Man-Made Church and Preacher

The church of Corinthians experienced a division. In 1 Corinthians 12:12 “… What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas "; still another, "I follow Christ."

Does that sound familiar in our churches today? Are we too not experiencing such problems in our churches today? It’s been 2000 years and the same problem still persists. Recently in a church leadership seminar, we were told of the importance of IMAGE and BRANDING. When I heard that, I went like “Wow!” Is that what it takes for church to grow today? Hmmm…

The role of a pastor, evangelist, prophet, teacher and apostle (five fold ministry) is FUNCTIONAL, not POSITIONAL. Being a pastor it is my role to equip the church members for service in the Kingdom of God. The function of a teacher of course is to teach. Our call within the five fold ministry is about FUNCTION, not position. But today, churches are becoming corporate and position is becoming a big thing. When the apostle Paul states his apostleship, he was merely referring to his function, his role, not his position 'cos you can serve God in the capacity of an apostle without the need for a position.

Position does something to a person’s psyche. Makes them feel important, controlling, demanding. A person with a position feels elevated because there are people “under” their “command”. Now I am not against position. In fact, it has its usefulness, like in policing for example. Subordinates need to be able to come under command, especially in crisis and chaos. But I am speaking about church here today.

In the church at Corinth, Paul was rather upset with the division as a result of people following after IMAGE and BRANDING instead of following after Jesus which is what the church is all about, i.e. following after Jesus! In you could just imagine, some said “I follow Apollos” and another , “I follow Cephas.” They were trying to get each other to attend their church! It’s like, “You should visit my church. My pastor is a very anointed man of God.” “You should visit my church. My pastor has a prophetic ministry.” And today Christians are evangelizing Christians instead of winning souls for Jesus. Why am I saying this? Well, today we have mega churches. Churches are swelling in size as compared to yesteryear. We have more churches today than any time in the past. YET our statistic shows that Christianity in our country has not changed (And I would guess has dwindled). “What’s up doc?”

I see a problem here today that has been echoed 2000 years ago in 2 Timothy 4:3. It was prophetic and it’s happening right in our own turf today. It says, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.” (The Message). In the Amplified Bible it says, “myths and man-made fictions.” Take note here. It says people (Christians) will empower preachers by giving them the attention and position so that they can preach what their itching ears want to hear.

It’s not hard to spot a “man-made” church today. Most of its members are previously from another church (Christians evangelizing Christian?) The messages are usually about blessings and prosperity. Members love to hear what God has in store for them and how they can live a better life in Christ. The man of God is almost always saying, “God told me” “God is saying” “I have a revelation from God”. They act as middle men. The crowds depend on the “man of God” to tell them what God is saying or doing. In fact, by doing that they are empowering the preacher and elevating him to a spot where he/she has to be a crowd pleaser in order to maintain his/her position as the “man of God.” It’s no wonder that when the man of God committed sin and fall from grace, they will still continue on in the ministry. Today we have preachers who’s divorced and remarried, or erred yet they are still preaching. That’s because Christians are still empowering them by gathering the preacher to preach what they want to hear. Now I am not saying that we should excommunicate the preacher if he/she sin. In fact, we should forgive, love and restore them into loving relationship with God. But should they continue to live in sin, then we ought not “empower” them for the ministry. For surely he/she is not indispensible. It’s not like God cannot raise another person to do the same, if not a better job.

Now I know I will probably be misunderstood or misinterpreted here. I am chancing it. I am not making judgment here nor am I judging. If there be any judgment, let it be God’s Word. I just figure that today (in these last days prior to the coming of Christ and that’s my context today) there need to be caution ‘cos there are man-made churches that does not truly represent the church of Jesus Christ. Just because the church is preaching what we want to hear or because there are signs and wonders, that doesn’t necessarily mean we are 100 percent of God. God is very gracious. I think we have taken God’s grace for granted. Maybe that’s why today’s church is so inferior as compared to the church of the New Testament. For those of us who think so highly of our church and of our pastors or prophets, pay attention to what Jesus said:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matt 7:21-23).

“ … and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. (Matt 24:39-41)

One out of two is 50%. That’s a huge percentage. And do you wonder why?