Herescope Archives

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

"•Change agents. To survive and succeed, every organisation will have to turn itself into a change agent. The most effective way to manage change successfully is to create it. But experience has shown that grafting innovation on to a traditional enterprise does not work. The enterprise has to become a change agent. This requires the organised abandonment of things that have been shown to be unsuccessful, and the organised and continuous improvement of every product, service and process within the enterprise (which the Japanese call kaizen). It requires the exploitation of successes, especially unexpected and unplanned-for ones, and it requires systematic innovation. The point of becoming a change agent is that it changes the mindset of the entire organisation. Instead of seeing change as a threat, its people will come to consider it as an opportunity."

These comments by business guru Peter Drucker are remarkable on their face. When writing a series about what he called the "Next Society" in The Economist 5 years ago, the aging Drucker (now deceased) detailed how organizations need to become agents of change for the world of the future.

Which organizations? In which context? And for what purpose?

The answers are amazing:

2) The context of this Change Agent organization is the global health "crisis," specifically HIV/AIDS according to Rick Warren (see last week’s Herescope posts).

3) The purpose of this Change Agent is to create a "healthy global society," however that is defined.

The church must become an Agent of Change by leveraging health care issues in an international context. How does the Church do this? There is a significant clue in the legacy of Peter Drucker, the business management guru.

The Drucker remarks about an organization becoming an Agent of Change (cited above) are elaborated upon by Frances Hesselbein in a 2005 book entitled Global Health Leadership and Management by William H. Foege (Editor), Nils M.P. Daulaire (Editor), Robert E. Black (Editor), Clarence E. Pearson (Editor), and David Rockefeller (Foreword by). Ms. Hesselbein is the current chairman of Drucker's Leader to Leader Institute, which she co-founded with Bob Buford of the Leadership Network. As we have noted previously, the Leadership Network has been at the forefront of the leadership training in the evangelical world, especially active in the formation of the purpose-driven and emerging church movements.

It is therefore significant that, in the context of global health care reform, Hesselbein authored Chapter 10 of Global Health Leadership and Management entitled "Leadership and Management for Improving Global Health." First, we must take note of her introductory remarks, which shed considerable light on Rick Warren's Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan and tackling the HIV/AIDS "giant" crisis. Note the overlapping language, symbolism, and agendas:

“Today we share a dream that lies before us: healthy children everywhere, healthy families, healthy communities – a healthy global society where equal access to health care is the norm, not the exception.

“Still, it is only a vision, a dream. Community health care professionals and the leaders of health care agencies, groups, hospitals, universities, and organizations are called to mobilize around a powerful vision of the future: equal access to primary health for all of our people, in our own country and in countries all over the world. The goal of healthy children everywhere remains a dream until leaders at every level of every organization, agency, hospital and university working to improve global health care to serve all of our people mobilize.

“We are fellow travelers on a long journey toward an uncertain future where the challenges will be exceeded only by the opportunities to lead, to innovate, to advocate, to change lives, and to shape and redefine the future. Wide disparities, limited resources, and tenuous times form the context of our response, the background for this essential battle. The journey calls for spirited, inspired leaders of change. As we move into a tenuous future, our mission, the star we steer by, will be our greatest protector; the values we live by, our greatest security; and innovation – the indispensable, common imperative for leaders of change – will chart the way in a world forever changed, a world at war.” [emphases added]

Second, in this context of envisioning global health care reform, Hesselbein specifically cites Peter Drucker’s quotation about the organization becoming an Agent of Change:

“In a seminal article in the November 3-9, 2001, issue of The Economist, Peter Drucker’s wisdom spreads across twenty incredible pages. One observation he makes is most relevant to our global health challenge: Seeing the organization as a change agent. We are used to hearing that you and I must be change agents. But as Drucker writes, ‘To survive and succeed every organization will have to turn itself into a change agent. The most effective way to manage change successfully is to create it. But experience has shown that grafting innovation onto a traditional enterprise does not work. The enterprise has to become a change agent. Instead of seeing change as a threat, its people will come to consider it as an opportunity’ (2001, p 19). Drucker delivers a powerful leadership imperative: making our global health organizations ‘change agents.’ This challenges us to exercise tough discipline in moving innovation across enterprise and getting our house in order as we hurdle into a tenuous future. In this crucible of massive societal change there is no time to negotiate with nostalgia.” [emphasis added]

In Peter Drucker’s organizational vision, the non-profit sector -- i.e., the Church -- would assume a key role in the three-legged stool to accomplish that which the State and the Corporation could not. It is clear that Rick Warren shares Drucker’s vision for the Church to fill this 3rd leg of the stool position for his Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan. As Rick Warren has recently stated:

“‘Government has a role – no doubt about that – but it’s highly overrated,’ Warren said. ‘Businesses and NGOs have a role. But the Church … is the missing leg of the stool, and we will never, never resolve this pandemic until the Church – and I mean local churches – is mobilized.” [emphasis added]

Drucker’s views about using the Church in this manner were explained in a Christianity Today article in 1999:

“Drucker never took seriously the possibility that government could provide community. He thought that the more we ask of government, the more frustrated we will feel. If government can't do it, and business can't do it, who can? Drucker shifted his hopes to nonprofit organizations. He doesn't think it's accidental that the nonprofit sector is growing rapidly, or that voluntarism has increased. They expand to meet a dramatically growing need for community. Drucker goes so far as to say, in his book Managing the Nonprofit Organization, ‘The non-profits are the American community.’ Nonprofits give disengaged workers a place to make a contribution through serving others. They draw rich and poor into a web of common concern.

