Strategic Discipleship

September 14, 2026
Overcoming Sovereign Self: Chapter 3, Discipleship Basics

What Discipleship is NOT

Misconceptions abound these days about what discipleship is, some taking the form of pursuing activities that it is not and calling them discipleship. Frequently the misconceptions are taught by believers whose spiritual gifting is that of evangelism, of which there are many in full-time professional service in the Church. We all see through the lens of our individual gifting, and the evangelist sees every situation to promote their "pray this prayer after me" inner drive. These encounters for sure result in many "justification moments"—that is, when a believer first knows who they are in His Life and are further destined to be through the discipleship/transformation/salvation process. In the previous subchapter we were careful to draw the distinction between our "justification by His Blood" event and our "salvation by His Life” process as Paul was in Romans 5:9-10. It is a flagship Scripture because failure to understand the difference causes us to ask everyone who will listen if they have been "saved" (i.e., "sozo'd," completely healed and made whole) when what we mean "justified." Without process, no transformation takes place. We are a new creation, but “put[ting] on the New Man” takes time, intentionality, and making spiritual mind choices. We have been doing this a long time, and yet we know of no one who was completely healed and made whole in their first encounter with Christ, and that is by His design. We come into this new Life a complete mess, and by the process of discipleship and salvation we get "cleaned up." Again, first you climb out of the mud puddle and then you take a shower; first you leave the pigpen “i.e., “he came to himself,” (Luke 15:17), then you return home and the Father gives you new clothes, shoes, and a ring. Oh…and He throws you a party.

First and foremost, discipleship cannot be a half-hearted effort (we address this principle in Chapter 4, What Does “Whole Heart” Mean?). We may refuse to leave the shallow end of the baby pool, but we do not have the sanction to define what “swimming” is. “Hey, I am the one actually in the water, I can call it whatever I like, right?” Sorry, dear, words have meaning, and we do not have the prerogative or the authority to decide unilaterally what they mean! Jesus has a foundational interest in your discipleship, and He described the high-level view of the process in His "If any man would come after Me" declaration of Matthew 16:24-25. Our redefinition of "saved" cannot improve on His declaration, but we can spend a lifetime in whole-heart pursuit of "walking out," "working out," and "putting on!" We can understand why so many in the Church define discipleship according to whatever definition is convenient, seems good, and is comfortable to them when we read in Genesis 3:5 that Satan’s deception of mankind is firmly based on a “[Y]our eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing [defining] good and evil” philosophy. That is the “Be Like God Principle.” “Like God” sounded good to Eve because He was already a Good Father they knew and loved—how could being like Him in any form be a bad thing? Indeed, that is the same question asked by believers today when we hear from the pulpit calls for us to be like Him! But the snake was not promising Man a better version and vision of what God had declared. He was, instead, stealthily baiting and telling Man that he/she would be entitled to determine important questions from an internal Self-oriented knowledge perspective ra-ther than from an ex-ternal universal wisdom. But Adam’s and Eve’s unperceived problem was not what they would know, but what they could not see: Their quest to be “like God” immediately separated them from the Collective Oneness/Union, resulting in a brand-new perspective from which they had never seen, and by which they were immediately confused and made afraid (Genesis 3:10). In fact, one of the ways we can testify with assurance to what separation (even the Illusion of Sepa-ration) does in us and did originally in Adam and Eve is to read and under-stand their urgency to “hide and cover.” Disobedience always produces fear.

When we define activities in terms that do not match what God has declared, we embrace a separated mindset that “knows better.” That is one form of “separated thinking.” In this day and culture, that re-definition often takes the extreme form of such ludicrous questions as “What constitutes maleness and femaleness?” and “When is a child in the womb an actual person?” Can a man be pregnant? (The smart answer to this question is, “If your wife is pregnant, then YOU HAD BETTER BE TOO, if you know what’s good for you! :0)) The answers to these and other absurd questions, according to our “of this world” consciousness and “be like God” arrogance is, “Whatever we say it is” and “Whenever we say they are.” Satan’s “Hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1) question has been pushed to absurd lengths in the Kosmos as Satan pushes to expand his deceptive authority to include extreme forms of his original Rebellion. That is the “be like God” function in actual practice with a “Self-as-god” result. The separation outcome, then, results in a layer of Self-centered filters through which we view the world and its events. It is usurping God’s Sovereignty to possess the prerogative to define what is good and what is evil, a prerogative to which we are not entitled. So, by “knowing” (read: defining) good and evil in any way different than what Papa has already revealed is to engage in re-defining His Truth, which itself is the very functional definition of rebellion. If we may be allowed a re-phrasing of his whole meaning, Satan was offering Man a god-like status of defining “good and evil” in terms of “What is good for you as an Independent Sovereign Self (ISS), and what your ISS decides is evil.” From this re-phrasing, we can see that the serpent’s temptation of Eve—and then Adam—was nothing more than repackaging and re-branding of his own Rebellion recorded in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.

