LCG - Spiritually Deleaven Your Mind Just Like We As Ministers Do Daily

 

I feel sorry for the perpetually unfortunate souls at the Living Church of God—always landing squarely on the blacklist as such epic failures in literally everything they attempt. They're branded as covetous little lusters, overflowing with enough hate to fuel spontaneous outbursts that spark delightful divisions and endless contention throughout the ranks. But perish the thought that any of their ministers would ever stoop to such behavior! Heaven forbid.

This Passover season, the faithful are graciously instructed to sit down and dutifully scribble out a lengthy list of all their nasty attitudes and rotten behaviors that they simply must overcome in the coming year. Never mind that their spiritual slates were supposedly wiped sparkling clean on Passover night—apparently, divine forgiveness has an expiration date, and it's time for round two of self-flagellation.

LCG members must learn to forgive others exactly as the ministry so magnanimously does, while remaining eternally thankful for Christ's sacrifice.

Doug Winnail warns LCG members to eliminate their spiritual leaven. He says, the Scriptures command us to remove all leaven from our homes before the Days of Unleavened Bread and to avoid eating any during that time (Exodus 12:15). But let's be honest—this is merely a quaint physical ritual designed to remind us of the far more critical task: identifying and purging the spiritual leaven from our lives. You know, charming little sins like lusting, coveting, hating, throwing fits of wrath, sowing seeds of division and contention, peddling personal doctrinal heresies, chasing selfish ambitions, and all those other delightful ways we compromise with or outright rebel against God's commandments (Galatians 5:19–21).

As we plod through the Days of Unleavened Bread, we should earnestly beg God to spotlight every last bit of this spiritual leaven lurking in our souls so we can eliminate it. Writing out a handy list of attitudes and behaviors to conquer in the coming year is just the motivational tool we need to try extra hard this time. And while we're at it, let's be forgiving of others—just like the ministry models so perfectly—and stay oh-so-thankful for the sacrifice Jesus Christ made so we could be forgiven.

The exquisite irony. Year after year, the same leadership that can't seem to avoid scandals, splits, and internal drama lectures the rank-and-file about purging "outbursts of wrath," "sowing division," and "selfish ambitions"—sins that somehow never seem to stick to those at the top. Their slate gets "wiped clean" at Passover, yet the membership is immediately handed homework to list all their failures again, as if true forgiveness comes with an annual performance review attached. It's almost as if the real spiritual leaven isn't the average member's bad attitude... but the endless cycle of control, finger-pointing, and selective amnesia coming from the pulpit.

One can only hope that next year, the ministry might take a moment to apply that same list to themselves. Now that would be a profitable Holy Day indeed.

Eliminating Spiritual Leaven: The Scriptures tell us that leaven is to be removed from our homes prior to the Days of Unleavened Bread and not eaten during those days (Exodus 12:15). However, this is just a physical exercise to help us understand the importance of identifying and eliminating spiritual leaven from our lives, which includes lusting, coveting, hating, outbursts of wrath, sowing seeds of division and contention, promoting personal doctrinal heresies, pursuing selfish ambitions, and other examples of compromising on or rebelling against the commandments of God (Galatians 5:19–21). As we go through the Days of Unleavened Bread, we should ask God to show us spiritual leaven that we need to eliminate from our lives. Writing out a list of attitudes or behaviors to overcome in the coming year can help us to make a greater effort to eliminate these sins. Let’s also be forgiving of others and thankful for the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us so we can be forgiven.
Have a profitable Holy Day period,
Douglas S. Winnail