“Churches play a particularly critical role. ‘The community …needs a community center. … I'm not talking religion now, I'm talking society. There is no other institution in the American community that could be the center.’ Drucker gladly stresses the church's spiritual mission, but he notes that churches also have a societal role. That's what he meant when he told Forbes that pastoral megachurches are ‘surely the most important social phenomenon in American society in the last thirty years.’” [emphases added]

Compare Drucker’s philosophy of churches as the “center” of the community with Kay Warren’s statements in an interview pertaining to the Church meeting the Global HIV/AIDS crisis:

“We believe the church has been the missing leg of a three-legged stool. Governments are doing things. Private sector businesses are doing things, trying to go after global giants, but the church has been absent. We have been trying to bring the church back to the table and say “It’s going to take all three.” The main reason is that the church has the widest distribution center. The church exists in places where there is nothing else. To utilize the distribution channels for care and compassion and teaching and training. It’s the way to go. It’s smart!” [emphases added]

Obviously this 3rd leg of Drucker's stool is being seen as an Agent of Change. The question must therefore be raised: Is Rick Warren intending to use the global Church as an Agent of Change – to leverage health care reform across the world? This is a sober question with many ethical, moral and biblical issues attached.

Herescope will pause right here, to continue this discussion in more detail the rest of this week, Lord willing.…

"…why have you smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!" (Jeremiah 14:19b)

[Drucker]: …Thirty-odd years ago I began to counsel that you should build organized abandonment into your system. It follows the old line that it makes more sense for you to make obsolete your own products than to wait for the competitor to do it. But this is very hard for organizations to do. The internal resistance is great. They have to be forced. Remember the Edsel? After eighteen months the Ford Motor Company announced that it was abandoning the Edsel. I think we all roared with laughter. We had already abandoned the Edsel. The Ford Motor Company just took a hell of a long time to accept it.
[Schwartz]: Why is it that so many organizations, even in the United States, have such a high resistance to that process of systematically abandoning their past and building a future?

[Drucker]: One reason is ignorance. People do not know that you cannot successfully innovate in an existing organization unless you systematically abandon. …

(Peter Drucker, “Post Capitalist,” interview with Peter Schwartz, Ju/Au 1993) [emphasis added]

“Managing for innovation. Peter Drucker defines innovation as ‘change that creates a new dimension of performance.’ If we build innovation into how we structure the organization, how we lead the workforce, how we use teams, and how we design the ways we work together, then innovation becomes a natural part of the culture, the work, the mind-set, the ‘new dimension of performance.’ At the same time, we must practice ‘planned abandonment’ and give up programs that may work today but will have little relevance in the future.”

(“Managing in a World That is Round”by Frances Hesselbein, Leader to Leader, No. 2 Fall 1996) [emphasis added]

Yesterday’s post began with a quote from Peter Drucker about an organization becoming an Agent of Change. We noted that these Drucker quotes were cited by Frances Hesselbein in a 2005 book entitled Global Health Leadership and Management in the context of global health care reform. Ms. Hesselbein is the current chairman of Drucker's Leader to Leader Institute, and closely associated with Bob Buford of the Leadership Network which has been connected with Rick Warren.

Hesselbein authored Chapter 10 of Global Health Leadership and Management, entitled "Leadership and Management for Improving Global Health." This entire chapter is a treatise on the new gospel of organizational and leadership change. Hesselbein observes that: “Nowhere is change as rapid as in the field of health care.”

Hesselbein clearly sees the mandate for a "healthy global society" as a way to leverage monumental changes across the global spectrum. Below are just a few key excerpts from Hesselbein's chapter that seem directly applicable to Rick Warren’s new health care “mission” for the Church as described in last Wednesday’s (9/27/06) Herescope.

“As leaders, we know that some of the practices of the past are not relevant to the present we are living and the future we envision. Nowhere is change as rapid as in the field of health care. So leaders of change will find the courage to throw out the old hierarchy, along with outmoded, irrelevant policies, practices, procedures, and assumptions that limit our ability to bring essential health care to all children, all families, all communities, and all countries.…

“…[W]e challenge the gospel of what is. We have the courage to challenge every policy, practice, and assumption; we challenge the status quo.…

“One of the most difficult tasks is “planned abandonment” – Drucker’s term…

“The day of the partnership is upon us. And if we share a vision – and our vision of the future is a country, a world of healthy children everywhere,…

“The power of mission, the power of example, the power of inclusion, the power of collaboration can move us from where we are to where are we determined to be. …It happens when all of us together all over the world mobilize around a common mission of bringing health care to our global family.…

“We are called to see change, never as a threat, but always as a remarkable opportunity to reach a new level of relevance, a new level of significance. …

“It is all about leadership.…

“Today we are called to redefine leadership, just as we must redefine the organization.…”

It is disturbing to hear that Drucker’s concept of “planned abandonment” is being brought into the entire global health care reform agenda. Health care is supposed to be about human lives, human souls.

Perhaps the rest of the world doesn’t know what evangelical Christians already know – that Rick Warren has taken the organizational concept of “planned abandonment” and applied it to people! People in the pews who do not go along with his “redefined leadership,” “innovation” and a “redefined” organization (church) and its new "mission" are systematically abandoned at the doorstep. The purpose-driven management plan does that to people. Church-goers who challenge Rick Warren’s new status quo and new gospel of “what is” are tossed outside.

This systemic “planned abandonment” means a lot more than no longer selling Edsel’s, it may mean dumping Mr. Edsel in a global health triage that lacks the fundamental foundation of biblical ethics for caring, nurturing and protecting human life.

There is no indication that Rick Warren brings the Church into this 3-legged stool “partnership” with the intention of being salt and light to his 2 other partners, Corporate and State. Rather, his global mission is founded upon Drucker’s purely utilitarian model of the church as a “community” and a “delivery system” and “center” – a church devoid of its salt and light. And perhaps, in the end, when "obsolete" and "non-performing" baggage has been abandoned, devoid of true compassion for lives and souls.

