Erroneous Teaching and Leadership in the Church
Incorrect teaching and leadership is generally an issue when the “pressure gauge” goes past an acceptable index. A lot can go under that limit.Everyone will have their own quirks and enthusiastic views and decisions, including, as we all do, limited spiritual development and knowledge. And, we all make mistakes. The issue is whether a definable and repeated condition in the Church becomes distinctly off track, harming others, or moving others into the flesh, such as the things Paul & Peter mention, like anger, slander, gossip, etc.
We may keep in mind the characteristics of Christ, if He would behave in a questionable way that we are encountering, and the quality of life as shown in scriptures as we see for example in Ephesians 3.
As we grow in the Lord over time, we may find a spiritual family that is not limited to one Church. We will share spiritual unity together, and know what is good and right, or what is a danger signal. Anything that is bluntly of great concern will have exact components that we see, a number, and they will not be made up.
A problem we face is that we remember the good things a person does, how we feel good from things of the past, but we do not know all that people are, such as their past, or agendas they have been building up over time that are not in the Lord’s blessing.
We can love people quite dearly, but we have to be responsible enough to see what is going on without bad reactions when things go seriously wrong. Until such times, we have no desire to suss out who people are!
We can tolerate many things in patience and good will, so there is a genuine concern that we do not over react to what we would prefer or even do not like.
If a Church has a distinct and definable problem, the elders should be consulted if we are a Church member. This is not always the case though, as guidance and direction here will vary. If the elders are not able to function and see the obvious, we have little we can do. If a leader does not see us individually as really worth listening to and is not open to change, which is likely in these situations (otherwise why would they have landed up in the serious state they are in) we have further blockages to causing change. We need to be calm, peaceful, and humble, but we may of course go through upset which is very real.
Because we love various people or have invested significant time with them, it deepens the response of sorrow. This sorrow needs prayer and considerable determination to work through with Jesus, as such sorrow should not exceed our limits, or a certain reasonable time frame. This is my distinct view.
It is also high risk to discuss such issues with any member or attendee of the Church involved. It can be dangerous to do so. If You know in the Lord there is a trusted and safe member, still be careful. If they are spiritual, they should be seeing the same things going on. Even if they are, our path and direction will not be identical to theirs, so pressure to do this or that from such dear friends must not be enforced or under obligation from their pressure. One must understand that if we place trust in another person, if that trust is broken, we will be targeted. Most people have not learnt about confidentiality – MOST!
As we go through tense and dramatic changes, there will be confirmations during the processes that occur. Not one thing. Not one issue. There will be multiple aspects confirmed. The re-occurring issue we have is where the person in error can be really “nice” in so many ways, so it is hard to believe there is an issue. This is normal to question and experience. It is not a sign of being wrong. But, they may also see a contrast that is not reconciled between their thoughts and their spirit. If we are inwardly injured, we may not fully understand what is going on, but that injury cannot be downplayed. It may be the very thing that should have primary focus. There is enough teaching going around about Satan accusing and attacking, but make no mistake, if the person is in error, and your experiences are real, if your understandings come to be reasonable and to be acted upon, this is not the devil deceiving you as proof you are meant to submit to what is wrong. Some will not realise the enormity of what is going on around them. A time may come where they do, or the Lord moves them out of a place that is damaging. Think of how many people lend themselves over to cults, to Churches that control and remove freedom in Christ, such as not allowing music, having people police the church services and so on.
Naturally we pray, but we may see things in our own spirit with the Lord’s guidance that supports and shows us more than we realised. If this is confirmed by others, and is not in our imagination, then it is plausible to respect what the Lord is showing to us as real so we do not take blame on board to ourselves, as if we are doing wrong in identifying wrong. We should be active, engaging our minds, memories, insights etc. conjointly with the Lord, testing things, seeing things, but great care is needed not to invent things. As a young Christian it is way too easy to invent, to put together things that do not hold under testing. Our minds must change in our carrying of the Cross over time. These situations can take a fairly long time to unfold. Just because someone has odd behaviour does not mean we immediately jump up and down.
A young Christian can still however know if something is dangerous and therefore refuse participation in. This is the inbuilt discernment Jesus gives us. For example, if a group has planned (and you did not know this plan) to form a hierarchy, saying the Holy Spirit will only come to the group by observing certain rules, (no one can coax the Lord by the way) that they are given the words of the Holy Spirit and not you, that you therefore must yield and submit to them, a grave error is in place that your Spirit will not comply with unless you choose to break your spirit by entering into sin. This is terribly distressing as one will consequently be shunned and then excommunicated. These things can have a toll, a cost, but we thereby learn more of the Cross, which by the way, those who live by error will not. They may only wonder why things are not working out in the long-term, why people have left them, why their plans did not actually work. Even so, it is likely such people will still hold onto various errors that they built their house upon.
Others who come under various deceptions may certainly not be your responsibility unless strongly advised so by the Lord. They have to seek the Lord’s protection and development for their own lives. If they are young of mind, impressionable, they will take on the views told to them even if completely wrong. Why does this happen? Trust, innocence? Us wanting what we think is love compared to what we had? Assumptions about a ministry? Having been rescued from a life that was worse? If our hearts are genuine before the Lord, he will know what time-frame and places we will be moved into. Those who are already caught up in error may have had such things passed down to them from a previous generation, or a critical turning point from an event in the past where rebellion or hatred was engaged and never dealt with. There are reasons.
When we are with a true saintly person, there is relief, peace, non-contention, no attributes of the person that unfolds harm.
For example, if a person promotes an idea that sounds logical, but an unconscious signal goes to the soul and spirit that it is wrong, one should learn to trust this has happened. If someone says they can say anything they like and you can also, how is that the love of Christ as shown in Ephesians. We cannot say anything we like. We have accountability.
For example, if a person truly loves Jesus, and prays for the peace of Jerusalem, as is scriptural, and a leader promotes discord and erroneous teaching that Israel is the “bad guy”, this causes inner harm to what we believe and love. Those who are not growing in the Lord will only latch onto such things and express subtle if not obvious hatred. Those who are younger and impressionable can easily be taken in and develop a bad spirit by learning to agree instead of challenging. We have to have the “right” people around us because it is a fact that we take on the “colours” of those around us.
If harm becomes intolerable, it usually takes place over a period of time. This harm is not something that just occurs out of nowhere. It can go back decades according to how a person has made choices that the Lord did not like. At some point in time, we see repeated instances of significant issues that impacted us, even though we were once tolerant. When someone is ready to reap the harvest, when the grapes are ripe, a person will escalate their actions and the implications of their errors. This is when we may see the “pressure gauge” goes past the red coloured danger index. If others are not insightful, they may not be of help to us, only worsening our sorrow or stress.
As one example, if a minister is also a Freemason, is it any wonder the Lord expressly tells your spirit not to have anything to do with them. This means the years tick away while you never see what goes on in their life, but at the end of the day, they will bear fruit not born of the Holy Spirit. They will be given opportunities expressly by Jesus to change their life. When we have such separation from people, we know their business is now between them and the Lord.
Sometimes we get to see a little about what people are doing, enough to know about, while we have the Lord’s hand moving us on. We are not disingenuous, hypocritical, or betrayers in the genuine care we have shown towards others. Our response to the Lord should not be in question unless we have been very unwise, working by the flesh instead of the Spirit. Jesus loved those who put him on the Cross, but he did not allow shame to enter himself, or to think otherwise about what was really happening and that evil is evil, wickedness is wickedness. Think about it. What kind of love is this? It is not the false love so many teach who say love, love, love each other, this is all we need. That kind of love is not inspired by the Lord, and would not hold up upon a cross.
