Well, in the early days of the modern era of the Church back in the 1950s and 1960s, there was a great deal of zeal for preaching the gospel and following God. And the Brethren looked up to the ministry, and, in some cases, almost worshipped the ministry. [They] looked up to them as leaders and teachers and examples for the flock, because we came in. We didn't know anything, didn't know anything about the Bible and came in and saw these examples, and, in some cases almost worshipped the ministers of that day.
But, as is common, the pendulum sometimes can swing too far and things can be taken to an extreme.
And the ministry back then, certainly in the 50s and 60s and going on, was put on a pedestal. In part, [the ministry] was put on a pedestal by the Brethren because it is human nature to want to look to men and follow examples of men. And so, many of us elevated the ministry in our mind and individuals in our mind to a level that was in some cases beyond extreme! And then the leaders themselves perpetuated this because for example referring to Ambassador College as "The West Point of the Work" or the students at Ambassador College were told, "You are the elite of the Church." And in many cases back in those days a young man would graduate from Ambassador College in his early twenties and go out into the field and sometimes be made an evangelist right out of the shoot or a pastor of churches right out of the shoot when he was still wet behind the ears and twenty-two, twenty-three years old.
And I can remember moving to Boston in 1971. And this was in June and a class had just graduated from Ambassador and they sent a new hire-ee out who had been ordained a local elder. He had arrived a week or two before I did. There were three or four people there and we were introducing ourselves. I introduced myself to him.
And another individual came up and said to him, "What do you think about…" It was a certain Scripture. And this woman said, "Well, so and so," referring to another member of the congregation, "said it means this. What do you think?" And this young A. C. grad, newly minted minister said, "Why are you asking the Brethren? They're just dumb sheep?"
Now here is a twenty-three, twenty-two-year-old kid saying that. But you see that was what was instilled in them in their training at Ambassador College. And, of course, all of what I've just mentioned so far elevated the ministry to a very high level, where you had the ministry here and then, everybody else down here.
At that time, as well, frankly, as today, the ministry or the leader of a certain group is viewed by some as infallible. Back in the Worldwide days, whatever Mr. Armstrong said in many ways was viewed as coming directly from God in all places and in all times. [This was] very much similar to the way the Catholics view the Pope when he speaks ex cathedra; meaning from "Peter's Chair", he is infallible. He cannot make a mistake. And many people viewed Mr. Armstrong as being infallible in that regard. It wasn't stated overtly, but the feeling was there.
I remember coming into the Church in Michigan, the District Superintendent was a very charismatic man and a fine minister, by the way. But the people in that area just viewed him as really having one foot in the Kingdom of God. And it was almost a worshipful attitude.
My first pastor said one day in a sermon—this was in my first year in the Church—he said… He was making a statement and then he stopped mid-statement and he says, "No, I'm going to amend that. I'm saying, 'By the authority of Jesus Christ,' " and then went on to make the statement. And, boy, your ears perk up. He was implying that the words he was saying came directly from Jesus Christ.
And a few years later, you know after you've had a few years under your belt, I remembered the statement. And I looked back on it and it wasn't coming from Jesus Christ. In fact, it was a very unbalanced statement. It was regarding how to keep the Sabbath. But in his mind, he was telling us from the very words of Jesus Christ. The idea that a minister could make a mistake was viewed by many in the church as next to impossible because they were, after all, God's ministers and God would not allow that to happen.
And, as a result of all of this elevation of the ministry, there have been three things that were rarely heard from a minister. I'm talking traditionally going back to the 40s, 50s, and 60s up to really to the present day in many cases. There were three things that were rarely heard from a minister.
And I realize that there are some exceptions and I realize that I'm talking in generalities. But what we're going to say is "Generally the case."
So, in the sermon today, we want to talk about three things. The first thing is we want to discuss the three things traditionally that ministers have not said. Secondly, we want to analyze "Why have they not said them?" And then, the third we want to look at Five Lessons that all of us, ministers and members alike, all of us can learn from this situation. And there are important lessons that all of us need to learn today.
So, the first thing we want to do is:
I. Look at the three things ministers have traditionally not said.
The first thing that ministers have not said is:
1. I don't know.
That rarely has happened. And, historically, the ministry had an answer for everything. When I came into the Church, you were just starting to study the Bible. And so, you went to the minister with all your Bible questions and he was trained and had an answer for just about every Bible question. I never went to a minister who didn't have an answer to a specific Bible question. And the ministry had answers on how to have a better marriage, how to raise your children. The ministry gave financial advice. The ministry gave health advice (vitamins, minerals, what to eat, what not to eat, health foods), where to live in many cases, and in some cases even what car to buy.
And the Brethren, all of us, assumed that all of the ministers in the ministry were true ministers. Of course, we've found out since that that was not necessarily the case. Then, all the Brethren assumed that all ministerial advice was inspired by God. And we have all found out that that is not necessarily the case.
The problem is that in this environment of aggrandizement of the ministry, it is easy then for the ministry to get outside their level of training and experience. And, rather than saying, "I don't know," advice was still given. This was a fact because saying, "I don't know" can be a sign of inferiority. Or saying, "I don't know" in some people's view can be a sign of weakness. And there was a reluctance on the ministry to do that, to say those things, that "I don't know." So, as a result, many times the ministry got into areas beyond their knowledge and beyond their capacity and beyond their capability.
For example, counseling Brethren on certain kinds of mental illnesses. Counseling was given where the minister was just out of his depth. I'll give you one example. I know of a man. This was back in the 1960s. And he was told he had a demon. The reality was he was having just simple anxiety attacks. He was under a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. And there were times where his heart rate would go way up and his breathing would become very quick. And he would pass out. And he went to counsel about it and the minister told him he had a demon. And he did not have a demon. He was suffering, as many people in God's Church have suffered over the years, from anxiety attacks.
