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Covering and Athority
by: Ruby Potter
Current “covering” teaching is not Scriptural
Many years ago, I was taught the “covering” teaching. Since that time, I had always believed in that teaching and had never even questioned it. However, a few years ago the Lord spoke to me and said that the “covering” teaching was not even Scriptural. I went and looked up the word “covering” in a Concordance with regards to all of the New Testament Scriptures, and “covering” is only mentioned one time in I Cor. 11 when it is referring to a woman’s hair being her covering.
“The glory is your covering”
One day while in my room worshiping the Lord, “out-of-the-blue” He spoke to me, “The glory is your covering.” (This was before He ever told me that the current “covering” teaching was unscriptural.) I knew that God had spoken this to me, but I did not have a revelation as to what He meant.
About a year later, while driving in my car, “out-of-the-blue” He gave me Isaiah 4 and tied it in with what He had spoken to me. He was beginning to bring revelation to me as to what He had meant!
“The LORD will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all THE GLORY WILL BE A CANOPY. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.” (Is. 4:4-6)
I believe that the Lord is speaking a lot through this passage. One thing I see is this:
The Lord appeared to the children of Israel in the desert as a cloud of smoke by day and a flaming fire by night. His glory was their canopy. This passage in Isaiah was referring to a future day as well. (I believe that this passage also prophetically speaks of what God is doing now.) That word “canopy” literally means, “to cover.” If God alone was Israel’s covering under Old Covenant, how much more so now, under the New Covenant, is He our covering as well.
A friend of mine once told me that someone in leadership once told her that “the blood of Jesus is not enough; you need a man-covering.” My friend could not believe what she had heard, as that was a pretty shocking statement. But the fact is that many people believe this, even though they don’t come out and say it. The current “covering” teaching insinuates this same thinking.
Again, that word “canopy” in Isaiah 4 literally means, “to cover.” It is the Hebrew word for the “chuppah,” which is the Jewish bridal canopy (the canopy in which the bride and groom come under to be married)! HE, OUR BRIDEGROOM (HUSBAND), IS OUR COVERING! (See Eph. 5:32 & I Cor. 11:3, pertaining to Christ [the man] and the church [the woman]) And He is the glory; the King of Glory! The Glory (Jesus) is our covering! Our Bridegroom is bringing His bride out of “Egypt,” and out here HE is our covering.
In the natural, no one sits between a husband and his wife/bride. There is no “middle-man.” If someone were to try to sit themselves between a husband and his wife to “cover” the wife, that person would be usurping the husband/wife relationship. It would be wrong; it would be “sick” and distorted.
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have very important functions in the body of Christ. However, they are not to “cover us,” with regards to the way that the institutional church’s “covering” teaching has taught us. This teaching contradicts Scripture in many ways. We do not need a man-made covering between us and our Bridegroom, Jesus…He is our covering.
Scripture does speak of mutually “submitting to one another.” (I.e., Eph. 5:21) It speaks of “loving one another” and “bearing one another’s burdens,” etc. I see that as we are in true, intimate relationship with one another, we do care for and watch out for one another, protect one another, etc. But this is not the same as the current “covering” teaching that the institutional church is promoting. God’s way is relational (I Cor. 13:7; I Peter 4:8), the institution’s way is hierarchical.
In the institutional church, most people are not in intimate relationship with their leaders. The way that the system is set up, it would be impossible for most pastors to truly know everyone in their congregation in a deep, intimate way. Most pastors have no idea what goes on in the everyday lives of most of their people; they really barely know them. So how can they truly protect them, watch out for them, etc.? It is the people with whom you are in close relationship with that can truly “watch out” for you, “protect” you, etc.
“What is authority for, and who is it supposed to be used over?”
Two years ago, while sitting in church, the Lord asked me this question: “What is authority for, and who is it supposed to be used over?” I believe that the Lord asked me this question so that I would begin to question it and seek Him for the answer.
As I studied the Scriptures, He began to reveal to me that He (Jesus) used His authority over the kingdom of darkness, not people. He preached the good news that brought deliverance and set the captives free, He healed the sick, He raised the dead, etc. All of these things have to do with setting people free from the kingdom of darkness; from satan’s domain.
Concerning exercising authority over people, Jesus actually told us not to do it; that to exercise authority over people was the way of the “Gentiles” (the world; man’s ways; the flesh), not the way of His kingdom. Unfortunately, we still see many leaders in the institutional church with the “lording over” and the “exercising authority over people” mindset. But this is the carnal mindset; it is a pattern of this world.
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. NOT SO WITH YOU. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mat. 20:25-28) Luke 22 says it this way: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.”
In the kingdom of God we are to serve people, and exercise authority over the kingdom of darkness!
I looked up other N.T. Scriptures that spoke of “authority,” “obeying” and “submitting” (which obedience and submission are two separate and different things), and most of them spoke of obeying or submitting to your earthly authorities (i.e., kings, presidents, etc.). But what about Hebrews 13:17, which says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves…?” This was one that I asked the Lord about, because it did not seem to line up with what He had said in Matthew 20.
