An illustration of how systems and structures affect lives in in 1 Sam 8. The people are looking for a king to lead the nation. Explicitly, the reason is to be 'like other nations.' How others led was attractive to the leaders in Israel because with Joshua tucked away in paradise the nation, by comparison, appeared direction less. It is debatable whether something that has arrived needs direction, but more on that later. They asked for a king and Samuel felt rejected.
But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
God said it was him who was rejected (again) and Sam should tell the people one or two things about wanting a king. Specifically God begins telling Sam about what the system of Kings looks like in a nation.
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do:
1) He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12
2) Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties,
3) and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest,
4) and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13
5) He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14
6) He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15
7) He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16
8) Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle b]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[b] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17
9) He will take a tenth of your flocks,
10) and you yourselves will become his slaves.
In short the socio-political and financial system is based around a king, a man on earth! Before this families existed and as described the blessing flows through families into the community and out towards the unbeliever. In THE 10 succinct commandments in Exodus we start with God, then to the individual, then family, them community, then beyond. With the system of Kings in the Land we confuse the entire flow of God's plan to be able to have his own will and purpose. How do we know this?
18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
God says he will not hear the prayers of those who are in this system, only the King. This is the cataclysmic result of systems and structures. It is a staggering statement from God. Here is the reason it is so:
In the garden Satan was elected a role in the scheme of things by the virtue that Man obeyed his directive. Is it as simple as that? Well, no. In the purity of that time and now, being directed would not be an issue because Man was/is not responsible for anyone else's output of information. However, the second Man chooses to follow the directive is the second, by default, that directive takes prescidence in the life of the person. So, because man chose Satans directive, the liar was handed a position in the life of Man by default. This is what this interaction caused by acting upon a directive from another spiritual being other than God. The fact that it amounted to disobedience caused the separation between Man and God because fellowship with God is Spiritual (and for them physical). It MATTERS when spiritual covenant is broken. Today a marriage is a spiritual covenant as well as a legal and physical one. A partner can call for divorce in the case of adultery committed against them. The reason is not because of the 'cheated' or found love/chemical exchange with someone else. It is entirely because the spiritual covenant of marriage has been compromised. They are separated spiritually. One can renew the marriage by renewing the spiritual covenant but it is up for call because the spiritual covenant has been broken. The principle is the same with our spiritual covenant with God. Disobedience leads to separation. This is because God is Spirit and he took the risk of making other beings who are also spirit. If one of the spirit beings breaks the covenant it creates a unique problem. It means that the perfect, holy, clean Spirit is around a stained, unclean being. God cannot have fellowship with a being that is not clean because the spiritual relationship involves intimacy, communion. A gap needed to be placed between God and fallen beings. So having slaughtered an animal to cover their nakedness, The couple were ejected from God's direct presence.
So in all sin, there's the acceptance of whatever constitutes the sin... and the indulgence that constitute the full effect. The acceptance permits a lordship of sorts and the indulgence is simply disobedience. No-one accidentally uses porn for example. It is firstly accepted then indulged. Scarily the acceptance is giving it a place in your life every time it is used. Now, because of the finished work of Jesus we can repent. Part of repentance is simply choosing to not accept porn for example. Now part of repentance is NOT accepting and NOT indulging. This displaces it and because we do this in the name of Jesus we default to Him when the temptation to accept rears its ugly head again. Later we will see the mechanics of repentance and see the truly awesome provision God has made for us.
When we think about the problem we see in 1 Sam 8 we see that like the acceptance and indulgence constituting sin, they accepted the king (and reject God) and indulge in that system. If we place a person in rank between ourselves and God, God will refer to the one placed as 'Lord.' This is not God being fussy but as he told the people, 'this is how it works if you want a sovereign.' “You place a Lord as King in your land, by default I am not your King. If God ignored the fact that a Lord was placed in rule over the people then he would not be respecting the wishes of the people. Like sin, acceptance of something that breaks covenant (a King) has consequences. As we observe the Old Testament we see the Lord able to work limitedly through the good King and unable to work with the ungodly King. Even David's rule was one of political wrangling, war and strife. If the nation continued to work with God as ultimate ruler, God's influence would be within the families. The Law was designed for people in a land who did not use the King system. Putting the mediator King in place meant that if he does not honour God its is the people who will suffer. They suffer because God deals with the mediator who the people put in place.