“For thou has possessed my reins: thou has covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)

Change is a constant in the knowledge society. Knowledge is very perishable. The knowledge worker must act as an entrepreneur and exercise personal management. Knowledge workers must become accustomed to the process of "creative destruction." They must become change leaders, active in the pursuit of change, rather than becoming victims of change. This compels the knowledge worker to engage in continuous learning.

(Peter F. Drucker on a Functioning Society by Joseph A. Maciariello, Leader to Leader, No. 37 Summer 2005) [emphasis added]

From reading the literature about Peter Drucker’s model of society, it appears that CHANGE is being used as a mechanism to maneuver the non-profit sector (i.e., the Church) into its 3rd-legged role. Frances Hesselbein’s writings based on Peter Drucker’s model have been the subject of this week’s Herescope posts. This is due to their relevance to the global Church’s emerging role as a leader in health care reform via Rick Warren.

It is therefore noteworthy that elsewhere Frances Hesselbein has elaborated on the concept of the necessity of organizational change. In an article entitled "Journey to Transformation," she suggests that organizations:

4. Challenge the gospel. There should be no sacred cows as we challenge every policy, practice, procedure, and assumption. In transforming themselves, organizations must practice "planned abandonment" -- discarding programs, policies, and practices that work today but have little relevance to the future and the organization we are building to meet that future.

There are serious ramifications of all of this "leadership" and "change" talk. It has permeated the upper echelons of evangelical leadership training. And it is being accepted as an addendum to the Gospel for this new futurist era in which we live.

However, this "challenge the gospel" rhetoric is not a benign statement to biblical Christianity. “Challenge the gospel” is literally a way to create change. That would be bad enough, but the leadership gurus have also borrowed the term “creative destruction.”

The process of change has been described as "creative destruction.” This is an economic term which has been given psycho-social meaning by Peter Drucker in the context of managing (or manipulating) organizational changes, as evidenced by the quotation at the top of today’s post.

Peter Drucker's views on leadership and change are examined in Chapter 1 of a recently published (Sept. 2006) book co-edited by Frances Hesselbein and Marshall Goldsmith entitled The Leader of the Future 2: Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the New Era. On page 4 of this chapter Figure 1.1 details Drucker's "Systems Views: Executive Leadership and Effectiveness." This chart illustrates an externally-focused organization that impacts society. The "process" of becoming externally focused is described as "Creative Destruction."

This phrase, by the way, is attributed to one of the primary men who influenced Drucker, Austrian economist Joseph A. Schumpeter. A footnote in Chapter 1 quotes from Schumpeter's description of Creative Destruction as "incessantly revolutionalizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one." (Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Harper & Row, 1942).

It is time to stop and think for a minute about what all of this really means. This is an economic model which has been applied to organizational development theory. And this model is specifically being applied to the non-profit leg of Peter Drucker’s stool – the CHURCH!

The Church has been re-cast into this organizational development theory mold by the leadership gurus. The Church is now seen as a “system.” The old-style Church will not work in this new paradigm because it hasn’t been re-cast into the mold of the other 2 partners (legs) in the 3-legged stool. So the Church must be re-made, reinvented, reconstructed,… changed… before it can effectively “partner.”

The inevitable questions must be raised:

Is this what is meant by all of the neoevangelical and new apostolic hype about “new wineskins”? These leaders incessantly drag out the metaphor of the new wineskins, but they never use it in the sense of the traditional application of the Scripture. Rather this term has been infused with new meaning. It is applied to the concept of CHANGING the Church corporately. And it sounds an awful lot like “creative destruction.” Believers are bombarded with the rhetoric – the old wineskin must go, meaning that we must have a new church that is restructured, reinvented, reshaped, remolded.

It is a terrible thought. But the model fits. It fits much better than the actual Scriptural parable of Jesus.

It is a terrible thing, too, to contemplate the damage and destruction to human lives, to churches, to pastors, to precious saints – those who are being "abandoned" because they won’t change over to this new organizational model of the church. Creative destruction is a term that aptly describes the process and its toll in human lives. But then Drucker held to an economic view of man.

Creative destruction is also the model that seems to fit the systematic destruction of old theologies (i.e., the Gospel) which are being replaced by the new at a reckless pace in the evangelical world.

The Truth:

"And when the Scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with Publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with Publicans and sinners?

"When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

"And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

"And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

"But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

"No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

"And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.” (Mark 2:16-22)

Mental Models of the Church. In the old paradigm, change occurred incrementally. The church shared the values held by the predominant culture.… "In the mission field paradigm, change is rapid and discontinuous. The gap between the value held by the church and those held by the community is clear.

[Excerpted from Leading Congregational Change by James H. Furr, Mike Bonem, Jim Herrington San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000, p. 115, some emphases added]

Peter Drucker, the dean of American management, calls Rick "the inventor of perpetual revival" and Saddleback's mega-church model "the most significant sociological phenomena of the second half of this century."

The quotation at the top is an example of the newest model of "continuous improvement" called "discontinuous change." A more complete understanding of change and how it operates in the church world can be found at www.crossroad.to in a series of excerpts from the book quoted above. This concept is relevant to what Herescope has been examining all week because in the acknowledgements, the authors state:

"We thank Rick Warren… for the opportunity to reach and refine our understanding of congregational transformation as part of Saddleback Valley Church's Purpose-Driven Church Conference. We are also grateful to Bob Buford, Carol Childress… and others at Leadership Network for the many ways in which they have stimulated and facilitated our word." [emphasis in excerpt]

This concept from the business world is being brought into evangelical Christianity via the Leadership Network and Rick Warren. "Continuous improvement" means continually CHANGING. It is a concept normally associated with Total Quality Management, but it is more than just an industrial management concept. It also has to do with changing people, ideas, and organizations. In this psycho-social context, it is applied to the Church.

