|
There has been an epidemic of
spiritual abuse taking place over recent years. Actually, this problem is
centuries old, it’s just that now fewer people are tolerating it. The term
“spiritual abuse” is referring to the fact that many Christian leaders have used
their positions of authority to manipulate, control, and take advantage of other
Christians. The numbers of Christians that have fallen victim to spiritual
abuse are staggering. Many Christians have tried to tackle this problem, but
the solutions that are offered aren’t really solutions at all. And that is
simply because the solutions don’t go to the root of the problem. But the
simple fact is, many addressing the problem don’t want to go to the root because
in going to the root our Christian religious systems and hierarchies are exposed
for what they are. So what’s the root of the problem that is allowing spiritual
abuse to take place? Simple: You can’t stick the ark on an oxcart and think
there won’t be causalities!
So what do I mean by
“sticking the ark on the oxcart?” Well, in the Old Testament before David was
king of Israel the ark of the covenant, the sacred chest in which the ten
commandments were kept, was taken from Israel through the disobedience of some
of the priests. This ark was a representation of God’s presence among His
people. It was holy so there were strict rules regarding the ark. One of those
rules was regarding how the ark was to be transported. Nobody was allowed to
touch the ark. God was clear that He only wanted the ark to be carried by the
priests. The ark was to rest on two polls that would be carried on the
shoulders of four priests.
The Philistines who captured
the ark found themselves tormented while they had it. So they decided they
needed to be rid of it. They built a new cart and had two cows pull it back to
Israel. The Israelites took the ark to Kirjath Jearim where it remained for
many years.
When David was king of Israel
it entered his heart to have the ark brought back to Jerusalem. He gathered
thirty thousand men and went to bring up the ark. It says in 2 Samuel 6:3 they
set the ark on a new cart in order to transport it. They had worshipers walking
ahead of the ark playing instruments and worshiping the Lord. But as the ark
was on its way the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and the ark started to slide
off. One of the men next to the ark, Uzzah, reached out to steady it. But the
moment he touched the ark, the Lord in His anger immediately struck him dead.
David became angry because of the Lord striking Uzzah.
So how does this apply to the
issue of spiritual abuse? Well, through Jesus death and resurrection He made
all who follow Him priests. He made us His temple and His presence abides
within us. So basically, the priests carrying the ark was a type and shadow of
what was to come and now is. And that is that we, all who follow Christ, are
His priests and are carrying His presence within us.
But what Christians have done
is we have taken our individual callings to be priests unto God and carry His
presence within us and have placed His presence within a system of man's design
built out of man's own imagination and what seemed to be a good idea. We have
handed over our individual callings as priests unto the Lord to a select few
people. Again, this was not God’s design, but man’s own idea.
Then we wonder why people
keep getting hurt. Our solution is usually to go find or build a better oxcart,
one that is less likely to hit bumps in the road. But the problem IS the oxcart!
For spiritual abuse to cease we must abandon the oxcart all together and return
to our individual priestly callings to carry His presence within us.
I want to point something out
that I thought was quite profound as I was looking up the scriptures to write
this article. Where did the Israelites even come up with the idea of placing
the ark on a cart? They had the instructions on how the ark was to be
transported written down clearly before them in the Law. Well, in 1Samuel 6:7 it
says that the Philistines built a “new cart” to place the ark on to send it back
to Israel. Then it says in 2 Samuel 6:3 that the Israelites “set the ark of God
on a new cart.” So where did the idea to transport the ark by way of a new cart
rather than it being carried by the priests even come from? I venture to say
that the idea came straight from the Philistines, the enemies of Israel! They
were copying the method used by the Philistines to send the ark back to Israel
to transport the ark themselves. And why not? It worked for the ungodly
Philistines, why shouldn’t it work for them, right? Wrong! And they were dead
wrong, literally!
Well, we Christians have done
a dangerous thing. We have looked at the ideas and worldly wisdom around us and
taken those ideas and methods and applied them to our dealings with God’s
people. We took the management and leadership models of the world and created
systems of church government, that although we use Christian terms, they are
very much in direct opposition to the words of Christ in Matthew 23 not to wear
titles or lord over people. We have stripped believers of their individual
callings as priests and handed that design over to a few people. We have
organized into structures and religious organizations built on man’s ideas.
We’ve looked enviously at what has worked for fortune 500 companies and said to
ourselves, “Hey, if it works for them, why not us?” Then when one method,
system, or program doesn’t work we set out to build a new and better cart.
Yes, many modern day
Christians have become expert cart builders. But what about the priestly
calling of the believers? Then as these expert cart builders slave away for
their cart, pulling it down the road, inevitably at some point they stumble, and
as the presence of God begins to slide away from that system of man’s design
somebody who was a supporter of that system reaches out to study it only to find
themselves struck and wounded.
