Hanging With Elvis

Brunswick News

"Oh, oh the places you'll go!"- Dr. Suess

 I've said for years that a person who takes the gospel outside of the church walls  will encounter every slice of humanity. Do it long enough and you will encounter every social strata, every income level, every race and every creed. Once upon a time our adventures in publick ministry took us to a rather interesting  subculture of America as we found ourselves at the  Elvis Festival in Brunswick GA where otherwise rational people spend their leisure time disguised as the (probably) deceased singer.  It's sort of like Halloween except everybody is wearing the same costume.
  But our policy is to go where the crowd is and so we found ourselves on a very familiar corner while four separate Elvis impersonators belted out their best renditions at various points around us.  Just past the  throbbing PA system we preached to the crowds drifting from singer to singer.  As one impersonator would finish his set,  the next set of sideburns in the rotation would take up the mantle to a surprisingly large crowd of mostly older women. Since the number of Elvii (plural of Elvis, look it up) outnumbered the  number of singing spots, there were lot of free-floating impersonators, and some of them invariably sauntered past us.  We saw young Elvis and old Elvis. We saw an Elvis who was probably over 70, hunched over with age in a white jumpsuit and huge sunglasses.  We saw a Spanish Elvis, and we saw one Elvis with a belt so big I assumed he had stolen it from Hulk Hogan. We watched Elvis pick his nose. Truly the experiences offered by the ministry are staggering in scope.
   As far as crowds go, the Elvis fest crowd were remarkably friendly towards us.  At one point we wandered towards one of the concerts and Elvis belted out mid-song "God bless ya buddy!"with a jeweled finger thrust towards  my banner.  Another Elvis (it gets so confusing, I know) broke into his rendition of 'Amazing Grace' at the sight of us.  One Elvis wished me luck and another Elvis told me to keep up the good work.
 Having said all that, they weren't particularly more receptive to the gospel than any other group we regularly preach to; they were just more polite about it.  They weren't there to hear us, they were there to either pretend to be a dead guy from Memphis or they were there to listen to other people pretend to be a dead guy from Memphis.  It was more than a little surreal to see women in walkers and oxygen tanks  swoon and blush when  young Elvis would flirt with them.  It was equally surreal (but kind of impressive) to watch pot-bellied Elvis thrust his hips to a rendition of 'Sweet Caroline' without breaking something.
  Two quick hobby horses, if you don't mind.
  Often we in publick ministry are accused of being radical and perhaps that's true, at least by comparison. A common retort among the scorners is to tell us to "get a life".  They call us silly, and they call us foolish. They tell us we are wasting our time. Then some of them go climb into a sequined jumpsuit and sing "I Did It My Way" to strangers.  It's all in how you look at it, I suppose.  But I've found that most people are obsessed with something. I'm just obsessed about something worth being obsessed about.
  A man who only preaches to people inside a designated building who  already agree with him only lives half a life, as far as I'm concerned. Real life, and real adventure is found in taking the gospel to people who don't necessarily  want it. You never know where it will take you. You just might run into the man (or men) who would be King.

My Hero, My Partner

 