Are you feeling the effects of "discontinuous change" in the Church yet? You might be! Church "change leaders" (self-identified as such) have been trained to use the techniques of "continuous improvement" to manipulate change in churches. In fact, the goal is to transform Christianity as a whole.

But what is "discontinuous change"? It is a new hybrid of "continuous improvement," only far worse. And it is already poised on the cutting edge of the neoevangelical world. In a recently published book The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World (J-B Leadership Network Series) by Eddie Gibbs, Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk, it states that discontinuous change is the new norm:

"At a meeting with a dozen executive staff members of a denomination, we heard one, reflecting on the dynamics of the congregation, say that she felt every time she turned around things changed. The executive responsible for resourcing Christian education spoke up: 'The very nature of change has changed, but I can’t quite get my mind around this discontinuous-change idea. How is it different from continuous change?' After a while, another executive looked at his associates around the table and said, 'The reality is that discontinuous change has become the new continuous change, and we were never trained to deal with this kind of world!' Everyone nodded in agreement. It’s a new kind of world!…

"Continuous change develops out of what has gone before and therefore can be expected, anticipated, and managed.… This kind of change involves such things as improvement on what is already taking place and whether the change can be managed with existing skills and expertise.

"Discontinuous change is disruptive and unanticipated; it creates situations that challenge our assumptions. The skills we have learned aren't helpful in this kind of change.…

The unnerving thing about reading about this in the Christian world is wondering how this applies to the concept of "creative destruction" discussed in yesterday's post. In order to create a condition chaotic enough to breed "discontinuous change" are these "change leaders" being trained in "creative destruction" methods?

Given that Peter Drucker dubbed Rick Warren "the inventor of perpetual revival," one has to wonder if the new definition of revival will become "discontinuous change." A ghastly thought!

"Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return." (Jeremiah 8:5)

Part 3 in Pastor Anton Bosch's series about how to spot wolves in sheep's clothing.

[Pastor Bosch has just finished authoring a book which will be of great assistance to those precious saints who have been "abandoned" by the Peter Drucker methods of church transformation. As soon as this book becomes available, Discernment Ministries will pass that information along to the Herescope readers.]

Spot the Wolf (3)

Wolves go to great lengths to make people followers of themselves and not of the Lord. (Matthew 23:15). This trend is easiest to spot by observing the followers of such wolves. Are they awed by their gurus? Do they believe their leaders rather than the Word of God? Do they quote their leaders rather than the Bible? Do they adopt the leader’s mannerisms, idiosyncrasies and style of dress? These “proselytes” are often spiritual groupies who follow and admire every move and treasure every word of their idol. It is this kind of idol worship that leads to spiritual, emotional and financial abuse. We should never follow men but rather follow Christ. Yes, it is good for young Christians to be taught by proven men of God. But if the teacher is a true shepherd, he will always teach the disciples to focus on and relate to the Father and not to himself.

Jesus said when scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites make proselytes of themselves, these converts become twice as much sons of hell as the leaders. Jesus seemed to refer to a strange phenomena whereby each successive generation of a cult becomes more fanatical and more extreme than the previous generation. A small tell-tale sign that a group have cultic tendencies is to look at the second and subsequent generations. Are they more extreme than the previous generations? Do they take the errors of their teachers to new depths and excesses? If so, you may be looking at a cult and where their leaders were sons of hell, the followers are twice so.

In Matthew 23, Jesus calls the Pharisees “blind” five times. A sure sign of a wolf is that he is spiritually blind. They are blind to their own weaknesses, sins and unrighteousness. Neither do they see the blatant contradictions in what they teach and believe (Matthew 23:16,17). They are blind to the fact that they make major issues of unimportant things while neglecting the really serious issues (Matthew 23:24). They are blissfully unaware of how blatantly their hypocrisy is visible to others (Matthew 23:26).

The whole basis of the operation of a wolf is deception – they seek to deceive others, but in the process become deceived themselves and eventually become blind to the fact that everything about them is one big lie (2Timothy 3:13). This means that any kind of reasoning or debate with them is an exercise in futility as they simply cannot see the real issues nor can they see that they believe and practice one big lie. Look for example at the prosperity preacher who year after year promises his followers riches and health if they “sow into his ministry” and yet is blind to the fact that his followers remain as poor as ever.

False teachers are very good at finding legal loopholes around the Law of God. Thus the Pharisees had an elaborate system of swearing by the altar, the temple or heaven and as long as they did not actually swear “by God” they felt they were not bound to perform the oath (Matthew 23:16-22). Thus one needs to be very careful of anyone who finds subtle ways around the clear teaching of Scripture and especially of those who have clever ways of justifying their own sin. This ability to play lawyer with God’s Word and to find excuses for disobedience and sin is very dangerous. If a leader is prepared to take liberties with the Word for the sake of expediency, then he cannot be trusted in any area of life or of doctrine. It is required of men of God that they be brutally honest and show utmost integrity when handling the Scriptures, especially when applying the Scriptures to themselves. Anyone who finds excuses to not obey the clear teaching of the Bible is walking in disobedience which will ultimately lead to spiritual blindness.

