The Mantle

Ministry is a calling that only God can extend and it is a very honorable calling indeed. As I look through scripture I find example after example of many young men being called into leadership roles. Every man that God called had special talents and abilities innate within them. They were gifted and somehow separated from the norm, not in the sense of being superior, but in the sense of being called out of.

However great the abilities and talents given to a man in the infant stages of ministry, whether in age or in experience, these abilities and talents had to be established correctly in order to be of use in the kingdom of God. In order for these gifts to function properly, there must be a time of realization and development. The individual himself often times did not even know what they had laden within them. God chose through mentorship and elders to affirm and confirm these special talents within these young men.

It is through the mentorship of great elders/prophets that God affirmed His calling upon these young men. But not only was it important to realize or affirm the calling, but the most vital and important stage of mentorship was in the confirmation/development of the calling. To name a few examples:

• Every Elisha needs an Elijah
• · Every Samuel needs an Eli
• · Every Saul needs a Samuel
• · Every David needs a Jonathan
• · Every Peter needs a Jesus
• · Every Paul needs Ananias
• · Every Timothy and Titus needs a Paul

It is of utmost importance that young men have a mentor who will affirm the call of God upon their lives. In my opinion, following the examples of all the men previously mentioned, the first stage of development is the affirmation or the declaration of the call. In every situation involving God calling out a young man, God also provided an elder or mentor to affirm that calling. Not only did God affirm His word through these mentors, but God also confirmed His word through the development of ongoing mentorship.

I believe that mentorship follows two stages. The first is affirmation and realization and the second is an ongoing stage of confirmation and development.

From my point of view and expressing my opinion as a young man in fulltime ministry. I have found that the first stage of mentorship is important and is seen often. However, I feel that there is a lack of the second stage of confirmation and development. I have often heard men affirm or realize that there is a call in a young mans life. They often say things such as “Your anointed,” “You’re a great preacher,” “You have a call on your life” and so on, and yet there are very few of these men who will take the time to stay in contact and continue to confirm their support.

God has blessed me with mentors and men who have been quick to not only affirm their support but have also confirmed it through their ongoing support. However, the greatest complaint and concern I have heard from men of my generation is “I know God has called me to do a work, but I have no one who is willing to share their wisdom and experience with me.” I believe that this lack of confirmation and development has come out of lack of trust toward young men of this generation.

I say this based on what I have heard elder men say to me. They will make statements in all sincerity such as, “We need more young men but we can’t trust very many of them.” This opinion generally is expressed in response to seeing many young men turn another way and it is a genuine expression of concern. But if Samuel had judged every young man by the actions of Saul, there would have never been a David developed.

The example that demonstrates the relationship between a mentor and an apprentice can be seen through the process a child must go through in order to learn how to walk. The affirmation or realization that a child is able to walk is assumed by seeing its legs move. Although the child does not understand the full potential of his own legs, his parents, grandparents and other adults realize that those legs will take that child to where he needs to go in life. But in order for that child to learn how to walk, he must have guidance and development, which can only happen through the support of his superiors. In order for this child to develop a walk that is straight and strengthened, he must be trusted even though he may fall. Eventually through the process of falling and crawling, the child with the ongoing support, leadership and confirmation of his mentors, will learn how to walk on his own.

I believe often times young men have the affirmation of a calling upon their lives. But the real heart of mentorship comes through ongoing support and development. Elisha had the call of God affirmed to him through his relationship with his mentor Elijah. But if Elijah had not passed the mantle to Elisha at the proper time, Elisha may never have made it back across the Jordan and could possibly have ended up down stream.

Elijah showed Elisha how to cross the Jordan River by striking the ground with the mantle. But I am convince that had Elijah been taken up into the heavens without leaving the mantle behind, Elisha would have found another way to get across. But it was the will of God for the mantle to be passed and used properly. Every young man will have rivers to cross like Elisha, that is why it is very important for mentors to be in contact with these young men. There are many young men who have created their own methods of crossing the river and while some have gotten across, others have drowned in the deep or have been swept away by the current. We need more mantle passing Elijah’s in our generation.

I wonder how often we have seen young men lose their foothold and end up down stream from where they need to be, because the Elijah in their life only took them so far with affirmation and then disappeared into the clouds without leaving the mantle of confirmation? I do believe in my generation, one of the most important things for developing leaders is the ongoing confirmation that can only come through trust and support. I pray that God will give us a harvest of strong young men in this generation with great potential for leadership and ministry. And may God also grant unto us the men of God who will develop those young men through mentorship and guidance. My faith is strong and unwavering in this prayer, because I know that God will do it.