This is what I began to see: The writer of Hebrews says to obey them that have the “rule over you.” What does it mean to “rule over” someone? To rule over someone is to have dominion over them; it is to “exercise authority over” them! Yet, Jesus tells us that to “exercise authority over” people is not His way. The writer of Hebrews seems to be in total contradiction to what Jesus said in Matthew 20. So one of two things is taking place here:
1) Was the writer of Hebrews wrong? Do I believe what the writer of Hebrews says, or do I believe what Jesus says? I believe that first and foremost we should believe what Jesus said! Paul even says, speaking of the gospel of Jesus Christ, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Gal. 1:8) Nothing that anyone says should contradict the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything Paul or anyone else said should line up with what Jesus said, not visa versa. But something that I see happen a lot in the church is that we flip it and try to take what Jesus said and make it fit in to what Paul (and everyone else) said.
2) Was that passage mistranslated from its original version/Greek meaning? Have we misinterpreted it? I believe that the Bible is the Word of God, therefore, anything that seems to contradict what Jesus said is either a mistranslation from the original Greek, or we are misinterpreting what the writer was saying. Hebrews 13:17 cannot mean what we have understood it to mean. Our modern, worldly understanding of it does not fit in with the words of Jesus in Matthew 20, for it contradicts His own words. I have since found out that this passage was translated improperly. (Frank Viola covers this in his book, “Who is Your Covering?”) When you trace Heb. 13:17 back to the root word meanings, its actual meaning is more that of allowing yourselves to be persuaded by those who guide you. This proper understanding of Heb. 13:17 fits in with the gospel of Jesus.
Isaiah 11 also ties in with having authority over the kingdom of darkness (versus people). It says, “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child will lead them…The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” This Scripture is speaking of true spiritual authority. “Cobra’s” and “viper’s” refer to the demonic; to the kingdom of darkness. But notice that the young child and the infant are not harmed by them. The “little child” has authority over the kingdom of darkness! (Again, “the greatest among you should be like the youngest.” – Luke 22)
The Centurion
The Lord’s kingdom is not to be a hierarchy. However, I have heard many people refer to the story of the Centurion in Matthew 8 to try and justify that the Lord’s kingdom is to be a hierarchy. But I am afraid that they have misinterpreted what was said in this passage.
“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.’ Jesus said to him, ‘I will go and heal him.’ The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and that one, “Come,” and he comes. I say to my servant “Do this,” and he does it.’” (Mat. 8:5-9) Of course we know that Jesus was astonished at his great faith, and the centurion’s servant was healed that very hour.
Again, many Christians think that this Scripture means that God’s kingdom is a hierarchy. The thinking goes something like this: God is at the top, followed by the denominational leaders or the apostle, then followed by the pastor, and finally at the bottom is the people. The authority and voice of God flows from the top down, in a chain-of-command style. (“For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”) We have been taught that the pastor is under God’s authority, so he listens to God. We are under the pastor’s authority, so we must listen to the pastor. We believe that this is the way God wants it, and that this Scripture confirms that belief.
First of all, it was the centurion who made the statement, not Jesus. But in reality, the centurion was seeing how God’s kingdom works in relation to the kingdom of darkness!
What was going on in this passage that caused the centurion to make this statement? Was someone “out of line” and not “submitting” to their pastor? Was he speaking of people “rebelling” against their leadership? NO! What was going on in this passage was that the centurion’s servant was sick! His servant was in to the kingdom of darkness; the enemy had a hold of him in the form of sickness! Remember, Jesus exercised His authority over the kingdom of darkness, not people! The centurion had this revelation, and that is why he made this statement.
Jesus said that He only did what He saw the Father doing. Jesus was a man under authority, properly aligned with the Father. Therefore, since He only did what He saw the Father doing; since He was under the Father’s authority, He therefore had authority over the kingdom of darkness! (The same is true for us. When we truly only do what we see the Father doing; when we truly get into proper alignment with The Head, we will then have the authority we are supposed to have over the kingdom of darkness as well. This is the proper alignment: The Father, Jesus the Head, then us His body. When we are in this proper alignment, the kingdom of darkness is then “under our feet.”)
When the centurion said, “For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me,” he understood that Jesus was “a man under the authority” of the Father. Because of this, the kingdom of darkness was therefore in subjection to Jesus! Jesus was in proper alignment with His authority (the Father), therefore, all that Jesus had to do was say the word, and the kingdom of darkness had to listen to Him. The sickness had to leave his servant’s body! Jesus told the centurion that he had great faith for understanding this principle.
As Matthew 20 tells us again, we are to be a servant to our fellow man, and not exercise authority over them. Jesus could have “exercised authority” over men and “lorded over” them. After all, all authority has been given unto Him (Mat. 28:18). Therefore, if anyone has the right to “lord over” and “exercise authority over” people, it would be Jesus. But He did not do this….He left us no example of this. We are not to do it either. We should follow His example of serving people and exercising authority over the kingdom of darkness. Perhaps we will see more miracles, etc. when we stop trying to exercise authority over each other and begin to exercise it over the kingdom of darkness the way the Lord intended! The devil has us right where he wants us, harming each other and keeping each other in , instead of doing damage to his kingdom. We must remember that we wrestle not against “flesh and blood” (people).