Matthew 23:16-22 also addresses the matter of honesty. The Pharisees would swear by heaven and so create the impression that they were giving a solemn oath to perform something, yet in their hearts they felt that they were not obligated to perform the oath because they did not actually swear by God. It is much like a kid making a promise while crossing his fingers. (The New Testament forbids the taking of oaths (Matthew 5:33, James 5:12). Anyone who breaks his word and does not fulfill his promises should not be in church leadership and cannot be trusted. If he will break his word on any promise, then he has no honor and cannot be relied on not to abuse the trust of his followers. If he cannot be trusted to tell the truth in business matters how can he be trusted to tell the truth of God’s Word and God’s will? If he can lie to a government official, he can lie to you, if he lies for you, he will lie to you. A leader who has the ability to lie on the smallest issues cannot be trusted to speak the truth about the Word of God. If your leader lies to you even once, then confront him. If he repents, then that is good. If he justifies himself or lies again then you better get out of there as fast as you can run.

False shepherds major on minors and minor on majors (Matthew 23:23,24). They are often legalistic about things like dress, hair length, Bible versions and other less important issues. At the same time they overlook the major issues such as justice, mercy and faith. (Jesus called these the weightier matters of the Law). So while they will condemn someone for having too long or too short hair, they will pervert justice and excuse far more serious infringements of dishonesty or immorality amongst their inner-circle. One such group forbids the reading of newspapers while drunkenness is quite acceptable! I am sure you have seen other equally ludicrous anomalies. This does not mean that “small” sins are to be excused, but rather that the emphasis has to be on the weightier matters.

I remember once being rebuked because I drove too fast; but what made the experience more painful was that the man who rebuked me was exceedingly greedy for money and power. I remember another “brother” rebuking me because I did not smile enough yet, he was stealing huge amounts of money from his employer! When leaders are not able to see the difference between the things that are really serious and the minor issues like tithing on the herbs, it is a sure sign that they are blind leaders of the blind.

One of the characteristics of cults is that they overemphasize certain truths at the expense of others. Any truth can become a heresy when it is pushed to an extreme and when it is not balanced by the rest of the teaching of Scripture. Our God is multifaceted, and the true faith balances holiness with grace, truth with love and goodness with severity. This does not mean we should water the teaching of God’s Word down, but that we should rather believe and practice the full spectrum of the Word and that we must emphasize what the Scriptures do and not emphasize what the Scriptures don’t. Thus we need to be very careful of teachers who will major on a few pet doctrines or Scriptures, and who do not teach the whole counsel of God no matter how right that particular teaching may be.

(To be continued)

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed on him, "If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32"

"...Religion is not an airy, imaginary, enthusiastic something, which stands independent of the word of God. It is not something mystical and visionary, the creation of the human brain, like some poetical dream, or the mere ebbing and flowing of natural feelings, however deep, various, or refined. This is mysticism, not religion; delusion, not salvation; enthusiasm, not the work of faith with power. True and saving religion is the work of the Holy Spirit operating upon the heart through the word; giving us faith by the application of the word, raising up hope by the power of the word, shedding abroad love by bringing the truth of the word with power into the soul. Does not our Lord, in our text, speak of "continuing in the word," or rather "my word," that being the means whereby we "receive of his fullness grace for grace," and thus by abiding in the word abide in him, as he speaks so plainly and beautifully in the parable of the vine? "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me." (John 15:4.) We forget sometimes these things, expecting religion to be wrought in our heart almost independent of the word of truth. But how striking are those words of our gracious Lord "For I have given unto them the words which you gave me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came from you, and they have believed that you did send me." (John 17:8.)

But bear in mind, also, that the Lord is very tender over his own work upon the soul. He is exceedingly gracious unto those that fear his name; has purposes of eternal mercy and love toward them; has sworn never to leave or forsake them; is pledged to bring them home to himself; and therefore, having begun the work, for his own name's sake, he will surely carry that work on. It is the Father's will that every one who sees the Son and believes on him should have eternal life. He has promised that not one of his sheep shall perish, and that none shall pluck them out of his hand; their continuance, therefore, does not depend upon creature exertion, creature ability, creature faith, or creature strength; but depends upon the good will and everlasting purposes of God the Father, the eternal love of the Lord the Lamb, and the gracious operations of the Spirit in unison with the choice of the Father and the love and blood of his dear Son. Therefore, they continue in the word, not because they have any strength, or goodness, or wisdom, or righteousness of their own, enabling them to do so; but because the eternal thoughts of God were towards them, because they are savingly interested in a covenant ordered in all things and sure, and because he who understood their cause is able, and not only willing, but firmly resolved to bring them through every trouble, and plant them before his blissful presence for evermore...."

Preached at Providence Chapel, Oakham, on
Wednesday Evening, July 7, 1869,
some emphasis added]

Another post in the continuing series by Pastor Anton Bosch.

Today's post is particularly relevant to the new and deadly form of legalism that is emerging in the church today -- a formulaic legalism which utilizes the business methods of setting standards for "success," assessing and measuring performance, and demanding conformity to new extra-biblical "what works" criteria.

In this, the fourth in the series about how to recognize false and abusive leaders we continue to look at Jesus’ warnings from Matthew 23. In verses 25 to 28 He shows the hypocrisy of such leaders.

Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Abusive leaders will often have an outward show of holiness while inwardly they are corrupt, sinful and destitute of the truth. Jesus speaks of them cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside is filthy and, of whitewashed tombs that appear respectable on the outside but are filled with death on the inside. Such men will go to great lengths to show how religious they are by condemning every form of sin in others and by putting on a holier-than-thou face when people can see them. Some of them even have a special voice and speak in a sanctimonious way to assure others of how holy they are. The problem is that this “holiness” is only skin-deep. At their core such people are wicked, filled with sinful thoughts, malice, hate and bitterness.

How will we know if a leader is such a hypocrite? There are a few tell-tale signs. Sometimes the front will slip, just for a moment. When you notice the occasional “slip” which seems out of character – beware. This may be the true nature of the beast showing through. If you pay attention to these little indicators, you may soon find that there is a pattern which indicates that the façade everyone sees is just that – a thin coat of whitewash that hides some serious problems.

