Paper Tigers

Leaving the Land of Status Quo

  In the last forty years since becoming a Christian, one of my biggest pet peeves that has always irritated me was the “Status Quo.” I ran into it in the very first church I attended after coming to Christ. Then after six months in a traditional American Baptist church, I was more than ready to move on. As far as I could tell I had made a wrong turn and this church thing was a walking joke, a social club of words and good intent but very little action as I was reading in scripture.

  Then we, and the pastor encountered the power of the Holy Spirit via John Wimber. Everything changed as I realized God was truly very real. He (God) impacted my life with many things that I saw and experienced, changing my view on everything I knew. To see a body part replaced, blind people's vision restored, Cancerous lumps go smooth suddenly before me. To walk up to a person you never knew and suddenly know their entire history without words being spoken can have a serious impact on a young man's life.

From this encounter and others that followed I quickly realized the problem was the people, not God.

  This event infused life abundantly within our local Baptist church as we accelerated with a purpose in the things we felt the Lord was showing us. In my, and most likely everyone else’s spiritual immaturity we did not understand that with each passing day, things were slowing down. Or even what the cause of the problem was that was reducing things to a crawl. Eventually, many left the church as things slowly over the years returned to its former condition. In time, that pastor left and a new pastor arrived who reinforced the old ways, and the Status Quo became the social norm once again.

  As Amy Grant says in her song, No Body Home, “Knowing' what once was here just makes me want to cry. Used to be the favorite place. Now what remains are memories even time cannot erase.”

  In time, the Lord arranged meetings with many key people from those former days. I interviewed them and finally came to an understanding of many of the hidden demonic components that finally broke the destiny that was meant to come from that church.

Time has passed, so now from the vantage point of several churches in various regions of the United States, that we have traveled through. I have seen many things come and go now within the church.

  On our last assignment, God laid some of the most profound lessons for us as we were sent to a major ministry that for over a decade before arriving we would have gladly endorsed it to anyone who asked. And the fact is, for me, even after being on staff for a few years, I had learned to overlook many of its flaws and would still have endorsed it.

  But, the last few years of being on staff changed all that. The Lord started peeling away the veil that covered my eyes...and the image was appalling.

What have we become?

  A few brave leaders have spoken on the issue of the Body of Christ both nationally as well as locally. But for every brave soul, there is a basket full of well-intentioned Polly Anna who will quickly jump to the forefront to say, “Don’t speak negative words.” 

   And there are some days I simply can not stand to see what I see, so I guess like the few seers that are looking and speaking, I need to add my voice and speak on it as well. So I have come to think that without Integrity, Honor, and Compassion at the center of what we do, we are all playing house with paper dolls.

  When evil within the church is found and someone speaks up or tries to deal with it, we are told to “pray about it.” Another word, and let me be very blunt about this. They are saying, “Sit down and shut up so that evil will continue” is what is really being said. When did we ever see the Lord Jesus or the Apostles take that kind of action by telling people to “Pray about it.” The biblical response to evil was to take action and deal with the evil head-on.

  By disarming the warriors of the church and telling them that “true warriors” only pray, is not only unbiblical, it’s moronic. The Bible is full of examples of true warriors, men, and women of action. Read Hebrews Eleven and the Book of Acts. These are books of action, stories meant to encourage and lay the foundation for future warriors.

  Many people pray for healing, except for various pockets found in some places. Most of us see extremely little results nowadays. We have become a body of secretly discontent singers, dancers, and pew sitters who have been trained to accept the show and dance of modern church life. All the while the 21st. The century has become the bloodiest time for church martyrs.

  Orphaned children are increasing in the world as we believe the lie of population control with twisted beliefs of self-preservation. As a result, the church is not reclaiming its God-given destiny to bring orphans in and give them a home. The early church knew and understood this mandate from Heaven as they took newborn children down from the “exposure” walls in the Roman cities and raised them as their own.

