WORD OF TRUTH

Word of Truth
by Rick Joyner www.morningstarministries.org 

To continue our discussion on rightly dividing the word of truth, we must also understand that the Lord may be saying one thing to us, or leading us in a certain way, and saying something very different to others at the same time. One biblical example is how the Lord had a different word for each of the seven churches He spoke to in the Book of Revelation. These churches all existed at the same time and in the same general location, yet each needed a different message.
This is the reason I become skeptical when I hear someone say that a single word or message they have been given is what the Lord is saying to the church now. It may be what He is saying to their church, and maybe even many churches, but except for the centrality and preeminence of Christ Jesus, such universal words to the whole church are very rare. We must give room for the uniqueness of the gifts and needs of churches and individual believers if we are going to go on to maturity and the required unity that the church is called to walk in. The unity of the church is a unity of diversity, not conformity.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the great prophetic voices of the twentieth century, said if one was prone to solitude he needed to live in community, but if one was overly dependent on community, he needed to learn to live in solitude. There is an important truth to this. Everyone is unique, and God is doing something unique with every one of His people. Yet many tend to get comfort and security out of how many are going through just what they are going through. Therefore, they try to get their fellow believers to go through what they are going through.
How does this apply to this study? There are some who have devoted themselves to financial planning and management, and God is leading them into more of a devotional life. There are some who have a good foundation in their devotional lives, but really need to learn some things about practical responsibilities. However, as I travel around to different groups, I notice that those who tend to need some practical discipline in their lives often consider those who are devoted to this unspiritual; those who need more devotion, prayer, and worship in their lives tend to view those who are devoted to this as irresponsible and ineffective in their faith. This is one of the areas of division in the church, and like most divisions, there is truth and error on both sides.
This is basically the issue that James was addressing in James 2:20-26, a passage which many throughout the church age wanted to cut out of their Bibles, even to the point where the Book of James nearly missed being included in the Protestant canon:
But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God.
You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.
And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
As James stated, if you claim to have faith, then there should be some fruit and your works will be the demonstration of it. A friend of mine once told me about a couple he met. When he asked them what they did for a living, the man replied that he "lived by faith." When he asked the woman what she did, she replied, "I work so that he can live by faith!" As Paul the Apostle lamented concerning this kind of thing, it is a reproach to the gospel and not true faith. He went on to say in II Thessalonians 3:10-11:
For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat.
For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.
I appreciate those who have such a devotion to the Lord that they want to spend all of their time in prayer, fasting, and worshiping. This is a noble devotion, but it becomes very ignoble when they become a burden on the church and other believers. They become a burden when they have to pressure others for support. However, this, too, can be complicated because the reasons can be varied. One reason is the church is not supporting the Levites (those called to full-time service) as they should. The other is that there are many who claim to be Levites who are in fact just spiritual bums freeloading off of the church. However, these can be discerned by their "undisciplined life," and they almost always become "busybodies," which are people who try to assume responsibility and authority where they have not been given it, so they gossip and spread strife.
Even so, we must mature so as to distinguish between faith and presumption, as well as faith and irresponsibility, or even laziness. You do not have to stop working to grow in your devotional life, or to grow in faith. I would not support anyone to be a missionary who was not an effective missionary while working and providing for themselves. I would not provide for someone to be a full-time worshiper and intercessor who was not worshiping and praying effectively while having a job and providing for themselves, as well as contributing to the church and other missions responsibly. The support for someone to go into the work full-time will almost always be the result of their own sowing beforehand and it being multiplied back to them.
On the other hand, when someone is effective in prayer, this is far more valuable than any secular job they could hold, and as a church leader, I am looking for those to support. I am looking for the spiritual Levites who are called to this day and night prayer before the Lord. It was when Israel failed to support the Levites to serve in the tabernacle or temple of the Lord that Israel repeatedly fell into apostasy. Every church should have a vision of finding those who are called as Levites and supporting them to do what they are called to do. Just as it was for Israel, it is a reproach on the church when the Levites have to get a secular job.
These are basic issues of kingdom management that we must resolve. True missionaries are my favorite people to be around, and I do believe the devotion to missions is a basic barometer of the spiritual condition of a church. It is also my opinion that about 95 percent of the missionaries in the field today are ineffective and should not be there. At the same time, we possibly have some of the greatest missionaries in the church age who are doing some of the greatest works in the church age. The 95 percent who are not effective are consuming the resources that should be going to the effective ones. This is bad management on our part, and must be corrected if we are going to be good stewards of what we have been entrusted with.
It is obviously a basic characteristic of the Lord that He does not like waste. Even when He multiplied the food for thousands, He had what was leftover gathered up so that it would not be wasted. In Revelation 2, the Lord commended the Ephesian church for putting to the test those who called themselves apostles but were not (see Revelation 2:2). An apostle is basically "one who is sent." If we are going to be trusted with the resources that will be coming to the righteous, we have to do things right, and the church must learn to put to the test those who claim to be sent by God.
Most of the ineffective missionaries are great Christians who have a real heart for the Lord and for missions. However, I think only a small percentage of them are called to this work full-time and would be much more effective part-time missionaries. Many of these would be far more effective in the churches that sent them. Of the ones who may be called to full-time missions, they were either sent into the field prematurely, were not trained and equipped adequately, or have been sent into the wrong field.
If you are a wise investor, you would certainly investigate a company before you bought stock in it. Checking out the product and its potential would be important, but checking out the management and their ability to make the product well, affordable, and distributable would also be crucial. These are things you check off when considering to invest in a company. We need a similar checklist for "putting to the test those who call themselves apostles." In this, I am not just speaking of those who claim to have the ministry of the apostle, but those who claim to be sent by God. To do this is not unspiritual, but rather it is being responsible with the resources we have been entrusted with.
Over the next few years, we are going to witness missions and ministry going to a new level of effectiveness and anointing. To be entrusted with this we do need to correct some matters, which in many places will result in a radical pruning so we can bear more fruit. Then we will hear on that great day, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (see Matthew 25:21 NIV)