Death of a Revival: More Noise, Less Anointing

By David Ryser

Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast (John Steinbeck).

“The power is increasing!”

This claim was made from the platform during a revival service.  The move of God had been ongoing for more than four years.  The “fire” had broken out in a small rural town.  It had attracted people from all over the world.  They came to see what God was doing.  They received powerful ministry as God restored them to wholeness according to their individual need.  Over time, the small-town church facility couldn’t hold the crowds. 

It was time for a change.  What should we do?

The decision was made to move the church to a much larger city 100 miles away.  There would be plenty of land on which to build a suitable facility.  There was a major airport in the area, so people from out-of-town could more conveniently access the church and experience God’s power.

It was a good plan.  But was it God’s plan?

The leaders of the church began to receive e-mails and other correspondence from supporters of the revival who were concerned that a move to the big city would adversely affect this precious gift from God.  Rather than be grateful that these people cared enough to share their concerns, the church leadership interpreted these misgivings as criticism.  Their attitude was, “We are the experts.  We know what is best.”

It hadn’t always been that way.

In the early days of the revival, God had come powerfully into a small church located in a small town.  The atmosphere in the services was charged with the presence of God.  Signs and wonders were a routine part of what He was doing.  The congregation humbly welcomed God into their midst.  They were grateful every time God was present…and He always showed up.  They never took Him for granted.  They were awed that He had chosen to abide with them.  As time went on, the presence and power of God increased.

Then we moved.

The revival services continued.  First we met in temporary facilities, and then in a beautiful church building.  God continued to come powerfully into the services.  But something was different.  Something was wrong.  Although people were still coming to the services and receiving ministry, there was a noticeable diminishing of His power.

“The power is increasing!”

This declaration was met with a shout of agreement.  But I knew it wasn’t true.  I felt it in my spirit.  I could see it in the eyes of my fellow congregants.  We knew God’s presence and power was waning, and we didn’t know what to do about it.  We praised louder.  We worshiped more vigorously.  We put more effort into everything we did.

The harder we worked, the less of God’s presence and power we experienced.

Revival is not a place.  It is the work of God in His people that renews them and makes them fully alive in God again.  Even so, many times God moves among a people in a particular place for His own purposes.  The Bible is full of stories of God moving in power among His people in the place of His choosing.  The ongoing story of the Israelites following the cloud and the pillar of fire during the Exodus is perhaps the most well-known of these.  When the cloud/fire would move, the people would move.  When the cloud/fire would stop, the people would stop…and they would stay for as long as the cloud/fire stayed.

The Israelites followed the cloud/fire.  We followed the money.

It wasn’t that simple, of course.  Oh, we did follow after the money.  We also chased the adoration of the crowds.  We pursued fame.  We sought acceptance with the leaders of the very religious system we felt called to reform.  Their flattery was effective, and we ended up seeking the approval of men rather than God.

And the power continued to wane.

The farther we wandered from God, the less we experienced His presence and power.  He slowly withdrew Himself.  We could’ve run after Him.  We didn’t.  We continued to go through the motions of revival while experiencing less of God.  We chased grand visions of ministry.  We pursued notoriety through a variety of media--newspapers, magazines, radio, television, etc.  Our services were animated, but less alive with each passing day.

Revivals, like people, rarely die all at once.

God in His mercy continued to meet people in the services and ministered His love and power to them.  But the spontaneity of the Spirit began to be replaced with conditioned behavior and church programs.  Over time, our church began to resemble the religious system we had lampooned.

We became what we had fled.

I suppose there are a great number of reasons revivals die, just as there are many causes of physical death. 

1.  A move of God can die out because the people begin to become so familiar with the presence and power of God that they no longer esteem and honor it…or Him.  We begin to go through the motions.  Our worship is more akin to the performance of a trained seal than the heartfelt worship in spirit and truth that it should be. 

2.  Sometimes the congregation wants to remain in a place, a system, or a methodology after God has moved on to something else.  Like Peter, wanting to build tents on the Mount of Transfiguration, we contend passionately for what God was doing long after He has left the building. 

3.  Other times we chase after things that are not God.  Shiny things.  Things that glitter and dazzle us.

Crying, “The power is increasing!” the whole time.

