INTEGRITY at what cost?
About the year 1979, a certain Pastor Roland Buck in Boise, Idaho, published an earth-shaking book of his, titled "Angels on Assignment," and penned down by Charles & Frances Hunter, healing evangelists who personally interviewed Roland Buck about certain "angelic visitations" he had experienced in a period of about 2 years prior to that time, and in which real "live" angels appeared to him and brought him messages from God.
At that time (the 1970's and previously), all the things we take for granted today (the Blood of Jesus, Authority in the Name of Jesus, the Power of the Atonement, etc.) were hardly known. Yes, we knew them by way of being Biblical "terminologies," but as for the practical application of them in the exercise of the Authority of the Believer, and allied matters, it was almost nil! We had healing evangelists who operated in their "anointing" as evangelists, but we didn't really have teachers who taught the nitty-gritty of New Creation Realities, and so on.
I was "born-again" in the year 1973 even though I had all my life been a "believer," but as to personally committing myself to vibrant faith and evangelism, it happened in 1973. Prior to that time I was a "good christian boy" who believed that Jesus is the Son of God; I even ministered in church but it wasn't until 1973 that I made it a personal commitment.
In Nigeria, for instance, there had been what was known as the "Aladura Revival" (i. e. the pentecostal/charismatic move of God that swept especially across South-Western Nigeria from the 1920's and especially gaining momentum as from 1936, through the instrumentality of Apostle Ayo Babalola and a certain Revd. S. G. Elton, a British pentecostal missionary who was the first person to preach the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in Nigeria); but that "Aladura Revival" was limited mostly within the circles of the Christ Apostolic Church and The Apostolic Church. The generality of the rest of the church in Nigeria - - and the overall population of Nigeria - - knew next to nothing about these miraculous happenings. The general landscape of the country was filled with what has since come to be known as "orthodox" churches.
However, shortly after the civil war that ended on the 15th of January, 1970, a revival of "mass evangelism" swept across the country. The main message was "accept Christ and be born-again so you can enter Heaven," and nothing more.
However, by 1975, that "evangelical" revival had metamorphosed into the "pentecostal" revival, spearheaded by Pa Elton and with its nucleus on the campus of the University of Ife. By 1979, the "pentecostal" revival had further metamorphosed into the "charismatic," and with the nucleus at the University of Benin. While the "evangelical" emphasized "being born-again" (i. e. giving your life to Christ) and nothing more; the "pentecostal" added the dimension of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues; and the "charismatic" further added the dimension of all the other nine gifts of the Spirit!
However, something was missing! We had "power" but not knowledge! And, you know, "My people perish for lack of knowledge," the Bible says. We didn't know the nitty-gritty of faith, apart from just having faith in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
Somewhere in the United States, a certain Kenneth Hagin had started preaching and teaching "faith" as a subject of the Bible. Through him we got to know that "faith" must be based on Scripture and not on our feelings, circumstances, wishes and desires.
It took a long time before that "Faith Movement" gained world-wide momentum! In fact, in Nigeria, the Faith Movement, as a unique and specific "move" of God, did not quite begin until Chris Tunde Joda started teaching faith on his campus at the College of Medicine, Idi-Araba, and which later metamorphosed into what is now known as Christ Chapel International Churches! It was only after that, that the Faith Movement "exploded" in Nigeria, culminating in what the gentlemen of the press have since referred to as "new generation" churches that we find all over the place today.
That angelic visitation to Roland Buck in the late 1970's, turned out to be God's way of passing across a message to His Church on Earth - - a message that would eventually prepare the Church for what as at that time was the imminent Faith Movement that would sweep across this Earth.
In those angelic visitations, Pastor Buck told how those angels, in several visitations to him in his home, brought the message from God about (1) The importance and place of the Blood of Jesus in the Redemption of Man; how faith in the Blood must be a "living" present-tense "active" faith and not just a liturgical terminology in our prayer-books; (2) How Fellowship and Communion with God was God's desire for His children, and not just a Sunday-Sunday "visitation" to their place of worship; (3) How, indeed, Jesus is ALIVE - - currently and forever, and must be related with as such, One who has overcome death indeed and is now (present-tense) fulfilling a LIVING ministry on the behalf of His Saints on the Earth; (4) How God wants us to take Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit very seriously, and to ensure that we submit to the Baptism of that Holy Spirit in order to be able to walk in all of the Will of the Father; (5) How we are to take all of this Living Message to the whole world! declaring that Jesus is Lord, the Saviour and the King! (6) How the Atonement procured for us by Jesus is an EVERLASTING atonement and that we can depend on God to be faithful to the Benefits of that Atonement for us; (7) How the Return of Jesus is a Reality that will happen in "the fullness of Time."
