Normal human beings have no desire to have power or control over other human beings. Why then do those in pulpits and those in politics have such an inordinate lust for power? The staggering self-importance of pulpit masters is really very embarrassing. In fact those who stand in pulpits and pretend to speak for God, are very immature human beings, whose low-self-esteem is more than evident to any discerning thinker.
God in fact does not need preachers or pastors. Virtually anyone can convey Jesus Christ to another human being and it does not require a fake religious degree from some bible college. The idea that those who accept and believe in Jesus, must be treated as school children for life, is the stuff of silliness.
Why must a preacher or pastor stand before a crowd of people, with an open "Bible" and read to them and expound to them, as if they are morons, incapable of understanding without being told what to think? This is of course the world of man-made CHURCHIANITY.
If you belong to a church, then you are a religious slave to the pastor, priest, bishop, elder or overlord of that church. Never mind that we read where Jesus said "call no man master (which is the same as calling a man pastor or elder or shepherd). "
At least for those who do believe in God, there is no master aside from God, so then pastors of churches are usurpers, who feign that they represent God, when in fact they do not. The hidden motive for churches and their overlords is always the same, and that is the free $cash.
Van Robison
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Van Robison concludes with writing:
"...At least for those who do believe in God, there is no master aside from God, so then pastors of churches are usurpers, who feign that they represent God, when in fact they do not. The hidden motive for churches and their overlords is always the same, and that is the free $cash..."
It is interesting calling pastors usurpers....and that may very well be true for the vast majority. Jesus Christ has referred to them as hirelings in this scripture:
John 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
That's kind of what happened with, for example, the mass exodus of those hirelings who left the Worldwide Church of God to go out and form their own manmade organizations, associations (e.g. "Living," United, "Philadelphia," etc.), groups etc. They fled, but why did they all run? Was it because some wolf was in the pasture? Was it because some man of sin was in the pasture? No, that is not all of the reason. The next verse tells us:
:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
Was it because he was a hireling? Not necessarily, because hirelings are okay, but some hirelings do evil things. The reason is because they didn't care for the sheep.
Perhaps that $stash/mammon had a lot to do with it, because they were either going to serve God or mammon....
John
It's called narcissism.
It's a mental disorder.
It's in the DSM-5.
Egocentricity is a sickness, though not a mental illness: It is a personality disorder -- one of choice.
Check it out.
Of more concern should be the members who are addicted to the narcissists because of Borderline Personality Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
It's all mental.
The problem is that most normal human beings actually do desire to one extent or another to have power over other human beings. Every day examples would be the parent who wishes he could control the friends his son or daughter chooses, the husband or wife who wishes they could make their spouse desire more frequent love-making, the salesman who wishes he could make a prospect purchase his product, the motorist who wants other drivers to become courteous, or the employee who desires to make his or her boss give them more freedom or a raise.
This is all an issue because in free societies, people are permitted to make good choices, or permitted to make not so good ones, or even bad ones.
Still, the leaders whom I have respected most as I've journeyed through life have been the ones who have led by superior example, not the militaristic drill sergeant types. Let's face it, though, one size does not fit all. Behavioral scientists have observed that some of us are perfectly capable of governing ourselves, while others require a high level of structure, either as a temporary boost, or on a permanent basis. The problem comes into play when one assumes that every living, breathing person on the face of God's green Earth needs to be treated like those needing the high structure.
There are also numerous diverse personality types standing behind those pulpits. Some, without a doubt, are authoritarian. (And, these actually could be of value to people who have been in and out of jail, can't seem to hold a job, or are constantly having catastrophic problems.) Some preachers are simply teachers, and the subject they teach is the Bible. Still others are spiritual guides, people who exemplify the applied philosophy which they teach. Hopefully, the individual will find a resource appropriate to their needs, because there are also the wolves or scam artists out there, as we all well know!
BB
Everybody say amen...A M E N!!!!!
Van, I disagree with your statement, "Normal human beings have no desire to have power or control over other human beings."
It's true not everyone has such a desire, but most people do, to some extent. It's worth remembering that we are basically a small-group species whose groups are hierarchical. Because members at the top of the hierarchy get to order subordinates to give them first dibs on resources, there would be selective pressure to strive toward higher status. Those with drive and ambition to achieve high status tend to produce more offspring, who tend to inherit a drive toward drive and ambition.
This is not to downplay the importance of cooperation and friendship. Over the long haul, high-ranking members who have the empathy to make friends can form alliances that allow them to succeed better than tyrannical abusers. So in our ancestry there would also have been selective pressure toward cooperation. People with integrated personalities successfully balance their impulses toward dominance and cooperation.
Van, you may have in mind those with drive and ambition but deficient in the empathy and compassion that promote cooperation. Psychopaths. Sociopaths. The kind of people who desire power and control over other human beings, to the exclusion of other relationships. They are part of the normal spectrum of humanity, even though off on one end of it.
What distressed me about Ambassador College was this end of the spectrum was considered desirable. We were expected to yearn for the Millennium so that we could embrace our role of controlling sinners and forcing them to follow the will of Armstrong's god. The very idea made me shudder.
Well sure, the Apostle is THE most important man in all the earth doing THE most IMPORTANT WORK of all history!
But can he fix my computer?
Seems like the hirelings wanted to possess or control the wool (valuable product the sheep produce). So, like HWA, a hireling who drew away the sheep from COG-7 and began collecting their tithes to build his own "work", the majority of the old WCG ministry set up new circumstances so that they could control the wool/tithes. That has not worked out any better for the members than it was when they were controlled by their original hireling/usurper.
BB
"embrace our roll of controlling sinners"
I've often tried to analyze why it is that I don't do relationships, even today. I think it's one of those subtle things that we learned from years of observing our examples, the ministry. Most of them deliberately remained aloof, never really cultivating any friendships amongst the brethren, because such relationships would have interfered with their roles of policing and enforcing the legalism, i.e. controlling the sinners. And, it started at the top, with HWA, who for the most part, remained aloof and unapproachable, a staunch judge and jury.
BB
"as if they are morons" - yes they have become as morons when let someone do their thinking and make decisions for them
I've often tried to analyze why it is that I don't do relationships, even today.
It's because you have structural visualization and 75% of the population doesn't have it.
Those of us who do see people as being chaotic and irrational, which pretty much explains the Armstrongists.
That... and the willingness to follow an incestuous man as a spiritual leader.
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