Racism and Disciples of Flesh

There are all kinds of physical differences in the body of Christ. Proclaimed disciples of Christ or “disciples of flesh” look at physical differences and qualities in the brotherhood of Christ and make a big deal about those features. There could be many reasons the flesh feels the way it does. Perhaps the flesh simply needs to feel good about itself because of past life experience. These brothers and sisters in the flesh get together in cliques as the old adage says: “Birds of a feather flock together”. Skin color and ethnicity is elevated to an issue of importance with these false disciples by their own choice. Racially mixed marriages are looked on with disdain and disgust by some of these folks. Whole bodies of “proclaimed Christians” ignore those in the body that are different or of mixed ethnicities in the hope that they will simply go away from lack of attention. These “proclaimed Christians of flesh” don’t want to look bad and like the Pharisees of old, want to look good to the eyes while fulfilling their agenda. The judgment upon brothers and sisters that are different is quiet, cool and calculated, designed to alienate and discourage. The real problem is that everything that is in the world is in these “proclaimed Christians”. Why? (Matthew 7:12; 1 Peter 2:4-5) They haven’t bothered to look at their old attitudes of the flesh and put on the new personality in Christ. (Ephesians 4:23,24; Romans 8:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 6:15) They fail to see how scripture, God’s Love or the sacrifice of His Son has touched them. Because of this, none of what God has done for them really touches their hearts and they fail to demonstrate what God expects of them. In short, these “proclaimed Christians” are as doomed as the world around them. (1 Peter 3:16; Matthew 10:15) They commonly stand off from one another and make judgments in their hearts against others. (John 16:33; Psalm 42; Romans 8:31-39) These “professed Christians” are as doomed as the father of the attitudes that they display. (2 Thessalonians 2:16,17; Hebrews 6:9-12) When Satan is cast into the lake of fire, all bigotry and evil attitudes, including those that carry them must be cast into the same place. God love you. However, He has given you free will and choice to make right decisions or wrong ones. How you exercise that freedom heavily influences the decision God makes for you during the time of judgment. Let’s make the year 2008 a year of jubilee, being as God wants His people to be!

The Good Shepherd and the Bad Shepherd

There is no question that the condition of the body of believers has a lot to do with the spiritual leadership of a body of people. Proper spiritual food is the key to feeding God’s sheep. Proper spiritual food lifts up God’s children and reminds them of what they need to do and prepares them for the future in Christ. When the pastor shepherd is not feeding the sheep spiritually, most sheep won’t develop the survival skills necessary to prosper in God’s Word, at least not from that shepherd.

As an anointed and called minister to God’s people, when you give too many of your own ideas, you push God aside and abandon those that may depend on you for accurate spiritual information. Spiritual leadership isn’t simply about expounding personal ideas, but rather getting truth to fellow believers and being clear about those truths so that those that listen can receive the message into their hearts based on accurate Biblical knowledge. True spiritual leadership focuses on helping others, not on getting ahead or putting money in the coffers. “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? For the nations seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33) These words of Jesus apply to each believer including those called to ministry to others through Jesus Christ.

God’s people have a singular purpose that none are exempted from. The purpose and goal of God’s people is to help one another reach important spiritual goals and to reach a level of spiritual maturity so that more Christians can reach out to others outside the body, either as spiritually mature believers or as spiritual leaders, but ALL as ministers of the Gospel. Those that have taken spiritual leadership are held responsible by God to feed His sheep just as Jesus told Peter in John 21:17. God said “feed my sheep”. If the sheep are not fed God’s Word, they will not likely come to know what God desires for them or understand how they need to operate to be within God’s Will. Christians who are not fed sheep food will never come to know themselves in Christ, which is vital for their continued well being.

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers–not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (1 Peter 5:1-4) God has given man the authority to be leaders, but pride and greed often comes in with that authority and destroys what God has designed as far as His people are concerned.

In scripture, God refers to His people as His sheep. Jesus mentions separating sheep from goats. Goats have a sacrificial role in Biblical history, such as the scapegoat in Hebrew times. To help understand what is going on here, it is useful to understand some physical differences between these animals. In the real world, how do sheep differ from goats? People who are not familiar with livestock often confuse the qualities of sheep and goats. What are some of the differences?

Here are some of the more obvious:

Sheep have fleece, goats have hair.

Sheep say baa, goats say maa. Their voices are actually different.

Most goats are naturally horned, but many sheep breeds are naturally hornless.

More importantly:

Sheep are great, but when it comes to brain power, a lamb is unlikely to find its way out of a maze. As far as survival skills go, though, sheep must be as smart as many other species as they have survived in the wild for hundreds of years all over the world.

Sheep need less copper than goats. Some mineral supplements that are great for goats can be toxic to sheep. We can see that sheep are more sensitive to their surroundings than goats.