The first example of “what discipleship is not” is, “Discipleship is not a religious activity.” Jesus made that very clear in Matthew 7:22-23: “22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘LORD, LORD, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness [iniquity]!’” The “many” that Jesus cites in this passage present their religious activity credentials as evidence of their discipleship, but Jesus was having none of it. Here, He connects two very interesting criteria for discipleship: 1) doing the will of His Father, and 2) being known by Him in the process. Cross-reference these two factors with Matthew 16:24-25, and what comes into focus is that “deny[ing] Self” (your Self-killing motivation) along with “tak[ing] up your cross” (your Self-killing instrument) and “follow me” (your Self-killing activity) are the critical activities to “doing the will of [His] Father” and “being known” because Self and separation block Collective Oneness/Union.

There is no indication here that the “you who practice iniquity” were banished to hell, but they clearly did not get the privilege of serving in the presence of the King. The conditions Jesus presents here fall into two categories: “doing,” and “being,” and they apply to our discipleship growth as well. Neither is there any indication that He moved to stop them from their Self-centered pursuits and calling them ministry! (See Chapter 8, Ministry Success/Conduct as A Discipleship Evaluation Criteria.) But the “doing” aspects must fall within the specific category of “Fa-ther’s Will;” and activities that do not fall within the “Father’s Will” category do not produce the result of “being known” (a state of being). Related to this we find the following pattern in Scripture. Jesus said in John 5:30, “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” Note in this Scripture Jesus was specifically addressing and repudiating the question of Self-motivation. And again, in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the Will of Him who sent Me.” It is clear from these two passages (and others) that Je-sus’ “doing” was what Father was doing. Neither did He speak words from His own authority, but rather the Father’s:

• John 12:49, “For I have not spoken on My own authority but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.”
• John 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”

One very descriptive functional definition of the Illusion of Self-Righteousness and the Illusion of Self-Sovereignty is, “Speak[ing] on my own authority.” Clearly, in these passages above, we can see the element of Oneness existent in the relationship between Jesus and His Father. That ele-ment of Oneness is Union, and it is Collective Oneness/Union that produces the “being known” that Jesus referenced in Matthew 7:21-23. Said another way, Collective Oneness/Union is the state and status of “abid[ing] in the vine” (John 15:4).

Discipleship is not just reading the Bible, praying, attending Church, giving, testifying, or doing good works. All of these are activities that are often helpful for facilitating our discipleship BECAUSE THEY ARE TOOLS, NOT THE THING ITSELF. But they themselves are not discipleship when conducted in a vacuum without experiencing transformation into His Image. Without transformation, these activities are merely religious exercises that do not bring the abundant life Jesus promised. Without transformation, we remain mired in the Illusion of Separation from Him. Without transformation, we are doomed to acting out the “Be Like God Principle.” Recall that the Pharisees of Jesus’ day practiced all these things (Mathew 23, the whole chapter); yet for them, Jesus reserved His harshest criticism. Why would He do that? Because He knew that in the absence of the process of Self-emptying, embracing humility, regeneration, renewal, and transformation into His Image, religious activities always spring from a motivation of Self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is but another illusory form of ISS from which we are to be delivered.

September 13, 2026
Overcoming Sovereign Self, Chapter 1: All Things Pertaining to Self (APTS)