All authority comes from Jesus, and the only way that we walk in any true authority is when we are properly aligned with Him…in His will and way. Again, Jesus’ way is not to exercise authority over people, so when we are doing this, we are not in His will and way. Therefore, we really have no true authority to do it. It is therefore a counterfeit authority. And counterfeit authority demands a counterfeit style of submission. Counterfeit authority is control, and it is from the enemy.
We see hierarchical forms of leadership in business, government, and our military. It is a “pattern of this world.” But Scripture says that we are not to be conformed to the patterns of this world (Rom. 12:1-2). This is one thing that is so exciting about God’s kingdom…it is “not of this world” and does not operate as this world operates! It defies the ways of this world; it is of the heavenly realm! Unfortunately, the modern institutional church is also set up as a hierarchy, and has patterned herself after the world.
We are the army of God. There are some things that you can look at in an earthly army and make prophetic comparisons with it to the army of the Lord. However, not everything about an earthly army can be prophetically paralleled to the army of the Lord. For one thing, unlike an earthly military army, God’s army is not a hierarchy. In an earthly army, most soldiers do not have direct access to the Commander-in-Chief. Only a very few select men “high up the ladder rung” have access to him. The soldiers take the orders of the Commander-in-Chief through the leaders that are over them. But it is not this way in the army of God! According to the New Covenant, we all have direct access to our “Commander-in Chief,” Jesus! So why does the church act like we are an earthly army, and think that only a select few (i.e., the pastors) truly have access to the Commander-in-Chief?
Moses & the Levites
I have heard many people bring up Moses with reference to God wanting a “man” mediator between Himself and the people, or with reference to the “chain-of-command” style of leadership. First of all, that was Old Covenant. New Covenant tells us that Jesus is the only Mediator between us and God. (I Tim. 2:5, Heb. 9:15)
But something else that the Lord showed me was this: I believe that God has always wanted direct relationship with His people. He had direct relationship with Adam & Eve in the garden, and He also desired to directly speak to His people in the desert as well. It was the people who wanted a “man” mediator, not God. Unfortunately, in many ways it is still the same today.
“When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.’ The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.” (Ex. 20:18-21)
Even in the book of Judges, the Israelites told Gideon, “…Rule over us – you, your son and your grandson – because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.” But Gideon told them, “I will NOT rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.” (Judges 7:22-23) Even under Old Covenant, the Lord Himself desired to directly “rule over” His people; it was not His desire to have a man “rule over” them, or to indirectly “rule over” them through a man. How much more so under the New Covenant! He alone is our only “Ruler,” our only King, our only Head!
New Covenant has established the relationship right back to the way that the Lord has always desired it to be….us and God…no “man” mediator. (Jesus is our only mediator, and Jesus is God.) Our “2nd Adam” has restored the relationship from the garden, where there was no “man” mediator.
The Levites were a tribe of Israel that was set apart to serve the Lord in the temple. Many believe that pastors, etc. in the institutional church today are likened to the tribe of Levi. But again, this is unscriptural. The Levitical system has been abolished. Scripture says that we are all priests unto God now. (Rev. 1:6, 5:10; I Peter 2:5) And the temple is no longer a man-made building, as we are now the temple. (I Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16; Acts 7:48) Again, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers have very important functions within the body of Christ. But they cannot be likened to the Levitical priesthood.
They also cannot be likened to being our “high priest,” as Scripture tells us that Jesus is now our only High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews)
A King
The people of God not only wanted Moses as a mediator and Gideon to rule over them, but they also wanted a man to be their king instead of the Lord. But again, this was not the Lord’s desire or perfect will for His people.
“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.’ But when they said, ‘Give us a king to lead us,’ this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 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. 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. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign OVER them will do.’” (I Sam. 8:4-9)
The footnote in my NIV study Bible reads, “The elders cite Samuel’s age and the misconduct of his sons as justifications for their request for a king. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the more basic reason for their request was a desire to be like the surrounding nations – to have a human king as a symbol of national power and unity who would lead them in battle and guarantee their security.”
They wanted a man-king to rule over them, just as all the other nations had. They wanted to “pattern themselves after the world.” God gave them their desire, but it was not His perfect will for them. They suffered for it. But I love what the Lord does! He brought it back again – full circle!
