The king is Dead, Long Live the KING

Who or what is distracting you from GOD’s mission? Have you ever really thought about it, or is this a subject that makes you uncomfortable?

We’ve all read Isaiah 6 and seen the transformation in the prophet’s life when the king died. But, have you ever truly dug into this Text to find the personal application? There is much Truth here. 

Uzziah was a king anointed by GOD. There were a lot of positives from his reign, but all his good was overshadowed by the fact that he overstepped his boundaries. He died a leper because he lost sight of what GOD wanted him to be.

In the beginning of chapter 6 we see that Uzziah has just died and that Isaiah sees GOD, sees himself, then hears GOD’s missional call. The dynamic of Uzziah’s personality, and his personal interaction with Isaiah, both served to distract Isaiah from his call to be a prophet. Isaiah couldn’t see GOD nor hear His voice because of Uzziah. We’ve all heard this subject preached time and again, how we need to examine our lives and find the things that distract us from GOD. All of these sermons are well and good, however, I believe there is a deeper Truth to be found in the story of Uzziah and Isaiah. My thoughts will no doubt damn me further into the nether regions of the pentecostal waste bin, but oh well; such is life.

Sure, we can allow things, hobbies, work, school, habits, etc. to distract us from GOD, but it is also possible for people—anointed people—to distract us from the Missio Dei. Because of the acute ministry worship in modern Pentecostalism, anointed men of GOD can become distractions from the Commission that is given to every believer. Often times people are too distracted by the dynamics of their pastor’s preaching, or his personality, or his credenda, or the mission statement of their local congregation… to truly see GOD and hear His voice for themselves.

Ask yourself this question: are you so enamored with the pastoral staff or ministry team of your local community that you can’t hear GOD’s voice for yourself? Do you wait to hear instruction from the pulpit before you’ll proceed to fulfill the Commission? Do you run your burdens past committee prior to you embarking on a mission-walk? Does the organizational structure of your local community or your denomination dictate GOD’s will in your life? Be honest. Answering yes to any of these questions, and feeling the subsequent pain of realization, doesn’t mean that you’re not submitted to GOD’s delegated authority. It simply means that you’re finally willing to be honest with GOD and yourself.

GOD never called His Community to build small mini-franchises all over the world. He never called us to build our own kingdoms, nor to serve a man’s vision. He called us to fulfill His mission. We all need a pastor. Pastors are GOD-called men who have been given the responsibilities of an under-shepherd. But far too often we forget that GOD also called each one of us, individually. In our attempts to submit we allow ourselves to become distracted from GOD.

GOD is calling. Are you listening to your king, or are can you hear GOD’s voice? 

When Uzziah died, Isaiah finally saw GOD and heard His voice, but he also saw himself. We need to allow our Uzziahs to die so that all the distractions are gone from our lives and we can see GOD, see ourselves and hear again His Call. Isaiah didn’t receive a vision until he first saw GOD and then himself.

There is a lot of talk today about worldview. It has become a buzz word of christianity. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a worldview. In fact, more of us should work to develop a godly worldview. However, it is impossible to have a godly worldview until we first see GOD, then ourselves. Then and only then will we receive vision. Then and only then will we truly see understand GOD’s mission.

As a man who has been called by GOD to be a minister to His Community, I have to ask myself the questions: am I a distraction to the people I serve? Is my personal credenda blocking their path to GOD’s mission in their lives? Am I demanding subservience to me when I should be teaching true discipleship? Have I become like Uzziah; a GOD-anointed man bound for banishment and leprosy because I think too highly of myself? How many people in my local community aren’t fulfilling the Commission because of me?

This is not a call to rebellion, rather it is a call to true submission. Submission to GOD by all of us; from the oldest patriarch to the newest believer. Let’s let our Uzziahs die so that we can see GOD, see ourselves and hear GOD’s voice. Let this be our credo: the king is dead, long live the King.

The Call

I’ve recently been focusing a lot on the Call that GOD placed in my life. This was not something that I sought out, nor—to be honest—even wanted. Yet, despite my myriad efforts to disqualify myself, GOD still wanted me.

Thing that I’ve had the most trouble accepting this in the fact that this Call came from GOD, not man. I kept looking to man for affirmation for something with which they had no connection. Add to this the fact that I felt completely unworthy of the Call, and you can see my predicament.

How often, do you think, do we advance or quash GOD’s process so that it can fit into our system?

A friend of mine was called to be a preacher several years back, but not one door has ever opened to him. He’s come to me often asking what he needs to do with this call to preach. He tells me that he never feels an overwhelming burden to share something. When he hears sermons or lessons, he never sees himself in that position, thus his extreme discomfort with the calling. I asked him how he knew he was called to preach. He responded that a preacher walked up to him at the end of an altar service and said, “GOD’s calling you to preach, so start acting like a preacher.” 

How does a preacher act? Aren’t we all called to go make disciples? Does acting like a preacher involve over-spiritualizing life, or wearing suites all the time, or using so much hair spray held over from the 70s that your coiffure could be used as a foundation for a small house? How does one act like a preacher.

After much conversation, my friend finally admitted that he had never heard from GOD that he was called to a pulpit ministry. Since he’s stopped trying to fit into a man-created mold his walk with GOD has flourished, and he’s actually reaching people, and he never sets foot in the pulpit. The well-intentioned preacher maker was correct about one thing: GOD was calling my friend, but not to fill a pulpit. GOD was calling him to be a disciple maker.

The Call to be a minister is not a Call to a hierarchy of ϋber-spiritual leaders, rather it is a Call to be a servant to the Community of Christ and to the rest of the world. GOD never called us to a pedestal, He called us to serve. Methinks that far too often we misuse the Text that admonishes to give honor to whom honor is due. This is not a commandment for the congregation to wait on the ministry hand and foot. This is a commandment to acknowledge that anointing flows down. It is perfectly natural for the laity to want to honor the authorities that GOD has delegated above them, but those to whom He has delegated authority must never allow ourselves to be placed above the people who we are to serve.

It is impossible to serve someone while at the same time lording over them.

I thank GOD that He saw fit to Call me to His ministry. I thank GOD that He Called me to be a servant. Lord, help me to be humble as I serve Your Community and the world in which I live. Help me to lead in the same way that You led, from within, not from above.