And it negatively affected him for years after that because he always wondered. And he felt like, "Well, this is a minister from God who told me this. This must be true." And then he began to question his conversion and his relationship with God. And it just negatively affected him for years and years and years.
But the fact is it's not a sign of weakness to admit that "We don't know." It's not a sign of weakness at all. In fact, we could say "I don't know, but I'll find out. I'll go where I can find something out." Or "I don't know, but I'm going to direct you to a certain individual or direct you to an expert that can help you with your problem. And so, personally, I personally, have greater respect, much greater respect for someone who can admit that they don't know everything; that they don't know the answer to this specific question. I have great respect for somebody who can come to that point.
So, the first thing that we traditionally haven't heard from the ministry is:
1. I don't know.
The second thing that we traditionally have not heard is:
2. I was wrong.
I made a mistake. I screwed up. And we all know admitting one is wrong and then correcting it and correcting the situation, is very, very difficult for the carnal mind or for human nature. We all go through that.
The idea that a minister could make a mistake was viewed by many as just next to impossible because, after all, they were God's ministers and God would not allow one of His ministers to make a mistake. That was the attitude in the 50s and 60s.
But I'm here to tell you that the ministry is NOT infallible. The ministry IS fallible because we're all human beings.
And the Bible tells us that if we would look into the Bible. I'll just give you a couple of examples.
Paul and Barnabas remember? We won't turn there, but in Acts 15 where they had the conference. And after the conference, Paul went to Barnabas and said, "Let's go back to the churches we have previously visited to see how the Brethren are doing." And Barnabas wanted to take John Mark and Paul said, "Unh huh. We're not going to take John Mark." And so, they got into an argument about it and if you look at the Greek, it was a heated argument to the point that Barnabas took John Mark and went one way and Paul went another way. And they just tore the cloth for a period of time.
The obvious situation is, the analysis of that is at least one of them was wrong. Either Barnabas was wrong or Paul was wrong or they were both wrong. The only thing we know for sure is both of them couldn't be right; and, so, one of the two was wrong. One of them made a mistake.
Another example was Peter's example in front of the Gentiles in Galatians 2. Again, I'll paraphrase it for you. But remember after the Acts 15 conference? This was about circumcision for Gentiles. But the fact is that it was obvious at that time and through that conference that the Church realized and recognized that God was calling Gentiles to salvation.
So, Peter went down to Antioch. We find that story in Galatians 2, as I said. And Peter was freely associating with Gentiles. Before he wouldn't have done that, but because of this revelation through Peter himself, through the vision he had with the sheet coming down with all the unclean beasts in it. It came down three times and the voice asked him to eat. And he said, "I've never eaten anything unclean." And then the voice said to him, "Don't call any man unclean." And that revelation came through Peter himself.
So Peter was freely associating with the Gentiles in Antioch. And then a group of Jews came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And the minute they arrived, Peter withdrew from the Gentiles and began to only associate with the Jews. Probably in something like a potluck and there was a Jewish table and a Gentile table. And Peter went from the Gentile table to the Jewish table. Paul saw that and called him out. And Paul said, "I confronted him publicly for his hypocrisy." So, obviously, Peter made a mistake.
And then Paul talks about the fact that the thing he wants to do he doesn't do and the thing he doesn't want to do that's what he does do. And that was all after the coming of the holy spirit, all after they had been functioning as apostles, and yet, they were fallible and made mistakes.
Mr. Armstrong made mistakes by his own admission. At one of the ministerial conferences not long after Mr. Armstrong's death, I just happened to be standing by the man that was the caretaker of the house. And he was there when Mr. Armstrong died. I mean he was in the house or in the area the night Mr. Armstrong died. And he said, "The night that Mr. Armstrong did die, he was sitting in Loma's chair, his favorite chair." And he said that he was kind of bent over and he had his elbow on his knee and had his hand up on his forehead kind of shading his eyes and he was kind of shaking his head." And this man obviously thought he was in ill health, thought that maybe something was really bad. And he asked Mr. Armstrong, "What was happening, was he okay?" And Mr. Armstrong looked at him and said, "I hope I make it into the Kingdom." And obviously, at the end of his life, he was looking at his life and seeing—I'm sure—his own sins, his own mistakes, his own errors in judgment and was just asking God for mercy.
And, frankly, during the Worldwide days—I lost count at twenty-plus. I worked under twenty-plus ministers during the Worldwide days. And it only happened to me once where a minister came up to me and said, "I was wrong." It only happened once, but I had high respect for him to come and do that and admit that. And, as I said earlier, I personally have great respect for somebody that can look you in the eye and say, "Hey, I screwed up. I was wrong."
So, that's the second thing.
2. I was wrong.
The first thing is:
1. I don't know.
The third thing that traditionally ministers have not said is that:
3. I am sorry.
"I don't know. I was wrong. And I am sorry."
Because admitting one is wrong and then apologizing for it is very hard to do for the carnal mind. None of us like to admit we're wrong. And it's difficult sometimes to go and look somebody in the eye and apologize. And over the years, the ministry has not done a very good job of that, frankly. But if we are wrong, all of us—ministry especially—have an obligation to say, "Yeah, I'm wrong and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," or "I made mistake. I gave you wrong advice," whatever it might be.
And again, that's only happened to me once in the Church in the Worldwide days. And that was again down in Texas when we were there for three years.
Now, David wasn't afraid to do that. And talk about somebody that got off track and made mistakes! It was David. Let's go to Psalm 38 and look at verse 18. David was not afraid to admit his sins and to say he was wrong. And remember, David in writing the Psalms is saying he was sorry for the entire world to read! Not just individuals, but the whole world down through history. Psalm 38 and verse 18, notice what he says. He said:
Psalm 38:18. For I will declare [my] iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. (KJV)
And we read that today. And David was not afraid to say that at all.
