EXTRA CHAPTER

DESTROYING THE TRADITIONS OF MEN

1 Corinthians 12:23

23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

The Lord compares the Church to the human body. The part of our natural body that is lacking we tend to pay it more attention. For example, if we do not like our hair we spend a lot of money compensating. If our skin is not favorable to us, then we spend money on cosmetics, facials and even plastic surgery trying to fix it to look beautiful. The traditional mindset of the Church as it relates to the Body of Christ is different than that of God. Tradition has selected who it thinks should be what. Tradition’s way of thinking and selecting is not God's way. Those less common parts God will exalt right before you to reveal how you think. Bible TeachersT would like to think they are not traditional. When we are all together in a big group we do not appear traditional. It is when we have to deal with one another in situations and circumstances that tradition shows up. We believe ourselves to be liberated and in no way bound. Tradition is a mindset and a way of thinking not in line with God’s way. It is a way of doing things that opposes God’s way and always stands in the way of purpose both for our lives and the lives of others. The enemy would like us to by-pass this lesson and not to see where we are, but to look across the street and see where others are. For instance we can look in other churches where some ministers have a problem with women pastors. But there are some here in Bible Teachers who have a problem with women pastors. This shows up when you have to deal personally with them. Tradition never loses its initial purpose, which is to exalt self.

I have seen a lot of male egos kick in when they have to deal with a female in authority. You may think, “Well, I do not have a problem with a woman leader, if I did I wouldn’t remain.” You do not have a problem with anything until it opposes what you want. This is where the traditional way of thinking shows up. Here is the problem. Tradition breeds competition and BibleTeachers has never had competitiveness in our leadership staff. If there is one of us who appears to be less “comely" than the others, then all of us should bestow more honor on that one and build them up, because they are already intimidated by what is around them and where God has brought them. If we do not think like this, then we are just as traditional as others. There are some less honorable parts among us and I want to see us reach out to those who are considered less honorable. We need to make them aware that God does indeed want to use them too. We have to learn how to start reaching out to one another.

Tradition also breeds iniquity. If we cannot do these things God intends, then we think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We think we have more honor and consider ourselves able to do a better job than others. You still need to ask yourself why God did not choose you for the job. Many have academic and secular skills, but not the spirituality to carry them out in the church. We compare ourselves with ourselves and this is not God’s way. Spirituality is character, a lifestyle, a way of life and something that must be embraced. We must stop looking at people after the flesh. When God calls for the gift it is going to come forth, because it is the gift God needs for His Body and the character, to operate the gift. When someone has the gift and the character they are valuable to God. You can have a gift but no character and blend in, but God is focusing the camera now. People cannot see where you really are when you are with everybody else, but God is putting us in isolated situations that will reveal where we really are. He is doing this to us in our homes and in the church to reveal our mindsets. We need to see what God is trying to show us about ourselves. It is time for us to examine ourselves because some are seeking honor prematurely. God does not want nor will he have half-done cakes trying to minister the Word. Some just need to sit down and learn and not be frustrated. It is very discouraging and hard when one does not know what one does not know, because they never really heard the real thing.

The deception in BibleTeachers is that people believe they can come in and hear one message like the Faith Message, for example and that’s it. However it was not only the Faith Message that changed our lifestyle, it was all that came with the Faith Message. A traditional mindset is one who comes in and learns, becomes puffed up in knowledge and now believes they have a message to preach. We cannot afford to be deceived. We can sit in BibleTeachers year after year and still remain in this mindset. We need to examine ourselves and see if we are still in the faith. How can someone sit in BibleTeachers for ten or fifteen years and still not have any of the godly characteristics the ministry advocates? Because just like tradition they had their own agenda. When your agenda does not become God’s agenda, you are only gaining head knowledge. God’s agenda requires you to give up all of your agenda. If you have not done this and something comes up and it appears as if you can accomplish your agenda, then that is what you go after immediately. We have to embrace the truth about ourselves. Our mind must suffer truth. We must stop looking at everyone else, search ourselves and see if we are in the faith. We must examine how God is leading us. If we are being led by God, does He change His mind every other week? We must remain steadfast in the Word God is bringing forth. To be steadfast means whatever God says this is what we stand in. If God speaks to us he does not change his mind just because the circumstances of our life changes.

We need to examine when we always say, “God said.” This is a traditional mindset God wants to get rid of. The reason it changes is because our circumstances and situations change and then we bring God inside our little boxes and what we are really doing is bringing him inside our wantonness. What actually happened was we sat down and figured out a way therefore, we say God said it. This is a traditional way of thinking. When what we say, “God said,” does not line up with scripture, then God did not say it! We are lying when we say, “God said,” and He did not say it. We are talking out of our own emotions, desires and wantonness. We think God will sanction something if we say, “He said,” but he does not operate like that nor will he ever.