The Church Has Gotten it Wrong

The Church has gotten it wrong. There, we said it, and we are glad. Not all of it is wrong, of course. Jesus really is the Savior of the world who came to this T/S/M world that He created for the purpose of fulfilling His Covenant with the Father and laying down His life in payment for our sin—every sin, all sin, and the sin of the whole world (1 John 2:2). He really has removed our sin from us “as far as east is from west” (an infinite distance!) (Psalm 103:12), and He has redeemed us to God a holy people. He really is the King of Kings who will rule over this earth and in eternity and bring all things into subjection to the Father. He really did come to destroy all the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and it is in THAT aspect that the church has embraced the lie of the enemy. Where the Church has diverted from Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God is at the strategic—even above, at the goal level—of understanding what it all means. Jesus did not die for you to have an enriched bank account, drive a gold-plated luxury car, or own your own airplane to enable your “ministry junkets.” In a very real sense, He did not die for you at all—at least the way you think about it—but for Us: The Collective Bride of Christ that will be His helpmeet and container of His glory. In large measure, the Church has failed to embrace the Kingdom because it thinks too small; that is, it thinks too narrowly, too parochially, mainly because we think too SELFISHLY. In the same reaction when we agree (and nod religiously!) when Matthew 16:23-24 is read (“Deny Self…lose your life for My sake,” etc.), we get our panties in a wad at the suggestion that Jesus’ death was not about me, His Kingdom is not about me, and my blessing and prosperity are not the biggest blips on His radar. After all, what “What’s in it for me?” gospel message do we have if we cannot fork the Self-interest road between heaven and hell? How can we expect to “Win the world for Christ!” if we have no ammunition with which to coax them out of their Self-absorbed world; and, rather, join them in it? How can a conglomerate of Independent Sovereign Selves motivated by and intent on our own “He Loves me; He Loves me not” daisy petal-picking accurately convey the Story of Redemption in a manner that gives revelation of Self-giving Love? And, if God is Agape-Self-giving Love (1 John 4:8) by essence and Nature, how can we expect to reproduce “after His kind,” rather than after our own Self-interested, Self-oriented, Self-focused kind? “Yeah, but don’t we have to ‘Go where they are to bring them to where He is’?” Well, let’s see…how well is that working for us in real terms, that is, not in terms we set (pews filled, etc.), but in terms He sets (which brings us back to Matthew 16:23-24)? How much fruit are we actually producing when (as we will see in the next chapter) the fruit He expects is first and foremost our transformation into His Image? If we go into their Self-centered, Self-absorbed, Independent Sovereign Self (ISS) lives for the ex-press purpose of “bringing them to where He is,” then we must acknowledge that where He re-sides is in Collective Oneness, and that is the opposite of ISS. Somehow, we wander (or charge!) into their world to witness, settle down, and never leave. In a very real sense, the world is much more effective in its evangelization of believers than vice versa. It gives us no joy to observe that there is precious little difference in the rubber-meets-the-road conduct of “preserve my Self-life/lose [my] life for His sake” dynamic between the Church and the Kosmos world.

A stark acknowledgement we must make if we are sincerely intentional in making disciples is the “Colossians 2:23 Principle”: “Methodologies based on principles of the world and the Kosmos System are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh,” the same indulgence of the flesh that is the target of our discipleship transformation quest. Our beginning assumptions are usually based on previous contexts, so wrong assumptions lead inevitably to wrong conclusions that are inconsistent with contextual understanding of Truth. That is a persistent problem of the Kosmos Drift because the “off course-ness” of our drift causes us to come into each new circumstance, each unusual environment, each non-standard decision at a deficit of Truth. Each new day we pick up where we left off yesterday; which, as we said, is fine if you finished yesterday on course and in charted territory. And the corollary to the Colossians 2:23 Principle is “Tainted motivations yield tainted results, regardless of the specifics of process.” Why is that? It is because of the same reasons that we must forsake the entire world system under that sway of the evil one (1 John 5:19): His methodologies (read: “strategies,” or “ways”) have their origin in The Rebellion, and always put inappropriate emphasis on Self and separation. (We will discuss in detail the specifics of the Kosmos System and why it is the antithesis of the Kingdom and its values in Chapter 4, Love Not the World System.) They do indeed have an APPEARANCE of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body; and, oh my, are we not concerned about appearances, so much so that they eclipse the importance of actual results? The reason they have such an appearance is that they “blend in” with the culture of this world, a culture that is the antithesis of the culture and nature of the Kingdom. So, while we are engaged in our flesh-targeted, “What’s in it for me/you?” gospel, we are precluding the Master’s declared requirement for success: Deny the very Self that our feel-good, “me” gospel exalts, promotes, and pampers. The bottom line is that when we use a worldly strategy of Self-interest, we cooperate with—and give aid and comfort to—the enemy of God and of our Bridegroom. It shocks the sensibilities, but it is literally the definition of spiritual treason. We effectively redefine good and evil in the same manner the snake prophesied we would (Genesis 3:5) by substituting our own marketing strategy for God’s principles of engagement. Finally, unless and until we have commit-ted significant, intentional, honest, and non-defensive meditation, asking our Good Father to reveal the contents of our heart and soul, we cannot even know what is in there, but we may be certain that it is our default of an independent, Self-oriented, and flesh-indulgent perspective.