So, we've seen now three things that traditionally, historically ministers have not said. Now, the second thing we're going to do in the Sermon is:
II. Analyze the cause of this inability.
What caused us to get to the point where the ministry couldn't say this or found it difficult to say this? The first one… We'll talk about two. The first one is:
1. Insecurity
Because somebody who is insecure in their position or insecure in their life finds it difficult to publicly admit they've done something wrong because that reinforces the fact that they're insecure or they're inferior in their mind.
And I can remember when I was a young kid, early teens, pre-teens. I was so insecure I can remember arguing a point and while I was arguing the point, I knew I was wrong. The other guy was winning the argument. He was absolutely right, but I would continue the argument because I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was wrong.
Because you're so insecure the fact that if you say you're wrong that just means that you're inferior and you don't know what you're talking about, which adds to your insecurity and magnifies that and sometimes it's very difficult to do. If we were to admit that we don't know or we were wrong or we were to apologize, it would be an admission that we are insecure and inferior. And that's hard for human nature to do.
But the fact is—and this is something that we all need to realize—that apart from God, we are inferior. And apart from God, we should be so insecure that we can't do anything apart from God.
Let's go to 1 Corinthians 1, a very familiar set of Scriptures. We're going to read verses 26 through 30 about our calling. And we need to be reminded of this when we talk about this whole idea of insecurity, because apart from God, we should be insecure. Apart from God we are insecure. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26, we're told:
1 Corinthians 1:26. For [you] see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, [or] not many noble, are called: (KJV)
Now look at verse 27 of 1 Corinthians 1. Paul is now going to talk about five things that mark our insecurity, that should make us insecure in that sense, as a human. And I emphasize as a human. Verse 27, notice he says:
1 Corinthians 1:27. But God [has] chosen… (KJV)
God has done this. God has chosen. He has made the choice that 1):
1 Corinthians 1:27b. … the foolish things of the world [He has chosen the foolish things of the world] to confound the wise; (KJV)
Foolish things—no wisdom. Sometimes no common sense.
1 Corinthians 1:27 continued. … called the foolish things to confound the wise; and God [has] chosen… (KJV)
The second one:
1 Corinthians 1:27 continued. … the weak things of the world to confound the [those who are] mighty; (KJV)
Verse 28, we get to the third.
1 Corinthians 1:28. And [He has chosen the] base things… (KJV)
Now the Greek for "base things" means "without kin." We would say today, "Without pedigree." In other words, you can't trace your lineage back to the Queen of England or one of the Russians Czars or something like that.
In my case, back in the late 1800s my granddad changed his name because he was one step ahead of the law. And we're all, if we look back, a lot of us are Heinz 57. We're just so mixed up we don't know what our lineage is.
1 Corinthians 1:28. And [God has called the] base things [without kin] of the world, and [the] things which are despised, (KJV)
The Greek means "least esteemed." And all of us in God's Church are the least esteemed. We don't have pedigrees. We don't have high rank. We don't have huge positions in government or business or military or whatever it might be.
1 Corinthians 1:28b. … [the] things which are [the least esteemed has] God chosen, [and yes],
The fifth:
1 Corinthians 1:28 continued. ... things which are not, (KJV)
We don't have the prestige of the world. We aren't high ranking, high flying members of society.
"The things which are not" and He does so:
1 Corinthians 1:28 continued. … to bring to [nothing the] things [or those people who] are: (KJV)
The whole reason for this we find in verse 29.
1 Corinthians 1:29. That no flesh [no human being] should glory in [God's] presence. (KJV)
And you see all of us are that way. And God has chosen us out of the world because we have all five of those characteristics. And over the years, I've only seen a handful of "Big shots," (I say that in quotes.) "Big shots" coming into the Church. I've just seen three or four over the years. And every one of them has had problems, mostly with pride. And God can't deal with a prideful person. So, that is why He calls who He does. And deep down, I think if we examine ourselves and look at ourselves, deep down we all know that we of ourselves do not measure up. I don't. I don't measure up. And I don't measure up to the intelligent people, the leaders of the world, the very skilled people of the world, the very wise and smart people. None of us measure up. And I think we know that.
But there is an antidote for this insecurity. There is an antidote. And we find that in verse 30.
1 Corinthians 1:30. But of him are [you] in Christ Jesus, who of God is made… (KJV)
This is the key! Of God, by God, through God, then God makes us or gives us—not ourselves—God gives us, makes us:
1 Corinthians 1:30b. … unto us wisdom, [unto] righteousness, and [in] sanctification, and redemption: (KJV)
It is God, through God that we can have wisdom and we can have righteousness. It doesn't come from us. It doesn't come from our goodness, our intelligence, our strengths, our abilities. It comes from God and God calls the weak of the world so that He can prove that. Not only prove it to the world, but prove it to us as individuals.
And we know—we won't turn there, but in Mark 10:27 "All things are possible with God." So, God takes the weak of the world, the base of the world, the people without pedigree, the people the without talent or ability and marches us down the path to perfection. But the understanding, the critical thing is Christ is the perfection. Not us. And Christ is our security. Not us. And we have to understand that.
And so, this first reason why the ministry has not been able to say these three things is insecurity. But if we get our security through Christ, if we understand who we are, then it would be very easy to admit, "I don't know. I was wrong. I am sorry," because we really understand apart from Christ who we are.
The second reason that these three things have not been said—I mentioned it earlier—is:
2. Pride
And all of us have to be careful about pride. We won't turn there. We know the Scripture by heart, 1 John 2 and verse 16. "All that is in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and" what? The "pride of life is not of the Father, but it's of the world."
And the Greek word for "pride" there is Strong's #212 and it simply means bragging or self-confidence.
And there is in the world a self-confidence. You see it in politicians. I saw it in the military. You see it in business leaders. They have convinced themselves they can do no wrong. They've convinced themselves that they are better than other people and they can do no wrong. And that pride crept into the Church. And it crept into the ministry. And that's something that the ministry and, we're going to see as we conclude, all of us have to be very, very careful about.