And sometimes a revival dies a dignified, natural death.  God moves on.  It is then that we discover whether we fell in love with Him or with His stuff.  When He goes on, will we follow Him?  Or will we stay camped in the old place and pretend that the cloud and the fire are still with us?

Selling religious souvenirs and trying to recapture past glories.

Or, worse yet, occasionally digging up the decaying body of something that once was living and vibrant…and parading the rotting corpse on television as a fresh move of God.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Modern Prophets: Lessons from My Grandfather's Dunghill

By David Ryser

“Sometimes gift is just another word for curse.”  (Lisa Jackson).

A man was attending his first Pentecostal church service.  He listened and watched as prophetic utterances were given and manifestations of speaking in other tongues with the interpretation following were in evidence.  After the service, the man was visiting with the pastor.  “Was that God speaking during the service?” he asked.  The pastor proudly assured him, “Yes, it was.”  The man replied, “Well, if that was God speaking, why didn’t He say anything of consequence?”

That’s a good question.  And it deserves a good answer.

Some time ago, I was reading an e-mailed prophetic “list” named after a famous Old Testament prophet.  It was a compilation of prophecies given by the most recognized prophetic voices in the world.  I was astounded by what I was reading…not positively astounded, mind you, but astounded nonetheless.

As I read through this “prophetic “ newsletter, sifting through the mire and searching for the golden nugget that might or might not be buried deep within, I was increasingly reminded of my grandfather’s dunghill.

My grandfather was a dairy farmer.  Twice a day he would milk the cows and then muck out the barn.  He would shovel the cow waste into a wheelbarrow and then push the wheelbarrow to the back door of the barn where he would dump the waste onto the ground below.  Because the barn was built into a hill, the drop from the back door to the ground was about two stories tall (or seemed so to a young child).

Over time, the dunghill grew taller and taller.  Eventually it grew so tall that my grandfather was able to place a plank from the back door of his barn onto the top of the dunghill.  Then he could wheel his wheelbarrow out to the edge of the dunghill and continue to dump the cow waste.  Thus, the dunghill grew greatly in size.

Before I read the “prophetic list,” my grandfather’s dunghill was the biggest pile of crap that I’d ever seen.

As I consider the sad state of modern prophecy and prophets, I find myself greatly conflicted.  Prophets are in danger of becoming irrelevant.  And they have an important job to do in the Kingdom of God.  One part of their job is to encourage and edify the people of God as they proclaim the word of God (Acts 15:32).  They are also charged with declaring the mind of God as He reveals the future to them.  The prophet Agabus is a New Testament example of this (Acts 11:27, 28 and 21:10, 11).

And Agabus declared the mind of the Lord without giving any advice to people about what to do with the revelation he gave to them.  Unlike many modern prophets, he knew when to speak and when to shut up.

Perhaps the most important part of the prophet’s job is to equip believers to do the work of the ministry and build up the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11, 12).  They accomplish this by training the people of God to hear the voice of God for themselves.  If they do not do this part of their job, they are not New Testament prophets.

And if they don't do their job, their gift becomes a curse.

Because if they retain the ability to hear the voice of God unto themselves, it is not long before they begin to use this God-given gift as a platform for doing Christian fortunetelling in front of crowds of people in order to receive their admiration, their adoration, and their money.  They can easily forget that their gifting is not about them.  It is not a means to show off their spirituality.  And it is not given so they can put their “word” on a prophetic list that is little more than a Christian version of the children’s game, “Mine is bigger than yours!”

Who needs this?  A part of me just wants to tune out the whole prophetic thing.  But I can’t.

Shutting off prophecy because it has become more of a curse than a blessing has already been tried.  It was done in Thessalonica at the first century church located there.  Why?  Probably for the same reasons churches all over the country have either shut down or actively curtailed prophetic utterances in their services.  It just doesn’t seem to be worth the trouble. But in 1 Thessalonians 5:20, the apostle Paul commands the church to “Stop despising prophecies” (literal Greek translation).  Then he tells them to test the prophecies (and other spiritual things) and hang onto what is good (verse 21).

In other words, have the sense of an old cow.  Eat the hay and leave the sticks.

So I have determined to honor the true prophetic in the Body of Christ…when, and if, I can find it.  I have connected myself with people who possess the eyes, the ears, and (most importantly) the heart of God.  They are not well-known as yet because they are going lower in Christ at the moment.  And the lower they go into Him, the greater their power.  God is preparing them, and we will be hearing from them.

