WHAT I'VE LEARNED SO FAR PART 2

What I’ve learned: Selfer’s Prayer / Introspection / Grace

One thing I saw in the ministry is the teaching of how Geftackism perpetuated a constant beating of yourself because you were ‘not measuring up’. This article is to aid those who didn’t find help with the ‘selfer’s prayer/the wheel and the line charts’.

This essay may help some people deal with these past thoughts and struggles:

• You are at the Lord’s supper, and you’re in agony because guilt is sweeping over you
• You find yourself struggling to get victory, but don’t seem to get it
• You feel like you cannot measure up to what God ‘expects’
• You don’t think you’re a good example of a Christian
• You find yourself bouncing ‘in-and-out’ of fellowship and hung up on 1 John 1:9

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HOW DID WE COME TO THIS?

You came to Christ because you knew were a sinner, and then when you met your Savior it was incredible joy, peace and love that you experienced. However, a few years into this ministry you noticed that the joy, peace and love was replaced with insecurity, introspection and dread that you would be judged at any moment by a fireball from heaven itself.

We’ve learned the selfer’s prayer, the wheel and line seminar, the heavenly ladder, and numerous ‘death to self’ workshops, but the results were the same. Lives that were discouraged and fake happy faces. QUESTION how did it come to this?

THE WRONG EMPHASIS
The emphasis of the ministry by placing burdens upon God’s people to be at the meetings faithfully (other examples – outreaches…service ) instead of a Paulian burden of “..we find people telling us about your faith.” 1 Thesssalonians 1:8. If you read 1 Theso 1 you will find a exuberant, positive and excited letter from Paul to the saints with an overflowing heart, “They believe and what a great group of people!”

I’ve heard, and witnessed doorkeepers drill God’s people with ‘you’re late’, ‘why weren’t you at ‘fill in here’ or ‘you need to be an example’ guilt tactics. Granted, I don’t believe anyone who drilled us ever consciously thought, “I want to make you feel guilty.” BUT the stage was set: How can a Christian be rejoicing in security with disparaging remarks like that? Why wouldn’t self-condemnation, discouragement come about? I’ve found the ministry emphasized works over faith, even though some may say they didn’t the results were such. Where do the doorkeepers get such an idea? Where did that example come from?

Granted in SLO, I don’t know other places, there were changes happening.
I’m not saying this is a universal application in every assembly, but the emphasis on works over faith was. HOUSTON, we DO HAVE A problem.

So, if you felt bad as a Christian, don’t beat yourself down because you were beaten down yourself. You didn’t measure in the eyes of men, but you WILL ALWAYS MEASURE UP IN CHRIST.

1 John 1:9 versus 2/3 of the New Testament

First of all, I’m all for confessing sin. It is needed. We’re sinners and we need to confess. However, after seeing people come to me crying, discouraged to the point where they want to give up and asking why? The Geftakism teaching of 1John 1:9 was emphasized too much. We were taught that when you came into fellowship in the personal anchors.

I had to come to revelation: FORGIVENESS is not based upon us the act of confessing your sins. Christ dying on the cross is the reason you can be forgiven, and even before you confess you’re forgiven because Christ died for past, present and future sins.

A recent pastor told me, “Never based a doctrine on one verse.” This ministry maybe never said it, but the emphasis was 1 John 1:9 when you got anchored. I think a better verse would be:

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 4:24)

God covers all your sins! It’s all of His working not yours! Remember when you came to Christ the first time? There was that confidence that he could wipe away EVERYTHING! Well, he did! However, with the selfer’s prayer, the wheel and the line, and George’s teachings it made a lot of people very introspective. We were on the edge a lot of times asking “am I forgiven? Am in fellowship? Am I accepted?”

Oh, it breaks God’s heart to see his children struggle like that! Do you think George, God loves Joni Tada anything less because she’s now in a wheelchair and paralyzed? She can’t serve physically…but let me tell you: WHAT A SHINING EXAMPLE OF FAITH THAT WOMAN IS!

2/3 of the New Testament

Isn’t it funny Paul wrote 2/3 of the bible and he talks nothing of confessing sin?

1 John was written by John to a pastor who had problems with the Gnostics who believed in neither good nor evil. There was no sin to them. So John starts to write 1 John with, “…we saw HIM with our own eyes and touched HIM with our OWN HANDS. HE is JESUS CHRIST the word of life.” It all starts off about JESUS! John was so taken up with Christ, that the very concept of cleansing is obvious to him, but to the Gnostics he had to make it clear: you’re a sinner. For the believer it’s a simple of matter of just going to Christ and confessing – AND CONFESSING in the Greek essentially means ‘same-words’. Same words as one preacher said, “Yes, I’m a sinner, but I agree I’m forgiven! It’s because of you alone! Not my works! Not me!”

Now here is a good question: if we already are forgiven why confess? It’s a place of humility, and goodness.

Example, you may have a good friend you have offended. If their are a good friend, you probably are forgiven, but the hurt is still there. So your friend might have forgiven you, but the relationship might be different with that unspoken “uneasiness” within you. BUT if you go, “I’m stupid, I never should have said that to you and you embrace.” Suddenly it’s like where you left off: as good friends.

Now if you did that with Christ, “I’m stupid, I never should have said that to you.” AND there wasn’t the place of Calvary…would there be forgiveness and cleansing? No. You can cry, bawl, and beg all you want. You CANNOT BE FORGIVEN OR MADE RIGHT WITHOUT THE CROSS.

However, you DO have the cross and it’s ALL ABOUT HIM!
CHRIST ALONE IS YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. And when you see that forgiveness, and he’s already forgiven you before you even come to him, it makes you fall in love with Him. It makes you want to serve Him because he’s given everything to you already: the RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE PEACE, THE FORGIVNESS AND THE ACCEPTANCE. You can never earn it…or merit it. All the meetings, personal prayer, and any outreach doesn’t change or add anything to what Christ did for you. FULLY ACCEPTED, FULLY LOVED, WONDERFULLY BLESSED AT THE CROSS.

When these truths are realized, and God’s people are encouraged the result is obvious: they want to tell REALLY good news to others. They want to serve. It’s not a burden but a joy because it’s TRUE SPIRITUALITY. When people have to drag others to serve, people being dragged are not at rest. They need encouragement, ministry, and building up. Geftackism placed the cart before the horse. I can testify I’ve seen people so in love with Jesus that no service is too much for them. There’s a fun, joy, and passion in what they do.

I hope this will provide some insight, and may God lead you to the green pastures to ignite that burning heart for Christ again.

SUGGESTED RESOURCES: Warren Wiersbe, BE FREE. Jim Cymbala’s FRESH WIND, FRESH FIRE