Slander or Concern? Final Part IV

Slander can easily be confused with the term “Concern”. Often times if we aren’t aware and alert, we can find ourselves in conversations that were masked with the label of concern. There is a great deal of difference between slander and concern and yet the lines that separate them can easily be smudged and hard to distinguish if not careful. The most difficult situation to find yourself in is when someone you have always trusted and had confidence in, draws you into a conversation that does not carry any concern or love, but instead is filled with ridicule and verbal slaughter of another brother or sister.

Scripture is very adamant that we should not be in the company of slanderers. Often we overlook slander if it doesn’t involve us. Because we aren’t the target, that makes it ok, right? Because we aren’t the ones getting verbally executed, we don’t have to worry, correct? I use words that describe various acts of homicide not to be cruel and gruesome, but rather to illustrate what slander actually is. Slander is the verbal act of killing another. Many people would never pick up a gun, knife or hatchet and kill someone, but they will pick up a verbal machete and hack their brother or sister to pieces.

Proverbs 10:18 ESV “The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.”

The scripture refers to a slanderer as a fool. Slander is never just a simple act of talking about someone behind his or her back or running them down. There is usually an underlying problem or situation that is laden within the individual doing the slandering. The problem with slander is that it is never just about the person being slandered. It’s a cover up act that is used to hide personal issues and problems. The example of Cain shows us that the murder wasn’t about Abel or about God; it was about his own measly sacrifice that was rejected by God. And this personal problem turned into a hatred for anything good someone else was producing. It was an act of jealousy and self-righteousness.

Slander is simply an act of self-righteousness and personal interest. But in order to overt the attention from ones own problem, people who will slander another brother or sister will preface their slander with “I’m just worried about them” or “I’m really concerned about them”. But instead of praying for them and examining themselves they will quickly pick up the phone, send an email or get on a social networking site and defame and slander a man or woman. The purpose of slander is to crush your opponent while lifting oneself up.

If I have been working on a garden and have been using the wrong ingredients and methods to grow a nice garden and have only been able to grow two roses in my flowerbed, while you have a garden blooming with flowers right next to mine. It would be much easier for me to preserve my pride and ego by not admitting that I have been using the wrong method and instead sneak into your garden at night and destroy your work by pulling all your flowers up and chopping all your roses down. Come morning, my two roses will look like the botanical gardens next to your desecrated and vandalized garden.

This is exactly what Cain did and exactly what a slanderer will do. Jesus said you WILL know them by their fruits. If a man is not producing fruits and yet has a lot of opinions on other men’s gardens, beware. Just as God cursed Cain, His labor and his relationships, God will do the same to a slanderer. A slanderer will always have personal problems and frustrations, his work will never truly produce good fruits and he will always be at odds with other men. These are the signs that will follow a man who does not follow the method of dealing with another brother as laid out before us by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17.

So, what is the difference between Slander and Concern? The most notable difference is that Slander is an act against another that does not include that persons warranted chance to defend themselves. Instead, slander is committed by defaming a brother or sister to another person without the brother or sister being present. Slander in its root form is an act of self-righteousness. Slander is the act of destroying another in order to appear superior and ignore personal issues.

Concern is the act of defending someone against slander. Concern is not rooted in selfish desire; on the contrary, concern will cause one to risk their own selves to protect the life and reputation of another. Concern will always follow the correct protocol of scripture when dealing with situation concerning brothers or sisters.

In summary, we as the children of God must be very careful not to get caught in the web of slander. We must allow the spirit to quicken us and help us discern the difference between Slander and Concern. Many will come and speak to you under the pretense of Concern, but in reality they are simply looking for an open ear to filter their slander through. These individuals are called “wolves in sheep’s clothing”, now days they will come in the form of a phone call, blog post, email, letter or website, but the principle still remains. “You shall know them by their fruits”.

The scripture is very plain to tell us that we must first examine the mote in our own eye before pointing out the speck in our brothers. We must first clean the inside of the cup and we must make sure to watch our judgment, for we will be judged by the same measuring stick that we use. We must know them that labor among us and we must pray for those we labor with. We should not be quick to slander a brother or sister, but rather we must be quick to be honestly concerned for our brothers and sisters.

I pray that this four part series on “Slander or Concern?!” has blessed you. May we all labor together and fulfill the commission of Christ and reach the world, Together!