Today we find a similar principle. Pastors, ministers, leaders and priests all have the potential to be a mediator. Many are explicitly in office to be the representative for the people. The local Vicar tells us this is so. “Vicar” is short for 'vicarious.' He or she is in place to be in place of Jesus or the Holy Spirit. The progressive church who has an influential leader also place the leader in a mediator-role. In most cases this minister has 'the Word of the Lord.' He/she conducts the comings and goings of the church, the vision, the way forward. However non-positional this may be it is Jesus who should lead the church by the Holy Spirit. So if its positional or by function it still amounts to being the central figure in the church structure. To whatever degree this occurs, in God's economy another mediator has been placed between God and Man, just like the Old Testament rejection in 1 Sam 8.
It is even more complicated by the fact that God, in his wisdom, has understood the human need for a King and PROVIDED one. We know he is called Jesus but miss the fact that he is entirely alive right now, able to lead his Church as King. We buy into the New Testament system of Kings when we do church with the leader, pastor, priest, vicar or minister as central to the system. When we come under this ministry and accept it, we are saying that we need this person instead of Jesus' abiding lead. Here's where it becomes important to understand Jesus presence and his lead as different. You can have a sense of Jesus presence yet be in a system that amounts to rejection of God, remember David? This does not automatically mean you are led by Jesus entirely. I have heard Christians attending big churches who, after hearing the Pastors sermon, say they have been spoken to by God and consider that to be God's leading. In the Old Testament we could say that God would speak through the Big Cheese because that's what was the deal. Now in the New Testament we are told explicitly that Jesus becomes our Lord. He is the head of the Church and now we do not deal with a promised geographical area, we are part of a spiritual kingdom. In absolutely no New Testament passage does it say that we are to elect central figures in church or any other area pertaining to this spiritual kingdom. Placing a mediator in church creates the similar problem as in the Old Testament. God desires to lead all people on an individual basis. This way peoples individual lives can flow with Jesus express desire. Our individual personality, flair, creativity, uniqueness, quirk, situation, circumstance and ability can be taken into account. In the systems and structures people lead people. They have their own vision and agenda. It would be impossible to have individuals fit, function and flow perfectly by the hand of man.
If Jesus can know precisely who we are, what we can do and our limitations, he can have us experience things that will challenge us in forensic ways while having us come across the type of people we can help find salvation. In the systems and structures there are severe limitations. An individual or a team may have a level of knowledge about the people's abilities in the church. However, they could never work within the inner chambers of the heart whilst having the person encounter 'in time' and 'on time' experiences. This is why many from the structured and systematized churches are well taught, very aware of mission, great at witnessing yet there are three things missing which are essential.
Firstly, All Christians everywhere should be changing. Hearing and understanding a sermon or some teaching does not mean change. Sometimes behaviour may change or some adjustment to a mindset. However the change Jesus causes is metamorphic. It exists at the very core of the life of the Christian. The only way this occurs is by Jesus having our life in his hands, leading us in entirety. If the particular vision statement, party line, modus operandi of the church is part of the Christians life, Jesus is competing. The answer is to die to the system.
Secondly, all Christians must have a level of effective witness. Many, striving for the big platforms have not really made an impression on their neighbours. Its not a rule that the people on our street should become Christians to validate our lives but how we live behind the scenes is the acid test of reality. As a family we have always been ourselves, “wartsan'all.” People tend to see when we are trying too hard to make them think we are perfect and orderly. When they find out we are Christians they then totally switch off as we perform our routine 'no flies on us.' People want to see real people with similar hang ups and normal problems. Its how these are dealt with is what marks us as different. Ever since becoming a Christian at least one family at the side or opposite our house have become Christians. With no church 'how-to' we have just been ourselves (led by Jesus we believe). In a world where everyone wants to become.... we decided just to 'be.'
Thirdly, after change and effective witness every Christians should be 'Word-based. The Bible is the word of life. By that, it forms the boundaries in which we can live, move and have our being. Many today have a replaced God's word with convenient alternatives. All these are symptoms of Man messing with church, making structures and inventing systems. It's a short step from man elevating his own opinion above God's word.
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