The Lord tells David, “When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever…Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” (2 Sam. 7:12-16)
Who is this passage ultimately speaking of? Who is the One who will build a house (us, the people – His true spiritual house – I Peter 2:4-6) for His Name, whose kingdom and kingship would endure forever? It’s Jesus! Through David, a man-king, God would re-establish Himself as His people’s King, forever! He has brought it full circle. He has brought it back to the place where He is our only King once again! So, why do His people still long for a “man-king?” We are no different than our ancestors from times past. We may read the Bible and say, “How could they think/behave that way?!” Yet, we think and believe the same way as they did. Our minds need renewed, and we need to truly learn and come into His ways.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
I just can’t say it enough ~ If God alone desired to be Israel’s covering, even under Old Covenant, then how much more so now, under the New Covenant, does He desire to be our covering! If His desire under the Old Covenant was NOT to have a man “rule over” another man, then how much more so under the New Covenant does He NOT want a man to stand between us and Him; to “rule over” us!
Does the current “covering” teaching really work?
I have heard it said many times that belonging to the institutional church and being under a (man) “covering” protects you from the enemy’s attacks.
First of all, they say it protects your from physical harm coming your way, such as sickness, accidents, etc. Some friends of mine who were leaving the institutional church had their pastor tell them to be careful, because he knew of other people who were coming out from under their “covering” and “leaving the church” (how can you leave something that you are?), and some of these people were being attacked with sickness, etc. (I personally don’t know anyone who has been attacked with sickness, etc. when they left the institutional church.)
So does the current “covering” teaching that some in the institutional church are promoting really protect you from sickness and s? I have not seen this to be the case at all. A lot of people who sit under the man “covering” philosophy are plagued with sickness and physical problems. And we all know people who have died of numerous types of diseases, cancers, accidents, etc. while sitting under the “man covering.” So I have not seen the “covering” teaching work in the area of protecting you from physical harm or sickness.
Secondly, they say that when you are under a man “covering,” you are protected from deception and error. But is this really true?
A sister in the Lord explained it like this: The “covering” is supposed to protect us from deception and error. Yet, great numbers of people from across the world are beginning to see that the institutional church, something that they have always been a part of and believed in, is not the way of the Lord. Therefore, they are leaving the institution’s way of church to come out and “be” the church by the droves. Many that are still a part of the institutional church and that believe in the “covering” teaching, however, think that these people have been deceived. But doesn’t this very thinking contradict the “covering” teaching? They were “covered,” so how did they now become “deceived?” The “covering” was supposed to protect them from deception.
Scripture does not teach us that a “man covering,” a denomination, etc. will protect us from deception. So what does Scripture say will protect us from error?
“When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice…I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” (John 10:4-14)
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth…” (John 16:13)
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth…As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in him.” (I John 2:20-27)
As we see from the above passages, it is being in relationship with Jesus that keeps us from error and deception. Knowing Him, knowing His voice, knowing the “anointed One and His anointing,” walking in the Spirit…this is what leads us and then keeps us in all truth and protects us from error.
The “covering” teaching is so contradictory. Those who teach the covering teaching encourage you to know God and hear His voice. Yet, they tell you that you must submit to everything that they say. Mindlessly submitting to any man without question is to deny your own convictions and leading of the Spirit. Therefore, it contradicts “being His sheep and knowing His voice.” You are being led by a man, not God. So how will being led by a man keep you from error and from being deceived? The scary thing is that it will not keep you from being led into deception and error, because it is only by knowing Him, knowing His voice, and being led by His Spirit (Rom. 8:14) that you are protected from error. How can we truly come to know Him if we are told that we must robotically submit to and obey a man? We don’t truly know Him through obeying a man; we know Him by hearing His voice through intimate, personal relationship with Him.
One other thing I see….we must be “lovers of truth.” (And Jesus is the truth!) If we are not lovers of truth, we can easily be led astray. 2 Thes. 2:9-12 says, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of satan, displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” The thing about truth though, is that it is not always easy to accept. Truth smacks our doctrines of man right in the face. Loving the truth causes us to repent and turn from those traditions of men that we have so strongly held on to. Jesus brought truth to His chosen people, as we read in the gospels, but the truth was very hard for them to accept. The same is true today.
Many also believe that, if you are part of a denomination, large church, or organized religion, that you will be kept safe from error and deception….that there is “safety in numbers.” But this is not Scriptural…in fact, this very thinking contradicts Scripture.
Jesus said to His chosen people, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it…Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Mat. 7:13-23) Luke 13:24-27 tells us a very similar thing. Through these passages we see that, there really is no such thing as “safety in numbers.” The “many” are following the path of deception (yet they claim to have known Him…prophesied in His name, ate and drank with Him, etc.). Safety is found only in Christ and in truly knowing Him, it is not found in numbers.
Again, “numbers” do not mean anything to the Lord and His protective covering of us. Matthew 18:20 tells us that “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Where even just two or three come together in His name, He is there. And if He is there, then He is certainly “covering” them.