Slander or Concern? Part III

Although there are many laws in place now to prosecute murderers. We still deal with many un-prosecuted and dismissed cases of murder. No, I’m not speaking of physically killing someone and getting away with it. I’m no talking about a physical act of violence against another, resulting in death. I’m not referring to a physical Cain and Abel type of murder.

The example of Cain leaves the average human being in disgust and outrage. We feel the need to be angry and upset at the act of violence committed by Cain against his brother Abel. The raw act of murder as committed by Cain is appalling and distasteful. I still shiver when I read of how ruthless and hateful Cain was against his brother. But with all the anger and distasteful feelings toward Cain, I must stop and ask myself the question, how many murderers do I know?

Not the kind of murders that kill with guns or knives. Not the kind of ruthless killers who will use any tool or weapon necessary to eliminate their rival. I am talking about a verbal, psychological and spiritual murder. Not murder as resulting from an actual stab in the heart or a bullet in the chest, but a killer who will aim to annihilate another by using words as their weapons. I’m referring to a SLANDERER.

What is Slander anyways? How does Slander relate to Murder and how is Slander confused with Concern?

Ephesians 4:31 ESV “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice”

The phrase evil speaking can also be interpreted as Blaspheme or Slander. Paul lays out a process that a person goes through before getting to slander. Paul explains to us that slander and evil speaking begins with bitterness. The process that leads to slander begins with:

1) Bitterness (a hatred produced through time) once bitterness takes root in a person’s life they WILL begin to deal with feeling of:

2) Wrath (indignation), which will lead to:

3) Anger (agitation, internally and visibly) and

4) Clamor (bursts of outcry) and will ultimately lead to:

5) Blaspheming or Slander (Defamation of character and malicious evil statements about another or to verbally destroy another).

Isn’t it amazing that the process Paul lays out before us that leads to Slander is the same process Cain went through before murdering his brother Abel!? Let’s look at the process that Cain went through.

Gen 4:6-8 ESV “The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

First, Cain realized that God was not accepting his sacrifice. This lead him to

1) Bitterness through the process of time (Gen 4:3) and because he did not deal with his bitterness, he became

2) Angry (overcome with wrath) and

3) His Face was Fallen (He was visibly disturbed and agitated). At this point God speaks to him to help him correct the problem and stop him from going too far. But because Cain did not deal with the infant stages of bitterness and anger he allowed his mouth to begin to verbalize what he was dealing with inside.

4) He Spoke with his brother (He had an argument he had a burst of outcry). Cain had a disagreement with his brother in the field that lead to the final manifestation of bitterness.

5. 5)Cain Killed (murdered, slew, destroyed) his very own flesh and blood.
   

When Cain killed Abel, God cursed

To be continued...

Slander or Concern? Part II

Why MURDER? Couldn’t Cain have dealt with the problem much more easily by simply correcting his own problem with God? Could he have not spared his own reputation and the life of his brother by adhering to the suggestion of the LORD?

The answer is, of course he could have. It would have been much more simple and effective if Cain realized his own mistake. Cain was more worried about what his brother was doing, how his sacrifice looked, and what his relationship with God was like and he failed to focus on the REAL problem, HIMSELF! Instead of dealing with the real problem, he looked around to find somebody to blame, just like his father did when God ask Adam why he ate of the fruit. Adam pointed at Eve and Eve pointed at the serpent. But the reality is that Eve allowed herself to be deceived by her OWN lust and Adam ate out of his OWN lust as well. They would never have been rejected and cast out of the garden if they would have dealt with the problem, THEM! They never dealt with the “I” and instead pointed at the “YOU”.

Cain murdered his brother because he blinded himself through bitterness, hatred and a refusal to deal with personal problems. Cain had enough problems on his own, but in his mind it would be easier to kill his brother and do away with the basis of comparison. If you eliminate the only other “competition”, you’ll always be first place even if it’s not the best. Once Abel is out of the picture, whom else would God receive a sacrifice from? Cain felt that once Abel was gone he could continue bringing his fruits, he wouldn’t have to change anything, he wouldn’t have to deal with the REAL problem and he could just go on as if nothing ever happened. Cain did not want to change his own routine and because Abel had a greater revelation of what God was looking for it threatened everything that Cain always thought would do. And because Cain did not want to change and deal with his own unacceptable offering, he became a BROTHER MURDERER.

There is a process that one must go through in order to be willing to take the life of another. Murder is the act of killing someone and justifying it psychologically. The perpetrator justifies his actions by explaining that the cause for murder was greater than the life that was taken. Murder at its root is grounded in selfish desire and self-justification

Cain is the first example of murder and yet many people have been murdered since then. He is the root example of what can lead to killing your only brother. It wasn’t a brother problem and it wasn’t a God problem, it was a Cain problem. Cain did not allow himself to be humbled, accept his own failures and deal with them. Instead, he looked around for another person to blame and the one he found was his brother. Cain allowed such hatred into his heart, that he had no more regard for family.

