The Whore
In John's Revelation, the Whore - then symbolic of Israel, now symbolic of the church - rides upon the back of the Beast - symbolic of the state in any age - only to be rejected and ravished. Today, the Church, walking in apparent lockstep with all that has proceeded it, most certainly lives in fulfillment of this prophecy. If we were honest at looking at our own history, it would appear obvious that the Church has long sought after a position of dignity in association with the State and the ruling intelligentsia, whether with Constantine's Rome, the Holy Roman Empire, the various European State-Churches, or the many American protestant and catholic sects with their ruling oligarchs. We pine after the respectability we assume comes with the approval of the reigning political and academic elites.
From the time of Constantine until today, the Church has ridden upon the back of the State like the Whore of Revelation. The temptation to seek respectability has proven too strong to resist. Almost overnight, the Church took upon itself the form of the State and its methodologies for action. As the State made its professionals, so the Church made its priests/preachers. In total disregard for the way of God detailed in Scripture, the Church pursued life as a mirror image of the Beast. Striving well as Theological Dogmatists, yet implementing the truth as Practical Atheists.
At the foundation of this collapse lies the Church's inability to apply its core belief to the most critical area of Christian society - the selection of its ministers. Whereas the Cross tells us that we cannot claim God's calling and blessing by what we have accomplished or purchased, the Church, on the other hand, has for centuries enthroned simony as the way of life for Christian service. In a more ancient day, it meant buying the priesthood. Today, the monetary cost of ministerial education has made it all but certain that ministers are now "called" only from the wealthy or from those with wealthy benefactors. Anyone who has the money can be a priest or pastor in today's profligate church. The idea of divine gifting, while given lip-service in the application process, is effectually neutered by the modern seminary's assurance that our ministers are "fully prepared" by their humanly designed curricula and "anointed" in their various denominational rites of passage. The folly and corruption of the so-called 'ordination' process is notorious. Just ask the victims of a paedophile priest or bisexual evangelical leader.
Underlying the cost is the presumption that this method of ministerial preparation is somehow divinely approved, the cost working as sort of a sieve to remove the "chaff" i.e., those who falsely presume they are called. For those who cannot afford the cost have their calling often challenged or dismissed outright with pious statements such as, "If God calls you to ministry, He will supply the money." It follows that if the money is not there, you are not called, the reverse also being true. That the logic begs the question about the divine approval upon the process is never honestly dealt with. The list of instances where the pride of life masqueraded as piety is legion.
But here is the most tragic result: Gone with the Way of the Cross is God's presence in the Spirit. The Church can no longer say "silver or gold have we none" as it rejoices in its worldly gains, but neither can it say "rise up and walk." The consequence of this loss of power before the world is the world's inability to recognize the value of the Church. As the Church has rejected its source of power, the world can no longer find any compelling need for the Church. It is now worse than archaic, it is irrelevant. Gone are the days when a small group of inspirited disciples could turn around an entire empire. It is now just one competing religion among many. As a source of power, the voting booth is esteemed more than the Spirit.
So, what must we conclude? If we somehow find it within ourselves to scrap this secular-based system, what do we replace it with? First, with humility and honesty. Second, with obedience. Both the Old and New Testaments and early Christian history give us an easily understandable set of examples on this topic. In not one of them does the teaching on ministerial selection and education have anything to do with the way the world molds its professionals. The process is simple and supernatural: Gifting and apprenticeship - the Power of God working in communion with the Body.
Let us be honest with ourselves by asking this question: If we fail to obey, will God continue to approve? And what if the lack of approval is made manifest by the withholding of His Spirit? How would we know, as men of flesh, that the Spirit is missing? What if we only think we have the Spirit today? What if Spirit-reception through mere faith-perception is as heretical as an indulgence? Samson "...knew not that the Spirit had left him." By all honest observation, the Church is in the same serious state of disobedience and just as spiritless. Just a husk.
From the time of Constantine until today, the Church has ridden upon the back of the State like the Whore of Revelation. The temptation to seek respectability has proven too strong to resist. Almost overnight, the Church took upon itself the form of the State and its methodologies for action. As the State made its professionals, so the Church made its priests/preachers. In total disregard for the way of God detailed in Scripture, the Church pursued life as a mirror image of the Beast. Striving well as Theological Dogmatists, yet implementing the truth as Practical Atheists.
At the foundation of this collapse lies the Church's inability to apply its core belief to the most critical area of Christian society - the selection of its ministers. Whereas the Cross tells us that we cannot claim God's calling and blessing by what we have accomplished or purchased, the Church, on the other hand, has for centuries enthroned simony as the way of life for Christian service. In a more ancient day, it meant buying the priesthood. Today, the monetary cost of ministerial education has made it all but certain that ministers are now "called" only from the wealthy or from those with wealthy benefactors. Anyone who has the money can be a priest or pastor in today's profligate church. The idea of divine gifting, while given lip-service in the application process, is effectually neutered by the modern seminary's assurance that our ministers are "fully prepared" by their humanly designed curricula and "anointed" in their various denominational rites of passage. The folly and corruption of the so-called 'ordination' process is notorious. Just ask the victims of a paedophile priest or bisexual evangelical leader.
Underlying the cost is the presumption that this method of ministerial preparation is somehow divinely approved, the cost working as sort of a sieve to remove the "chaff" i.e., those who falsely presume they are called. For those who cannot afford the cost have their calling often challenged or dismissed outright with pious statements such as, "If God calls you to ministry, He will supply the money." It follows that if the money is not there, you are not called, the reverse also being true. That the logic begs the question about the divine approval upon the process is never honestly dealt with. The list of instances where the pride of life masqueraded as piety is legion.
But here is the most tragic result: Gone with the Way of the Cross is God's presence in the Spirit. The Church can no longer say "silver or gold have we none" as it rejoices in its worldly gains, but neither can it say "rise up and walk." The consequence of this loss of power before the world is the world's inability to recognize the value of the Church. As the Church has rejected its source of power, the world can no longer find any compelling need for the Church. It is now worse than archaic, it is irrelevant. Gone are the days when a small group of inspirited disciples could turn around an entire empire. It is now just one competing religion among many. As a source of power, the voting booth is esteemed more than the Spirit.
So, what must we conclude? If we somehow find it within ourselves to scrap this secular-based system, what do we replace it with? First, with humility and honesty. Second, with obedience. Both the Old and New Testaments and early Christian history give us an easily understandable set of examples on this topic. In not one of them does the teaching on ministerial selection and education have anything to do with the way the world molds its professionals. The process is simple and supernatural: Gifting and apprenticeship - the Power of God working in communion with the Body.
Let us be honest with ourselves by asking this question: If we fail to obey, will God continue to approve? And what if the lack of approval is made manifest by the withholding of His Spirit? How would we know, as men of flesh, that the Spirit is missing? What if we only think we have the Spirit today? What if Spirit-reception through mere faith-perception is as heretical as an indulgence? Samson "...knew not that the Spirit had left him." By all honest observation, the Church is in the same serious state of disobedience and just as spiritless. Just a husk.
"When I return, will I find faith in the land?"
WLK
WLK
posted by Johannes Bifrons at 1:00 PM
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