Denominations, etc., do not guarantee safety or protection from error and deception, they only guarantee doctrinal harmony and uniformity. Michael Brown (one of the former leaders of the Brownsville revival in Pensacola) points this out in his book entitled, Revolution in the Church. He states, “But Viola is right in exposing the myth of the supernatural protection of the covering (or “the camp”), since the covering (or camp) cannot guarantee orthodoxy of faith and practice but only uniformity. In other words, Baptist denominations believe Pentecostal denominations are in doctrinal error with regard to the gifts of the Spirit, while Pentecostal denominations believe Baptist denominations are in doctrinal error with regard to ‘once saved always saved’ – to name just two areas of divergence. How then does staying within either of those denominations guarantee doctrinal accuracy? It does not. It guarantees doctrinal harmony only for those within their particular group. Yet this pressure toward uniformity and harmony is what holds many of us back. We must wholeheartedly reject this pressure! In reality, denominational churches can have as much doctrinal error as independent churches…and groups that have been around for years can be just as deluded as groups formed yesterday. Yet believers are held captive by the fear that leaving their group or organization or denomination or fellowship or church will make them vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy and leave them wide open to deception and error….’The system’ thrives on uniformity which is then called orthodoxy; and thus, by circular reasoning, those within the system are considered orthodox and thought to be protected from heresy. How absurd! There is no biblical support for this position, nor is it even logical.” (Bold print added)
The current “covering” teaching is based on fear, not faith. Frequently, it is used as a means to control people, as fear and control often go hand-in-hand. Induce fear, and you can control the people. Even many of the leaders that promote the “covering” teaching are controlled by fear, as they truly do believe that people will be in grave danger if they come out from under their “covering.” Scripture tells us though that we are to be led by the Spirit of God; it does not say that we are to be led by fear.
The “covering” teaching tells us that if we leave the denomination, organization, church, etc., that we are at risk of being devoured by the enemy. Yet, Jesus tells us in John 10, speaking of Himself: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hi is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hi and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd…and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and He knows how to care for His sheep and protect His sheep. He will not let the “wolf” attack the sheep. And His sheep are those who hear His voice, recognize it, and follow it. “The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice….I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” We, as His sheep, must know His voice and follow His voice, and He will keep us safe from the “wolves.”
Obey your leader no matter what?
Michael Brown says in his book, Revolution in the Church, “If you say, ‘We’re called to obey our leaders no matter what,’ that means you have to marry whom they tell you to marry, have as many kids as they tell you to have (or not have any kids if they say so), give as much money to the church as they tell you to give, live where they tell you to live and do whatever else they tell you to do – if they choose to make such demands.” You reply, ‘But God will protect me if they’re wrong.’ Says who? Why should God protect you or me if we fail to seek His face, fail to consult Him for His will, fail to use wisdom (or common sense!), fail to search the Scriptures for ourselves, fail to be responsible. Where is it written that if we simply submit to wrong counsel – no questions asked, no concerns raised – the Lord will bless us because we submitted?”
This thinking that, “Even though my leaders may be wrong, God will protect me and bless me anyhow because I am submitting to them and obeying them,” has no foundation in the Word of God. It goes against the words of Jesus. To cite one Scriptural example…The Pharisees were the people’s leaders of the day. Yet Jesus told His disciples to, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, BOTH will fall into a pit.” As we see by the passage, [blindly] following/obeying your leader just because they are a leader will not protect you and keep you safe if they are leading you into wrong places.
To continue with what Michael Brown was saying: “According to the Word of God every believer is a priest of the Most High God with direct access to His throne, and Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice (John 10:1-5, 27), Paul taught that all of God’s children are led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14-16) and John wrote that the anointing resides in each of us (I John 2:20). On what Scriptural basis can we shirk our responsibility to hear the Lord for our own lives and simply obey whatever the authority demands?…Did the Hebrew midwives say, ‘Our authority, Pharaoh, has commanded us to kill all male children born to our people, so we will obey him and God will bless us for that?’ No. They disobeyed the demands of the authority and God blessed them for disobeying – because Pharaoh, their authority, stepped outside of his rightful bounds and ordered them to sin. ‘But now you’re missing the point,’ you argue. ‘When our authorities tell us to disobey the written Word, we don’t obey. For everything else we obey.’ I agree with the first half of this statement. But if that is the only time we can rightfully disobey, then, based on that logic, if your pastor tells you whom to marry, you do have to marry that person – and the Bible does not guarantee that God will bless you if you make the wrong choice. Also, as we saw in the last chapter, the Scriptures teach that when the voice of God is in conflict with the voice of man, even if that voice is the voice of an authority, we must obey God rather than man…No minister or church owns you, and no one has the right to tell you that your convictions are not from the Lord unless those convictions are contrary to the Scriptures. In light of this, I find it interesting that many church leaders turn this upside down. They tell their congregants, ‘You must submit to everything I say unless it runs contrary to the Scriptures,’ rather than, ‘You must hold fast to your convictions before the Lord unless those convictions run contrary to the Word.’ There is quite a difference!... every believer is ultimately accountable to Jesus, the Head of the Body and Lord of the Church. Therefore, when a leader demands that a believer go against his or her conscience he is asking that believer to act in a non-moral way. This is a serious issue. And while it is true that leaders are accountable to God for their care of the flock,…it is also true that in the New Testament believers are never told they are ‘accountable’ to their leaders. Our primary accountability is to God.”