What is the biggest reason why preacher’s kids are rebellious and wayward? Because the children see the hypocrisy of the father! Children have a prime seat from which to see that the man in the pulpit is not the same as the man in the home. When that happens, children will often reject the faith of the parents as something phony and false. Paul is adamant that a man, who is not able to lead his home, will not be able to lead the church (1Tim 3:4,5; Titus 1:6). Be very careful of a preacher whose children all go astray. Yes, we cannot all have perfect children and sometimes a child will be wayward, no matter how godly the parents are, but when parents have a zero success rate with their children, this indicates a deeper problem. This is especially true of those parents who are leaders in the church.

Another sign that you are possibly dealing with a hypocrite is when the leader is legalistic. One of the characteristics that is common to all cults is legalism. They make rules that control every area of people’s lives – what they may eat, drink, wear and do. Rules about church-attendance, tithing, holiness and worship are all spelled out in minute detail. The reason why such leaders make all these rules is because they do not trust themselves to do the right things from a heart that is right with God and so they have to make all these rules for themselves and then project the same onto the people.

A man who walks by the Spirit, does not need to be controlled by rules since the Holy Spirit will guide him in the paths of righteousness. Such a man will teach others also to live in obedience to God’s voice and will not impose long lists of man-made laws on them.

This does not mean that leaders who uphold high standards are legalistic. A godly leader will be concerned that outward lawlessness is an indicator of a heart which is not right. The Hypocrite does not care about the heart as long as the rules are not broken. Yes, both will desire to see similar things on the outside, but one is working towards seeing the outward things flow from a right heart while to the other the outward things are an end in themselves.

How transparent are the leaders? If they have a hard exterior that prevents anyone form getting too close, this may be a sign that they are hiding something. Jesus and Paul were not afraid to show their humanity to those around them. When leaders have nothing to hide and there is no veneer of religiosity, they will be transparent and will allow people to see them when they are tired, under stress and frustrated because it is often at those times that the true nature of the man becomes evident. Any leader who maintains his distance and never allows people to become familiar with his true self is suspect.

Jesus uses a few very strong words to describe the insides of these wolves in sheep’s clothing. He says they are “full of extortion and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25), they “are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (v28) and they “are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (v28). Note that He uses the word “full” three times. He is not saying they have a little bit of these problems, but they are full of them. Even though they appear good on the outside the inside is filled with evil things. This is what dominates their hearts and minds and it will come out and affect those around them.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

Apart from the extortion, self-indulgence, uncleanness, hypocrisy and lawlessness that fill these people, Jesus speaks about “dead man’s bones.” Jesus chose His words carefully and every word He speaks is important. He spoke of dead men’s bones because firstly, they themselves do not know the life that comes from walking in the Spirit and so they walk in the deadness of the letter of the law (2Corinthinas 3:6). But worse, they sow death wherever they go and kill the spiritual life in those around them. They do this because they are afraid that anyone with true spiritual life will expose the deadness of their own walk. So anyone with a little of the Christ-life is discouraged and legislated to death. Thus they carry around in themselves the corpses of others they have killed and destroyed by their legalism and dead religion. This is most clearly illustrated by the way the Pharisees treated Jesus, tried to bind Him to their rules and finally had him killed because the life in Him exposed the death in them.

In closing this episode, let me remind you that we are not speaking hypothetically or about dead leaders in “historic churches.” I am referring to leaders in many Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. Maybe even of the man you fear and reverence as “the man of God.” Don’t follow a blind man and don’t choose to follow a hypocrite. Neither know the true ways of God and both will lead you to death. There are still some good shepherds who have a heart for God, His Word and His people. Find such a leader and follow someone who can lead you deeper in your walk with God and who will encourage you to be led by the Spirit and not by man-made rules that only generate hypocrisy.

(To Be Continued…)

Discernment Ministries receives many requests from believers seeking to understand truth from error in these perilous times. Exercising discernment is something that each believer is required to do according to Scripture. But exercising discernment can be quite troublesome in our era of mixed and confusing messages.

The other day we ran across an 1844 vintage sermon by J.C. Philpot entitled "Trying the Spirits." This sermon was delivered well over 150 years ago. It has none of the modern influences of psychobabble or psychoheresy. It has none of the encumbrances of modern lingo, postmodern theology, or New Age buzz words. As such it is a refreshingly pure message about how to discern truth from error.

Philpot's sermons are written in a slightly older form of English which a few readers may find daunting. But blessings come to those who persevere through the older text and discover precious nuggets. We have excerpted a few portions of this sermon today, and will post a few more tomorrow, but the reader is exhorted to read this sermon through in its entirety, perhaps as part of your morning devotional. Or, if you are churchless or attending a church where the Word of God isn't being preached, consider reading an old sermon like this one so that you may be enriched and fed.

TRYING THE SPIRITS
J. C. Philpot
Preached at Zoar Chapel, Great Alie Street, London, on Thursday evening, August 1, 1844
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God."—I John iv.1.

…The Apostle John living at a late period of the Apostolic age, and writing his Epistle, but a short time before his decease, seeing how many of these seducing spirits then were abroad, warned the believers to whom he was writing against a superstitious reverence to all who stood up in the name of the Lord: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because," he adds, "many false spirits are gone out into the world."

