by Travon Potts | Elev8
I’ve been hearing something lately that has really gotten under my skin. Some pastors have been saying it a lot since my early years as a Christian until now. The word is vision. Some will say, “our pastor has great vision”. Others will say, “We are following our pastor’s vision”. A lot of modern pastors I’ve heard will quickly quote part of Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish….” (KJV) What I find interesting is that most of the pastors I’ve heard speak or write about this subject of vision leave off the second half of that verse where it says “…. But he that keepeth the law, happy is he”(KJV)
Some pastors use the skill of manipulation to influence people by distorting the first half of Proverbs 29:18. Often they use the scare tactic of “lack of vision” being parallel to death. “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. The result of distorting this passage is, parishioners following pastors and not God. I thought about this long and hard. I too drank the proverbial punch for part of my Christian life.
To get me in lock step with this unbiblical way of thinking, I was given buzz phrases over the years. Maybe some of you have heard this stuff. Try this one on for size, “buy-in”, and “you have to buy-in to the vision of this ministry”. How about this one, “There is one vision in this house”. Now there is a new one making the rounds in manipulation centers that call themselves churches, “you must have this ministry’s DNA”.
Influence through mind manipulation is not new. Is there a biblical example of this? Good question. Yes, and we can find it in Genesis 11:1-8. The parallels are astounding. This is the story of the Tower of Babel. At this point in human history, everyone on the earth was in one place and under the leadership of one man by the name of Nimrod. Verse 1 says “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech” (KJV). This means that everyone was not only using the same language but every word they said meant the same thing. At this time there were no colloquial terms or slang. During this point in history, if someone were to say “that is a hot suit”, no one would think that it was either stolen or it was great looking, the understanding would be simply that the suit would burn you. Think about it, how many times you have heard pastors encourage their parishioners to be of one mind and saying the same thing. Some pastors will even use Genesis 11:1 as a reference.
After settling in the land of Shinar the people all made the decision to make a name for themselves. The funny thing is, at this point, no one asked the question, “why are we making a name for ourselves”. If you think about it, no one else was on the earth according to scripture.
“Making a name for themselves”, where did this thinking come from. At that time, the most influential person on the earth was Nimrod (Gen 10:8). When Nimrod decided to build his kingdom it was built (Gen 10:10). If we go back to Gen 11 we see that the people start building this kingdom and the purpose was to make a name for themselves. Have you ever seen the effect that the press has on some pastors and leaders? Some pastors or PASTARS are tickled by seeing not just their name, but their church’s name in magazines or newspapers or mentioned on television. The goal of many churches and pastors is to make a name for themselves. Why? Isn’t it about lifting up God and building His kingdom?
Source: http://elev8.com/spirit/daily-offerings/travonpotts/is-your-pastor-following-god-or-his-own-ambition-part-1/
Related:
Part 2: Are You Following A Nimrod?
TIME before the ANTICHRIST - Part I
TIME before the ANTICHRIST - Part II
HUMANISM: Forerunner for Anti-CHRIST
Some pastors use the skill of manipulation to influence people by distorting the first half of Proverbs 29:18. Often they use the scare tactic of “lack of vision” being parallel to death. “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. The result of distorting this passage is, parishioners following pastors and not God. I thought about this long and hard. I too drank the proverbial punch for part of my Christian life.
To get me in lock step with this unbiblical way of thinking, I was given buzz phrases over the years. Maybe some of you have heard this stuff. Try this one on for size, “buy-in”, and “you have to buy-in to the vision of this ministry”. How about this one, “There is one vision in this house”. Now there is a new one making the rounds in manipulation centers that call themselves churches, “you must have this ministry’s DNA”.
Influence through mind manipulation is not new. Is there a biblical example of this? Good question. Yes, and we can find it in Genesis 11:1-8. The parallels are astounding. This is the story of the Tower of Babel. At this point in human history, everyone on the earth was in one place and under the leadership of one man by the name of Nimrod. Verse 1 says “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech” (KJV). This means that everyone was not only using the same language but every word they said meant the same thing. At this time there were no colloquial terms or slang. During this point in history, if someone were to say “that is a hot suit”, no one would think that it was either stolen or it was great looking, the understanding would be simply that the suit would burn you. Think about it, how many times you have heard pastors encourage their parishioners to be of one mind and saying the same thing. Some pastors will even use Genesis 11:1 as a reference.
After settling in the land of Shinar the people all made the decision to make a name for themselves. The funny thing is, at this point, no one asked the question, “why are we making a name for ourselves”. If you think about it, no one else was on the earth according to scripture.
“Making a name for themselves”, where did this thinking come from. At that time, the most influential person on the earth was Nimrod (Gen 10:8). When Nimrod decided to build his kingdom it was built (Gen 10:10). If we go back to Gen 11 we see that the people start building this kingdom and the purpose was to make a name for themselves. Have you ever seen the effect that the press has on some pastors and leaders? Some pastors or PASTARS are tickled by seeing not just their name, but their church’s name in magazines or newspapers or mentioned on television. The goal of many churches and pastors is to make a name for themselves. Why? Isn’t it about lifting up God and building His kingdom?
Source: http://elev8.com/spirit/daily-offerings/travonpotts/is-your-pastor-following-god-or-his-own-ambition-part-1/
Related:
Part 2: Are You Following A Nimrod?
TIME before the ANTICHRIST - Part I
TIME before the ANTICHRIST - Part II
HUMANISM: Forerunner for Anti-CHRIST
No comments:
Post a Comment