Because of our pride, we find it difficult to admit we're wrong and that we've made mistakes. It's a barrier to doing so. And in the past and, frankly, in some cases today the ministry was protecting its own image by refusing to admit a lack of knowledge or refusing to admit wrongdoing or refusing to apologize.
And in the world, we don't have to look any further than the Catholic Church. Look at this sex abuse scandal that's gone on for hundreds of years. And it's been covered up. These animals that perpetrated this on young boys and young girls, they were just shipped off to another parish. And it happened again and again and again because the prime motivation out of pride was to protect the image of the clergy and to protect the image of the Catholic Church.
And that same mentality has occurred in God's Church down through the years. It simply has. There have been some of those in God's Church. And it was covered up and ministers were shipped from place to place to place. Same motivation, it comes back to pride.
And pride, frankly, is a human way to overcome feelings of insecurity and inferiority. Pride is the human mechanism to overcome feelings of insecurity and inferiority, but the reality is Christ is the mechanism that overcomes the fact that we are inferior and that we should be insecure apart from Him.
And pride is rampant within the greater Church. And Christ knew that and He condemned that. Let's go to Mark chapter 7 and read verses 7 and 8. Because Christ was getting on the religious leaders of the day for the fact that their teachings, the teachings of men, were superseding the Commandments of God and that's through pride that our teachings are more important than what God says. Mark chapter 7 verse 7:
Mark 7:7. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, (KJV)
Why?
Mark 7.7b. … [because they teach] for doctrines the commandments of men.
8) [He says, You lay] aside the commandment of God, [you] hold the tradition of men, [and in back in those days, it was] the washing of pots and cups: and many other such things [you] do. (KJV)
That happened in the past and it, frankly, is happening today in the Greater Church of God.
Let me give you an example. I talked to fellow a couple of weeks ago and he was telling me a situation that happened five, six, seven, eight years ago, certainly after the break up of Worldwide. But he has a different interpretation on a specific point of prophecy. And he went to the leader of the group he belonged to. The man was an evangelist and a member of the ministry, went to A. C. in the late forties. And he told the evangelist of his understanding.
And the evangelist told him—I wrote it down—he said, "How dare you question me! You're just a farmer. How can you know anything? You've never been to Ambassador College and you've never attended one of my classes."
Now, that was the attitude about a guy that says, "Can we think about this different viewpoint?" And he was shut down immediately. And you look at the motivation behind it—it's pride. "Nobody is going to teach me anything, especially you—a bumpkin farmer."
Now, another situation arose, again pride. We have a member who is a widow and she attends our services. And her daughter and her son-in-law are members of a different group. And she was not allowed to be driven to our services by her daughter and her husband because she belongs to a different group—meaning us. And that we don't meet their standards, and therefore, the daughter couldn't drive the mother to somebody else's services. Now that's pride. It's just pride. That came from the leadership. That's pride.
Another example here recently: There is an elder's wife who is a widow. Her husband died. He was an elder. And she was not allowed—this is in a different group—she was not allowed to work in the kitchen before services and after services to help with the meals and the potluck and the cleaning up. She was not allowed to work in the kitchen because that was beneath a minister's wife to do that. Again, that's pride. That's elevating people above what God had in mind.
And we have to ask ourselves, when Christ talks about it here in Mark 7: "Who are we to decide for God? Who are we to have rules that countermand what God says?" And when we do that (our pride), we put ourselves above God and institute traditions and rules that supersede the Commandments of God.
God says the following. Let's go to Proverbs chapter 28 and let's read verse 26. This is what God tells us. And we need the ministry and the members alike to—we need to all heed this. Proverbs 28 verse 26, it says:
Proverbs 28:26. He that [trusts] in his own heart is a fool: but whoso [walks] wisely … shall be delivered. (KJV)
Well, if we shouldn't trust in our own heart, then what should we trust in? Proverbs gives us the answer, go to chapter 3 and verse 5. You know where we're going. Who should we trust? We can't trust in our own heart. That means our own innermost being, our motivations, our thoughts, our ideas—human ideas. Proverbs 3 and verse 5 says:
Proverbs 3:5. Trust in the Lord with all [your] heart; and [don't] lean … to [your] own understanding. (KJV)
And we have to be careful that what we think, what we say comes from God and God's Word and the motivation from God's spirit and not humanly.
I've learned over the years that my first reaction to sometimes a question or a situation I put on hold; I put on the brakes because sometimes my first reaction is a carnal reaction. The human thing just pops out. And so, you learn to keep your mouth shut or to get sleep on it so that you avoid reacting carnally.
God hates pride and arrogance. Let's go back to chapter 8 and verse 13. I'll read it out of the NIV, Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 13. This is how God feels about pride.
Proverbs 8:13. To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, (NIV)
That should be no where in the ministry. It should be nowhere among God's people—pride and arrogance.
The antidote for pride and for vanity is humility. I think we all know that. We won't turn there but Isaiah 66 verse 2, what does God say? "To this person… "Man" is in italics. "To this person," we would say today, "I will look, even to him who is of a poor and a contrite spirit and trembles at My Word." Not establishes doctrines that are above God's Word, contrary to God's Word, but so trembles at God's Word, we don't want to dare contravene God's Word.
So, when we look at it, insecurity and pride were two of the reasons why the ministry over the decades has not said very often, "I don't know. I made a mistake. And I'm sorry."
Now let's summarize. We have seen these three things, talked about them that ministers traditionally have not said—"I don't know. I was wrong. I'm sorry." And we've seen the two reasons why and there are others too—insecurity and pride.
But you might ask the question, "Well, why are you bringing it up now? What's the point? We're looking back in time." Well, are we? Are we looking back in time? People could say, "Well, we've gone beyond that?" But have we? Have we gone beyond that?