The injunction, then, is not to believe every spirit, but to "try the spirits whether they are of God." You will observe, the Apostle does not enjoin his beloved brethren to try men's words, but to try their spirits. It is not words, so much as the spirit in which words are spoken, that really act upon the mind. Words come and go, according to the vulgar saying, "they come in at one ear, and go out at the other;" they leave no abiding impression; but the spirit, either for good or evil, that is, the working of God the Spirit on the heart, or the working of Satan, the evil spirit, in the carnal mind, leaves an abiding impression for good or evil. John, therefore, does not bid us watch men's words; for a man may say anything, and the baser and blacker a hypocrite he is, the more boldly and confidently can he speak. Nor does he bid us weigh men's actions, though actions are often great indications of men's minds; but he carries us beyond both words and actions, and, by bidding us watch men's spirits, takes us into the secret chambers from which words flow, and to the hidden springs by which actions are influenced.

"Try the spirits." Weigh and examine the spirit of a man, whether it be of God. Now, in doing this, a man taught of God will first try his own spirit; and when he has tried his own spirit, he will be in a proper situation, and not before, to try the spirits of others. …

Pastor Philpot then lists eight points which "show how a child of God is called upon not to believe even his own spirit, but to try it, whether it is of God." It is only after the believer examines his own self that he can then "go forth with these scales that have been suspended in his own heart, and try the spirits of others." Today's excerpt below, then, pertains to self-examination:

…6. Again. Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is in the soul, He is there as the Spirit of a sound mind; as the Spirit speaks to Timothy (2 Tim. i. 7.) "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." And it is a mercy, a great mercy, to have a sound mind. A sound mind is one not attracted by every passing novelty, that does not receive every wild doctrine, is not caught by every rushing blast of enthusiasm, is not turned aside by the deceptive powers of Satan as an angel of light. The Spirit of the Lord being in the soul as a spirit of a sound mind, receives only sound truth, such truth only as is commended to the conscience, and such as only the spiritual understanding sees, spiritual faith embraces, spiritual hope anchors in, and spiritual love enjoys. What a mercy it is for people where the minister has the "spirit of a sound mind;" who is not caught by every doctrine that comes floating forth on the wings of novelty, not attracted by every false light that Satan may raise up, not deluded by delusive experiences, nor the blaze and glare of fleshly holiness; but in the "spirit of a sound mind," discovers the real from the counterfeit, and brings forth that which he has tasted, felt, and handled of the word of life. This spirit of a sound mind will keep him steady and upright amid all the delusions of the day, and preserve him single and sincere amidst all the tossings to and fro of the winds of error.

7. Again. Wherever the Spirit dwells in a man's heart, He will be there a Spirit of love, for "the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost." This will produce love to Jesus, as the only hope of salvation; love to the people of God, because the heart is united to them in the bonds of sympathy and affection; love to the truth, because it is brought with power into the conscience, and a sweetness found in it more than of honey and the honeycomb.

8. Again. Wherever the Spirit of truth dwells in a man, He is there a spirit of uprightness and integrity. Such a one will never call evil good, or good evil; will never put light for darkness, or darkness for light; will never mistake bitter for sweet, or sweet for bitter. But there will be in him a spirit of honesty, integrity, and godly simplicity, whereby, whether in himself or others, that which is right is known to be right, and that which is wrong is known to be wrong. So that no artificial coverings, no false glossings, no hypocritical designs, no enthusiastic pretensions, can long hide from him what truth is and what error is, whether working in his own mind, or manifested in that of others. By this spirit of integrity, when he errs or falls, it is acknowledged; when he backslides, he deeply bewails it; and when he is entangled in Satan's snares, he mourns and sighs on account of it. …

…Now this does not imply any great boasting or confidence on the part of him that tries; nay, rather, he cannot try the spirits himself until he is clothed with humility. It is only so far as he is possessed of a broken heart and contrite spirit that he is able to try them aright; for he has to try them not in the flesh, not as thinking himself a man of wondrous judgment, not with carnal ideas of his own discernment, to say, "I will try this man or that." But covered with humility, having godly fear powerfully at work, feeling the spirit of contrition in the soul, he goes forth tenderly, warily, and watchfully; and in that secret court of conscience where God has tried him, and in that heart where God the Spirit dwells, does he try the spirits whether they are of God. There is much harsh judgment, and hasty, rash cutting off in many persons that springs from bad temper, envy, jealousy, pride, suspicion, want of love, a morose and sullen disposition, vanity and self-conceit. A man may cut and slash on the right hand and the left, and call this "trying the spirits," when he is only giving vent to his own pride and self-importance, and is but an instrument in the hands of Satan to harass and distress God's people. This is not the "trying of the spirits" that John speaks of.…

Tomorrow's excerpt from this same sermon will "look at some marks of that spirit which is not of God" in others.

Yesterday's post contained excerpts from "Trying the Spirits," a sermon delivered by J.C. Philpot in 1844. Today's post extrapolates two points from this sermon which help people to discern truth from error. Philpot introduces the second part of his sermon with this statement:

II.—But let us now look at some marks of that spirit which is not of God; and which God's people feel in a measure in themselves, and see more fully developed in others.

These two points are particularly relevant to today's church (as are the other points in this sermon). When reading this first excerpt below, many modern church leaders and their methods -- particularly this new vocation of "visioning" -- may come to mind:

A Spirit of Vain Confidence

…2. A spirit of vain confidence is from the devil; and you are to try whether the spirit that comes before you is of this kind. Sometimes we feel vain-confidence creeping upon us; a spirit of presumptuous assurance that does not spring from the Spirit's inward witness; a sort of fleshly confidence, that when it works brings death into the soul. I know the feeling well; a proud daring boldness, which is as different from God's teachings and leadings as hell is from heaven. Now, as we feel the workings of this vain-confidence in ourselves, it opens our eyes to see it in others; and as we detest the spirit in our own hearts, we cannot but abhor it in theirs. For myself I must say, of all persons, I would least choose for my companions those who have much of this vain-confidence; and of all preachers, those whom I would least wish to hear Would be those in whom it is most manifested.