The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages says, concerning Joan of Arc: “In 1431 the court condemned her as a heretic – her claim of direct inspiration from God, thereby denying the authority of church officials, constituted heresy – and burned her at the stake in the marketplace at Rouen.”
The institutional church may no longer literally burn people at the stake, but anyone who “claims direct inspiration from God, thereby denying the authority of church officials” is still labeled a heretic, rebellious, etc.
Romans 8 tells us that God’s children are led by His Spirit; it does not say that God’s children are led by a pastor/leader. Being led by the Spirit requires faith, and Scripture tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Anyone can be led by a man…that requires no faith. Of course, God will use people in our lives, and we can hear His voice speaking to us through others at times. But we are never told to blindly or robotically follow a man.
He is the Head
Jesus is our Head, and we are His body (Eph. 1:22-23). We are all His body; no “man” is to be the head.
We are each a part of His body. Each and every one of us has a specific function and a piece. (I.e., I Cor. 12 & 14) Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers may have very important functions within the body, but they are still part of the body.
But the institutional church has made them “separate” from the body. One way that the institution has done this is through the “clergy/laity” mentality. The “clergy/laity” mentality of the institutional church is not Scriptural. There is not to be a division in the body; we are all one body.
The modern institutional church is all centered around the pastor. It centers on his vision. He is the one to “call the shots.” He is the one who decides who can speak in a meeting, and who can’t; who can sing in a meeting, and who cant; who can prophesy in a meeting, and who can’t. For the most part, he does all of the speaking, and the rest of the body sits in their pews and watches and listens. Truly there is a time to preach and to teach. But the above-mentioned scenario repeats itself week after week.
The pastors and leaders have been separated from the body and have become as a “head” of the church. But this is a place reserved for Christ alone. “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church…” (Eph. 1:22)
My heart goes out to the pastors and leaders, because not only is the rest of the body suffering, but they are suffering as well. They are carrying a burden they were never meant to carry, because the government is to be on His shoulders, not theirs! (Is. 9:6-7)
The modern institutional church with its clergy/laity mentality contradicts the heart and spirit of the New Covenant! It contradicts the priesthood of all believers and the Headship of Christ alone. It defies New Testament teaching. In the institutional system, we truly do not come together and function as a body, as I Corinthians 12 & 14 encourages us to do. Again, we are one body, with each member functioning as a part of that body. “When you come together, EVERYONE has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. ALL of these MUST BE DONE for the STRENGTHENING of the church.” (I Cor. 14:26) But the institutional system stifles and paralyzes the functioning of the majority of the body in the corporate gathering. Who is “man” to say when and how each body member can function? Who is “man” to control this? In our natural body, the head controls all of the body functions. Our foot can’t say to our hand, “Don’t you move right now,” or “move this way but don’t move that way.” Our head is the only one that controls the body.
When God’s church became institutionalized, it divided His body, as it set part of His body in the place of “headship.” It stifled His body. It is just so wrong.
P. Spees says in her article on covering and authority: “The New Testament is full of examples of what the Church is to be that do not line up with the way we go about business today. For example, all of the letters were sent to the Church, not to the leaders of the church. This is contrary to the way things are done today and implies the leaders, pastors, etc. were not over the church, but actually part of the church like everyone else. We have an idea of what pastors are, but the Bible really does not support our views.”
Many believe that we are in the time of the Laodicean church, spoken of in Revelation 3. When speaking about this church, where does it say that Jesus, the HEAD is at? He is OUTSIDE the church, knocking, wanting to enter her again! The HEAD is outside of the church! He is calling us to open the door for Him and invite Him in so that the HEAD can take His rightful place (Rev. 3:20)! (For those who open the door to Him, they will have true authority to rule and reign with Him ~ Rev. 3:21). May the HEAD truly find a BODY in which He can rest His HEADSHIP upon! “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Mat. 8:20)
He is the Head, and we are all His body. He tells us not to call anyone father, master, or teacher, because He is our only Father, Teacher, & Master. He tells us not to call anyone that, because we are all brothers. “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mat. 23:8-12) What did Jesus mean here? He was telling us that no one is to be over us. Think about it…a father, teacher, and master are all over you. But a brother is your equal; your peer. The church has followed the hierarchial practices of the world though and bought in to the “clergy/laity” mentality. It views the leaders as over the people. But this contradicts the gospel of Jesus Christ, and is of the Nicolaitean spirit.
You may ask, “What about Paul calling himself a father?” Paul was a father to the church because he sowed the seed into them; it was not because he “lorded over” them. Paul says in I Cor. 4:15, “…for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” Fathering is “seed-sowing.” Just as in the natural, the father “sows the seed,” Paul was a father because he sowed the seed (the gospel – the word of God).
Authority
All authority is found in Christ; all authority has been given unto Him. (I.e., Mat. 28:18) In Christ’s church, when someone speaks forth God’s word or will, we should submit ourselves to that word and obey it, even if that word is coming from a small child. The person who spoke the word has God’s authority in speaking it because it truly came from Him ~ it truly was His word and will.