Not all the Church has totally embraced the Independent Sovereign Self (ISS) and the "My life for its own sake" (MLFIOS) error that largely predominates, in both the world and the Church. But a very large percentage of believers have accepted and believe a Self-centered gospel that focuses on what God has done “for me” and misses the fact that the priority in Papa's conduct of earthly matters is returning a usurped Kingdom to His Son, not following you around with happiness and blessing, or coming running to find you (“chase you down”) every time you decide you want to wander away to “greener” (read: fleshly) pastures. He is also doing what it takes to ensure that the Son’s Bride is ready to occupy her Kingdom role. Said another way, He is AS interested (if not more so) in transforming you by the Life of Christ (salvation) as He is in recruiting and reconciling you by the Blood of Christ (justification) (Romans 5:9-10). Believe it or not—and contrary to the implications of some of our sermons and worship songs—He is nobody’s pet God. Of course, at first blush, we bristle at the thought and description of Papa as a “pet God,” but even a cursory observation reveals that is precisely how many of His kids relate to Him. He tolerates it for now, but there is a time coming when even His children will tremble at His majesty, and we will see that the ludicrous way we have thought about His Person was a prime example of the principle Jesus reveals in Mark 12:27, “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.” Religious people always make the great mistake of underestimating His Power, His Person, and His Purpose.

September 10, 2026
Overcoming Sovereign Self, Chapter 1: Forsaking All Things "Self"

The farther we get from the cross—both the event and the perspective—the more errors we tend to accumulate, and the more of the kingdom of this world characteristics and values make their way into the core of Church teaching. That is true historically and spiritually with the increasing influence of the world on both individuals and the Church organization. We have given this slide down the slippery slope a name: the Kosmos Drift. With each new plateau of off-course revelation and diverted attention, we declare "This is the way church is supposed to be done" and reset our compass to the new, more modern, more Self-focused, and often a more world-embracing, culturally relevant standard. What we have largely failed to see is that, as the worldwide Body of Christ, our challenge in this classroom of life is to be PURGED from the world system, not MERGED with it, or even acceptable to it (James 4:4).
Our discipleship mission far exceeds learning to “Play nicely with others.” Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world, nor will it ever be incorporated into the current ruler’s system. The Church’s mission is not to be culturally relevant nor to portray a re-imagined and re-tooled version of what currently exists. It is to assimilate and model an entirely different culture, an alien one that does not belong to this world and will never be acceptable to it—and vice versa. Our quest is not to be successful in this world’s system or to be relevant to it and its interests; it is to be separated from it. That is what it means to be sanctified, and literally what the Greek word means. Jesus overcame the world system, and now He invites us to follow Him by denying the Self-interest focus that is so endemic here (Matthew 16:24). Changes in culture, parochial interests, the proliferation of possessions, “rights,” and even things as basic as changes in language and the evolution of word meanings contribute to the drift away from the bull’s eye of the target. Like hitting the “save” button on a computer, it seems as if at some unnamed, unmarked juncture, a new “the way church is done” (TWCID) standard passes like an electric cloud through the Body of Christ and becomes the new standard of “successful worship.” Frequently, that new standard in practice takes us further from the simple four-step standard Jesus gave us in Matthew 16:24-25 for the conduct of disci-pleship.

When we observe from a neutral perspective the differences that have been introduced into Church practices and values over time, a few obvious questions leap out at us:
• How did we get from “deny Self” to “celebrate yourself” as a Church cultural value?
• How did we decide that writing and singing about all that He has done for me glorifies Him?
• How did our rebellious forsaking and willful going our own way become His “chasing us down” and “running after me” opportunity and pass time?
• When did we slip from praising His Nature and Who He is to consistently praising Him based on His gifts to me?
• How did we arrive at the conclusion that His “time” and effort are well-spent chasing down millions/billions of errant, strong-willed, mischievous, Self-centered children to the degree that we should boast about as anything besides what it is—our Self-centered shame!?!
• What makes us think that the Creator should be evaluated or judged in any measure based on the perception of the Creation?
• How did we conclude that being “all things to all men” (1 Corinthians 9:22) includes adapting the core motivations and perspectives of the Church to be more acceptable to the world system under the rulership of our enemy?
• How did we conclude that by becoming more like them, we maintain anything to offer them?
• How did we come to think that “take up your cross” means wearing a gold-and-jewel-encrusted one in our High-Church services?