There is such a thing as true confidence given and maintained by the Spirit. Every grace and fruit of the Spirit will attend this; and its companions will be humility, godly fear, contrition, tenderness of conscience, deadness to the world, prayerfulness, and heavenly-mindness. But the confidence that rests upon the doctrines of grace in the letter only, is a confidence that God never gave. It is usually little else but health, strength and good spirits carried into religion; and its general companions are pride, worldliness, covetousness, frivolity, levity, selfindulgence, and carnality. Depend upon it, this vain confidence in minister or people is death to all that is good. When once a vain-confident spirit takes hold of them, and they can rest in a dead assurance, and believe and talk as though they were going to heaven, whilst they know nothing of the Spirit's inward teachings and testimony, and are not broken down in godly fear, it will be the death of everything good and spiritual in that people and congregation. When ministers get possessed of this vain-confident spirit, it will be sure to spread itself. Spirit, as I before said, is of a diffusive nature; it will communicate itself. And if a man stand up in vain-confidence, and you give him your ears and heart, if God the Spirit do not mercifully break the snare, depend upon it, that vain-confidence will soon spread and grow upon you.

Look, and see whether you are now standing in this vain-confidence. Perhaps, some years ago you had more doubts, fears, and exercises than at present; but you say, "Now I have lost them all; and can talk more confidently of going to heaven!" But what has been the cause of the removal of these doubts and fears? What has made them take flight, and brought you out of them into this confidence wherein you now stand? Has it been by the liftings up of the light of God's countenance upon you? Has the Lord Himself raised you out of the dust, given you the inward witness of the Holy Ghost, and softened, melted, and humbeled you by His teaching? In a word, is your eltm a broken heart and a contrite spirit? Is your soul dissolved at times in godly sorrow, and brought into sweet communion with a broken-hearted Jesus? Or does it rest merely in the doctrines of the Bible? Have you borrowed it from some minister? Do you speak confidently because the members of your church do so; and because doubts and fears are generally scouted and ridiculed where you attend? Does your assurance rest upon the letter of the word without the inward witness and sealings of the Spirit? Depend upon it, if it stand not in the inward witness and testimony of the Spirit, it is a spirit of vain-confidence, however subtle and refined. And you had better be harassed with doubts and fears all your life than get out of them in any other way than God's way.

This next excerpt may call to mind the increasing irreverence one sees in the language and behaviors of the Emergent/Emerging church movement:

A Spirit of Presumption and Irreverence

3. A spirit of presumption and irreverence in divine things is a sure mark that the spirit is not of God. I think of all painful things to a living soul, one of the most is to see a spirit of irreverence in the things of God. Lightness, frivolity, irreverence in the pulpit; a talking to God as an equal, instead of lying at His feet as a suppliant—how painful a spectacle to the soul that has been taught to tremble at His word! I do not say a man of God may not be entangled in this snare; but where can his conscience be, not to see the awfulness of approaching a holy God without reverence of His dread majesty? What says the Scripture? "Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire. (Heb. xii. 28, 29.) How the Lord has visited with the hottest tokens of his displeasure those who dared to rush irreverently before Him! How Nadab and Abihu were consumed because they offered strange fire! (Lev. x. 1, 2.) How Uzzah, because he touched the ark, not being a Levite, was smitten by the immediate judgment of God! How more than fifty thousand of the men of Bethshemesh were smitten with a "great slaughter," because they dared irreverently to look into the ark of God! (1 Sam. vi. 19.) Is He not the same holy, jealous Jehovah now? And will He suffer any man to rush into His presence with irreverence, and talk to Him as though he were His fellow? O where can a man's conscience be, who can go before the Lord without some reverence and godly fear in exercise?

Now this spirit is diffusive, like every other spirit, for good or bad. Tender, reverent feelings soon get damped; and if we do not take an early alarm, and heed the first admonitions of the Spirit, we know not how soon the same irreverence may creep upon us. A man may as well think he can expose his face to the wind, and not feel it blow upon him, as expose his conscience to an irreverent spirit, and think it will produce no injurious effect. "Try the spirits," then, and see whether they be of God: see whether this familiarity of approach to the throne of grace in yourself or others be the spirit of irreverence and presumption, or whether it be the inward teachings of the Holy Ghost in a tender conscience. …

About J.C. Philpot

J.C. Philpot left the apostasizing Church of England early in his ministry (1835) and went public about his reasons for resigning his curacy and his fellowship. The rest of his life was spent ministering amongst the Strict Baptists. An official biography notes, "His preaching was marked by clear views of gospel truth; an ability to set forth the deepest truths in a simple manner; a wealth of similies from nature to open up and explain the things of God; and a clear discernment of the vital distinctions between a mere profession of Christ and a true saving knowledge of Him."

Many of J.C. Philpot's sermons are found on the Internet in various locations. One can also purchase inexpensive bound sets of his sermons from Old Paths Gospel Press at 406-466-2311.

J.C. Philpot, in a sermon we have been excerpting in Herescope for the past several days entitled "Trying the Spirits" circa 1844, concludes with a warning about books.

Books?! How harmless books must have been in 1844 compared to the open heresies of our postmodern era! Yet, he implores believers to guard themselves, to "try the spirits" of every religious book that they are tempted to put into their hands. Here is what he says:

…Now we are to "try the spirits." We are not to submit implicitly to what every man who stands up in a pulpit may choose to say. We are not to receive, as written by the Spirit, every book put into our hands that is called a religious work. We are not to believe every word that is spoke by persons professing a sound creed. We are commanded, God the Spirit calls upon us, to "try the spirits" by our own experience, and by the doctrine, experience, and precept recorded in the