This is Mr. Darnel Robinson. Darnel  was saved on March the 5th of the year 2000 while a guest at the Camden County Jail in Woodbine Georgia.  He is in his mid 60's, and blind due to  complications from diabetes, and as you can see , he is easily the handsomest guy I know.
  Time would fail me to tell you of the adventures we've had. For the last 13 years or so, it has been my privilege and my honor to labor in the ministry with this man.  Together we have knocked on every door in his town at least once. We have preached on so many corners together and under so many circumstances. We have literally talked to thousands of people about their souls.   Despite his handicaps he is faithful and as true as any man can be. Out of everyone I have ever labored with, he has the best excuses not to labor, and yet he fights on.
  Since he is blind, he has to learn his Bible by listening to it on tape or CD.  He listens all the way through the Bible 3 or 4 times a year, and has vast passages memorized. In fact, it is absolutely embarrassing how much Bible he knows compared to me, and how his mind can jump from reference to reference.  He has a voice that can be heard for blocks, that I affectionately refer to as The Big Beautiful Black Man Voice.  He preaches without notes and can expound on scriptures like nobody I have ever seen, his thick black voice rolling out seemingly effortlessly with a "Da Bible do say..." Though technically I helped train him, he has surpassed me in everything I ever taught him. Darnel Robinson is the preacher I want to be when I grow up.
  Darnel and I know each other inside and out. It turns out, as you walk from house to house together, you find out a lot about a man. We have bore our hearts one to another. He knows things about me my wife doesn't know. He has seen me at my best, and at my worst. We have both labored when neither one of us wanted to. We have preached in the hot, and preached in the cold. We have preached in the rain. We have preached to the hopeful and to the hostile.  He has always been kind, and always tolerant of my foolishness. He has never rejoiced in my flaws. He has always given me way too much credit for what we do.
  Because of his various health issues, he has to live a very regimented life. He can't just get up and go, he has to plan. He has to think about what he is eating, and  when. Spontaneity or pushing himself too far could throw him into a  coma. I know, not because he's told me, that some of our late night expeditions in the ministry take a toll on him. I suspect it takes him days to recover. Yet he fights on.
  Recently he caught a cold, and it took him out of commission for a week or so. His blindness is almost complete now. Door knocking is nearly impossible for him. He is experiencing some heart palpitations, and is getting winded easily. I know the man inside and out. I know how he moves, and how he talks and how he thinks, and I know that my partner is slowing down.   This is the way of things, the way of life. We have discussed this, and the truth is we are all dying, just at different speeds. Neither one of us is getting any younger, and I know that, eventually, one of us will leave the other behind.
  Truth be told, I don't entirely know what my ministry will look like without my partner. I labored alone for a few years and God sent me a help, and his presence has helped shape the man I have become.  It has shaped my ministry more than I may even realize. Time will eventually separate us, and however  much longer we have, I know that for me, it won't be long enough.
  I suppose at this point I should come up with a moral to this story. I should probably say something about how you ought to do all you can for God while you can, and that's certainly true. I should probably exhort you to die with your boots on, and don't believe your own excuses. That's sound advice. I should remind you that Jesus Christ deserves your all, and he certainly does.
 Instead I will leave you with this; it's one thing to say 'let's all just work and labor and burn out for Jesus!'. It's another thing to watch it happen.

True Jews

  It seems to be all the rage to be a Hebrew in Christian circles and I must confess it  boggles me.

  Whether it's the replacement theology crowd or the black Hebrew folks or the Hebrew roots movement or any of a dozen other little factions,  everybody appears to want to be a part of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  With clear  New Testament passages  referring to "a better covenant" built on "better promises" it really befuddles me why you would want to be  'Judaism 2.0' or the 'new Israel' or 'spiritual Jews'.  This goofiness continues to blow in like a Santa Anna  from the  desert, and   so again we tackle this issue from maybe a slightly different angle. I will do my best to not get bogged down , and if it seems like I am repeating myself it's because I am, having written several thousand words on this in the last few months (here,  here, here here, here, here, here, here, here and ummm... here ).
  Let's start with the basics.  1 Cor 10:32 says "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:"   There are 3 groups mentioned in that verse, and they are mentioned separately because they are not the same thing.   That's simple, right?  Romans 2:9-10 is written to one of those groups (the church at Rome), but mentions the other two groups, which still leaves us with three groups. They are treated as three different groups because they are three different groups, and only a man with either a motive or reading comprehension issues could  mix the two.
  A man is either born a physical descendant of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, or he is born the physical descendant of some other cluster of folks.  This other cluster of folks are Gentiles. The Bible has  quite a bit to say about Gentiles, and most of it is remarkably unflattering to those of us who were born under those conditions.  But the Bible is also  quite clear that when a lost Gentile  receives salvation he is "born again" of "incorruptible seed" and he moves from his natural birth, with its accompanying doom to a spiritual birth with "life and life more abundant".  He becomes "a new creature" with an "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled". The promises made to the saved Gentile are legion, and are worth their own study, but it is important to note that according to Ephesians 2 ( "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh,...") if you are saved you are technically no longer a Gentile.  The part of you that matters is brand new. You may still be black, or Chinese or Portuguese, but the part of you that is those things has an appointment with a hole in the ground. Someday it will drop away and all that will be left will be the new man, created in Christ Jesus.
  God removes you from the group you were born into (Gentile ) and places you in a new group (the church of the living God). He performs the same operation  when an Hebrew accepts Christ.  As Ephesians 2:4 says , "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us..".  God took people from two separate groups (Jew and Gentile) and united them in His Son into one group ( the church). Ethnically you may be a Jew, but if you are saved,  then spiritually you are part of the church.  Ethnically you may be a Gentile, but if you are saved then spiritually you are part of the church.
  Having said all that, who in the world then is this group in  Rev 2 and 3?  The passages in question is verses 8-10 of Rev 2; "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
  Also in Revelation 3 we see these folks referenced;"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee."

