Heavenly Father, I come before your throne of grace in awe of your magnificent power. I express my gratitude for all blessings you have bestowed upon me and my family. Lord, I thank you for just loving me. I thank you for exercising patience, while I was being disobedient. Lord, I thank you for humbling me to where I saw it was your way of showing me that I needed to change, and Father I thank you for Jesus who took on what I deserve. I pray Father, that all who read your word are blessed with a divine blessing from you. I pray that you cover them in their coming and going, and bless them abundantly so that people can see the rewards given to those who honor and adhere to your word. I pray peace on them, and I pray that right now, you are setting the atmosphere for them to receive this message. I pray that all imagination that is not on you be cast down and bind up forever. I just pray that we continue to honor you with our thoughts, speech, and deeds, and if we have done anything that was not worthy of child of yours, I pray that you forgive us for it. We give you all the honor, glory, and praise. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen!
For the next few days or more I will be speaking on the many clichés that have come tiresome to hear. These clichés are of course based on scripture, but have been gratuitously used to the point where in some cases it does not even apply. Although I numbered them, there is no reason behind the sequence. I just share what comes to mind. A cliché is a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse. Believe me; some of these clichés are fitting.
When I was a Deacon at a church, I was responsible for the yearly audits. In one year there were discrepancies that could not be overlooked. How I had it set up, the audit was done at the beginning of the year, and I will present my findings in 4-6 weeks. I would layout corrective measures and do a second audit in September. When I did the second audit it was worse than the first. Further investigation showed that there were a few people involved skimming off of the general offering, including the pastor and his wife. So, assume that I am telling you the truth, looking at this situation from a secular point of view, was that ethical on their part? I pray you answered no. Now look at it from a Christian perspective, did his actions line up with how a Christian supposed to behave, even worse a spiritual leader? I pray you answered no again.
I brought it to his attention and naturally he was furious. What is it about when people get caught in negative behavior they exhibit anger towards the person who caught them? That put me and him at odds, which in essence divided the church. I stood for what is right, and in his mind, I was slandering him. When I got with the leaders of the church and told them of his actions, he considered that slander him. Even when presented with irrefutable proof, I was still slandering him. Amazing! Fast forward now, we decided that he was no longer fit to be the spiritual leader of the congregation and began proceedings to biblically have him replaced. I remember it like it was yesterday. One of the mothers of the church, a couple of Deacons, and a good few of the members at one point or another, claimed God will punish me for touching the Lord’s anointed. What these poor people did not get even when it left their lips is that the key word here is “touch.”
This overly used fear tactic can be seen in 1 Samuel. Saul was jealous of David and sought to kill him. Saul heard that David was hiding in a cave and brought an army to find him. While Saul took rest in a cave, David stealthily cut a portion of Saul’s robe off as an indication that he had right to defend his life and there was an opportunity to put this to an end, but he believed and fear God and chose not to. The bible says "Look, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD'S anointed.” (1Sam 24:10) It is also stated in 1 Chronicles when David was giving God praise for defeating his enemies, he sang a Psalm in where he says God says “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” (1 Ch 16:22) It is implied that you do not physically harm or physically cause harm to the Lord’s anointed. But you have people who love the pastor more than they love the word and will hide behind these verses to stop anyone from holding the pastors accountable to what they preach. Amen!
Family, a true and sincere pastor will strive to build up his flock and not force people into submission, since that is done by some if you bring an error in their part to their attention. True spiritual leadership with foundations rooted in biblical truth, is not afraid of honest criticism, and some even welcomes and expects it. A leader's response to valid criticism or errors performed is a test of their character. Unfortunately, some leaders today claim for themselves a special “anointing”' which they somehow see as placing them beyond approach from “ordinary” saints seeking to test things biblically. The bible says “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” (1Th 5:21) Which means if any leader is not preaching or behaving according to scripture, we have a right to make it known and need not worry about “touching the Lord’s anointed” since we are reminding them that they are the Lord’s anointed and should behave properly? If anyone is in a church where the pastor feels he can do anything contrary to scripture and should not be held responsible, it is time for you to leave and pray to God for guidance to send you to a shepherd who will teach in love and sincerity. Amen!
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