THE MOBILE MINISTRY AND THEIR SUPPORT
The ministry that labours in the word and doctrine is entitled
to be supported. 1 Corinthians 9:1-24
“Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus
Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an
apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal
of my apostleship in the Lord. My defence to those who examine me
is this: Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right
to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the
brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and
I who have no right to refrain from working?
Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard
and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not
drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as a mere
man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in
the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it
treads out the grain.”
“If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great
thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers of
this right over you, are we not even more?”
2 Co 11:8 I robbed other congregations
taking wages of them, to do you service.
Nevertheless we have not used this right,
but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. Do you
not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things
of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings
of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach
the gospel should live from the gospel.
The Lord’s servants have a right to expect to be supported
as Paul teaches in his letters. He makes it abundantly clear that
the Ox that treads out the corn is not to be muzzled.
To be able to give with confidence however we need to know that
the Holy Spirit is doing the sending. We should pray about where
our money needs to go instead of just putting it into a bag and
leaving it up to the pastor. It’s a spiritual act where we
honour the Lord with our substance. Ask Him and He will tell you
who to give it too.
Mobile Ministry in turn must know that the Holy Spirit is leading
them. The Lord will always take responsibility for those He sends.
He owns the field (world). He provides the seed to be sown. The
increase is His and not there to be manipulated by men with an agenda.
He is the source of every supply.
Where He leads He feeds. Having said that, there’s another
twist, as the issue is not just about whether we have the where
withal to go, but that God told us to go; then as Paul says “Woe
is me if I don’t”. 1 Cor 9:16-18
RSV “For if I preach the gospel that gives me no ground
for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe
to me if I do not preach the gospel!
Supporting the servants the Lord sends into our lives is
proper.
Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see
me until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Luke 13:35. The Lord is not just referring
to Himself here. But to everyone that He sends.
Our failure to receive those that Christ sends will impoverish us;
as well as rebuff the Lord who sent them.
It never ceases to amaze me how mindlessly people hand over their
hard earned money. How often we have sent money to TV ministries
here and abroad, only to find out that they were not worthy of our
support? The Crystal Cathedral is so deep in debt that they had
to file for protection from the US Govt, to bail them out. Think
of Ted Haggard for a moment and New Life Fellowships who brought
him to our shores twice.
In most cases those called to Mobile Ministry, are fearful of financial
hardship so they elect to stay in the comfort zone of a pulpit with
the unscriptural position of “Pastor” (N). The great
question for these individuals is, “Can I trust the Lord for
my support”? The answer is most can’t. For the wives
of these men the thought of leaping into faith is more than they
can bear. Who’s going to pay the mortgage, the car payments;
the children’s education; the frequent junkets to “conferences”?
Who will pay for all the perks and fringe benefits?
And if it doesn’t work out the idea of stepping back into
the secular is unimaginable so they just stay put. That’s
why we have Pastors just getting by on less than 50 people. If you’re
concerned about going hungry in the service of the Lord, the best
way to avoid it is don’t do it unless you’re certain
He telling you too, because where He leads He feeds. To be sure
some wives have good reason to be canny about their man’s
aspirations of greatness. Some brothers after being bitten by the
Pastor bug have solved their problem by sending their wives out
to work so they can pursue their dream.
If you’re a roaring success in the pulpit the benefits are
undeniably substantial; look at Brian Tamaki in his mansion; on
his Harley Davidson; or cruising on the Waitemata. Imagine obese
Pete Mortloch riding on his Jet Ski which the saints gave him for
Xmas? Oh how chuffed he must have been when he saw it gift wrapped
on the platform that Sunday.
These super saints have a battle on two fronts; whether to obey
the Lord or yield to their addiction for more power and influence.
Others have wives who are just egotistical as their Pastor Husbands,
many preach far better than their man; while not a few can sing
to boot.
These entrenched professionals are “the cork in the bottle”.
They stunt the spiritual growth of saints young and old. Their position
is unscriptural. This form of government needs to be dismantled.
It produces conceited dictators and creates spiritually dependant
saints.
Well may “Their Kingdumbs come to naught”. Jesus said
“I hate the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes” and if He
hates it so should we.
The glory of young men is their strength. If expression is not
given to them in their ghetto many take matters into their own hands.
Who can blame them when they are bombarded with a constant stream
of leadership conferences, where they are exhorted maximize their
potential to the limit. This type of rhetoric is impressed upon
them relentlessly. Now we have a dichotomy in religious systems;
Churches are being run by middle aged men on the wrong side of 50
who are beginning to feel their age; and infantile men and women
on the other side.
I met a young man in Taupo NZ who was off to Trinidad Tobago with
his family. They needed money so he told his wife to phone around
to drum up monthly support. What a coward, shame on him as he hid
behind her skirt while she went to work begging.