   In the passages at hand, there is nothing that says  the church is being harassed or attacked or persecuted by these false Jews, though that's a common teaching. All it says is that God is aware of their blasphemy and their lies, with a  prepared end to both. Now it very may well be that there was some confrontation there, but the passages doesn't actually say there was. So what's going on in these scriptures?
   Replacement theology postulates that there are true Jews and false Jews in the passage, with the true Jews being the church of the living God, and the false Jews being adherents of Judaism.  An interesting house of cards is built by appealing to Romans 2:28-29 , with Romans 12 either downplayed or woefully misunderstood. An embarrassingly rank handling of Galatians 6 is sometimes trotted out.   This theology is sometimes buttressed  by rabbit-trail diatribes about how either the modern-day descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob are impostors, or that they are so  wicked that God has forsaken them and cancelled all the promises he made to them. Follow the theology to its natural end and you wind up with saved Gentiles being assigned a tribe and occupying the land of Israel during the millennial reign of Christ as the only way to fulfill Old Testament promises.  To do so, the replacement advocate must ignore the specific nature and conditions of those verses, and cherry-pick their application.
 This is error, and it is error that leads to other errors. But it isn't sufficient just to say that the other guy is wrong, a reasonable explanation must be offered in its place, and so I submit to you an hypothesis which I think is not only consistent, but can actually be applied without punching a hole in the Old Testament.
 God gave to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a religious system consisting of various ordinances, holy days, sacrifices, et al ( Romans 3:2).  This system was supposed to point them, both as a nation, and as individuals to Jesus Christ (Gal 3:24, Luke 24).  Depending on  the condition of his heart (Mark 4)  a man would have found himself in one of two groups.  One group's heart was prepared for the  appearance of Christ (Luke 2:25), and one group's heart was not ( Mark 11:18).  The first group are true Jews according to Romans 2:28-29, and they are not unique to  Jesus' generation. They may not have understood it all, but they knew something was coming, and when it arrived in their lifetime, they received it. The second group  heard the gospel and rejected it, so God rejected their religion. Paul says in Galatians that he had been part of the ‘Jews religion’ but wasn’t anymore.  That explains who that crowd in Rev 2 is. They are Christ–rejecting members of the Jews religion who are still claiming to have the inside scoop on God, never realizing God left them behind as individuals when they rejected His Son. By doing so they were committing blasphemy (1 John 2).
  Carrying the hypothesis forward, examples of both groups existed all over the ancient world ,  and not everyone who was part of the first group got a chance to meet Jesus Christ in person. Some of them were still waiting for the consolation of Israel even after the resurrection. News traveled a lot slower back then.  But when a person  showed up in their town or synagogue showing from the scriptures (Acts 18:19) what Christ had done, the first group wanted to hear more , and the second group wanted them to shut up (1 Thess 2:14). A true Jew didn't stay a Jew for long; upon salvation he became part of the church. This still happens,by the way. There are  descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob today that  have the gospel explained to them and receive Christ.  These true Jews remain ethnically Jews, but become part of the church spiritually.
  Now that leads us to an interesting impasse. If a Hebrew who accepts Christ leaves the exclusive promises of the Old Testament (land, health, prosperity, etc) and  finds himself under the  promises found in Christ, who gets the land, health and prosperity?  Well I have an explanation for that....