Sheep are more likely to overeat than goats. Shepherds must be careful about turning sheep into a lush pasture or free-feeding the sheep more hay than they usually eat?

Since the body of Christ is designed for God’s sheep, then God’s sheep should be fed there. When the sheep are spiritually fed, what do sheep eat? Sheep eat or are fed sheep food. What happens when the sheep aren’t properly fed? Scripture often balances the sheep and the goats. When sheep aren’t properly fed, they are being fed goat food, which makes the sheep sick.

Back in the natural world, sheep are natural grazers, while goats are browsers. Goats roam here and there, picking and choosing anything they see. Sheep are usually better weed eaters, since they eat grasses and other plants all the way down to the ground, grazing in a very methodical fashion. Goats, on the other hand, nibble here and there, sampling a variety of bushes and leaves. In fact, goats will eat anything when given half a chance. They will eat the bark off of trees and rose bushes. Sheep eat grasses and clover, grazing land that other livestock cannot which makes sheep unique. Conversely, there are a number of plants that grow as weeds and are toxic to sheep. Since sheep don’t know the difference, it is up to the shepherd in charge to be watchful. Toxic plants can cause immediate death to sheep if they are consumed in sufficient quantities or cause skin reactions when the animal is exposed to sunlight. Nervous system disorders, fetal deformity and abortion, or digestive problems are likely to result from toxic plants. The shepherd, in order to avoid having his sheep poisoned by plants, has to pay special attention to the grazing area. Goats don’t have any of these restrictions since they eat almost anything.

We know that in the real world of animals, that while sheep and goats can live alongside each other, they are very different and have different needs and requirements. This analogy between sheep and goats has real meaning and similar comparisons can be made in the spiritual world. In a similar fashion, pastor shepherds can be sheep or not based on their personal fruit. Whether a professed Christian is a sheep or a goat depends on his fruit and what he does with God’s gifts, often in a private way, but more often for the pastor shepherd, this is in clear sight unless the sheep are taught to overlook the bad fruit.

God’s Will is that spiritual shepherds who have failed their flock will be removed from office and held responsible for what has happened to their flock that they are supposed to lead. Wise shepherds are expected to heed God’s warning and care for their flock properly or total failure and judgment will be the result. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 demonstrates that you must discipline yourself as in running a race. Your life is hard work and the work of spiritual leaders is no easier. How many of our spiritual leaders are actually focused on God’s Word, as well as disciplining themselves? Is the pastor shepherds commitment a public act or is that commitment real, bearing real godly fruit? The discipline of prayer, bible study and worship equips us to run with vigor and stamina. Observing others from a grandstand is not sufficient to get the job done for God’s people. Diligent training and effort is required. A Christian’s spiritual progress depends on it. At times, you must give up good things to do what God wants. Each Christians’ special duties determine the discipline or denial that he or she must accept. Without a goal, discipline is nothing except self-punishment. With a goal to pleasing God, your denial of yourself seems like nothing compared to the eternal imperishable reward that will be yours. When Paul says that he might be disqualified, he does not refer to salvation itself, but rather that he could lose his privilege of telling others. God’s people are not here to tell others how to live and fail to take our “own advise”. We must practice what we preach.

Based on scripture, there is no question how God feels about shepherds of His people. Ezekiel 34 contains a vital scriptural passage that dramatizes the differences between good and bad shepherds and there is a lot more than usually meets the eye. In fact, when you take what Ezekiel says, his word is quite graphic. I have left the translation from Hebrew in simple form so that you see the way the text is really written. In my original detailed study posted on the Ezekiel 34 page, I noted the translation from the original Hebrew text to be certain that I was getting the sense of it with the nuances of the original language. You will notice that the English comparative text is from the King James Version with Strong’s numbers. By referring to these numbers, you can explore the meanings of these words yourself on the Ezekiel 34 page link.

See Ezekiel 34 page for direct translation.

The apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4 declared that day of Christ would not come “except that there would be a falling away first” while warning that this iniquity was already at work during his time. Errors were creeping into the congregation of God’s people that would pave the way for a large scale attack on God’s people over the centuries. After several hundred years, human traditions and Christianity were mixed and circulation of the Bible was banned. Once the Bible was out of the way, anything went and God’s Law was twisted and changed to suit the bad shepherd. Prophecy in Daniel 7:25 predicted that times and laws would be changed and the rest is history. Christianity has seen many reforms and changes over the last 500 years. During that time, the world has come to have many divisions of the changed original church or body of Christ. The good news is that there is no need for a Christian to be confused. With accurate Biblical knowledge and a little study, a bad shepherd becomes much easier to see. For nearly 2000 years, the bad shepherd in many forms and places has tried to reign over God’s people, abusing them terribly, persecuting, tormenting and torturing them to the death to gain advantage and power over them. Today, the bad shepherd still exists and others like him are working overtime to gain advantage over others, even in God’s name. On the other hand, we have the good shepherd, which can be examined by “his” fruit as well. The key is having enough Biblical knowledge to be able to know the difference. Yes, you can know the difference and stay away from the bad shepherd while helping other Christians around you to do the same.

