Presumptuous Messianic Leadership (Mark #4)

Only Jesus Christ deserves disciples!

This towering fact is ignored by most of the religions in the world today. The Christian message is that Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He alone is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). He alone is our Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). The church is the body of Christ, of which He is the head (Ephesians 1:22-23).

To the Christian, Jesus Christ is all in all (Colossians 3:11). We have a telling example of this in that gracious individual whom God called to be a forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist. Because of his remarkable ministry, John became the object of great spiritual interest. This spiritual interest produced a following. Many potential followers of John asked questions which implied that they would want to attribute to him some divine qualities, making him their leader. John the Baptist left us a most commendable example by constantly deferring from the praise and applause of the fawning humanity that gathered about him. (See John 3:27-30)
"He must increase -- I must decrease."

How fearful is the contrast of the life and ministry of many religious leaders in our time. The cults are replete with the stated or implied suggestion on the part of leaders as to some unusual divine capability that might well inspire worship on the part of their followers.

One of the marks of a cult is that it elevates the person and the words of a human leader to a messianic level. The predictable characteristic of a member of a cult is that he will soon be quoting his leader as a final authority. A messianic human leader has used the powers of his intelligence or personality and with them imposed his ideas and directives on the ignorant.

The success of this approach is usually predictable, for too many religiously disposed people are not intellectually responsible enough to think for themselves. Their easy mental acquiescence has led them to seek a leader who can give them all of the answers and personalize or objectify their religious need. They want someone to speak to them with authority, even finality.

All too often converts to a religion stand in inordinate awe of the person who brought them into this faith. Many religious persuaders have been unable to withstand the temptation to personally promote themselves so as to retain their exalted image in the minds of their devoted followers. The temptation to change from a simple servant to an exalted messiah can be very strong in the life of a charismatic leader.

It is possible that many cult organizers began as humble people who came to believe their own promotions. They often cleverly continue to promote the image of external humility while concealing a cynical attitude which says "My people need me, and bless them, they can have me -- for a price."

No Christian should make such a mistake. He is aware that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. He knows that from the least to the greatest, each Christian, but for grace, the unmerited favour of Jesus Christ, would be corrupt and lost (1 Corinthians 15:10). The Christian has no final human leader except Jesus Christ. He is warned about this by Christ Himself (Matthew 23:8-11).

The followers of Christ are not masters of one another, but they relate to one another as members of a body. They are to serve one another (Galations 5:13). They are to submit themselves to one another (1 Corinthians 16:16). The Scriptures clearly declare that when they announce themselves as devoted followers of a human leader, they have sunk into carnality (1 Corinthians 3:3-4). (1 Corinthians 7:23 and 1 Corinthians 6:20) It is the duty of a Christian to glorify God and to exercise great discretion in giving honour to men.

The religious leader in our time must take great care to prevent admirers from becoming enamoured of his leadership rather than the leadership of Jesus Christ. In this he is doing no more than following the example of our Lord, who "made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:8). "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:43).

Another form of presumptuous messianic leadership in the religious scene of our time is the claim of some leaders to their own ability as special intercessors with God. Their followers are asked by them to "believe in my prayers" and to "give me the opportunity to pray for you." There is a general build-up of presumption that the leader, because of his special gifts or deep spirituality, has some unusual powers with which to gain leverage before the throne of God. The claim to special prayer ability by the spiritual leader is a cruel device by which millions of sheeplike followers have been beguiled into servitude. Following this, they have been exploited to a frightening degree. This shameful doctrine is false and foreign to the teaching of the New Testament.

Protestant Christianity was built on the sound biblical doctrine of the priesthood of every believer. The clear teaching of the New Testament is that each person who has been justified by faith in Jesus Christ has access to the Father in prayer and needs no human mediator.

No one has an inside track with God except Jesus Christ! No one has any access at all to the Father without Jesus Christ and in Him we are all freely welcomed to the throne of grace. One of the great promises of the Bible to every believer is found in Paul's words to Timothy, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5) (Hebrews 4:16) (Hebrews 10:19-22).

When Paul prayed for believers, he prayed that they themselves would know the personal access that they had to God and the wonderful powers that were available to them by virtue of their personal relationship to the Lord (Ephesians 1:15-19). The great relationship for the Christian is that personal one which he has between himself and his Lord. This relationship continues, made viable by the Holy Spirit who lives within the heart of every believer independent of any human mediator. The Scripture promises to every believer "be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6).

So each believer is invited to develop a growing personal relationship with his Lord. The message of the New Testament is very clear. The course in the life of the believer must move from dependence on the leadership of humans to independence of that leadership in the direction of a growing personal relationship to the Lord Himself.

The fearful contrast is apparent in the cult scene today as cult leaders labour to produce idolatrous dependence upon themselves. The mark of the cult leader is that he makes himself imperative in the lives of those who have become ensnared in his web. This tragic development is only made possible because of the ignorance on the part of many people as to the teaching of the Word of God. The message of Scripture is that the individual must not commit himself to "infallible" human leaders. Rather he must become a follower of Jesus Christ, who alone is the Head of the church.

The cult leader also strengthens his presumptuous leadership by arrogating to himself the position of being the only repository of divine truth. He frequently talks about "my message, my revelation, my leadership, my people." In doing this, he is pushing the heretical proposition that he has been made the true custodian of some private revelation from God. Concerning this we have the clear word of Scripture that no Scripture is of any private interpretation (2 Peter 1:20).
Paul was careful to remind each Christian that he himself possesses "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption in Jesus Christ. Beyond this, the believer, without the help of any guru, possesses everything else he needs" (1 Corinthians 3:20-23).

Every individual believer possesses divine truth for himself when he holds the Word of God in his hand. The function of true Christian leadership is to bring each child of God to the point of maturity where he can study the Bible for himself and be delivered of his need of perpetual dependence on a human teacher.

Only Jesus Christ deserves disciples.

(from Know the Marks of Cults, the Twelve Basic Errors of False Religion by Dave Breese)