These questions are rhetorical since the attitude migration from Him as Sovereign LORD of All to the Church as a conglomeration of Self-centered ISSs is traceable to the moment when Lucifer declared, “I will be like the Most High,” and we subsequently drank the same Kool-Aid! It simply is not possible to worship the God of Gods in the terms we typically do—that is, not for His magnificent Nature but relative to how much He has “done for me”—without a profound fixation on Self.

When we say the Church has gotten it wrong, we mean that, over time, we have accumulated errors of practice, attitude, and discipleship priorities that have far removed us from Jesus’ target behavior of “deny Self, take up [your] cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24) and that have insulated us from the required repentance and learning. Instead of “take up your cross and follow me,” we sing of how much He loves me, blesses me, and “runs after me”! The dichotomy seems obvious, and the fact that we do not see it speaks volumes about the Self-centric lenses and filters through which we view and experience life and spirit. Our worship has completely reversed the roles of God and “Man as god,” and “my life” as the focal point for His Plans. Our words of submission mean nothing if our attitudes and filters still view God as “Sugar Daddy.” Today’s Church only vaguely resembles the Church of the first century—you know, the one that spent 40 days with Jesus after His resurrection and before His ascension and received their King-dom instruction in person from Him (Acts 1:3). Today’s Church resembles it in name only. Jesus has noticed (prophetically) what we have done with His instruction, how we have made it about ourselves (in terms of “what He has done for me”), mixed it with an unhealthy dose of love for this world, and created a lukewarm mixture of religion, human emotion, and “Self” that seduces us into a bed of comfort and that no longer recognizes the discipleship quest He put us here to engage—to be transformed into the Image of Christ. He has declared that it makes Him want to “vomit [us] out of [His] mouth” (Revelation 3:15-18). We think we are “rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and that Jesus endorses our blessing and prosperity. And, while partially true—at least when our prosperity corresponds with His purposes for and training of His Church—that is not the whole Truth. And, when we define prosperity according to the kingdom of this world's standards, it is patently untrue. The enemy and the world system have conspired against the Church to “Boil the frog slowly,” raising the temperature a degree or two over many years so that we do not recognize the imminent danger that will end our little froggy life. That is the emergency and true context of “climate change” that has nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with the deception, infiltration, and cooptation of the Church.

September 7, 2026
Overcoming Sovereign Self: Chapter 1, Forsaking All Things Self

Self-Promotion and Mis-Directed Ambition

It may be the ultimate universal irony that Self-promotion is rampant—even ubiquitous—in the church at large when all things “Self” are the hallmarks of the kingdom of this world and our enemy. If it were not so tragic, it would be delicious satire that the very thing we pursue and celebrate—Self-success, even in ministry—is the same motivation that initiated Lucifer’s chain-reaction insurrection against the Collective Oneness of the Kingdom of God. It is not difficult to understand why that is the case when we consider that the culture of the world and flesh have so thoroughly infiltrated the church organization, including its promotional structure, leadership education/preparation, our meetings together (even the worship), and the experience of individual members in daily, kingdom of this world ambitions. As we have said, when we define our relationship and identity in the Kingdom in terms of “me” and what He does for “me,” we make it, in fact, about “me”—how He thinks of me, how He cares for me, how He blesses me, how He causes me to triumph, how He chases me down when I stray, how He fights every battle for me and makes me victorious, how He ever lives to make intercession for me. And, while many of our claims are true, they are not the whole Truth in context because He is not anxiously awaiting His Return to claim 100-million bridezillas, rather to retrieve one chaste virgin (2 Corinthians 11:2), His “wife [who] has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:6-7). A casual observer from outer space viewing the church for the first time might well conclude that we are the gods entitled to god-like benefits, and He is the servant Whose privilege and honor it is to attend to our desires. We are like insecure “ego-holics” who cannot pass a mirror without stopping to check ourselves out and giving ourselves a “thumbs up” and a tooth sparkle! It makes matters that much worse to consider that over many centuries of spiritual struggle we inculcated the very foundation of the Rebellion —Self-based, Self-centered, Self-oriented, Self-exalting, and Self-interested iniqui-ty—into our ostensibly “Christ-centered” organizations. It is proof positive that we have FUNDAMENTALLY misunderstood the offending nature of Lucifer’s Rebellion against the Oneness of the Kingdom of God. We have FUNDAMENTALLY misunderstood that to embrace and live in a Self-centered condition is to reject His Kingdom. It is proof positive that we have FUNDAMENTALLY embraced the snake’s “you will be like God” message and remain deceived by it today (Genesis 3:5). It is proof positive that, in spite of our words, we have FUNDAMENTALLY misunderstood the form, scope, and effect of our treasonous associations with world system over which Satan holds sway (1 John 5:19) and is its de facto ruler (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).