Animal Control Comes A Callin': An Exercise in Soft Tyranny

  For those of you who don't know, we live on multiple acres  on a dirt road in a very rural area.  Our town technically doesn't exist, and  all our mail is postmarked the next town over. We have a quasi-farm populated, from time to time, with chickens, and ducks, and wild rabbits, and dogs and a pony.   The pony, as you will see, is very important.
  Even though we live out in the middle of nowhere outside the city limits of anybody, we have a recurring problem; animal control.  The entire time we have lived there, animal control has taken an unusual interest in us. For example, we had a old beagle that would wander off the property and spend her days in the 25 acres of woods directly next to us.  Sometimes she would visit a family on the  far end of the woods who would hand-feed her chicken strips and corn chips.  This beagle was picked up by animal control, and we were hit with a charge of 'failure to restrain a viscous animal' and an almost $300 dollar fine.  Due to conflicting  schedules, and an inflexible court date, we paid the fine and six months later, that 'viscous animal' had died of old age.  Meanwhile, dogs run free among our sparse neighbors and as long as they aren't killing chickens or tearing stuff up, everybody else is content to live and let live. In fact, the desire to be left alone is what most of my neighbors all have in common.
 But, as I was saying..the pony.  The pony has proven to be quite the lighting rod for animal control over the last several years. Three or four times a year they would stop by unannounced by in the middle of the day, and conduct 'wellness checks' on our animals, especially the pony.  They would usually issue us a warning  concerning some perceived discrepancy but yet they have never had enough justification to go any further. For example, a few years back we were told that our pony was 'underweight' (without a vet being consulted or a scale being used) and that we had  just a few weeks to get him back up to his proper weight or further action would be taken.  This further action would include fines, court appearances, and  the seizure of said animal.  Over the next several weeks we changed absolutely nothing in how we treated this animal, and when the officer returned , the pony was pronounced to be greatly improved.  This scenario has played itself out 3 or 4 times in the last  3 or 4 years, and the end result is always the same; a warning and then no further legal action.  From a  a paperwork standpoint, it looks like animal control is really making us toe the line, but in reality, it is harassment and hasn't changed our actions in the slightest.
  Recently we had another visit from the newest AC officer who told us that someone in the neighborhood was 'concerned ' that the pony was, once again, underweight. In fact, this officer in particular seemed to know that he was specifically 50 lbs underweight.  The officer spoke to my wife and issued a warning, then asked to  see our dog. When we told her the beagle had passed on, the officer asked to see our new dog.  The officer examined our puppy and  proclaimed him to be the very picture of health.   Of course the officer did that AFTER my wife showed  the clean bill of health he had from the vet. A warning was issued for the horse and the officer left, promising to return.
  She did return, albeit while we were not home, and left a note on our door that simply said 'call me'.  My wife and daughter get distraught every time this happens, so I called the officer back and we had  a guarded  but pleasant conversation.  I elected to offer no new information, and she told me what I was doing wrong.  She said she had measured the  pony in our absence and , sure enough, he was about 50 lbs underweight. Keep in mind to do this she had to not only access our property in our absence, but had to enter the horses'  pen, which is chained shut. I was told I was 'under investigation' for neglect and the dire consequences were repeated. I instructed this officer that it was my preference that she deal directly with me and  limit her visits to when I was home, since the actions of her office were causing family distress.  Her 'recommendations' for the pony included exorbitant amounts of veterinary care in order to avoid neglect charges. I asked the officer, quite directly, how long we could expect her repeated intrusions onto our property and she said "as long as it takes" to close out the investigation and insure the pony's health.
  You may ask how is all this possible? How can an animal control officer just stomp around our property, and climb into our horse pen while we are gone?  Well, in my state, the  AC department is given carte blanche under state law. They can appear with or without a complaint , with or without probable cause.  They can write up anything they can see, including things not related to animal control which can then be forwarded to other agencies. Unless your property is completely fenced in with a padlocked gate, they can come in.  I spoke to several horse owners who had been harassed by the agency in our county, and rumor has it that previous officers had been relieved for seizing horses who were 'underweight'. The seized horses would be adopted by the officers as 'rescue animals' and eventually resold for a profit. One horse owner in particular had to not only  gate their entire property and padlock it at all times, but had to install a privacy fence since officers were making their reports from the roadside.
  So, just a few days after that phone call, we gave the pony away.  I don't know that we really had a choice. It was either live in  dread that a country truck could drop by at any moment, or relocate the animal to a good home with other  horses.  It really was a win-win for both parties and with one less lightning rod at our little farm, maybe  they will leave us alone.  Maybe.

The Scariest Song in the World

Among the  host of insipid holiday songs that are played on an endless loop in every public square until the listener slowly goes insane is a chipper little ditty called "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", whose lyrics go something like this:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list
And checking it twice
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!

O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

 

Laying aside the soul-strangling tune that is no doubt bouncing around in your skull ( I apologize), lets just take a look at the words themselves. When we do, it becomes readily apparently that something hinky is going on at the North Pole.

  The very song itself begins with a warning as we are told "You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry". The listener is admonished to alter their behavior and alter it quickly. No matter what the  reason, no matter what the justification, a blanket clarion call against crying or pouting rings out!  The reason given is yet another grim warning ; "Santa Claus is coming to town".