  The commandment to pray for the sick and SEE THEM BECOME WELL. Has been traded in at the altar of “good doctrine” so as not to affect church offerings with radical actions. When did the image of the church become so high and mighty that it eclipsed the image of Christ? When did following the basic commands of the Lord get sacrificed at the altar of tax deductions and budgets? How many today could even write down the basic commands and teachings of Jesus without looking them up? Few I think.

  Spiritual discernment has often been traded in for the group consensus. Allowing leaders of low spiritual discernment to overrule seasoned voices. This effectively means a break in biblical mentorship. People need to see leaders make the right judgment on issues, this builds trust and encourages younger leaders.

  I once heard a story of a powerful prophetic intercession group with a reputation for praying and turning storms away from the United States. After some time, forest fires started up in various places in the east. They inquired of the Lord as to why there were so many fires. His answer was simple, “Not all storms are evil. I sent the storms to water the land. And now the trees cry out to me in thrust.” Through this, they realized that God was, “in the whirlwind” at times and they needed to learn to seek God first. The group consensus to continue to challenge all the storms prevailed even though some of the group felt that this might not be the right action anymore.

  Have we become a body of paper tigers? Congregational life, relegated to manageable understanding, with watered-down teaching and spiritual fire insurance against the concepts and ways of the world? Have we set aside the Power and the Compassion of God to transform lives? Disarmed and toothless we play with paper dolls and pocket knives in a self-generated world of illusions told to us by denominational traditions.

  Do you realize EVERY TIME the Lord felt compassion in the scriptures he did something? He did not shrug it off like so many of us do. Nor did not stop to pray about it, he acted with the compassion that was moving within him. Compassion itself was the green light to go forward.

  Don’t misunderstand what I am saying, prayer is good as a LIFESTYLE. But it was never meant to replace action in the Bible. Always defaulting to prayer when the word is clear on what needs to be done can be cowardice.

  “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:14-17

  To compound the problem, many leaders at the senior levels of the larger ministries have become a whitewashed fence. I know to some of you this is a strong statement, but the day has come for a strong statements, if the Status Quo is to be shaken.  As Jesus said concerning hypocritical leadership, “They are full of dead men’s bones.” Having secret lives that would make much blush. Some like Mike Bickle, Todd Bentley, and others yet to be exposed have wandered off into such shameful things, that many of today's Catholic Bishops are getting arrested for. The gospel of self-sacrifice has been replaced with something that looks more like a multi-level marking plan with them benefiting at the top of the food chain. Amway would be proud.

Back in the day of the late 1980’s, there were several prophetic online groups like Rivermail, The Prophetic Underground, and others. I wish I still had a copy of some of the major prophetic words that came out during that time. But I think I am now seeing the fulfillment some of these.

From what I recall it said this:

  Basically, the charismatic world would grow, with powerfully anointed leaders. Then one by one the Lord would confront them about their hidden sins and rebellion. Unrepentant these leaders continued. So the Lord declared them before the Body of Christ to be Saul’s. Many people woke up, but the Saul-like leaders remained defiant and those under them began persecuting them, even killing them. In time, from the ranks of those persecuted by the Sauls, rose up to become God’s anointed Davids who replaced the Sauls, and then the Body prospered.

  This was a powerful word back in the day that many could not accept emotionally back then. Because it offends their understanding of a “meek and mild Jesus,” that is all-loving. But our acceptance or rejection does not neuter the raw power of the Lord from doing what he wants.

  And that is most likely one of the reasons so many ministries are quietly trying to disarm the basic reality of the Book of Revelation. They don’t want to scare away the people because the tithe will go down.

  It is time for the restoration of Honor, Integrity, and Compassion, this really needs to be moved to the forefront as the Davids arise in the future. We, the Paper Tigers can be rearmed with understanding, vision, and zeal for the Lord.

May the Paper Tigers of today become the Eagles of tomorrow.