And here's why I bring it up now because when we came into the Worldwide Church of God, we were open books. We were eager to learn God's way. We were eager to learn about the Bible. And we looked up to the ministry and followed their example for decades. We did. And guess what happened? All of us became very good at thinking "We know more than we really do." We became very good at not saying "I don't know." We became very good at not admitting we're wrong. And we became very good at not saying we're sorry because we followed the examples that were set before us. And if we're honest with ourselves, it still exists, deep down maybe, maybe not, hopefully, not so much. But in some circles, it still exists. And that's one of the reasons, one of the many reasons God had to demolish the Worldwide Church of God.
So, here's why I bring it up now because there are Five Lessons we can learn from this situation as we look back over the last fifty years or so in God's Church. Five very important lessons that all of us need to learn, not just the ministry, but all of us need to learn as a result of this, of the inability to say "I don't know. I was wrong. I am sorry."
First One, we should have realized this at the point of baptism. And we did to an extent, but I think, as we all look back at the time we were baptized, most of us didn't have a clue. We didn't really understand the depth of human nature. We didn't really understand the depth of God's love for us. We didn't really understand the depth of our sins. And as, we walked down this path, we understand it, year after year, better and better. So, the First Lesson we can learn is:
I. We must realize that all of us are imperfect.
Husbands, wives, children, parents, ministers, lay-members—it is all of us are imperfect. I John 1 and verse 8, we need to burn this on the inside of our eyelids to face it every day. I John 1:8. John—I just love the way he speaks, very short sentences, right to the point. And he nails it. He says:
I John 1:8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (KJV)
So, if we say, "I'm right and you're wrong," or "I can't make a mistake," we are deceiving ourselves—ministry included! Therefore, all of us need correction. Every one of us needs correction to rectify our imperfections, to rectify the areas in our life where we don't measure up to the stature of Jesus Christ. God's Word is for that very purpose. We know the Scripture. We don't need to turn there, 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16. It says:
2 Timothy 3:16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God [God-breathed], and [it's] profitable for doctrine, [it's profitable] for reproof, [And what's the third one?] for correction, [and the fourth is] for instruction in righteousness: (KJV)
God's Word is there to correct our path. God's Word is there to instruct us on how we ought to behave. And since we're imperfect, correction is the only way that we can be like Jesus Christ. It's the only way. We have to correct ourselves through God's spirit and through God's Word.
But you see human nature doesn't want to do that. Human nature resists that. Look at Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 3. This is the raw human nature that we have that the Israelites had and, then, specifically here, he's talking to Jerusalem that Jerusalem had, but it's in us to this day. And we have to be careful that we don't give vent to this. We have to overcome it. Jeremiah 5 verse 3, it says:
Jeremiah 5:3. O Lord, are not [Your] eyes upon the truth? (KJV)
Well, of course, God's eyes are on the truth.
Jeremiah 5:3b. [You have] stricken them [the residents of Jerusalem], but they have not grieved; (KJV)
They're not sorry! They haven't repented.
Jeremiah 5:3 continued. [You have] consumed them, (KJV)
"You've brought plagues and pestilence and foreign armies and captivity." Notice:
Jeremiah 5:3 continued. [And] they have refused to receive correction: (KJV)
And this typifies it and pictures it better than any verse I can think of.
Jeremiah 5:3 continued. … they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. (KJV)
Meaning: refused to change or repent. And this is at the core of human nature. And I've counseled with people and tried to get across to them that maybe they might want to look at their lives in a certain area and you get this look back that's harder than a rock. Not going through—not penetrating.
But the fact is that if we're going to learn this lesson, if we're going to realize that all of us are imperfect. We have to realize that all of us are a work in progress. None of us have been completed. God is not finished with any of us. Let's go to Isaiah 64 and look at verse 8. God our Father has a plan and a purpose for us and He takes us from the state we were called in (1 Corinthians chapter 1) to the image of Jesus Christ. And it's done by molding and shaping and He uses the example of the potter and the clay.
Isaiah 64:8. But now, O Lord, [You are] our father [Yes!]; we are the clay, and [You, as our Father, are] our potter; and we all are the work of [Your] hand. (KJV)
And the fact is that God started molding us and shaping us when we dedicated ourselves to Him. And when we were baptized and we wanted God's spirit to come into us, He began to mold us; He began to shape us into the image of Jesus Christ. And the fact is that none of us are complete in that regard. He is continuing to this day to mold and shape every one of us.
And since He has not finished with us, that means we still have imperfections—all of us! And we need to realize that: That we are all imperfect. And that's why when we come into conflict sometimes or disagreements, we need to realize that we have to cut each other some slack, as my dad used to say.
Let's go to Ephesians 4 and verse 2. In realizing we are all imperfect, we are all a work in progress, God is molding and shaping us, we need to realize Ephesians 4 and verse 2. We are told; Paul is telling us. He told it to the Ephesians at the Church at Ephesus. He's telling us today. Notice the attitude. He says:
Ephesians 4:2. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, (KJV)
That means patience. He says:
Ephesians 4:2b. … forbearing one another in love; (KJV)
Because we're imperfect, because we're not all there yet; we're not complete. And we cut each other some slack. We get to the point where we cut each other some slack by realizing that we're all alike in the fact that we're all imperfect. And once we realize that we are nothing compared to God, we are nothing compared to Jesus Christ, it becomes much easier to admit our shortcomings and it becomes much easier to put up with each other's shortcomings because we're all imperfect.
So, that's the first thing we need to realize, the First Lesson we should learn from this.
The Second One is that:
II. We should not hesitate to admit our sins and faults.
We shouldn't hesitate to do that. And James admonishes us in chapter 5, James 5:16. He tells us that that is what we should do. Don't hesitate to admit when we're wrong. James 5 and verse 16, he says:
James 5:16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that [you] may be healed. (KJV)
Healed of what? Your faults. Oftentimes we attribute this exclusively to physical healing. But in context, he says, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another" that you may be healed of those very faults. He says:
James 5:16b. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man [avails] much. (KJV)
And we need to pray for one another that we can see our faults and overcome our faults.