  But why should the appearance of this ripe jolly old elf be of such concern for us? Why does the songwriter feel the need to  call out to us to straighten up our act?  The clue is laid in the very next verse; "He's making a list, and checking it twice." Old Chris Kringle apparently is intensely interested in the behavior of the citizens of the world to the point that he documents their behavior and  back-checks it for errors.  The next line is equally chilling ;"Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice".  The  CEO of the North Pole doesn't appear to already know  who is 'naughty or nice', and therefore has to "find out". It's more than a little disturbing that, while the  song hints at the existence of some sort of vast intelligence-gathering apparatus deployed by Old Saint Nick, we aren't given any insight as to the parameters of what makes somebody naughty or what makes somebody nice.  Much like the NSA, Santa monitors and documents, but holds the means and methods close to his vest.

  As if this affront to personal privacy wasn't enough, the next line peels the onion back another layer;  "He sees you when you're sleeping He knows when you're awake ".  Santa functions above even the  most grievous of police states. His jurisdiction is infinite, and his obsession with surveillance extends even to the sleeping hours of his hapless subjects. I mean, really, how naughty can you be while you're sound asleep , a brave soul might ask the unapproachable Claus.  It matters not.  There is no appeal from the naughty list, no oversight assigned to Father Christmas.

  Going line by line, the true nature of the song is revealed; the songwriter pleads with the listener to beware of the all-seeing, all-knowing  fat man in red. The listener is admonished to correct their behavior and to go from pouting and crying to "be good for goodness sake", which is itself an exasperated cry of hopelessness and impotence in the face of the  eye-in-the-sky onslaught from the North. It's not enough to be good for the good of society, or for personal accountability before God, but rather as the only way to avoid the naughty list and the ill-described wrath that follows.  You can't stop him. You can't reign him in. The police cannot help you. Locked doors and barred windows will not prevent his progress into your homes, into the very rooms of your children. Your best bet is just to be as good as you can and hope for the best. Keep your head down and ride it out till New Years.Perhaps this is the reason children are told to be asleep before he arrives. Perhaps, much like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park, Santa's visual acuity is based on movement and a huddled child pretending to be asleep is sufficient for the  mysterious figure to come and go in peace.

  Just in case the repeated warnings were not enough, the songwriter takes it up a notch and  shouts "O! You better watch out!" As a parting shot, the  listener is reminded to  dry up their tears and tuck their bottom lip away because the worst nightmare for an insomniac crybaby is  on his way; "Santa Claus is coming to town".

 

Baptist Catholicism

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh: And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:  To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."  ROMANS 1:1-7

 

  In verse 1 Paul claims to have been "separated" unto the gospel. Are you? Before you answer, consider this: didn't God draw you unto himself according to John 6:44 and John 12:32 ?  Weren't you told later on in Romans 8 that, having been received of God, nothing could separate you from the love of Christ?  Weren't you told in Luke 6:22 that men would separate themselves from you as you followed Christ?  If you are saved, you are separated from whatever you were before ( Ephesians 2) and joined unto Christ while also being joined to every other believer. Paul isn't presenting himself as unique here, he is  stating what is true of every born-again person.

  But it doesn't stop there.  In verse 5 Paul claims to have "received grace".  Have you?  Paul says in the same verse that he "obeyed the faith" . Have you?  If so, then according to verse 6 you are among those who are "also called". Furthermore, in Romans 8:30, the Bible says "Moreover whom he did predestinate , them he also called : and whom he called , them he also justified : and whom he justified , them he also glorified ." Taking this verse at face value, we can determine that if you are "justified" by the propitiatory death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you are also,among other things "called". The epistle isn't directed to the church leadership, but rather to the "saints".  A saved man or woman who argues against their 'calling' simply because they aren't in a position of leadership isn't heeding the scriptures. Paul , rather than highlighting what makes him different, speaks of those things that all saved people have in common.