They are at the bottom right now, but God is about to turn His Church upside-down.  Where will they be then?  For that matter, where will you be?

To the other prophets I would suggest that this is a good time to judge, and police, yourselves (1 Corinthians 14:29, 30).  Or else.  You can, and will, be replaced if necessary.  Please take your rightful place in the Body of Christ.  Become the gift and blessing you were intended to be.

We really do need you…or at least your gifting.  But if your gift becomes a curse to us, we will do without you until God raises up your replacements.  We are willing to wait awhile, if we must, for the real thing.

But in the meantime, I’m not going to read your stupid newsletter…even if it does remind me of my beloved grandfather.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

"Pay No Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain!": Church Leadership in Oz

By David Ryser

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” (The “wizard” in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, just prior to being exposed as a fraud).

“These people don’t need to attend three church services per week.  They need a 12 Step Program.”

Looking back, I can see that the person who said this was right.  I wasn’t able to accept it at the time because, whether intentionally or unintentionally, she was talking about me.

God was moving.  The church services were powerful, and the presence of God was so thick as to be almost tangible.  The congregation was excited to be a part of what God was doing on the earth, and we threw ourselves into what we thought was God.  We enthusiastically gave our hearts, souls, strength, and treasure to pursue after Him.  Imagine our disappointment when some of us finally realized that--rather than pursuing God--we were enabling a religious system that was being built to contain, control, manipulate, and merchandise the move of God.

We were being led astray by the church leaders from Oz.

In the movie, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her friends are sent on an adventure by a “wizard” who claims to be all-knowing and all-powerful.  He promises to grant their requests if they are able to perform a suicidal quest to prove their worthiness…without his help.  (Take another look at Luke 11:46 and Matthew 23:4 sometime.)  Unbeknownst to our heroes, the wizard is a phony who is hoping they will fail in their quest so that his cushy gig as the wizard in Oz will be preserved.

And he doesn’t care whether they live or die.  Just so they fail.

After succeeding in their quest, Dorothy and her friends go back to the wizard to receive what has been promised to them.  The wizard tries to put them off to another time.  When this doesn’t work, he resorts to intimidation and threats in order to dissuade them from pressing their demands.  In the midst of his rant, Dorothy’s dog Toto exposes the wizard as a fraud.  The wizard blusters out his final bluff:  “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”  But it’s too late.

Game, set, and match.  What does this have to do with church?

In Ephesians 4:11-16, the apostle Paul lists 4 or 5 (depending upon your theological persuasion) ministry gifts and describes their function.  Although the gifts vary, they have a common purpose.  The function of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher is to equip the people of God for the work of the ministry and building up of the Body of Christ.  This equipping is to continue until the saints are fully matured.

Any apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher who does not equip the saints is a fraud.  “But wait a minute,” you say, “I don’t know any of these people who are equipping the saints!  Are they all frauds?”

Bingo!  (Church leader, if you only have gifting, you are a fraud.  A phony.  A humbug.  You are not called to be gifted.  You are called to be a gift.)

And these phony ministers are not, typically, even bad people.  When Dorothy accuses the humbug “wizard” of being “a very bad man,” his response is:  “Oh, no, my dear!  I’m a very good man.  I’m just a very bad wizard.”

Wow.

These church leaders are not bad people.  They are needy people.  They are insecure people.  They are fearful people.  But they are not bad people.

They are just bad leaders.

It is an obscenity when good, gifted people are co-opted by a bad religious system to take the spiritual gifts God gave them to equip others, and use these gifts to perform spiritual tricks for money in a religious dog-and-pony show.

And we pay them to do it while we watch!

Attending the average church service, or watching Christian television for that matter, typically amounts to little more than Christian voyeurism.  It is a kind of porn.  But instead of watching people copulate, we watch them worship or dazzle us with their gifting.  We get our thrills by watching something that someone else is experiencing.

And so we go along on the church treadmill being neither equipped nor transformed.  Yes, we are changed from what we were, but we are not becoming what we have been called and anointed to be.  Even in a move of God, we are hounded by our sins, failures, ambitions, selfishness, wickedness, and personal demons.  We come time and time again for prayer to overcome the same problems.

And in the end, we are little better.

