Tenacious Resistance To Truth By Church Leaders

by Van Robison

An amazing reality about power, control, prestige and endless free money, is that those who nest in such places, tenaciously resist TRUTH. They resist truth by twisting scriptures to support their false authority over common church goers. While many church pastors are very deceived and deluded themselves, even if they are sincere, other leaders are simply addicted to power and money. Last year, the prestigious Wall Street Journal published an article entitled The Backlash Against Tithing by Suzanne Sataline, on November 23, 2007. What I find very intriguing is that many websites have posted comments about this article. Church goers have long been programmed to accept tithing as a "Christian" duty and responsibility, as well as the key to being materially blessed. It is therefore not surprising when many church goers post comments on various websites favoring the tithing principle. It shows the level of indoctrination many Christians have from pastors who stand in the pulpits.

The world is full of people who are financially very "blessed", who are neither church goers or tithe payers. Material "success" is not determined by whether an individual pays tithes to a preacher, but is generally an indication of hard work, thrift, sacrifices, positive thinking and a determination to succeed in a material sense. The world is full of people who earned their financial successes the old fashioned way--they worked for it. Unlike preachers who live on church welfare, real men work for a living. Even the famous Paul of the New Testament worked for his own needs by making tents. Today's preachers prefer church welfare to setting an example, as Paul did. Preachers love to pick and choose specific scriptures in the Bible to validate their false teaching about tithing and free money.

As far as tithing is concerned, there are a number of books on the market, authored by various individuals, that delve into the tithing issue in depth. These books prove Biblically that tithing is a very, very false doctrine. No doubt many church leaders will resist the tithing truth, and for obvious reasons--love of free money, control and power over others. Power is an addiction. Free money from tithes is an addiction. What megachurch "pastor" would ever stand in the pulpit and say, "Brethren, I have some good news--tithing is a false doctrine" and, "Brothers and sisters--I am standing here today to resign, because I have come to see the PLAIN TRUTH, that pastors DO NOT have authority over the sheep of Christ"? What pastor would willingly stand in the pulpit and tell their congregation that there are issues with the "infallibility" of the Bible, and specifically such scriptures as "obey those who have the authority over you" (Hebrews 13:17)? Almost no pastor would willingly state that some scriptures are in contradiction to the direct teachings of Jesus Christ, because they "think" Paul or other writers of the New Testament have priority over what Jesus taught. When Jesus said you have ONLY ONE MASTER (Matthew 23:8-10), why don't pastors understand that elementary principle of Christ? Pastors don't see themselves as brothers of ordinary church goers, but rather as "overlords" and authority figures. Jesus taught that there is ONE SHEPHERD and ONE FOLD, so how do pastors and church leaders justify their customs and traditions, as authoritative over what Jesus taught?

Power, authority and free money are great cause for SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS on the part of church leaders. It is very easy to twist scriptures and to deceive the self and others by the love of self importance. The world is full of deceived church leaders, whose only recourse to falsehoods is to make church goers live in fear of false authority and false money principles, that fuel the "clergy/laity" system of churchianity. We already know from reading the New Testament, that the elders, priests, chief priests, scribes and lawyers were very jealous about their power and authority, in the time of Jesus Christ. The net result of the frame of mind of those religious leaders, was that Christ was crucified. How many pastors today are very tenacious to protect their free flowing money, prestige and power over the flock? They reject the truth in Christ for power and free money (tithes), by making personal disciples of themselves, instead of exalting Jesus Christ to His rightful place as SHEPHERD, MASTER, COUNSELOR, TEACHER, SAVIOR and the ONLY WAY, TRUTH and LIFE.

Many church goers have a deep seated sense of fear that their salvation is at risk if they don't tithe, go to church faithfully and submit to the supposed "authority" of pastors. The key to overcoming this false fear is in looking to Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, and His personal teachings as recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus referred to Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Pastors and Christians alike think "the Bible", or the pastors, or the local churches are the Way, the Truth and the Life, but that is not a teaching of Jesus Christ. This is easily verified by simply reading what Jesus Christ spoke in person in the four Gospels.

Any millionaire or multi-millionaire preacher would naturally and tenaciously resist the truth Jesus Christ taught, because they are materially rich from twisting scriptures to fit their carnal desires. It is nothing less than appalling that any Christian would sit in any megachurch and give allegiance to a very fallible human being, who plays the role of being "God" to those in the pews. Many Christians all around the world have taken an exit from institutional churches, and have chosen to fellowship with others in private homes, under the apple tree, down by the lake, or wherever two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus Christ--without "professional" clergy. Money is not a requirement for repentance, the blood of Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit or the gift of eternal life. Preachers who have instituted "church" organizations and demand money, to keep their pet projects alive, are not preaching the Gospel of truth, but rather a false Gospel. A few "professional" pastors have denounced their private pulpits, when their blind eyes were opened to see the truth about the world of churchianity. The "clergy/laity" system of churches is not founded upon the Rock Jesus Christ, but upon shifting sands. Shifting sands is the cause for spiritual abuse, pastor burn-out and crumbling church organizations.