The Golden Rule Requires Forgiveness

If you are familiar with Christianity, you’ve probably heard of the “golden rule”, generally stated as “do unto others as you would have others do unto you”. In practice, the thought would seem to be “If people would just be nice to me, I could be nice to them.” In Matthew 5, Jesus said that living in such a way was nothing special. “For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same?” ~ Matthew 5:46

The big question is whether you can be kind to someone that has hurt you or hurts you. Can you love someone that has treated you poorly? You know this isn’t easy. In fact, some people believe that the teaching of Jesus is an extreme example, impossible to live up to. However, the wisdom of Jesus is the only practical way to live your life. Why? “An eye for an eye” is a disaster in practice because a chain reaction of violence solves nothing except for continuing the violence, followed by hatred and more violence. Someone must break the cycle. This is a deliberate decision that someone must make. Pride must be swallowed and the offense overlooked. Jesus says that you and I are that “someone” that He is talking about.

“So also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. Behold, how little a fire kindles how large a forest!” ~ James 3:5
Mean-spirited behavior created more of the same and easily creates a larger explosive situation. Even worse, when you respond with ugliness, anger, and revenge, you hand control over to the other person. The wisdom of Jesus frees you from this strife-inducing situation and gives you peace of mind. By having nothing to do with domination, hatred or revenge, you establish self-control instead of trying to control someone else.

In a close and personal situation, withdrawing or turning your back on the offending person might seem to be an effective solution. You cannot have a vacuum in your heart. This creates a dangerous vacuum in any working relationship. The vacuum is easily filled by hatred and resentment. Hatred and resentment contaminate your heart and keep God out. Jesus says that you must replace hatred with love. “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you.” ~ Luke 6:27,28

To love those who mistreat you and treating unkind people respectfully is the strongest expression of Christian behavior. In this way you are able to overcome and rise above the situation. This positive response makes you responsible in your behavior instead of the other person. You can blame someone else or justify yourself. Instead of reacting to circumstances in life that you cannot control, Jesus wants his disciples to accountable, responsible for personal behavior instead of making excuses and pointing to someone else. “Therefore, if you, being evil, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those that ask Him? Therefore, all things, whatever you desire that men should do to you, so also you should do to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.” ~ Matthew 7:11-12

The golden rule in Matthew 7:12 is not conditional on the other person. Jesus said that his disciples want to be good to others because God is good to his disciples.

“The love of God has been poured out in our hearts.” ~ Romans 5:5.

“Even as Christ forgave you, so also you should forgive.” ~ Colossians 3:13.

Because you and I are forgiven much, we must genuinely forgive others that have deceived and betrayed us. This is not simply a good idea, but a foundational principle for Christians. You are commanded to forgive and you are forgiven in return. Wherever a Christian fails the command to forgive, God is unable to forgive in return. This is done by continuing to renew your mind in Christ, your continuing commitment in obedience to God’s Word.

The Beginning of Life Renewal

One day Satan came to Jesus with a direct face-to-face attack. Jesus had been fasting in the wilderness for 40 days, no small feat of endurance even for the man of God. Satan showed Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8,9) In other words, “You can have all the money, power and sex that there is.” Jesus refused to focus on what Satan brought to His attention. Instead, Jesus focused on the Word of God. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 10:20, “You shall worship Jehovah your God and serve Him alone.” Rejecting those false gods of money, power and sex is a good start, but more is required for success with God. You must actually replace the gods that have reigned supreme in your life with the worship of the Only True God of Heaven. When you remove false gods from your life as the Bible says, you leave a vacuum in your life that must be filled with something. Satan and the world will try to help you fill that vacuum with anything possible: something new, scintillating and different. In order to keep the influence of Satan and the corruption of the world out of your life, you must replace the corrupt influence with God by the continual renewing of your mind and heart, your personality.

Back in the 1960’s, the flower power generation changed the country in America for a time. Whether you agree with the flower children or not, many of them rejected the notion that materialism was god. Why did these folks fail to make permanent change in the world? They forgot one simple thing. When they removed the god they had, they failed to replace that god of materialism with something of greater value or they replaced the god of materialism with the god of sexual addiction or something else again. In the end, one way or the other, the flower power generation exchanged one form of selfishness for another form of selfishness.

The apostle Paul said “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) Proving the will of God means something. To prove the Will of God, you cannot be indifferent or uncaring about His Will. Instead, you must make it a part of your life. This is possible only when you are transformed by the renewing of your mind. The very first step to the renewal of your mind and heart is putting away false gods in your life.