Also if it were not so tragic, the degree we remain ignorant of the critical core objectives of the entire dramatic presentation we call The History of Redemption might even be humorous, considering the lengths some go to in order to profess their “love.” It is a fact established by decades of direct observation and involved participation that the Church bears strong resemblance to the world system in terms of its Self-promotion practices, job titles, and career tracks. In contrast we have the example of Jesus, Who began the journey equal with God, but rather than headlining Himself, promoting His ministry, hiring a consultant, publicist, or marketing firm, or even insisting on keeping what already was His to possess, made Himself of NO REPUTATION and emptied Himself of privilege (Philippians 2:7). Then, He told us to “Follow Me,” that is, "go where I go and do what I am doing." He specifically told us that to “come after Me”—that is, to be His disciple—we have to first deny self (Matthew 16:24-25). It appears that we have FUNDAMENTALLY completely missed His requirement, or have, at least, watered it down to the degree that it means something else entirely in our usage.

Mis-directed ambition is one of those “free pass” topics we grant ourselves, mainly because we are not accustomed to examining our core motivations as a standard practice. We fudge, assume the best, cut ourselves slack, and just generally turn a blind eye to what we really know is going on in our heart: the desire to be celebrated, and that beyond what we deserve or have earned. We say, "Well, promotion is the cost of influence, and that's just the way it's done. I don't LIKE it, but I can handle it!" Let’s face it: You DO like it, and you CANNOT handle it! We just do not, for whatever reason, experience life at the “thoughts and motivations of the heart” level because it ruffles the feathers of our flesh. But the Holy Spirit does not live on the plane of the flesh, and He DOES examine the "thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). And when we throw up our hands because of what we secretly suspect is at the bottom of this pile of dirty laundry of motivation, we proclaim phrases like, “The heart is desperately wicked; who can know it?” But when we offer that as an excuse for lack of effort (read: excruciatingly hard work) at uncovering our motivations, we tend to skip over the rest of that Scripture in Jeremiah17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, SEARCH THE HEART, AND TEST THE MIND, EVEN TO GIVE EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS, according to the fruit of his doings.” Do you get it? YOU may not be able to discern your own “desperately wicked” heart, but you may be sure that He can and does (Hebrews 4:12). And if He does, then you should. It is not as if He keeps us in the dark, or hides secrets from us, particularly “secrets” that are so much at the core of our discipleship, transformation, and healing. Here is a clue that may serve you well in your “personal relationship” dealings with Him: If all you are hearing from the Holy Spirit is how much He loves you; if all is sweetness and light, positive attitudes and platitudes, and all the negative stuff is “from the devil”; if He has never sat you down, comforted you with His Presence, then shown you your rotton, stinking heart, then you have not experienced sonship, and you have no standing to call Him your friend—much less, “best friend”—because friends don’t let friends “drive drunk,” and they surely don’t let them drive off a cliff without challenge.
The problem of Self-promotion and misplaced ambition in the church is not new. Even in the early church of the first century believers were already picking “Paul, Apollos. or Cephus?” sides (1 Corinthian 1:12). But in Philippians 1:15-16, Paul tells us what is really going on at the internal motivation level: “15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains.” Also, 3 John 1:9 tells of one church leader, Diotrophes, who jealously guarded his own imagined eminence to the degree that he would not receive John’s visits. It seems the “Be careful who you yield your pulpit to” principle was already at work from the be-ginning, which is understandable because “Self” has been around from the beginning! These and other examples are the “doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate” case in point. The way the Church through the ages has ignored Jesus’ Revelation 2:6’s and 2:15’s warning is the same way Israel ignored God’s warning against their “Give us a king to reign over us” cry, and from the same motivation (see Chapter 1, Give Us A King to Reign Over Us). Paul’s Philippians 1:18 acquiescence, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached” is an understandable and forgiving message in a letter to the Philippian church concerning the “envy and strife” internal motivation targeted at him by Self-exalting leadership. But it is a “look the other way,” “whatever” acquiescence inappropriate at this 2000-year removed viewpoint. And it is particularly inappropriate in a book whose topic is to purge the very Self-based iniquity from which the named strife and envy flow, still exists, and appears to be accelerating. Jesus told us in John 10:12-14 of the perils of engaging a hireling to watch over the flock:

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”

Here is ANOTHER clue that may serve you well in your "personal Relationship" with the Good Shepherd: Sometimes the wolf is in sheep's clothing (yes, that is Biblical, Matthew 7:15)! It boggles the mind at times how Jesus can speak so plainly and yet we forge right ahead with our rationalizations, our “know better,” and our contradictory systems and processes. Jesus’ words allude to an important question with which we must wrestle: “How do we chooses leadership in the body of Christ?” and “Do we even need human leadership when we have the coaching of the Holy Spirit?” We will answer the second question first with a qualified, “Yes,” but with the caveat that each individual’s personal accountability and discipleship growth remains squarely on their own shoulders and not with someone who “represents” them with God (that is, other than the Son of God Who intercedes for us, Hebrews 7:25). it is why Israel did not NED a king to reign over them, but they WANTED a king to reign over them the :fight our battles for us." That is a primary principle behind the incarnation of the Holy Spirit living in the believers, not just dwelling among them. With the day of Pentecost came a dramatic strategic shift that supersedes the former system of representative priesthood. The first answer means that there is never again circumstance where it is appropriate to insert an insulative level of leader between the people and the God they worship, a function that Moses and Aaron served for Israel coming out of Egypt (Exodus 32:7-14, Number 14:11-19). We use phrases in the church like “priesthood of the believer” and read in Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 that He has made us “kings and priests to our God,” and then circumvent His installed system with one that inserts “a king to reign over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:20). A layered clergy that further removes the “laity” and forms a professional class of leadership is the very essence of a religious system that exalts man and dilutes the Son’s preeminence. Oh, and it also gives us an earthly promotional system, you know, "just for the glory of God." Our “yes” answer is also qualified because it is easy to imagine—especially in the light of some local body’s experience of predatory and abusive leadership—that in some circumstances the hireling leader creates a false sense of security and covering that not only disappears with the appearance of the wolf, but sometimes is wolf him/herself invited into the camp because our modern leadership standard does not match the standard God set for His people.

It is not debatable that the current standard for “leadership” is some matrix of education, ministry experience, or centralized church government assignment (which is often political, not spiritual)--oh, and church politics. Paul’s Damascus Road experience was an unmistakable re-direction of his plans and future, but such dramatic demonstrations of God’s Sovereignty over the course of life are much more subtle these days. Since flawed people Self-identify as candidates for leadership according to their internal “calling,” the centralized system of appointment of priests, or calling/hiring of pastors based on an employment application seem to pretty much guarantee that a large portion of the Church at large will always be led by hirelings.

Of course, knowing that there are exceptions to the general rule, most reading this will automatically include their local body or their denomination as one who got it right. That is human nature—and the “fudging system”—in full operation. But please, have the humility NOT to call it the word of the Lord when He has given clear indisputable direction otherwise. At least have the integrity to call it what it is: mis-directed ambition. But the system of “hirelings” to serve as leadership over God’s people is not the promotional system He gave to the people of Israel. It is not how they were groomed or chosen. Instead, those who would eventually be elders in and over the local assembly were home-grown and matured in the context of community. It is not difficult for a man or woman talented with the “gift” of manipulation to conceal and camouflage their hireling weaknesses over the course of a short employment process. But that is not possible over the course of a long “growing up in the body” process. By the time a man had matured to eldership he was well-known having grown up in the local assembly and had been seasoned and observed in multiple circumstances and by many people over whom he would have authority. The process was transparent, and employing the “unknown-but-recently-graduated-from-a-good-school” and/or on the basis of a few interviews and a sample sermon is reckless and dangerous (when the wolves appear) system. It is, however, one way to thin the flock. And, unfortunately, it is a mechanism for shifting preeminence away from the One Who both earned and truly deserves it.