 

  Looking at 1 Cor 3:1-9 we see an interesting attitude displayed. It says: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither  yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?  For while one saith , I  am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but  ministers by whom ye believed , even as the Lord gave to every man?  I have planted , Apollos watered ; but God gave the increase . So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that giveth the increase . Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. "

  Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. Paul was used of God to start churches and spread the gospel. Paul was used by God to wrote most of our New Testament. Despite all that, Paul , under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, refers to himself as nothing, and to his fellow laborers in the ministry as nothing. He considers himself just another laborer alongside those other saved people who are among "the called".  In this passage he strongly condemns the elevation of one minister over another as the 'red flag' of carnality and division. Equally divisive is the elevation of the minister over the people to whom he is  he is ministering .  Paul rejects any special treatment that people might want to  shower upon him or Apollos.  According to Paul we're all in this together and we are all equal.  If you are saved you are called. If you are called you are in the ministry. If you are in the ministry, you are nothing, but then again, so is everybody else.
  For the sake of balance, it is worth mentioning that Paul also said "Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour" and then in 1 Timothy 5, among other places, lists  some people to whom honor is due. That list includes "elders that rule well....especially they who labour in the word and doctrine."  But when you look at Paul's writings over all, you see that he is  always trying to push that honor off of himself and onto his fellow laborers.  Paul always wants somebody else to get the credit with  Romans 16 being a prime example.
  We can conclude from all this that if man has the opportunity to minister (to the lost or the saved) and he does so under the conditions of special clothes ( robes, funny hats, etc) or special titles ('reverend' or 'rector, etc ') or special treatment (kiss my ring, obey my every whim, etc.), he is engaging in an unbiblical activity. It is scriptural for an elder who labors for the edification of others to be honored by the people he labors with, but it is not scriptural for that man to seek out or  demand such honor.
 By way of illustration,  there is a subculture of Christianity that exists  among independent Baptists in the southeastern United States.  In this subculture  the following scenario plays itself out over and over again. A young man will get 'called to preach' and from the moment he 'surrenders' he is regarded differently. He is now a 'man of God' and subject to different rules and expectations that your average run-of-the-mill church member. He is now part of a club, and in certain circles is expected to keep company with other 'men of God'.  None of that is harmful in and of itself, though I would take issue with the  exclusivity of it. If he isn't careful this young man will find himself laboring in fried chicken and golf clubs rather than "in the word and doctrine" because his chances to minister will depend on his ability to 'network' among his 'peers'.
  This young man, if he properly networks, might someday achieve the status of  'full time' in the ministry. He may work the circuit as an evangelist or maybe some little church will accept him as their pastor. Unless he grasps that he is nothing, he will begin to  regard the people he ministers with and the people he ministers to as not being on the same par as himself. This may be reinforced by some of his 'preacher buddies' who will assure him that those not similarly 'called' simply don't understand. 
  Some men catch themselves at this point and make a course correction, seeing the trap for what it is. Others plow ahead, dictating the lives of church members with positional authority as 'the man of God'. They tell the congregation that opposition to the pastoral agenda is opposition to God, and that God often kills those who push back against  'God's anointed'. Some of these men fight tooth and nail when dismissed by a congregation saying "God put me here and only God can remove me".  They cite their longevity in the ministry as  the authority by which they make proclamations outside of scripture. They regard themselves as being above correction or censure except by other members of the club.
 Outside of the pastorate men who travel the land  singing or preaching will lament (to fellow club members) how poorly they are treated financially by the people that they are supposed to be serving. Paul's position , by contrast, was "And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved."  Rather than suffering themselves to be defrauded as they give their lives for the brethren, they consider that the people of God owe them something.
  Under this culture honor is heaped, and received gladly. At camp meetings and the like,  aged ministers are sometimes seated in throne-like chairs on  the platform, while the common rabble are encouraged to come  pray before the 'old man of God' so that they (the rabble) might  someday experience 'the power of God'  like him. The people themselves often enable this behavior and somehow get the notion that this sinner with a suit has a better grasp on God than themselves.  Instead of seeing him as a co-laborer with some oversight responsibility, or as a valuable source of practical life-won experience, they see him almost as a mediator between them and God.  Men accept this reverence to their own hurt.
   At the end of the day, all of this behavior has its root in pride, it fails to grasp a very basic truth;  we are all the same. There is, in biblical Christianity, no clergy and laity.  There is no shepherd that is above the sheep, save the Good Shepherd. There is no priest class ( or pastor, or bishop, or reverend or archbishop) that is separate and above everyone else.  There are positions of oversight in the church, and there is authority that comes with that oversight, (and wisdom with experience whether that experience is earned or borrowed) but when ministers allow themselves to be elevated they are wrong.  Not only is it prideful, and hence satanic, but it strips the body of Christ of one of the great truths of the New Testament; we are all one in Christ and any saved person regardless of position or circumstance has as much access to God as any other saved person.  Anything less is thinly veiled Catholicism, whether we call it by that name or not.

