Obey

Bro. Hood had a conversation recently that is weighing heavily on my mind when combined with some other things.  He was fellowshipping with some ministers at a conference and one of them asked the question, “When was the last time any of us saw someone healed by our shadow?”  I’m sure he thought it was rhetorical, but Bro. Hood answered him and said, “When I was overseas.  When I was overseas, there were people healed by MY shadow, but that has never happened in the United States.”  As he was sharing that conversation with me, we found ourselves talking about how different the American church’s response to God and the Man of God is and what a hinderance it is to what God could do.

That conversation played over in my head all day and tied in to something that bothered me deeply at the conference.  The first service, the host pastor started out with a call for anyone who needed prayer to come up and be prayed for.  I believe 3 people responded, the ministry prayed for them and the service moved on smoothly, but without any great move of God or response.  The next morning, Bishop Smith was called to address the congregation.  He said something in his direct but gentle way, and both the words and the response to it hit me very hard.  He made the statement, “There were many more people who needed prayer last night than the number that came up for prayer.  There was an invitation given but very few responded.”  What troubled me was that there was a general murmur of agreement…but no serious level of conviction.  An elder had just given a very direct and Biblical rebuke, and the room in general nodded and moved on.  There were some who took it to heart and responded to the invitation for prayer when it was given that night, but the general reaction told me it was received largely as just “a comment from an old preacher.”

There was a message in tongues and interpretation given recently in our home church and the gist of it was, “You aren’t taking your pastor seriously. I put him here, but you don’t pay attention to what he says and obey, and as a result, you are hindering your own blessing.” 

The Bible teaches very clearly in Hebrews 13:17 that we are to obey those that have the rule over us.  So often, we shy away from that concept because many of us, myself included, have seen that abused.  I still remember the day I was chewed out for asking my Holy Ghost filled parents who are very financially stable and responsible for advice about a financial decision I was considering because “they were not my pastor.”  That’s nonsense and not Biblical and we all know that.  But just because there are those who abuse a verse doesn’t mean we can just ignore it.  God established the ministry for the perfecting of the saints.  He gave them authority and told us to obey.  When the Man of God says something, it’s not just “good advice” we “might” try to work on.  We are commanded to obey. 

When a Man of God speaks and it aligns with the Word of God, he’s speaking with God given authority, and we would do well to not view him as “just the preacher” because 1 Peter 4:11 says he is to speak as “the oracles of God.”  When a police officer turns on those red and blue lights, he might be “just another human,” but he is a human with the authority to take my backside to jail if I don’t obey.  And if I rebel the wrong way, he has the authority to taze me, put me in handcuffs, or if necessary, kill me.  We don’t think twice about authority that is given by the government to man, but for some reason, when GOD gives authority to man, we want to make him “just another man” to be considered a source of “good advice;” but that’s not what the Bible said!  When Bishop rebuked us for not coming forward for prayer, there should have been a noticeable response, because I KNOW there were sick people in that room who never got prayed for during that conference. 

Last week, Bro Hood preached on understanding the value of what we have.  If we want God to move, if we want to see His power, if we want souls to be saved, if we want miracles to happen, and if we want to go to Heaven…then we have to understand the value of what we have been given.  God has sent His word and He chose to send it both in writing, and through human messengers.  We have the voice of God – but we have to see it for what it is and obey.  Not think about it, not toss it over our shoulder for someone else, but OBEY.