When God is trying to correct us, it is dangerous to regress. For example, God may allow an explosive situation to reveal exactly where we are and it is dangerous if we do one of two things. Let us say one of your weaknesses is cunning craftiness. If God reveals to everyone your mindset, cunning craftiness will not allow you to move into honesty. Not moving into honesty does not mean that you may not confess that you are wrong. You may admit that you are wrong in that situation but still not desire to change. You can confess you are wrong but still in your heart you are not ready to change. Some may even confess they are wrong because it is expedient to do so. Confessing your wrong does not make you weak, it makes you respectable. You may confess your wrong as it relates to the deed, but don’t confess the fact that your mindset is wrong. Pride will not let you come to this conclusion. If you are not ready to change your mindset, you will operate in this again and again. Sometimes people will confess their wrong and then back-up. You have to come out of the picture so everyone will forget about your negative display. People are very wise at this because it is a deliberate move and meant for those in authority to see. It is supposed to gender a couple of things. It is supposed to make people in authority think that you feel rejected so they can come and reach back for you and pull you back in. The second purpose of it is to make people in authority think you are seeking the Lord now. This would work in a ministry that did not have spiritual eyes because on the outside it looks real. It is nothing but a very crafty move. In some people it is real but others do it deliberately.

The second response we leaders may get when other mindsets are on display is iniquity. If you are in any form of leadership in BibleTeachers you have to walk in controlled iniquity. It cannot be blatant. You will make your body do all the necessary things. Iniquity is something you cannot hide because it causes your countenance to change. People think themselves to be hidden because they do not change their actions. People can see when you do something from your heart or if it is just done because it is your duty, or to cover where you really are. Tradition deceives us into thinking that we can get away with what we are doing. It blinds you. It lets you think you can operate your agenda and remain in iniquity with all the knowledge you have. But, God has some people he has trained to perfect you. That is why we are called perfectors, and we can’t perfect you unless you know where you are. We do not want to receive some of these corrections because we feel it robs us of honor. When God sets us up to change . . . change! If we are not careful we can deceive ourselves into thinking that we are something we are not. We will believe our own lies that we tell ourselves and become blind to our own spiritual location until we will not believe anything anyone tells us about ourselves. Our agendas and what we want will blind us to the truth about ourselves.

Some of us are stuck in old offenses and when these offenses are not dealt with righteously, we cannot move. There is iniquity in our hearts and these offenses may have been a disappointment in some thing or things that we wanted. Has anyone ever offended you and in the offense they cheated you out of something you wanted? You may forgive the person but remember we still do not have what we wanted. Therefore, the offense still remains and we cannot entreat these people or anyone associated with them righteously. God will allow us to see these people moving on and major events may start to take place in their lives. We may even begin to resent what God is doing in their lives. If so, this is plain jealousy. Not only do we resent the person or persons, but we will resent anyone associated with them, because it is a reflection of what we never received. This is disappointing, and many people are stuck and cannot go on because it is the disappointment that caused the offense. After the offense we can only deal righteously with this person if there is a potential of us receiving what we originally wanted. It is time to get delivered and move on. You cannot change the situation, you are not in a position to change it and it is not going to change because of you. It is time to let the disappointment go. You need to let the secret hope go. God is judging our hearts and if we do not let the disappointment go, we’ll carry in our heart the offense and iniquity.

The devil is not going to consistently attack us with something he knows will not get us to sin. If he keeps attacking with the same thing, it is because he knows he has something in us or he is confident that he can create something in us to get us to become unrighteous. If the enemy keeps tempting you with a particular sin he knows where you are weak. Even the perfectors in your life have ministered to you, counseled you, told you what to do and what not to do and you still did just the opposite of everything they told you to do, why? Because you want to hold the person in captivity for yourself. For example, a woman may have a problem with being attracted to married men. You are a married man and she comes to you for counsel. One of your leaders ministers to you that it is not wise for you to counsel this young lady alone or to give her your phone number. Your leader encourages you to do all the counsel with this young lady in the church and with another counselor. You do not listen and the situation becomes somewhat hard to handle. Your leader comes back to you and tells you to stop counseling this young lady and allow one of the other ministers to take over. Once again, you do not listen. Why? If the main focus of your relationship with this young lady is strictly ministry why won’t you listen to your leader? If you are truly interested in this young lady being delivered, why won’t you allow someone else to counsel her? You want to hold her in her captivity for yourself. You do not want to admit it, but this is what is happening. She created lust in you and you do not now want to let it go. The situation may have started out innocently enough and truly was ministry, but somewhere down the line because of her weakness the conversation changed. At some point all the counsel and the talking switched from spiritual to natural. This does not mean that the conversations were evil, but she changed the spiritual to the natural so she can learn more about her “prey.” In learning more about you, she was able to discern your strengths and weaknesses. You started out as the prey, but the fact you will not stop the counsel because of the lust in you, you become the predator. This is ministerial flirtation. In other words, it is ministers flirting with sin in saints they need to be delivering. Any time you hear the truth and you refuse to move, there is a willing captivity. You want to be right where you are and do not want to be delivered.