If God is moving, and if we are growing in Him, shouldn’t we be getting better?  Shouldn’t we be experiencing some deliverance and healing over the things that torment us?  Instead, we get just better enough to be useful parts in the church machine, but never truly whole in Christ.  And the entire time our “wizards” hammer home the same message:  “God’s good.  You’re not.  Try harder.”

What a mess!

So we go to multiple church services and do other religious gymnastics, believing that doing the same failed thing more often will bring success.  Hence, my friend’s observation:  “These people don’t need to attend three church services per week.  They need a 12 Step Program.”

Even AA groups don’t usually meet three times a week…and they actually accomplish something worthwhile.

Too many of us, under the supervision of our leadership from Oz, find that in the end we’ve merely exchanged one form of addiction for another.  Where we once pursued whatever it was that bound us, we now just as vigorously pursue religious activities.  We seek to be accepted, admired, and valued based upon our devotion to the church system.  We think we are growing in Christ when in reality we are merely becoming useful cogs in a religious contraption.

I have an idea.  How about we admit that we have a problem? (Step 1)

Let’s pursue God and a personal, intimate relationship with Him.  Let’s run after Him until He catches us.  He wants us more than we want Him.  He desires to deliver and heal us from the things that are keeping us far from Him.  And let’s seek out godly and gifted leaders who will equip us to become what God made us to be.  We’ve submitted ourselves to leaders who have taken advantage of us and abused us.  How hard can it be to submit ourselves to leaders who will love us and be concerned about our welfare?

And, please, do pay attention to that man behind the curtain.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Simplifying My Life: It was so Easy!

By David Ryser

A few weeks ago, I was walking through a Wal-Mart store.  I looked over their selection of books and found one written by a Christian author entitled "100 Ways to Simplify Your Life."

Imagine that!  I was able to simplify my life immediately…and in 100 ways!

How did I perform this amazing feat?  By not buying the book.

By not purchasing the book and making the recommended changes, I uncluttered my existence by at least 100 ways.

Who knew that simplifying my life could be so easy?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

I Knew I Should've Taken a Left Turn at Albuquerque: The Gospel According to Bugs Bunny

By David Ryser

My students and I stood staring at one another.  Where was God?  One moment we had been worshiping in the sweet presence of God.  In an instant, His presence was gone.

We had taken a wrong turn.  What should we do now?

It was our habit to come together every day, about an hour before class, to have a time of praise and worship.  God would meet us.  His presence would fill the room.  Today was no exception.  We basked in the nearness of God.  Our worship came to a place of transition, and one of the students suggested we take a particular direction in the worship.  I gave my assent.  We changed course.

The moment we did, the presence of God fled from the room.  What should we do now?

We were stunned!  We had come together to meet with God.  Now He was gone.  We didn’t know what to do.  Feeling somewhat responsible for our predicament, the student who had suggested the current direction of worship proposed we should go back to where we were in worship when we had last sensed God’s presence.  The idea was to get back “on track” and proceed from there.

I agreed we should give it a try.  We did.  It failed.  God was gone.  We were heartsick.  What should we do now?

I directed the students back to their seats in the classroom.  As I approached the podium, I sensed this was a teachable moment.  But what did God want to teach us?

As I took my place at the front of the room, God spoke softly into my heart.  I told the students to take out their Bibles and turn to Numbers 14.

Numbers 14 records the failure of Israel to enter Canaan.  Moses has led the people to the Jordan River.  In preparation for their crossing, twelve spies are sent into Canaan to observe the land (and its inhabitants) and bring back a report.  When the spies return, they all agree that Canaan is a land of abundance.

At this point, their agreement ends.  Ten of the spies describe the strength of the inhabitants of Canaan and advise against going across the river.  Two of the spies acknowledge the strength of the Canaanites, but argue in favor of crossing the river and taking the land God has promised to them.

The people of Israel choose to believe, and act upon, the majority report.  They refuse to cross the Jordan River.  Moses pronounces God’s judgment on them for their lack of faith and for their disobedience.  He prepares to lead them back into the wilderness.

At this point we typically stop reading and then teach a nice message on having faith in God and the consequences of disobedience.

But the story isn’t finished.

Numbers 14:40-45 tells us that on the next day, some of the people repent of their decision of the previous day and declare to Moses that they are now ready to cross over into Canaan.  Moses recommends against this course of action.  He informs them that when they cross over the Jordan River, neither he nor the Ark of the Covenant will accompany them.  They will be on their own.

