others the freedom to exercise their God-given gifts. It slaps the apostle Peter in the face, for he wrote, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10). The professional clergy are guilty of rubbing the apostle Paul’s nose in the dirt. Paul wrote to the Roman believers, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them” (Rom. 12:6). He goes on to recount several gifts—prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, giving or contributing of our finances, leadership, and showing mercy.

But “No,” the pulpiteer or ecclesiastical servant retorts, “It is my responsibility to publicly teach (preach), to prophecy, to exhort, to lead, to perform service, to show mercy.” He will acknowledge of having been the primary recipient of all these gifts except the gift of contributing of his finances! That responsibility lies in the laps of pew-warmers. That is why he passes the collection plate. Without our dollars in the collection plate, he just might have to pay a visit to the nearest Employment Office. Also, if the collection plate were not passed, the upkeep of the edifice idol or “House of God” would suffer. That, too, needs to be visited every week.

Of special interest is that the early believers contributed of their income for two reasons, and two reasons only:

1) To alleviate the needs of the destitute.
2) Evangelism—supporting those in the field who labored to spread the Good News to the unregenerate.

There were no material structures to build and maintain, and no ecclesiastical pulpiteers to support. Money was collected only when a need arose. In today’s scene, a collection plate is passed around about every time we cross our legs. Believers are free to support any good cause at any time, in or out of the corporate assembly. In our giving, Rosita and I stick to one principle: One-hundred percent of our contributions are applied to needy causes that are not even related to Churchianity. And the causes we support are far more relevant than Churchianity’s materialistic and ecclesiastical budgets. I will do a little probing here:

1) How did we ever get this way?
2) Are we incapable of finding our way back?
3) Is the return path forever hidden?
4) Will we go on dividing and subdividing?
5) Will we continue adding even more idolatrous waste to our docket until the good Lord is angry enough to allow us to sink even deeply into apostasy?
6) Who will raise his voice of concern and set out to reform?
7) Who will become “a voice in the wilderness”?
8) Will it be you, or will you cling to your comfort zones while a professional cleric spoon-feeds you?

It’s your decision. May the Spirit of Him who became our Pioneer of salvation indwell you with enough courage to find your way back.