However, if someone speaks forth a word to us and it is not God’s word or will, then we do not have to submit ourselves to that word and obey it, even if that word came from a pastor/leader. Since all authority is from Christ, and what they spoke forth did not originate in Him, they are coming in their own authority. No person in His body has absolute authority in their own right, even if that person functions as a pastor, apostle, or leader.
Frank Viola explains it this way in His book entitled, Who is your Covering? as he describes “official authority” verses “organic authority:” “Official authority is authority vested in a static office. It works regardless of the actions of the person who populates the office. Official authority is fixed, positional authority. As long as the person holds office, he has authority…It is for this reason that Christians are charged to be subject to governmental leaders – regardless of their character…While God has established official authority to operate in the natural order, He has not instituted this kind of authority in the church. It is for this reason that ecclesiastical leaders are glaringly absent from Paul’s discussion of the spheres of authority mentioned in Ephesians 5-6 and Colossians 3…The Bible never teaches that God has given believers authority (exousia) over other believers! Recall our Lord’s word in Matthew 20:25-26 and Luke 22:25-26 where He condemned exousia-type authority forms among His followers. This fact alone should give us pause for serious reflection. Therefore, it is a leap in logic and an over-extrapolation of reason to suggest that church leaders wield the same brand of authority as do dignitaries. Again, the NT never links exousia with church leaders. Nor does it ever state that some believers have exousia over other believers…Admittedly, authority does function in the church. But the authority that works in the ekklesia is strikingly different from the authority that works in the natural order. This only makes sense since the church is not a human organization, but a spiritual organism. The authority that operates in the church is not official authority. It is organic authority…Organic authority is communicated authority. That is, when a person communicates God’s life through word or deed they have the support and backing of the Lord Himself. All Christians, by virtue of the fact that they have the life of the Spirit, possess a measure of organic authority. This is why the NT enjoins us to subject ourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. But those who are more seasoned in spiritual life tend to express God’s thought more consistently than the carnal and the immature. (Heb. 5:14) Organic authority finds its source in Christ’s immediate direction rather than in a static office. Organic authority is not intrinsic to a person or a position. It does not reside in man himself or in an office that he holds (as is the case with official authority). Instead, organic authority is outside of the individual. This is because it belongs to Christ. Only when Christ directs a person to word or action does that person exercise authority. Put another way, a person has the right to be heard and obeyed only when he reflects the Lord’s mind…Believers only exercise spiritual authority when they are representing Christ in words and deeds.” (Bold print added)
He goes on to say, “Official authorities possess their authority until they are removed from their delegated office. As long as they hold office, their authority works regardless of whether they make unwise or unrighteous decisions. For example, as long as King Saul sat on Israel’s throne, he retained his authority. This was true even after the Spirit of God departed from him (I Sam. 16:14; 24:4-6)! Organic authority, on the other hand, operates only when Christ is being expressed. So if a believer exhorts the church to do something that does not reflect the will of the Head (even if it may not violate a prescribed law of God), there is no authority to back him. Only Jesus Christ has authority. And only that which flows from His life carries authority. Official authorities are virtually always set in a hierarchy. Organic authority is never related to hierarchy (Mat. 20:25-28; Luke 22:25-27). In fact, organic authority is always distorted and abused when allied with hierarchy. As we have already seen, hierarchical imagery is absent from Scripture. For it virtually always hurts God’s people…Organic authority works from the inside out. When the indwelling Christ leads a believer or a church to speak or act, they are backed by the authority of the Head…The upshot is that leadership problems in the modern church stem from an ly simplistic application of official authority structures to spiritual relationships. This faulty application is rooted in a one-size-fits-all mentality of authority. But it is a profound mistake to transplant official authority into the Christian assembly…”
“But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.’” (Acts 4:19)
“Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!’” (Acts 5:29)
True leadership
I hear many in the body say that you must come “under” a leader, and leaders speak about their people being “under” them. Most often when we say these things, our mindset is still the mindset of the world; of the “gentiles.” God’s kingdom is flipped ~ it is the opposite of the world’s way. Jesus, while speaking of leadership, tells us that the leader is not on the top (with people “under” them), but rather on the bottom. The leader is “under”-neath: “…Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.” (Mat. 20:27) Servants and slaves are on the bottom; they are “under”-neath. This is the example that Jesus Himself gave us, as He said, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mat. 20:28)
The disciples “submitted themselves” and “gave themselves over” to their Teacher and Lord; they placed themselves “under” the Lord’s discipleship. Jesus then placed Himself “under” them as their leader. “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord,” and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you…Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.’” John 13:12-17 (Washing someone’s feet was normally a task performed by a servant.)
Jesus tells us that instead of exercising authority over people, we should be their servant. Servanthood is on the bottom – it is “under;” it is not “over” (on top). This is true leadership. God’s leadership is so different than the world’s leadership. The world’s leadership is seen. God’s leaders are unseen. Unfortunately, the church has been infiltrated by the world, and we view leadership as the world views it. We must look to Jesus as our example of a true leader. Many did not even recognize Him for the leader He was, because the religious back then viewed leaders from the mindset of the world, just like we still do today.