The Greek word for "faults" is Strong's #3900 and it covers every base. It has two meanings:
When we confess our faults, it means unintentional error. And we all have been guilty of what my friend Harold Lee calls "Ready. Aim. Fire." We shoot from the hip. We blow our foot off. We blow our neighbor's arm off. We offend somebody because we just blurt something out. We don't think about it. We didn't plan it. It wasn't intentional, but we sinned. And so, this meaning of this Greek word, one of them is unintentional error.
That is planning to do wrong. That is, knowing with full intent you're doing something wrong.
So, this word "faults" here covers all the bases. When James says, "Confess your faults," that means unintentional errors or willful sins.
James 5:16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, (KJV)
And the ministry is not exempted from this. The ministry is not exempted. If a minister makes a mistake, he should admit he's made a mistake. And we all do.
After the Feast, it was pointed out to me that I had offended a woman at Kellogg. And I did it unknowingly. And she needed some help, financial help. And I was in a hurry. I was late for a meeting. And I walked past her. And she was with a group of people and I grabbed her hand and put some money in her hand. And it never occurred to me that could cause offense. And yet, she didn't want people to know that she was receiving money. And the fact that I did it—I tried to do it on the sly as I was rushing out of the hall, but I did it nevertheless. And it caused some offense.
And when I found out about it, I couldn't wait to call her because I didn't want that on my conscience—to know you had offended somebody and set a bad example. So, I called her and apologized.
And I didn't want her carrying bad feelings toward the ministry of embarrassing her in front of three or four people. And I didn't want her to go on feeling badly about that.
As an aside, just as an aside here, if someone apologizes to us, we need to be gracious in accepting that.
I can remember five, six, seven years ago, a lady in the Church, a minister had actually offended her. And she said, "He is going to have to come to me on his knees before I even think about forgiveness." Now, that's not a good attitude. That's a haughty attitude and an arrogant attitude and it's just as bad as having pride on the offense giving side.
In other words, we need to be willing to forgive and be willing to accept somebody's apology. Look at Colossians 3 and verse 13. We have to be willing to admit our faults and to apologize, but when somebody admits faults and gives us an apology, we should be ready to accept it with all goodness and graciousness. Colossians 3:13, it says:
Colossians 3:13. Forbearing one another, (KJV)
The Greek means "to put up with."
Colossians 3:13b. … one another, and forgiving one another, if any man [has] a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do [you]. (KJV)
And when we're reluctant to forgive, we've got to remember "Do we want Christ reluctant to forgive us?" Do we want Christ to say, "I'm not so sure. You're going to have to crawl on your knees on glass before I forgive you."? And, that is, of course, what the nun and the priests do in the Catholic Church is do things like this. But Christ is willing and ready to forgive. And when we look in our lives, He has forgiven us so much of so many things, should we not do the same for others.
And so, we should be willing to admit our faults and to apologize. You know the Scriptures in Matthew 5 where if you're at the altar and you realize somebody has something against you? Leave your gift at the altar and go be reconciled with your brother? Well in that situation, where two people come together, one of them has to apologize and the other has to accept the apology with graciousness.
And then in Matthew 18, where we're told if your brother trespasses against you, you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. And if he hears you, you are reconciled to your brother. You can be healed in that sense. Somebody needs to say they are sorry. Somebody has to have the ability to say, "Yes, I am sorry." Even though we think we might be only ten percent of the problem, let's apologize for our ten percent whether it's husbands and wives, parents and children, Brethren, in the Church.
All of us need to get to the point where we say, "I am sorry," and it's easy to do. Why? Because we're nothing, none of us are anything apart from God and Jesus Christ.
The Third thing that we should learn from this is that:
III. All of us should be easy to approach and not arrogant.
The ministry has to be easy to approach and not arrogant. All of us need to be easy to approach and not arrogant. Look at James chapter 3 and verse 17. James is talking about wisdom that comes from God. He says "wisdom that is from above." James 3:17 notice what he says.
James 3:17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, (KJV)
If it comes from God, it's got to be pure.
James 3:17b. [He says,] then [it is] peaceable, (KJV)
God tells us "Blessed are the peacemakers." Then it says:
James 3:17 continued. [Wisdom from above is] gentle, (KJV)
Not in your face. But notice this:
James 3:17 continued. … and easy to be [entreated], (KJV)
He goes on to say:
James 3:17 continued. … full of mercy… (KJV)
Meaning: willing to forgive.
James 3:17 continued. … and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. (KJV)
That is, without being a respecter of persons.
But he said this wisdom from above is "easy to be entreated." The Greek word for "entreated" is Strong's #2138. And Zodhiates says it means "easy to be persuaded." Somebody has a situation. You offended me and here is what you did. If you're easy to be persuaded into their cause, then you can admit that "Hey, I messed up."
The New King James says, "willing to yield," willing to yield to somebody else's opinion or somebody else's idea or somebody else's way of doing things. It's the opposite of "My way or the highway"—the exact opposite.
And, so, all of us should be easy to be entreated.
I remember shortly after Pacific started. A woman called me on the phone. And she had a Bible question and she was nervous. I could tell it in her voice. And I said, "Why are you nervous?" And she said, "Well, I asked this question, I don't know, seven or eight years ago, and the minister told me 'Why are you asking me this question? You should know this by now. With your background and education, you should know this? Why are you doing this?' " And, frankly, didn't answer her question. So, she had that question stored up for seven years. And she never went back to that minister again to ask another question because she was made to feel like a fool.
And that is not being easily entreated. That is not full of mercy and good fruits. So, that was a situation where it was the exact opposite. It was arrogance and not easy to approach.