The people ignore Moses’ advice.  They cross over into Canaan, and are soundly defeated by the Canaanites.  After mourning the defeat, the people of Israel turn away from Canaan and go back into the wilderness.

For 40 years.

Does missing God by just one day make that much difference?  Sometimes.

One of my professors used to say, “If God calls you to New York, and you go to Los Angeles, God’s plan for the rest of your life begins in Los Angeles.  And it may or may not include going to New York.”  When we take a wrong turn and miss God, should we go back to where we goofed up and try to get back on course?

It never worked that way for Bugs Bunny.

When I was a kid (a term used to describe the elapsed time between my birth and today), I enjoyed watching Warner Brothers cartoons.  One of my favorite cartoon characters was Bugs Bunny.  A typical Bugs Bunny cartoon would begin with Bugs tunneling underground and then popping up to discover that he had not arrived at his intended destination.  He would then pull out a map, look it over, and exclaim, “I knew I should’ve taken a left turn at Albuquerque!”

And then his adventure would begin.

But he never, not ever, began his new adventure by going back to Albuquerque.

And neither do we.

I was raised in the heavily forested region of western Washington State.  Hiking in the woods was a popular recreational activity.  Occasionally someone would get lost while hiking in the forest.  We were taught from an early age what to do if this happened to us.

When you first realize you are lost in the woods, the first thing you do is:  STOP WALKING!  To continue walking is to become more lost.  If you knew the correct direction to go, you wouldn’t be lost.

And so it is with God.

One of the greatest mistakes we make as individual Christians and churches is to plunge ahead when we miss God.  However we miss Him.  It might be a decision we made.  It might be the wrong choice of a song in a worship service.  It might be an entire congregation going a wrong direction.  Typically, we either charge ahead blindly into the unknown while becoming more lost, or we try to retrace our steps to get back where we were before we became lost.

It won’t work!

When we miss God (either individually or corporately) and find ourselves out of His presence, we need to stop.  Just stop.  Wait for Him to find us and tell us where to go and what to do next.

Wait.  Wait, in spite of life’s pressures.  Wait, in spite of the expectations of others.  Wait, in spite of the demands of ministry.  Wait, in spite of impatience and frustration.

God’s plan for you will begin right where you are.

Even Bugs Bunny knows that.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

...got lysine? Becoming what God made You to Be

By David Ryser

I was at a conference in Toronto.  The speaker closed his sermon by saying, “Christians spend too much time in church, and not enough time at the movie theater.”

I was dumbfounded to hear these words spoken from a pulpit.  The speaker had been making the argument that moviemakers, musicians, and other artists are gifted by God to express His truth.  Even if they do not know God.  He had been talking specifically about how he receives revelation from God while watching movies.  I was pondering his closing statement when God spoke two words into my spirit.

“Jurassic Park.”

And then God began to speak to me about the state of the institutional Church by using the themes found in Jurassic Park (both the movie and the book).

The premise of Jurassic Park is that scientists have been able to recover the DNA of dinosaurs by finding their blood in mosquitoes that had bitten them.  The mosquitoes then had been encased in tree sap, thus preserving both the mosquito and the dinosaur blood.  Using this DNA, it was possible to recreate dinosaurs.  An entrepreneur had funded this research in the hopes that he could use the dinosaurs as the centerpiece for a theme park featuring these creatures as living exhibits in a jungle setting.

Dinosaurs as zoo animals.  Sounds dangerous.

Prior to opening the theme park, the investor/owner invites three experts to inspect the park.  This group consists of two paleontologists and a mathematician (specifically a chaos mathematician).  The paleontologists are excited by the opportunity to see and study living dinosaurs.  They are blind to the fact that these dinosaurs, while in a climate that is suitable to them, are being used in such a way (as living exhibits) that is foreign to their original design.

Malcolm, the mathematician, takes one look at the park and declares that it is a disaster waiting to happen.

There are too many variables.  The dinosaurs are a fundamental unknown.  No one really knows what they were like in the past, but it is certain they were not designed to be captive zoo animals.  No matter what safeguards are in place, something will go terribly wrong.

