TOUCH NOT THE LORD’S ANOINTED! – PART IV

This is Part IV of the excellent article on TOUCH NOT THE LORD’S ANOINTED .  The final part tomorrow

ANOINTED” Is the Command for Today?   By: Thomas Williamson, Th.M, Ph.D. 3131 S. Archer Avenue Chicago, Ill., 60608

(It is said that our founding father Thomas Jefferson developed his concepts of democracy and equality from attendance at a Baptist church near his home in Virginia, and from observing their business meetings. If Thomas Jefferson could visit a modern American church, would he find an equality of the brethren, or a Saddam Hussein-style dictatorship?)

The preacher or evangelist who thunders forth with the command “Touch not the Lord’s anointed” intends thereby to silence and shut the mouths of all who might find fault with his doctrines or methods, no matter how unscriptural they may be, He is a man with much to hide, a man who cannot bear to have his deeds and his ways openly examined and compared with what the Word of God teaches.

Such a man is very self-centered, selfish, soulish, and in the final analysis childish. A small child must have everything his own way, and cannot bear to be challenged, contradicted or denied anything he demands. He feels that the world should revolve around him, and that all should cater to his wishes. The dictatorial preacher is no different; his followers must devote themselves entirely to his service, going around on tiptoes for fear of offending him in any way, while he feels free to offend all. Little or no time or effort is left with which to serve Christ, after the followers have served the ego and the cravings of their pastor. How is an insecure, immature man who lives in dread that somewhere there is someone who dares to differ with him on some minor issue. Christ has appointed believers to liberty, Galatians 5:1, but the dictatorial preacher robs his followers of all their liberty.

The moment anyone objects to such immature conduct, or to the fleecing of the tithe money of God’s people, or the lapses in moral standards and doctrinal soundness, the preacher responds, “Touch not the Lord’s anointed!” How silly – no one has threatened to slay them with a sword, as was done to Saul. It is time for such preachers to grow up. We would all object, and quite rightly, to any powerful layman who attempted to take control of a local church and to force all the other members to follow his will without question. For a layman to lord it over the church is wrong and out of the question. For the pastor to do so is equally wrong.

This is made quite clear by the words of Jesus in Matthew 20:25-27: “But JESUS called them unto him (the Apostles) and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” The same thought appears in the parallel passages of Mark 10:42-44 and Luke 22:25-26. In 1 Peter 5:2-3 we read, “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof’, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”

A New Caste of Untouchables

The effect, if not the purpose, of the new emphasis on the exalted rights of ordained ministers, is to create a new class of “Untouchables.” Unlike the Untouchables of India, who are at the bottom of society, the new Untouchables are at the top of Christian society, taking advantage of their sheepish followers at will, clobbering them anytime they want to, while they themselves cannot be touched. They will reign like kings, living the life of Riley while their riled subjects have no choice but to bow down and obey.

If all this seems rather extreme, then consider a very incomplete list of some of the offenses committed by this incipient class of Untouchables here in the United States:

Acts of adultery by famous televangelists and Christian celebrities. Diversion of tax-exempt funds given for the preaching of the Gospel, to be used instead to pay off mistresses and paramours. Prayer requests thrown out in the garbage unread, after donations have been extracted from the letters. Converts sent to Roman Catholic churches and other churches which openly deny evangelical doctrines. Wild prophetic speculations, including date setting for the Second Coming of Christ, exposing evangelical religion to ridicule and contempt when the predictions fail to come true. False claims to receiving direct revelations from God, when the preacher is only quoting from the notes of the heretical Dake’s Study Bible. Bizarre false teaching, such as that there are nine persons of the Trinity, that Christ was not God, that all men are gods, that Christ went to Hell and was born again there, etc. Bullying and intimidation of church members and followers. Teaching that to be born again is to recover one’s lost self-esteem, or that it can be achieved in a mechanical manner by repeating a few words or coming forward in a meeting, with no conviction of the Holy Spirit. High-pressure, unethical fund raising tactics, and waste of funds to purchase ostentatious luxury items for the preacher.

FINAL PART TOMORROW

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