Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Narcissists Ruin Everything: Part 3 Narcissists, Sycophants and Victims: The First Pyramid Scheme

Jesus was well aware of narcissists and psychopaths. He knew there were conniving liars who would play act their ways into positions of power and control over others. He argued with them regularly, calling them vipers and white-washed tombs. A large portion of Paul's warnings have to do with religious leaders whoring for money. The surest way to get into someone's pockets is to first convince them that they are beneath the leader and they need the leader for salvation. The trap is the ancient hierarchy, the first pyramid scheme.

So Jesus actually meant what He said in Matthew 20:20-28. Let's take a closer look.

A few years ago, Rod McNair gave a masterful example of eisegesis in a sermon titled, "Peter and the Key-Man Principle". It was a truly embarrassing attempt to try to prove Peter was the Chief Apostle who had 'final say' in decision-making for the church. I may post my evisceration of the whole sermon at another time. For our purpose here, I will just address what he said concerning Matthew 20:25-27. Here is the exact quote from his sermon:

“This is about attitude, not structure. (pause...confused look...furrowed brow) Actually, it does confirm the fact that there is structure because He is saying that the chief shall act like a servant. Those who are greatest among you shall serve. Sometimes, this is used to negate any structure of top-down and it’s just not there.”

I literally think he tripped himself up as he read it and tried to understand it the way he was trained to but the obvious nature and intent of the scripture dumbfounded him. Rod almost forgot to defend the structure, then he caught himself. So the teaching is that the structure is not in question, only the attitude of those in the structure. The church redefines servitude and slavery to mean the burden of feeding the flock and preaching the gospel as an authoritative duty over the people of God (Glad to articulate your doctrine for you, Rod). He was using the NKJV so I will quote it:

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them."
I don't see where 'attitude' comes into play. What I do see is Jesus describing a multi-tiered power structure. The "rulers" make up the bureaucrats that administer government policies at the local levels among the citizens. They "lord" their power over the masses. Then you have those who are "great". This must be the senators and the Caesar, himself. These are the lawmakers and they exercise authority over the bureaucrats.

This is exactly how the churches of God function. "You know the pastors of the church oversee the laity and those who are at HQ exercise authority over the pastors."

Here are two more translations we can tease more meaning out of:

"You know that the rulers of the unbelievers lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them." (ISV)
This is interesting when you plug in the church's governments. HQ acts like tyrants over the ministry. I already know from my own research that many minister's lives were ruined by the heavy hand of Pasadena. These were often young kids coming out of AC at the age of 22 and expected to do much of the boots-on-the-ground dirty work of what headquarters wanted. How embarrassing it must have been for a kind-hearted minister to be told to show up at people's homes unannounced and raid their kitchens and medicine cabinets. Examples could get long here and much worse but I digress.
"You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them and the leaders have complete authority." (GNT)
Again, there's no question the structure is exact. There is power in the ministry over members but "complete authority" resides at headquarters.

This has nothing to do with attitude because that wasn't the original question asked of Jesus. The concern was being 2nd in rank under Christ. They were assuming a hierarchical structure and Jesus responded by admitting that indeed, among the Gentiles, hierarchy is how things are governed but Jesus had a "however".

“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.”
Jesus juxtaposes two opposing ideas against one another to make his point very clear and He does so by doing it twice. He compares exercising lordship to being a servant and exercising authority to being a slave. These opposing concepts cannot exist as one in the same. A lord cannot be a servant and an authoritarian cannot be a slave. Servants and slaves take orders, they never give orders. What Jesus is showing is that there is no place to be a lord in the body and there is no position of chief in the body. The only chief or head that exists in the body is Jesus. Hierarchical control over men does not exist in the governance of the church.

Jesus offers Himself as an example in verse 28. He truly did not come to be served. He was not there as King of kings and Lord of lords. That will be at His second coming. He was there among them in the flesh as a teacher. Yes, He chose his students but none of them followed him out of compulsion. Many disciples stopped following after him when he spoke hard sayings that offended them. Anyone that followed Him was free to abandon Him without repercussions. He could have killed Judas but then that wouldn't have been acting as a servant.

So what is Jesus saying? He didn't say there was no way to be great or to be first. He said if you do want to be great or to be first, you must abide by the formula. What is the formula? The answer is timing.

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” -Matt. 23:12
You have to go back to the beginning of the exchange. It all started when two among them were seeking high rank in the Kingdom of God. Jesus answer to them in a nutshell was if you want to rank high in the Kingdom of God (in the future), you must BE servants and slaves in the church body now! The warning above is clear: if you choose to exalt yourself among God's people now, you will be humbled. And how would one exalt himself among God's people now? It's right in the context. Follow the pattern of Rome!

Matthew 23 is a scathing chapter excoriating the existing religious authority among the people. As you read through the behaviors and actions of the religious leaders described by Jesus, it is clear they are a class set above the laity in Jewish society. They have a top-down structure with the high priest. The Sanhedrin was a mutated and illegitimate continuation of their distant past. This chapter is a laundry list of horrible fruits that result from an oppression and compulsory control mechanism—a top-down government reliant on fear to maintain its relevance and existence.