I got a call two weeks ago from a lady in Canada and we were up in Canada—no this was about a month ago now—we were up in Canada, we came back. She left a message on our answering machine and so it had sat there for several days while we were gone. And so, there was a long list of calls I had to make. I think I got her the second day or the third day after we got back. And I won't mention her name but she's a widow in her seventies and I called and told her who I was. I heard her suck wind and she said, "You called!"
I said, "Yeah, you called me." And she said, "But you called me back!" I said, "Yeah, you left me a message. I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm calling you back."
And she said, "I've been in the Church over forty years and this has never happened to me, where a minister called me back. They don't want to talk to me," she said.
And I said, "Wait a minute." I was finding that hard to believe. And I said, "You left me a message. Anybody who leaves us a message, we call them back. What is the big deal?" And yet, that was not her experience in the Church. And it was no big deal, but she was astonished—absolutely astonished!
And we have to remember, ministers and members alike, that all of us are in the same boat. We're in this little rowboat and we're all rowing toward the Kingdom of God or sailing toward the Kingdom of God and we all want to get there. And we need to help each other. And the way we do that is by not being arrogant with each other or not being standoffish with each other or not being easy to approach with each other.
That leads to the Fourth Lesson we need to learn. And this is a huge lesson. The Greater Church of God, the Greater Churches of God do not realize this. And I don't think we ever will until Christ returns. It's just my personal opinion. But we need to realize that:
IV. We're all of the same body, the Body of Christ, and that we are, therefore, all a team.
Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians 12 is the chapter before the "Love Chapter", [which] we call chapter 13. [In] 1 Corinthians 12, Paul starts out by addressing spiritual gifts and then he transitions "That I show you a better way and that is love." But he's talking about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 1. He says:
1 Corinthians 12:1. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I [don't want] you [to be] ignorant. (KJV)
Now jump to verse 13. He says:
1 Corinthians 12:13. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, (KJV)
[That's] absolutely true—one Body.
1 Corinthians 12:13b. … whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; (KJV)
Now, I don't think we appreciate today the situation they had back then where a master and his slaves would come to Church and attend Church. And at Church, they were all the same in God's eyes. They were all part of the Body of Christ. They all had God's holy spirit. They all had an opportunity for salvation. Yet, when they went back home, they had the master/slave relationship. But when they came to Church that went away; that disappeared in the congregation. Can you imagine some of the problems that would cause? Some of the attitudes that would cause? We don't appreciate that today.
And Paul is telling the Church in Corinth, "I don't care if you're a slave or you are free."
1 Corinthians 12:13 continued. … and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14) [He says] … the body is not one member, but many. (KJV)
The Body is not an evangelist. The Body is not an apostle. The Body is many members.
Verse 15, he draws a physical analogy.
1 Corinthians 12:15. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not [part] of the body; is it therefore not [part] of the body? (KJV)
Obviously not!
1 Corinthians 12:16. And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not [part] of the body; … (KJV)
Verse 17:
1 Corinthians 12:1. ) If the whole body were an eye, [he says, How can we hear]? If the whole [body was an ear, how can we smell]? (KJV)
He says, "How can we hear? If the whole body was an ear, how can we smell?"
Verse 18, this is the key!
1 Corinthians 12:18. But now [has] God set… (KJV)
God has put each one of us as members in the Body.
1 Corinthians 12:18b. … every one of them in the body, as it [has] pleased him. (KJV)
God has put us there for His pleasure and His doing.
Verse 19:
1 Corinthians 12:19. And if they were all one member, [how could you have a body]?
20) But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21) And the eye [can't] say to the hand, I [don't] have [any] need of [you]: (KJV)
Because how could you wipe your eye?
1 Corinthians 12:21b. … nor again the head to the feet, I [don't] need of you. (KJV)
Well, if you were the head, how could you go somewhere if you didn't have the feet?
Verse 27:
1 Corinthians 12:27. Now are [you] the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28) And God [has] set… (KJV)
God has done this. He's put in the body:
1 Corinthians 12:28b. … some in the church, [he says, He's put] first apostles, [secondly] prophets, thirdly teachers, after that [people who can perform] miracles, then [after that those who have] gifts of healings, [and then after that helpers], (KJV)
That could be deacons who help and anybody who helps. You know tear down the hall, stack the chairs, whatever.
1 Corinthians 12:18 continued. … governments, (KJV)
The Greek is a word of Latin origin and it means "to steer or to pilot" referring to a ship. That means somebody who directs. John's our Business Manager. John directs that area of what we do. So, there are governments.
1 Corinthians 12:18 continued. … [then, there are] diversities of tongues. (KJV)
[Meaning:] People who can speak different languages.
And so, what he's pointing is we have all these jobs to do and God has placed people in those jobs and just like we have ears and eyes and feet and noses and it all comes together in a body that functions as a unit that functions as a team.
We have to realize that none of us are good at everything. I'm sure not. As Clint Eastwood once said, "A smart man knows his limitations." And all of us have limitations. That's why here at Pacific I am constantly amazed at what can be accomplished when we work together as a team.
Think of the Feast—three locations, all of the broadcast over the internet, the audio, the video, the chairs, the food, the activities, all of that! You give people opportunity to use their talents. You give people the tools they need to do those. They know clearly what they need to do. And you just stand back and it happens. And it's just amazing to watch people working together as a team!
Sometimes I feel like part coach and then, other times I feel like part cheerleader. "Yeah, we can do this. You can do that. Look what you did!" And then at other times, I'm the water boy of the Church. "What do you need? I'll get you what you need. Do you need some water? You need your shoes tied while you're standing on the ladder? We'll do that. We'll just get it done."
And the fact is that we are all a team. We are all part of the Body of Christ. We should function together as a harmonious team. Not this caste situation that we've had in the past. We're all a team.
We all need to admit that we don't know when we don't know. We all need to admit that we can make a mistake and have made mistakes. And when we do so, we all need to say we're sorry.