The owner and his staff set about to calm Malcolm’s fears.  They point out the security features of the park which include electrified fences and impassable moats.  In addition, the dinosaurs have been created female to prevent them from breeding.  The park is located on an island to prevent their escape.  Even if they do escape, there is a final failsafe:  The dinosaurs have been genetically engineered to be lysine deficient.  If they do not receive lysine (an amino acid) in their diet, they will die.  The park staff provides lysine in the diet of the dinosaurs in the form of plant food (for the herbivores) or animal product (for the carnivores).  Without it, the animals cannot live for more than a few days.

It sounds like a good plan.  Too bad the plan doesn’t work.

As the old saying goes, dinosaurs will be dinosaurs.  Before long, they begin to act like the wild animals they are and prove to be uncontrollable.  Not only do they make a mess of the park, but some of them actually manage to escape the island.  The park has to be shut down, and the damage contained by a strict quarantine of the island.  The dinosaurs that have escaped are not thought to be a threat because of their lysine deficiency.

Wrong!

The book ends with reports of sightings of strange animals in the jungle.  People and animals have odd bite marks on their bodies.  There are unidentified footprints on the jungle floor.  Along the path of the footprints, there are opened bean pods.  The beans have been eaten by whatever animal left the footprints.

The beans are rich in lysine.

So what does this have to do with the Church?  Everything.

Christians are designed to be passionate lovers of God who are aggressive co-laborers with Him, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth.  We are called to be soldiers in God’s army.  The job of an earthly army is to kill people and break things…and then to occupy the territory won in the war.  In God’s army, we take the light & life of God and assail the gates of the kingdom of darkness.  And we prevail against them (Matthew 16:18).

There is a violence, a wildness, an unpredictability, and an uncontrollability inherent in all of this.  This is a picture of a spiritual battlefield, not a spiritual zoo.  The local church is the training ground for God’s army.  Its job is to prepare the believer for battle.

So why does the local church more resemble a theme park where the Christians are on display for everyone to look at?

And do not think for a moment that this state of affairs is unintentional.  Every Bible College student preparing for vocational ministry takes classes such as Pastoral Theology and Church Administration to learn how to keep God’s people on the reservation.  To keep them under control in order to make them useful for nothing more than to serve as workers in the Church machine.  And we make sure that they do not learn how to hear from God and operate in His power for themselves.  Because if they did, they might do something crazy like minister God’s love and power outside of the church building and programs.

God’s people are lysine deficient, spiritually speaking.  And they are intentionally made to be that way.

Our churches typically are not about training and equipping God’s army for battle.  My friend Tim has correctly pointed out that the threefold purpose of most churches is to:  1) Propagate a message (typically not the gospel; more like an organizational sales pitch), 2) Pool resources (ostensibly for ministry, but usually for the upkeep of the physical plant and the staff), and 3) Control a congregation through a common, unifying vision (Can you say “Jurassic Park”?).

I don’t see establishing God’s kingdom anywhere on the list.  Do you?

As I saw all of this, God spoke again into my spirit:  “My people will become what I made them to be.  And they will do what I have made them to do.  They will find a way to escape the religious system that is holding them back.  And if they lack anything because it was withheld from them, I will make sure they get it.”

I can’t decide if that sounds more like a promise or a threat.  I suppose it depends upon where you fall in the battle between the religious system and the Kingdom of God.

…got lysine?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Should You Be as Strong as an Ox?: There is a Downside

By David Ryser

“Church would be great if it wasn’t for the people.”  The pastor who uttered these words from the pulpit was trying to be funny.  But I’d been a pastor for 14 years, and I suspected that behind these words was some bitterness and hostility.

And a lot of truth.

Proverbs 14:4 says that, “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.”  Ministry is a dirty business sometimes because people can be such a mess.  More than one pastor has confided to me that they have become weary of “scooping up sheep dip” or “shoveling ox patties” (or some other such colorful expression describing the glamorous work of vocational church ministry).

Pastors do not typically enjoy mucking out the church barn.

But the mess comes with the people.  And a church without people is no church at all.  Without the people who comprise the congregation, the local church goes out of business.  Pastors know that, in their line of work, they will have to be involved with people’s lives.  And the work of an operating church has to be done by someone, so people are needed to do the work.  The larger and more successful (at least by our standards) the church, the more people there are in attendance.  And the more work there is to be done.  This requires more people to do the work.  This requires more people to attend the church.  And this…

You get the idea.

