I can’t hold it in any longer. It bugs me too much. This viral epidemic of Christian ministers and their mimicking followers who feel the need to warn us all of the latest ‘toxic’ personality to avoid. This stuff clogs fellow Christians Facebook news feeds up like a toilet that no longer flushes but everyone uses it anyway. It’s like a daily dose of affirmation to make us realise that every personality clash we have in church is not just the result of everyday differences but actually another ‘spiritual attack’ on you because you have the ‘cutting edge’ anointing.
You all know how it goes, a ‘new breed’ apostle or prophet shares a little snippet on social media from their latest encounter with someone who gave them some sort of annoyance in life with the hopes that others will be warned and avoid such a viscous attack on their anointing. In order not to defile themselves by naming names of actual people in the giving of their latest advice they employ the use of spirits and imagery of warfare. You might encounter something along the lines of “beware of the orphan spirit, that attacks those who have the sonship anointing!”. By attaching a spirit to their experience the posting minister avoids exposing the person to whom they are thinking of and referring to. Then by employing terms of generalisation in the naming of the spirit we can avoid individualising the person in case someone sees through the fact we are just veiling our gossip about someone to once again prove me and my ‘tribe’ are the most attacked and therefore most ‘anointed’ of all christians. These same people who warn about orphan spirits today will warn about nepotism in ministry tomorrow.
Some of this stuff has the appearance of wisdom, yet a closer look reveals its detrimental effects. And it does deteriorate our mental state. It is suspicion. It is superstition. Dare I say it, and I will, because books are sold and ministries made by this garbage, it is a descent into tribalism, incantation and magic. One thing it is not, is love.
Any community where large numbers of people live, work and fellowship together, whether a church or a company, is going to contain people with and who have different personality issues, psychological problems, differences and disagreements. In fact you are one of those people who at some point will exhibit behaviour that others must watch out for. So am I. However, the majority of the conflict is not because of your superior spirituality and special calling. It is not because everyone is out to destroy your destiny. It is because you are people who are growing together. Me and my brother used to have fistfights quite often when we were children. It wasn’t because my brother had a Jezebel spirit and wanted to kill my prophetic gift. It was because we hadn’t matured in appropriate ways to interact over disagreements yet. We were children then, we are adults now and haven’t fought in years. At least we still loved each other and fellowshipped together after the violence. Which is more mature than avoiding each other and then broadcasting to the world on Facebook to also avoid people or ‘spirits’ like my brother. The fact that this is disguised as ministry and teaching is even worse.
Where did Paul say that wars factions and divisions come from amongst us? The python spirit? the orphan spirit? the squid spirit? NO. He said it came from carnality, and the fact that the church were behaving as mere human beings. This stuff had lots to do with humanity and little to do with hyper-spirituality, either with God or the demonic.
It is always tempting for those on the ‘cutting edge’ to affirm their validity and identity through feelings of shared victimisation rather than shared belief in the gospel and apostolic tradition. Oops, did i say tradition? better keep away!. This is why preachers who are heavy on spiritual warfare and behavioural anecdotes and light on preaching the finished work of Christ can quickly gather a following. As is the trend today, these followings will usually be small tribal hubs and home fellowships, as small groups are good at affirming our unique position as a remnant of cutting edge anointed ones who are the only ones walking in great revelation. From my experience most Christians understanding of gospel truth varies little whether they hashtag themselves as apostolic#prophetic# and go to a home group or whether they are in a church of a thousand and reading books by Tim Lahaye on the rapture.
The easiest way to feel special without discipline and doctrine that actually brings growth is to Identify yourself with a group of people who draw attention to themselves by perpetuating their own victimisation. Probably why so many young people these days are deciding they are homosexual or some new gender. I’ll be a victim, and i’ll join the fight for my right to be seen as special. I know that this will be offensive to some, but most aboriginals i know rarely or even refuse to acknowledge any other heritage than their indigenous one, even though many have white parents and a multi-cultural bloodline. By identifying as a race or group of people constantly under attack, a sense of purpose is given to the mundane and sometimes ugly realities of humanity. Our suit of skin is for protection from the elements, not from each other.
The church is also a covering, one where people from every tribe, tongue and stereotype can grow in Godliness together. When we fellowship together, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
The gospel doesn’t warn us to avoid each other. The apostles were not out to expose church members behavioural shortcomings. They were covering them with apostolic teaching and fellowship. The church is the place where we learn to forgive, love and reconcile with one another, even forgiving up to 70 times 7 in a day. That is why the Apostles didn’t waste time warning us about ‘toxic’ relationships and people, but about ‘toxic’ teachers and teaching. The teaching of the gospel includes all of humanity in it’s death and victimisation, and also in it’s resurrection and triumph in Christ. Cutting edge revelation is the one that sees the special nature of humanities co-death and co-ressurection in Christ. It is not our differences that mark our anointing level, but what we share in common! If the world hates you, no matter, it hated Him before you. If the Church hates you, then your test of whether you are truly apostolic# and prophetic# and resisting the evil one will be revealed in whether you continue to love and cover those who do not yet understand you. This letter is a warning, not against brothers or sisters, but against slander and gossip disguised as apostolic teaching. The simplest way to remain pure is to maintain fellowship with one another. Love the one your with.
Josh
fierystones.com 