He told me surfing in the Caribbean was great, (he had already
had a stint there living on the generosity of saints in NZ) upon
receiving this valuable piece of information I squeezed my hand
around my wallet a little tighter.
Young men should curb their zealous aspirations to go ‘full
time’. If they are married they should work “full time”
and provide for their families; and raise their children in a godly
home. “Do you have a good Sunday school for children one couple
asked me” When I inquired “whose children in particular
are you talking about” they said “Ours”. I replied
if God gave them to you “don’t you think you should
go home and teach them yourself”.
First the natural and then the spiritual:
In the Middle East a revolution is currently taking place before
the eyes of the world on TV. Read Plato’s Republic and you
will quickly find that every totalitarian regime down through history
was overthrown by the people they oppressed. It matters not whether
they were political or religious regimes. Our present civilization
is going the same way.
I would that true saints would begin to pray with one another,
and that we would search our hearts, then after, but not before,
begin a concerted effort to confront these Spiritual Judases and
bring them to account spiritually concerning what they are doing.
We have the means via social networks. By internet, Utube, twitter
and text believers should exhort each other to withhold their money
from these parasites and ask God what He wants us to do with it.
Then stand back and see if God is really behind what these men are
doing.
Refuse to support these money lovers for just 4 months 120 days
to see if God will sustain their empires. Don’t you want to
be sure you not putting your hard earned money into pockets with
holes in? They tell us from the pulpit that God will take care of
us. Lets see if will take care of their Kingdumbs.
Another monumental problem in Present Religious Systems is that
charismatic individuals have cemented themselves in a pulpit for
the purpose of gathering to themselves as many followers as they
can. The turnover that these religious enterprises generate runs
into multiplied Millions annually.
\Money is power; and power corrupts. Who needs God when you have
money to do your bidding? Feed an appetite until it’s full
and you will never satisfy it, you will only increase it. This applies
to food, alcohol, sex, pornography, gambling and drugs. And the
love of money is at the root of it all. These minsters
don’t just fleece their flocks; they strip the wool off their
backs while they cry “never enough”.
Please don’t imagine this is only happening in America.
They are all around us in New Zealand and Australia.
I wonder what Paul would think of the today’s pastors as
he watched them work their flocks from the pulpit like barking sheep
dogs. Ezekiel 34:3 ye eat the fat, and
ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: ye feed
not the flock, and the sick you have not visited. But the good shepherd
makes His flock to lie down in green pastures. He sets a table before
them in the presence of their enemies, their cups run over with
mercy and blessing.
Finally be very clear on this point that great needs never constitute
the call to service. The Lord’s personal call must always
precede the work to be undertaken, only then is the supply guaranteed.
Why don’t you stop sending out subtle newsletters to try and
raise money to do your thing? God’s not broke?
Regardless many will go ahead and make their own arrangements for
their support; pleading that their case is a special one, and end
up going where they have no right to be.
I have a friend who sold his house at his wife’s insistence
and built a church for himself with the money. It certainly eliminated
any concerns he had about having to trust God, don’t you think?
A Maori brother told me that his denomination has never had a movement
since it got the constipation; I think
he was absolutely right.
PAULS REBUKE HEBREWS 5: 10-14.
Hebrews 5:11-14. Concerning him I have
much to say, and much that is hard to make clear to you, because
you have grown dull of hearing. And this too, although you ought
by this time to be teaching others, you still need some one to teach
you the very rudiments of divine revelation. You need milk, not
solid food. For every one who feeds on milk is inexperienced in
the word of righteousness. He is still an infant. But solid food
is for adults, that is, for those who by constant practise have
their faculties trained to discriminate between good and evil. (MNT)
Its not that the truth is so complicated; the trouble is with men
who take the wrong attitude due to their biased religious backgrounds.
Matt 13:14-15; Acts 28:27.
You have been professed Christians long enough to be teachers by
now, but because of your laziness and dullness in grasping the truth
you have to be taught a second time “the first simple doctrines
of Christ”. You have not grown up at all; you are like unweaned
babes v12. I Cor 3:2; I Peter 2:2.
Milk feeding was a metaphor used by many writers to express the
first principles of religion and science. They applied suckling
to learning; infant to a beginner, and meat
to those who had learned the first principles of truth
Two characteristics of babes are:-
They are dull of hearing
They are unskilful in the word
Two characteristics adults are:-
They are capable of receiving instruction
They have an ability to discern
V14 of full age, grown up spiritually:
Having their senses exercised by reason of use. Like a fully fit
gymnast they have ability; and are fit enough to make right judgement
on spiritual matters.
Ch 6:1. In view of your lack of progress
you need to grow up and leave the baby stage; and move on and behave
and act like adults. We build on the foundations that have already
been laid in the fundamental doctrines of Christ.
This will we do if God permit.
These foundational truths are your building permit.
Without one your building will not pass inspection, it will be condemned.
Your spiritual life will implode.
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