NOT FROM MEN OR BY MEN

Gal 1v1: Paul, an apostle- sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead- and all the brothers with me. 

There is a strange belief that is going around in much of the Church these days. It is the belief that many Churches have that if a person hasn't known its Pastors and 'leadership team' for a long time, haven't attended as many meetings as possible, haven't contributed in every way possible, and haven't had a long and impressive 'track record', that those people are not worthy to be listened to and not worthy to have a place of service in their midst. This kind of a 'screening' process is simply not Biblical, and it isn't sanctioned by the Word of God. This kind of process comes from the proud heart of men who believe that they have passed a grand test of their own making, that they have won the right to their ministry and service through an impressive track record with God, and men who ultimately are running according to much of their own 'strength' and their own vision.

Lets look at a balancing truth to give this the proper perspective. It is true that God gives strict spiritual conditions for those wanting to be Elders in a Church. And it is also true that it is implicitly implied that such conditions be the standard by which men of God should be imitating if they are wanting to serve the Church of God. Paul says that, 'not many of you should desire to be teachers, for you know that we shall be judged more strictly'. But the scripture above (Gal 1v1) clearly shows that in any case, a man must be called, appointed and sent by God. The scripture does not say by God AND man, it simply says that Jesus and God are the ones who do this. This means that any kind of service cannot simply be given to men by fulfilling a set of man-made conditions or even spiritual conditions, but men must know whether they have been sent by Jesus and sent by God.

The amazing and often sad fact about this though is that many cannot discern properly between those that are man-sent and those that are God-sent. This is because those that are man-sent often seem to prosper, while those that are God-sent often seem to be the strangest, hardest and most rejected men you'll ever meet. Furthermore, men often have a very hard time distinguishing between the flesh and the Spirit, and this is where the rubber hits the road. The question is how do we distinguish? I'll address that in the next post.