Istoria Ministries Blog: Bill Gothard: His Umbrella of Protection Teaching Provides an Umbrage for Perverted Behavior

Istoria Ministries Blog: Bill Gothard: His Umbrella of Protection Teaching Provides an Umbrage for Perverted Behavior

"...the Bible teaches Christ alone has spiritual authority over His people, and every believer in His kingdom is a priest unto God. Nobody else has "spiritual authority" over anybody else. Christ, in shepherding His people, dispenses spiritual gifts to enable us to serve one another, never to rule over one another."

Person or Project?

In my last post, I talked about the desire within each of us to be engaged with as a person and not a problem, to be treated as fully human by our fellow man. I was particularly looking at the context of how Christians treat each other.

Person or Project?

Moving beyond that context, I’d like to explore how we treat those outside our faith. Do we simply love people, or do we treat them as projects - another notch in our evangelism belt, another recruit to ‘our’ church? Are we living examples of the good news of God’s love for all people or are we only interested in getting people to ‘say the sinner’s prayer’ so we can tick another box and move on to the next one?

After a recent shopping trip with my youngest son, the topic of marketing techniques came up in the conversation. I explained to him that marketing is all about creating a desire in people for products they may not even need. Rather than presenting your product and saying, “If you need product x, ours is a really good one to choose”, it has become a case of creating the need - convincing people that they need product x to begin with - and then pushing your particular version of it, using any and all means possible.

I can’t help wondering if we have succumbed to a similar way of operating when it comes to interacting with those who don't share our faith. Jesus told us to make disciples, but have we somehow turned that into a marketing exercise to make converts? Instead of simply living in authentic, loving relationship, do we fall into the trap of ‘loving’ others just so that we can convert them?

Are we interested in people beyond the context of their faith (or lack thereof)? Are they of worth simply because they exist? As men and women of God, do we recognise that every single person bears the imprint of their Creator? Do we believe they are made in His image and is that enough reason for us to value them?

As I was pondering these things, I came across an article entitled Seven Lies Christians Tell. Lie number 7 reads:

Finally, and most importantly, we lie (insidious and barbaric lying) when we pretend like we really, really, really love the other person when in fact we don't. We do not love people when we dismiss their story (including their hopes, values, beliefs and convictions). We do not love people when we do not empathically listen to them, as opposed to spending that time formulating a counter-argument. We do not love others when we reduce them to labels, caricatures, or opponents. If we love, then we will find them shockingly beautiful and fascinating creations. We will find their stories riveting. We will radiate affection. Humans know deep down when they are or are not truly loved.

Let's be people who truly love; who recognise the humanity of others; who actively listen to their stories; who treat others with dignity and worth just because we can!

I am not an Animal! I am a Human Being!

I remember watching the film, Elephant Man when I was younger and being deeply disturbed by John Hurt’s portrayal of a severely disfigured man living in Victorian London. The treatment of John Merrick by his fellow man moved me to tears. But what haunted me most was hearing the cry from the depths of this man’s soul to be engaged with, not as a freak, but as a human being!

Deep down, I believe that this is the cry of each one of us – that there is something within every human being that yearns for recognition of our humanity from others.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently after another interesting encounter with someone from my ex-church. This person had taken offence at something I had done and had contacted my husband about it. Now I happen to have a very low view of triangulation so I made this person a friendly offer to meet with them so they could discuss their issues with me… with me!

I explained that their approach de-humanised me – treating me as if I was a problem to be dealt with, not a fellow human being to be engaged with, but that I was quite willing to engage relationally with them regarding their problem.

However, this person was not willing to sit down over a coffee (like two mature Christ-followers) and share their concerns with me about my perceived behaviour. And yet they continued (several times) to try to engage my husband over the issue!

Anyway, this incident re-ignited my ponderings over how are we called we treat those we call brothers and sisters and how it works out in reality. Do our words and actions make others feel validated as human beings or do they end up feeling as if they are an issue to be addressed or a problem to be solved?