I’ve always been amazed to think that Cain was so ruthless that he would murder his very own brother. But this is the result that will come when one is not willing to deal with they’re own issues. It was much easier for Cain to blame someone else than to change his own habits and ways. The scripture declares that Cain became wroth, which means to be full of wrath and hatred. Cain was past the point of reason and making sense. He came to the place of disregarding natural affection and characteristics. He dulled his senses and his ability to listen to God was impaired.

God was sure to curse Cain for his actions. God established from the beginning, that sinning against your brother and killing him will only lead to more heartache and pain for yourself. Now instead of God accepting Cain’s sacrifice He cast him out into the earth to seek out his own path. God also cursed the ground that it should not yield forth its strength to him and he marked him for everyone to see and he cut him off from fellowship.

Murder will always leave you cursed, frustrated and alone.

To be continued…

Slander or Concern?

We find the first example of hatred and jealously toward another in the case of Cain versus Abel. Obviously Cain was jealous and angry toward his only brother because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s. This hatred Cain carried toward Abel caused him to commit murder against his only brother and then reply to God with “Am I my brother’s keeper?” when asked what happened to Abel. After Cain slew his very own brother, he had the nerve to reply to God and act as if Abel brought it onto himself. That word “keeper” means Protector, Guardian and Watchman. Cain was telling God that it wasn’t his responsibility to look after the wellbeing of his own brother and that Abel deserved to be slaughtered.

God was so grieved and angered by Cain’s spirit, attitude and act of violence, that He cursed him and made him a fugitive (always on the run) and a vagabond (never stable and always wavering). God also cursed his labors and told him that when he tills the ground that the earth would not respond with its full strength and potential. This is the reward given to a man who was not willing to work on his own issues and work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, but instead rose up and slew his brother over a disagreement in the field. Cain was able to kill his brother so quickly because he was already harboring feelings of bitterness, jealousy, envy, strife and hatred toward his brother.

In this story of Cain and Abel we see the process of events that leads to murder. Murder at its root definition is the act of killing someone deliberately whether it was a result of aforethought, deliberation, premeditation or a sudden action. Murder is NOT self-defense. Cain murdered his brother, but only as a result of some deep issues that he was never willing to deal with himself.

It all started with the sacrifice. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s. Cain had a hard time understanding why God would not accept his. God then explained to Cain that instead of comparing what Abel was bringing against his own sacrifice, he should concentrate of making his own sacrifice the best that he could bring. I do not believe it was the ACTUAL physical sacrifice that God was talking about, as much as He was trying to point out to Cain that he could do better than just fruits. Cain spent too much time assessing what Abel was bringing to the table that he forgot that it’s not about Cain vs. Abel, this was supposed to be a sacrifice, an act of man interacting with GOD.

Obviously, because of this inequality that Cain thought was going on between him and his brother, he allowed jealousy and envy to fester in his spirit. It festered so long until it became bitterness. Then after the root of bitterness planted itself deep in Cain’s spirit, it produced venom of hate and rage that continued to grow within his heart toward his only brother. Now because Cain did not deal with the initial problem, which was HIS OWN SACRIFICE, he allowed a murderous spirit to get into his heart. Until now every time he saw Abel sacrifice, he became wroth (angry) and he despised his own brothers sacrifice. Now in Cain’s mind God wasn’t even in the picture. It wasn’t about God or a sacrifice or an altar. It wasn’t about a lamb versus fruits. It wasn’t about favor versus rejection. It turned into a refusal to accept the fact that he had personal issues to deal with that God did not require of his brother and he was being rejected for it.

Now Cain not only despised his brother, but he also began to despise God. Bitterness had gotten so deep into his spirit that he couldn’t even see his own problem. Cain’s issue was never with his brother Abel to begin with, it was with God, but because Cain wasn’t able to comprehend how God could accept Abel’s sacrifice and reject his own, he allowed himself to believe that Abel was actually the problem. In his pride, Cain could not deal with the fact that God would accept a sacrifice that was different than his own. Cain was defending his own ego and his own rights by blaming Abel. God was out of the equation. This bitterness blinded Cain to the truth of his own failure and gave him the illusion that the reason he was not being honored is because his brother was stealing the glory. And there was only one solution for this to end, MURDER!

To Be Continued...