I’ve heard story after story
about Christians who were beat up for doing the right thing. One man set out to
restore financial integrity to the organization he was a part of only to find
himself labeled a “trouble maker” and cast out of the group. Another person
decided to start listening to God rather than man. The problem was what God was
saying wasn’t the same thing the pastor was. That person was soon not welcomed
among them anymore. Another person was excited about something the Lord was
teaching him. He was so excited that he shared it. Well, little did he realize
what God showed him ran contrary to the agenda of the group. He found Himself
viewed as a hostile. A mother was asked to baby sit the children in the
nursery. She prayed about it and heard God tell her not to do it. She told
them “no” when all the other mothers always said “yes.” She was immediately
viewed as being a callous rebel and had references made about her in the
pastor’s sermon. These are all true examples of people who were supporting the
ox cart and noticed the ark slipping. They did what they thought was right only
to find themselves struck for doing so. Then like David, we Christians become
angry at God.
I’m sure in David’s mind He
was thinking, “God, can’t you see! We’re doing this for you! We were bringing
the ark up to honor you! Don’t you see the worshipers? Can’t you hear the
lovely music? We’re doing this because we love you! Why did you do this to us
when all we wanted to do was honor you?” That sure sounds familiar to me. How
many believers have we heard share how their heart was only set on the Lord and
they found themselves criticized, manipulated, controlled and used by others in
that system. I know that was true in my own life. I found myself crying out
like David, “Why me Lord?! Didn’t you see my heart was set on you?! Why did
you let this happen then!”
Well, there’s a hard lesson
here. It doesn’t matter how honorable our intentions are for using the cart.
The simple fact remains, the ark was never supposed to be on the cart to begin
with! Do we think that Uzzah was evil for trying to keep the ark from sliding
off the cart? Of course not! Actually the reason he reached out to steady it
was because he respected it and didn’t want it to slide off. But there was a
bigger problem here than the one taking place at the moment. The problem was
not that the ark was sliding off. The problem is not the abuse of the money in
the organization, the manipulation of the people, or the poor treatment we
received. The problem is that the ark was never supposed to be on the cart in
the first place. The presence of God was never supposed to be stuck in a system
of man’s design or carried by a select few.
I had to come to grips in my
own life regarding my own wounding that I had no one else to blame but myself.
I embraced a system that was not of God’s design. I placed God’s presence that
I was supposed to be carrying as a priest unto Him upon an oxcart. And I was
wounded as I stepped out to steady it. My wounds, although inflicted upon me by
others, actually pointed to a greater reality. I was wounded because I placed
God’s presence in a place that it didn’t belong. His presence is to be carried
by me in my life as a priest unto Him. Not by an organization of man’s design.
I gave up my calling and the proper way I am supposed to relate to Him through
relationship and looked to others to be His voice in my life. It was a hard
lesson to learn, but an important an one.
Religious systems practically
beg for spiritual abuse to take place. They are established in ideologies that
run contrary to the teachings of Christ. Jesus taught us to follow His voice.
Religion says follow the voice of the man who is in charge of the organization.
Jesus said to call no man father, teacher or rabbi. Religion is built around the
exaltation of man through titles, ranks and positions. Jesus said the rulers of
the gentiles exercise lordship over them, but not so among you, the least will
be the greatest and he who governs does so by being the slave of all. Our
current religious system places leaders over the body of Christ as lords to whom
we owe our allegiance or CEOs to whom we report for duty. We are trained in this
setting to listen to the voice of the man in charge and follow his vision rather
than to listen to the voice of the Shepherd and follow Him. We are taught that
following man equals following Christ.
But this goes against
everything Jesus taught. He said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He
said that He is the only way to the Father. We don't get saved by Jesus then go
looking for a man to be our king. Jesus is our king at birth and forever. The
religious system teaches us to place a man between us and God, but the Bible is
clear that there is only ONE mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ. The
whole reason Jesus came was to have a relationship with us and to pave the way
for us to have a loving relationship with the Father. A man cannot bridge that
gap for us. Only Jesus can and did. The system teaches us to walk in the fear of
man, to seek to please our leaders and to gain their favor. The Bible is clear
that the fear of man brings a snare. Jesus taught that He paid it all so that we
already have God's favor and He is no longer keeping score.
We will find ourselves abuse
proof when we learn to cling to Jesus as individuals and listen to His words and
hold onto them with all of our might and take the council of man "with a grain
of salt." For man is tainted, Jesus is pure. The bible says that Jesus trusted
Himself to no man, because He knew what was in man. Do we think Jesus would live
this way then order us to trust our very lives to men?
Spiritual abuse is running
rampant because the modern day religious system is a breeding ground for it. To
stop abuse we must take the ark off the cart and resume our individual priestly
callings. We must walk away from the system that breeds it and return to the
simplicity of Christ by living in relationship with Him.
Other
Articles by Loren Rosser |