The Tyranny of My Own Expectations

  A few months back, before my attention was diverted towards more weighty matters, I wrote a post entitled The Tyranny of Other People’s Expectations.  In that post, I tried to explain how I had allowed other people’s ideas or my perceptions of other people’s ideas to color how I handled my children when they were all toddlers. I  talked about how my desire to ‘get it right’ led to actions that weren’t necessarily unscriptural, but were ‘extra-scriptural’.  Out of all the things I had written, this got the most attention locally.  We were contacted by several people of our acquaintance, who claimed to be speaking for other people of our acquaintance, and told that we were wrong, stupid, bitter, apostate, a stumbling block to the body of Christ and horrible parents.  These spokespersons claimed to represent a legion of parents in our sphere of influence that for years had lamented, amongst themselves, our lack of parenting skills. I was left with the distinct impression that people whom we believed to be our friends were in reality merely enduring us and our rambunctious children.  My wife cried for days. Some of these people blocked my wife on Facebook; the modern equivalent of a shunning I suppose, and to this day many of them still will not talk to us or acknowledge our presence when we run into them out in town.

  I say this not to shame those people, although I do think the Judgment Seat of Christ will sort out a lot of those things.  I don’t say these things so that you, my beloved readers, will have one more spot of sadness in your heart. I say this so that my next comments have some context.

  I have 4 children ranging in age from 13 to 7.  When we were younger parents, there was a fellow in Tennessee whose parenting advice was all the rage.  He has a ministry that puts a newsletter out full of advice, most of which is pretty solid.  But what bothered me back then (and bothers me now) is that the newsletters were all chock full of anecdotal stories about him, his children and his grandchildren.  The common thread that ran through all these stories was the remarkable success they were enjoying by deploying his recommended methods.  In these stories all of his children and grandchildren were happy, and instantly obedient, and potty-trained at 6 months old.  All of his progeny loved Jesus and were excited about church all the time.  The children in these stories would save up their chore money to go on mission trips and were always ready to give an answer to every man of the hope that lied within them. These stories were submitted as ‘proof’ that he knew what he was talking about, and the understood sentiment was that if we merely followed these methods, we would get the same results.

  (By the way I don’t mean to single this fellow in Tennesee out. The  mom-blogosphere, for example is deluged with articles about ’10 Ways to Have  Happy Toddler’ and ‘9 ways to Make Your Children Enjoy Church’ and on and on and on.  But we mainly read behind this fellow from the Volunteer State.)

  Now let me tell you this, and you can believe it or not; we did all that.  I can honestly say that, as much as was in me, we were consistent and firm. We didn’t allow whining or backtalk. We used discipline. We held family devotions, we were all involved in ministry. We prayed for our kids and we prayed with our kids. We have always been a very Bible-centered house, with scripture underpinning every aspect of our lives.  As our children were able to understand we reasoned with them and showed them how the things written in that book applied to everyday life.   

  Now let me tell you how that turned out.  My children turned out to be human beings after all. They are moral kids, and better behaved than most but at the end of the day dear friends, flesh is flesh. Saved flesh is still flesh.  Well-trained flesh is still flesh, and tired flesh wants to whine, even if you don’t allow it, and covetous flesh wants to throw a fit even if you forbid it.  . Flesh doesn’t want to read the Bible, flesh doesn’t want to submit to authority.

  I think in our rush to produce ‘good kids’ we forget that the same struggles we have with our flesh our kids will have with theirs. Our job isn’t to crank out kids who always sit motionless in church, eyes fastened on the pastor. Our job is to train up human beings how to serve God in direct conflict with their own flesh.  Then, having equipped them for that battle, we have to be willing to let them fight that battle without assuming that the mere existence of a battle means we’ve failed.

  My oldest son does not like to read his Bible. My middle son gets mad at inappropriate times. My daughter can be selfish and whines when she’s tired. My youngest son is overly compulsive. All my kids are lazy sometimes.  That doesn’t mean that we are bad parents; it means we gave birth to human beings.  We didn’t fail; we aren’t even done yet.

  So as your brother in Christ let me encourage you to continue to fight the good fight, but not lose sight of what the fight actually is, and don’t let your own expectations ruin it all.