| Num 12:1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because ofthe Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said "Has the Lord indeed spoken only through moses? "Has He not spoken through us also"? And the Lord heard it. We also have the story of another who went against God's choice of leadership, Korah. In Num 16:1 we read; "Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourself above the assembly of the Lord"? What was God's response? Num 16:31 "Now it ame to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened it's mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly." I would like to mention that the very cloud so many want to believe they are following is the very cloud that brings judgement for rebellion. At this point many might say, that was moses and the Old Testament, we are under "Grace" now. Let's see what jude says in the New Testament about submission to Spiritual leadership. Jude 10 "but these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah". Who is jude speaking of? Jude 8 "Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority; and speak evil of dignitaries." New Testament Spiritual Leadership At this time, even those who are under the deception of a rebellious spirit would say, thats not me, I do not reject authority. Any time you refuse to follow the shepherd that God has placed you under, you are rejecting God's authority. Rom 13:1 "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgement on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who ractices evil". God establishes Spiritual authorities and those who follow them to establish order in His Kingdom. Titus 3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work. Heb 13:17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Biblically Leaving Ministry I began this article by telling some past stories of people that I have come into contact with over the years. I have heard so many statements concerning people leaving ministry that God had called them to. How does that play into obedience, is it ever right to leave a ministry? The answer is yes and no. Very few times have I ever heard of a person that has left ministry under the right Biblical circumstances. Most of the time, a person leaves a ministry and says "the Lord has led me...." We can all fill in the blanks, but is this how God does it? According to the Word of God, a local ministry, called a synagouge in the New Testament, filled with believers, is likened to a family. Every family has parents to care for, guide and at times correct and rebuke. This is done to raise up spiritual children to productive adults. It is usually during the time that I have come to call the "teenage years" that becomes the most critical time to understand Biblical submission. Our enemy, satan, usually comes at this time to try and sow discord and problems between the spiritual children and their spiritual parents. I have come to call this time the "teenage years" because as we all know, teenagers are convinced they know better than their parents and want to do everything their own way. This is not always the case but is still a serious problem for the church. |
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