A friend of mine was crying profusely as she narrated to me a recent experience she had about a so-called self acclaimed man of God (I call them self acclaimed, because , well, one can see from their hypocrisy that they are not). Her story, coupled with some observations I myself have witnessed brought me to the following conclusion:
There are people who will seek to exploit your passion and devotion to God to build an empire for themselves in the name of God. They will lure you to think your hard Labor is a collaborative effort with them to build a kingdom for God; meanwhile they are using your sweat to build a name and empire for themselves. Once they get a little comfortable, you’re relegated to ‘servant’, where you will need to seek approval before you do anything for your Heavenly Father. If and when you raise a little concern, you’ll be seen as rebellious, and word will go around that you are planning to rebel against authority. You’ll find yourself suddenly caught in a wild net of confusion, anger, and guilt. And if you surrender by refusing to fight the wrongness of the situation you’ve found yourself in, (because, well, you don’t want to be an outsider- after all, everyone craves to belong, right?) You end up selling your soul to becoming a man-worshipper, a ‘yes Papa’ and ‘Yes Mama’ kind of Christian, and you forget the one true God you are meant to fear, serve and worship- all because you just don’t want to be the odd one out in the herd. Please note that these type of men and women do NOT exist only in Pentecostal churches; they are in all denominations: orthodox and nonorthodox. They have permeated EVERY denomination possible; so please, don’t go pointing fingers only at new generation churches.
Watch out for them. Do not let anyone make you a slave as you go about seeking how you may please your Heavenly Father. And please him you must.
One more thing: do not confuse church for church business. Do not confuse religion for church. You see, the church is God’s people, where there is no ambition or striving. The goal of the church is a constant seeking to please the one true Master- his name is Jesus. Forever and ever. The church business aka religion, on the other hand is worse than working in Coporate America. It’s full of striving and politics and strategizing, and characterized by the quest for position and power and authority. Full of all sorts of hard hearts. These are latter day Pharisees whose goal is to dominate and exercise authority over others.
In your work for God, be sure not to entangle yourself in the latter, and you will have peace and clarity of mind to seek how you may continue pleasing your Heavenly Father. Continue going to church but just be sure you delineate yourself from the fuzziness of religion.
And this is what I told my dear sister: Stop crying. See, the field is wide. The harvest, plentiful.
Cast your net!
Please your King!
Lara Daniels 