Spiritual Tug-Of-War

by Van Robison

Although God is not the author of confusion, the world we live in is a perpetual tug-of-war for the minds and hearts of human beings. It is not only true in the spiritual realm, but also in every area of life. Just one example in a world of millions of issues would be the scare that spinach is tainted. As a result, some are calling for more "control", which is generally man's answer to every seeming problem on earth. On the flip side, there is the belief that food production should revert back to local farming, home gardens, organic growing and so forth as opposed to mass production and commercialization.

Virtually every issue in life has a battle zone. There is always the government side of every issue as well as alternative views that generally are never acceptable to those in power or control. In the world of health and medicine, the deeply entrenched medical system is very monopolistic, and seeks to destroy all alternative health practices as "quackery." The battles never cease. The statistics for deaths caused by medical doctors are said to be something like 250,000 people per year (U.S.A.), and that would only scratch the surface of medical issues. There is also the issue of countless unnecessary surgeries, for the reason that the insurance system is an endless source of money. Those in control in every field of human life will always do everything in their power to discredit opposition to their ways. In Proverbs 14:12 it says, "There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

It would be humanly incalculable to know how many human beings have been terminated early in life, because of "the way that seems right." The way that seems right includes endless wars, the medical system, the vaccination system, the psychiatric system, the mass food production system, the prison system, the so called justice system, the pharmaceutical drug system and countless other issues in life. A great part of life on earth is forced upon human beings by those who are rich and powerful and who control the lives of all nations. Human beings are guinea pigs to those whose god is money, power, position, control and vanity. It is true in both the secular world and the religious world. The man-made laws that govern human life and activities are as numerous as the sand upon the seashores. We are all prisoners to man's thinking.

On the other hand, Almighty God is the true Way that brings peace, harmony, health, happiness, life, joy and salvation. Man basically rejects God's way, and the only Way is LOVE, and God is Love. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. A great many of the decisions that human beings make are not based upon "love", but rather they are based upon greed, selfishness, money profit motives (at the expense of others), control and human vanity. It will never change as long as there is human nature.

The "Christian" church world is also a control system for the minds, hearts and pocketbooks of all who are ensnared. Although physical force is not generally the issue in the church world (as in the middle ages, although in some circles it can be), those who are caught up in churchianity are manipulated through false guilt, false fear, false authority, false teachings and the man-made clergy/laity system we all know. Like the secular world, those in power and control are tenacious about their false authority. True government (Isaiah 9:6) rests with Jesus Christ and no one else. Jesus Christ is the only Head (Ephesians 5:23), the only Master (Matthew 23:10), the only Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and the only Savior ever offered to mankind. In Matthew 28:18 it states, "And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying--ALL POWER is given unto me, in heaven and in earth." Power does not belong to man but to God. The only "power" Jesus Christ ever gave to His disciples was to heal the sick and cast out unclean spirits (see Matthew 10:1), but not to control His flock.

The reason that secular and religious "governments" compel compliance is nothing more than unadulterated human vanity. To tell pastors of churches that they have no power or authority given to them over the flock, is to cause them to stutter. They cannot accept or believe that they are not "the head" of your spiritual life. Pastors will quote Paul's writings for their false authority, but neglect to quote Jesus Christ, who gave no such authority (Matthew 20:25-26). Indeed, life is a spiritual tug-of-war for the hearts and minds and pocketbooks of the sheep. Is it not obvious that the bigger the church, the more people, the more the money, and the bigger the church building, the more luxuries for the pastor? Megachurch pastors are financially and materially well off, and all at the expense of gullible sheep who sit in their soft cushioned seats as pawns in the game of man-made religion.

Jesus Christ has never delegated to men that they should receive the honor, glory and worship that applies only to the Father/Jesus Christ. In Matthew 4:10 it says, "Then said Jesus unto him, Get you hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." So do Christians worship and serve "pastors" and "professional clergy" or God Almighty? Most Christians will say, yes I worship God, but at the same time they will pay money to the paid hirelings for spiritual lordship over their lives. They give their lives to "pastors" as if those "pastors" were Jesus Christ himself. They live as if pastors are infallible and inerrant. They live as if pastors are their masters, their father and their spiritual head. And the professional clergy are not about to give up their positions of power, control and free money. Many of those power-pastors will pass their empires down to their sons and daughters to perpetuate their private kingdoms.

If you are born-again, meaning that you have repented, accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and received the Holy Spirit into your life, then your one and only Master is Jesus Christ. The Bible is not your master. Paul is not your master. Pastors are not your master. Professional clergy are not your masters. The church you attend is not your master. The spiritual tug-of-war exists, simply because the spiritual imposters cause people to believe that they cannot have a relationship with Jesus Christ unless they go to church and come under the authority of professional guides known as pastors. In John 10:9 Jesus declares, "I AM the DOOR: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." Did Jesus say that the door to being saved is your local pastor? Did Jesus say that the door to being saved is attending so-called "church" every week? Perhaps Christians are hearing voices other than Jesus Christ. Like everything in life, to buck the system is tantamount to heresy. It is unthinkable for many to accept that the church system is full of holes and built upon a foundation of sand that cannot hold water. The real Living Water is Jesus Christ. The spiritual tug-of-war ends when the flock really follows their TRUE SHEPHERD--Jesus Christ.