Running a church requires people.  And people are messy.  As nice as the church might be without people, this is not a viable option for the pastor.  And the pastor does not need just any kind of person to be a worker in the church.  The Bible has a lot to say about the quality of character demanded of a person who holds a position in the church.  And if someone is going to have a position in the church, that person should be committed to the church.  After all, we cannot have someone teaching Sunday School (or serving in any other church program) who does not attend the church services.

The pastor needs church workers who have the character of Christ, the commitment of Esther, and the strength of an ox.

So I’ve been thinking about oxen.  In Jesus’ day, oxen were prized as draft animals because of their great strength.  They were able to do arduous labor such as plowing and pulling heavy loads.  Of course, oxen have drawbacks as well.  Oxen, like people, are messy.  But they are strong.  The advantage of their strength outweighs the disadvantage of their mess.  So typically the owner of the ox was willing to clean up the mess made by the ox in exchange for the benefit of his great strength.

Hence, the sentiment expressed in Proverbs 14:4.

But an ox has another important downside as well.  Oxen, by definition, are males of certain large species of cattle.  Because they are male, they are stronger than their female counterparts.  But they are also more aggressive, unpredictable, and uncontrollable.  In order to harness a bull’s strength and keep him under control, the owner of the bull castrates him.  This castrated bull is called an ox.

This is the price you pay for having an ox instead of a bull.  The ox is sterile.

And the ox’s sterility is not an accident.  It’s not as if the ox had a mishap while learning to ride a bicycle as a calf and inadvertently neutered himself.  The ox was intentionally gelded by his owner in order to take advantage of his strength without the problems caused by his natural aggressiveness.  So the owner is not allowed to complain that the ox is sterile.  He neutered the ox himself!

Which brings us back to the Church.

Because pastors need church workers to do the labor of the church programs, we set out intentionally to train them.  We take people whom God intended to be passionate, aggressive and fruitful members of His kingdom and then spiritually neuter them to keep them under control.  We don’t call it spiritual gelding, of course.  We call it spiritual maturity, and we call what we do to them “covering” (a synonym for “smothering” in this case).  Instead of coming up from underneath them as servant-leaders and raise them up to be and do what they were created by God to be and do, we pastors come up over the top of God’s people and smother any “wild fire” in them.  And then we deliberately turn them into passionless worker bees (which are also sterile, by the way…but they’re female) in the church hive.

And then we criticize them from the pulpit for being unfruitful!  How stupid can we be?  They are unfruitful because they are sterile!  And they’re sterile because we made them that way!

If a farmer complained that his ox was sterile, we’d think he was a moron.  So what would we call a pastor who complains about the sterility of his spiritual oxen?

And it’s not as if the people of God do not burn to be more than they have been made to be.  I was sitting in a room listening to a frustrated church worker as he described his aggravation with trying to balance all of the responsibilities in his life.  He said, “I’m a husband, father, employee, and church leader.  And I’m not doing a good job at being any of them.”

He went on to detail how he is required by his church to be committed to the services and activities of the church in order just to qualify for ministry in one of the church programs.  He estimated that he spends about 25 hours per week in service to the church.  With tears in his eyes, he admitted he did not have the time or energy to continue on at this pace.  He was neglecting his wife, children, and work to be involved as a leader in a church program.  He was paying a terrible price to work in his church.  And, most tragically, he summed up the fruit of his service to the church by saying, “And I don’t even touch anybody.”

What have we done?

Is the so-called “ministry” of our church so important that we must destroy the lives of the people of God to do it?  Is it necessary to sterilize and enslave them for a life of drudgery on the religious treadmill?  Knowing that if they grow weary and fall to the side, there will be someone else climbing the sacred ladder who will be all too happy to take their place...until they also fall?  Are God’s people made to serve the church organization?  Or should the church organization be structured in such a way as to serve the people?  To encourage, enable, and empower them to be and do what God intended (Ephesians 2:10)?

Do we have no fear of God?  How do you suppose He feels about all of this?  We have created a religious monster that exists only to feed and expand itself.  It consumes all of the resources poured into it just to survive and grow.  Meanwhile, the Kingdom of God has not advanced at all.

So I don’t know if church would be a better place without people.  But I’m beginning to wonder if the people would not be better off without church.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com