God does have structure, leadership, and authority, but it is not as the world’s is. Isn’t that one of the main messages of the Bible ~ that His ways are very different than man’s? He says that His kingdom is not of this world, and He tells us over and over again not to be patterned & fashioned after the world.
True leadership is serving others by laying your life down for them. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) What does it mean to lay our lives down for others? I believe it involves many things. It involves dying to our own selfish ambition and self-preservation. It involves dying to man-pleasing and man-fearing. It involves speaking the truth in love to people, even at the cost of them possibly hating you. You “die” to what they will think of you. Because of your great love for them, you would rather speak the truth to them so that they could be set free by it, rather than care that they thought “well” of you. True love is self-sacrificing.
“Who’s your Daddy?”
The question of “Who’s your covering” has been around since the days of Jesus. Luke 20:1-8 reads, “One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. ‘Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,’ they asked. ‘Who gave you this authority?’” The chief priests, teachers of the law, and the elders all wanted to know who gave Jesus this authority….who was his “covering?”
“He replied, ‘I will also ask you a question. Tell me, John’s baptism – was it from heaven, or from men?” Jesus was asking them where John got his authority from ~ from heaven (God) or from “men.” If they would have answered this question correctly, they would have then answered their own question. John the Baptist, as well as Jesus, both got their authority from heaven. Father God was their “covering.”
John 6:42 reads, “They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I came down from heaven”?’” Mat. 13:54-57 also reads, “Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked. ‘Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ And they took offense at him…” And we read in John 7:15-16, “The Jews were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having studied?’ Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.’” The NIV Study Bible note reads, “without having studied. Under a rabbi. Jesus had never been the disciple of a recognized Jewish teacher.” Again, Jesus was not under the “covering” of a “man.”
When Jesus returned from His desert time and was preaching in the synagogue, the people said, “…Isn’t this Joseph’s son?...” (Luke 4:22) Jesus went in to the desert a “son of man” (Joseph’s son). But when He returned from the desert, He was revealed as the “Son of God.” “Man” was not His “covering/daddy.”
Aren’t we also “sons of God”? (Rom. 8:14, 19; Gal. 3:26, 4:5; Eph. 1:5; John 1:12) “…you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.” (Mat. 23:8-9) The people were offended at Jesus when He was revealed as the Son of God instead of a son of “man.” Some are still offended today when “sons of God” refuse to be a “son of man.”
God created man in his own image. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:27) Scripture tells us that we are to be conformed into the likeness of Him (Rom. 8:29; I Cor. 15:49; 2 Cor. 3:18). Our high praise to God is to be who HE created us to be. We are to be conformed in to the likeness of Him, not in to the likeness of “man.” When we allow others to form (“create”) us into who THEY want us to be through domination, control, etc., we are being created in to THEIR image; in to the image of “man” instead of the image of God, our heavenly Father.
Sons of God
Romans 8 speaks of the sons of God being revealed. The KJV calls it the “manifestation of the sons of God.” What does this word “manifestation” mean? It means, “to take off the cover!” I believe that this not only speaks of taking off the false covering of “works,” law, the carnal mindset, etc., but also the false covering of MAN! It involves coming out from under this false teaching & the false “covering” that much of the institutional church is promoting where “man” covers another “man!”
Sodomy is when one man “comes over;” overpowers another man. It is “man” OVER “man.” I believe that this current “covering” belief is a false covering, and that it is spiritually sodomizing the sons of God and is raping the bride of Christ! It is of the Nicolaitean (“conquering the people”) spirit spoken of in Revelation.
What shall we do?
“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests RULE BY THEIR OWN AUTHORITY, AND MY PEOPLE LOVE IT THIS WAY. BUT WHAT WILL YOU DO IN THE END?” Jer. 5:30-31
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The Five Love Languages
By Gary Chapman / Moody Publishers
We all know that the greatest commandment is to love. However, relatively few of us know how to express our love in the heart language of our family and friends. Fortunately, in The Five Love Languages Gary Chapman identifies the five primary love languages and teaches us how to use these languages to express our love. Although this edition of The Five Love Languages was written specifically for couples, the basic principles Chapman explores will apply to all relationships.
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God has given us so many gracious and wonderful gifts. This website has expanded beyond our original vision and has become a blessing to many. We will be adding study articles every month and our discussions will continue to change. We will be adding photos soon, if you would like to include a few. This website is an outreach to our family of believers around the world. We look forward to getting to know all of you. May God continue to bless you and keep you. I will be taking a break from major updates for the month. There will not be as much updates next month. I encourage you to read over and study the articles that are currently available.
Our Current Meeting Schedule
Person to Person= Sunday 10 Am, Smiley Park, look for flags(may vary)
Online Meetings in Meeting Room= Sunday Afternoon 1 PM
If you would like to meet online at another time, please notify us and we will try to adapt to you schedule.
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