“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” -I Corinth. 7:23
Jesus had already told them you are not to expect to be organized and function like the gentile world. He now gives them an ecclesiastical example with the same Roman model that they are not to seek as a template for the church in Matthew 23. It is clear Jesus is specifically dealing with governance because He turns His attention to His disciples in the middle of this attack on Rabbinical Judaism.

Christ tells His disciples that they are not to take on titles of Rabbi, Father and Master because they have One Rabbi, One Father and One Master in heaven.

Clarke’s Commentary says this about being called Father:

“Call no man your Father - Our Lord probably alludes to the Ab, or father of the Sanhedrin, who was the next after the nasi, or president. See on Matthew 20:21 (note). By which he gives his disciples to understand that he would have no Second, after himself, established in his Church, of which he alone was the head; and that perfect equality must subsist among them.”

Notice Clarke directs the reader back to Matthew 20:21 where James and John sought 2nd rank under Christ. Clarke goes on to say that these three titles are likely taken from the Hebrew titles of “Abbi, Rabbi and Mori” meaning “Father, Rabbi, Master.” They may very well have a relation to what we call, “Bachelor, Master and Doctor” in titled degrees or ranks today.

Clarke continues:

"...no man is implicitly to receive the sayings, doctrines, and decisions of any man, or number of men, in the things which concern the interests of his immortal soul. Christ, his Spirit, and his word, are the only infallible teachers. Every man who wishes to save his soul must search the Scriptures, by prayer and faith. Reader, take counsel with the pious; hear the discourses of the wise and holy: but let the book of God ultimately fix thy creed”
Jesus links what He is saying here right back to Matthew 20:20-28 when He concludes His comments directed to His disciples with,
“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Scriptures below are probably the most powerful witness to the fact that hierarchy and tithing are not any part of the New Testament church.
"For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world right up to this moment.” --I Corinthians 4:9-13
Now I ask you: Would anyone in authority over others with a right to their money say this and not be laughed to scorn? Here is another question: would a narcissist or a psychopath, in a million years, ever be inspired to seek such a lowly state? To be honest, the average Christian would not want Paul's role. That was the point. Congregational government led by the Holy Spirit and not a man or a group of elites is the safest and growth-inspiring environment for brethren. If people truly understood what it meant to serve Christ as a servant and slave to His people, there would be very few indeed. In fact, it makes you wonder if you ever knew one in your life at all.

Stoned Stephen Society

6 comments:

  1. The most difficult scripture they always had to tap dance around was in Acts 15 when James rendered the final decision - not Peter.

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  2. CHURCH WARS ARE PEACE

    FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

    IGNORANCE IS MANDATORY

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  3. @TLA

    I kid you not: Rod Mcnair's explanation for James speaking in closing, instead of Peter was because I guess everyone was in awe after Peter spoke and "somebody had to say something". I think I will take time to write up a complete breakdown of that sermon.

    "Somebody had to say something"

    LMAO

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  4. I have heard conflicting explanations of Acts 15 in COG sermons, some similar to the above which tries to diminish James closing comments, and somehow keep Peter firmly in the position of head apostle or pope. And others that explain it as James making the "official ruling" because he was the apostle "in charge" of the "headquarters" church, so therefore he was the one with the "authority" to make a ruling. What I have never heard in an explanation of this conference though is anyone who explains it from the apostle Paul's point of view as found in Galatians 2:1-10...

    "Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

    But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), and when James,Cephas,and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do." NKJV

    He gives this account after spending time in Galatians 1 talking about how he had received the gospel he preached from "no man"(Gal.1:11-12), and was chosen by God to take the gospel to the Gentiles "from the womb"(vs.15-16), and how he didn't go right away to the other apostles in Jerusalem, but waited three years and then saw only Peter and James, staying fifteen days.(vs.17-20) Galatians 1:22-23 makes it plain that Paul didn't wait for permission to preach from the other apostles, and didn't rise up through the "ranks" of some previously established hierarchy based in Jerusalem. This alone blows apart the idea of some single hierarchy of men on earth who somehow represent "God's government" and have authority to decide what others can or cannot do in the service of God in other locations around the earth. This point is further made in the above quote of chapter 2 in his remarks about the Acts 15 conference fourteen years after his previous visit to Jerusalem for a mere fifteen days. His statement that "those who seemed to be something... added nothing to me." pretty much sums up his view of those who "seemed to be pillars", and yet they extended fellowship to him when they perceived that God worked in him as well as them. Paul worked an independent ministry completely separate from the other apostles, but was still considered part of the body of Christ and was willing to go up to Jerusalem to discuss the matter of the Gentiles and circumcision with those who were there, and he was accepted by them as a brother and fellow worker. (Galatians 2:7-10)

    What a novel idea, that God works with people according to the calling and gifts He gives each, in completely different areas, and yet those people can still recognize that they are all part of one body with one head, and come together in brotherhood and fellowship even when disagreements arise.

    Concerned Sister

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  5. In my own studies, which also involve the reading of as many of the writings of the Antenicene Fathers as I could find, I learned that Peter had of necessity, and for his survival taken a lower public profile. Early on, he had become known and singled out as the leader, and subjected to arrests. He travelled to places such as Antioch, which was actually in keeping with his vision about the unclean things. James appears to have filled the void, which is why he appears as the one presiding over the Jerusalem Council.

    BB

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  6. Good post, Concerned Sister

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