The Fifth and Last Point is that:
V. All of us need to realize that the ministry is an office of greater service. The ministry is not an office to be served.
The ministry evolved in Worldwide to the point that the ministry was there to be served rather than to serve. In the old days, the minister was put on a pedestal to be aggrandized, to be served. I remember in most Churches the minister would pull up in his car and there would be this entourage that would go out and grab the kids, grab the wife, grab the bags, grab all the stuff, usher them in, reserved seats, reserved parking. And it was just way out of whack.
And, yet, today some strive to be elders because of that tradition. The goal is to be aggrandized or to be served.
The reality is that the ministry has a terrible responsibility and is held accountable to a greater degree. And I'm here to tell you that you can't fully comprehend that until you are one. You can't comprehend it. Look at James chapter 3 verse 1. The ministry has a terrible responsibility and is held accountable to a greater degree. I'll read it out of the New King James. James says:
James 3:1. My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, (NKJ)
Why?
James 3:1b. … knowing that we… (NKJ)
And James was an elder and he was a teacher. "We," he's referring to himself also.
James 3:1 continued. … shall receive a stricter judgment. (NKJ)
The Greek word for "judgment" is the Greek word krima (kree'-mah). And Zodhiates says (he refers to this verse), "more often a sentence of punishment or condemnation."
He (James) said, "If you're a teacher, you're going to receive a stricter sentence of punishment or condemnation because you are held accountable.
Jump to Hebrews 13 and verse 17. I'll read it out of the New Living Translation because it's [clearer]. Hebrews 13 and verse 17, [it's] talking about the ministry should focus not on being elevated or aggrandized but being focused on its responsibility and the fact that a minister is being held accountable to a terrible degree really.
Hebrews 13:17. Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your [lives], (NLT)
Meaning, the ministry is responsible to a degree for the sheep under the Shepherd's care.
Hebrews 13:17b. … and they know they are accountable to God [for that responsibility]. (NLT)
Then he goes on to say:
Hebrews 13:17 continued. Give [the ministry] reason to do this joyfully and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. (NLT)
And my advice is if you're seeking to be a minister, you better think twice because the ministry is judged to a higher standard. And it is a terrible responsibility in that regard. I don't mean bad. I mean serious.
Being a minister is an ordination to a greater level of service. Not to be put on a pedestal. Once a minister is ordained… When James was ordained over a year ago, I tried to bring that out that this is an ordination to an extra level of service, not to be aggrandized. It's an ordination to make greater sacrifices and greater service.
But in this last point, let's ask the question: Shouldn't all of us be doing this? Shouldn't every one of us be doing this? Look at Romans 12 and verse 1. Shouldn't we all be sacrificing ourselves to serve one another as part of the Body of Christ? Of course, we should. Romans 12 verse 1, Paul is calling out. He uses the word "beseech." That's a strong word. He says:
Romans 12:1. I beseech you … brethren, (KJV)
He's talking to the Brethren.
Romans 12:1. … by the mercies of God, that [you] present your bodies a living sacrifice [to God and to each other], holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service [or your reasonable job]. (KJV)
And so all of us, we're talking about these Five Lessons we need to learn. All of us need to be a living sacrifice in service to one another. We need to do that and that is one of the lessons that we're learning today from the past history of the ministry, but all of us need to learn that lesson.
So, let's conclude. The purpose today is not to bash the ministry because as the man said, "I is one." That's been done enough already. But we're here to learn from our past mistakes.
George Santayana, he was a philosopher and author. He was born in the mid-1800s, died in the mid-1900s. He said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." We must learn from the past.
And there is a lot to be learned by all of us on this subject. I hope that we can get to the point where all of us can say, "I don't know. I was wrong. And I am sorry."
And I know personally I have been so wrong in the past as an elder. I spoke when I shouldn't have. I've said the wrong things when I spoke. Sometimes I kept silent when I should have spoken. And I've made every mistake an elder could make. And for that I repent daily to God and am so sorry for that.
But you see I have to go back when I start flagellating myself with a whip on my back—I don't do that literally, but figuratively—we're all a work in progress and we should be growing more to be like Jesus Christ. That's why we're told in 2 Peter 3 "Grow in grace and in grace and in knowledge." Grow! Well, if we're already perfect, you don't need to grow. So, none of us are perfect. Therefore, we need to grow.
And that word "grace" in 2 Peter 3:18, Zodhiates says it means "a favor done without expectation of return." Grow in the ability to do something for somebody else without expecting something back in return. He [Zodhiates] goes on to say, "the absolutely free expression of the loving kindness of God to men."
We need to grow in our ability to express God's love to other people. And that's what being a minister is all about. That's what being a member in God's Church is all about.
And I speak for all the ministry when I say that we grieve and we agonize over wanting to do God's will. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. And we get together and we agonize and grieve over wanting to do God's will.
I wish we had a Urim and Thummin. I wish we had a pillar of fire. I wish we had a burning bush that would just speak and tell us what to do and we could just hop to and do it. But life is… We have to apply God's Law.
And we don't want to be a stumbling block to any of God's children. And we want to be helpers of all the Brethren, God's children on the path of salvation, while at the same time we uphold God's Law and don't water down God's Law.
But shouldn't we all be that way? Shouldn't we all grieve and agonize? Shouldn't we all grieve and agonize over doing God's will? We should all do that. Shouldn't we all not want to be a stumbling block to one of our Brothers and Sisters in the Church? Well, of course! And shouldn't we want to be, all of us, be helpers of others' joy? Helpers of others to walk down this path towards salvation? And at the same time shouldn't we all want to uphold and not water down God's Law?
So, let's all learn to say—every one of us, ministry, members, every single one of us, new, old, man, woman. It doesn't make any difference. I don't care if you've been in the Church fifty years or five months. Let's all learn to say:
I don't know.
I was wrong.
I am sorry.
Transcribed by kb February 3, 2012