All of these things, though taken for granted today, were things which, back then, existed only majorly inside the pages of the Bible, although we were already "born-again." The generality of the Church didn't know about casting out of evil spirits, spiritual warfare, faith, etc., etc.
Like I've said, that book by Roland Buck was to prepare the church for that Faith Movement which has since become the "water-shed" for further developments in and of the Body of Christ.
Now, the point I really want to make is that, Roland Buck said that the message which those angels brought to him and which he was told to preach and also to publish through audio tapes as well as the printed page throughout the world, was a message he, initially, was most reluctant to preach! He had spent decades of his life being a "respectable" and "respected" minister of the gospel in Boise, Idaho, and he wasn't going to sacrifice all of that "INTEGRITY" in ministry, just because some angels came saying something that wasn't going to be in line with the "INTEGRITY" he had built over the years! Back then, to talk of "seeing" angels would make people feel you were hallucinating! The appearance of angels, as far as many people were concerned, was limited to Bible times!
It reminds me of the time I came to Ondo and, through my ministry, people began to understand that living the Christ life was not synonymous with living a lack-luster, mediocre and pedestrian existence! If I were to have followed the "integrity" standards of those days, I wouldn't have preached such a message!
Now, what I'm trying to bring forth is this: if Roland Buck had, in the name of wanting to maintain his "integrity," if he had refused to disseminate that message, which, like I said, was to prepare the Church Worldwide for the Faith Movement, what would have been the fate of the Church today?
If Jesus, for instance, had, instead of doing the Will of His Father, if He had settled for the "integrity" standards of His day, He would have simply become one of the Pharisees and not the Saviour we know Him to be today!
If Martin Luther King Jr. had chosen "integrity" rather than being an advocate of civil rights, we probably wouldn't have had a President Barack Obama later on.
If the 'original' Martin Luther (the Reformer) had not jettisoned "integrity" and chosen the path of a "deviant" to speak against the apostasy of the Church of the Middle Ages, we probably wouldn't have known the truth of "Justification By Faith."
What I am saying is this: Today, many people are proclaiming "Integrity," as though Jesus was a man of integrity! Jesus was NOT a man of "integrity" (in the eyes of the people!) As far as those who crucified Him were concerned, he was a CRIMINAL! As far as the Pharisees were concerned, He was an IMPOSTOR! As far as the Saducees were concerned, He was a FALSE TEACHER! As far as Simon the Pharisee was concerned, Jesus was an UNRIGHTEOUS man for allowing that "sinner woman" to kiss His feet and shed her tears on them, anointing the feet with precious ointment! Simon said in his heart, "If this man were a RIGHTEOUS MAN, he would have known that this woman is a sinner and shouldn't have allowed her to come near Him"! In other words, Simon was saying Jesus was NOT a RIGHTEOUS MAN!
Even the "friends" of Jesus, the Bible says, said that he (Jesus) was "beside himself" (that is, he was insane!) His (Jesus') brothers (sons of Mary) didn't believe in Him either!
If Jesus were to think of all of that opposition, and had chosen to take the path of "INTEGRITY" so-called, he would not have associated with "publicans and sinners" (which was one of the things people didn't like about him - - he was too free with those considered as the dreg, the refuse dump, of the society); he would, instead, have chosen to be "politically correct," as well as "religiously correct," and we would not have had a Saviour today!
As the FAITH MOVEMENT gathered momentum in the first-half of the 1980's in Nigeria, a certain Chris Okotie, a jerry-curl-sporting singer became "born-again" and became a pastor. Many people expected Chris, for the sake of being "religiously correct," to dump his jerry-curl hairstyle and adopt a more "holy" exterior! But the young man said God asked him to maintain his hair that way! He became the conduit-pipe and the agent that God used to "open" the door of the Kingdom to the "social sophisticats" in Nigeria! If Chris Okotie had chosen "INTEGRITY" (as defined by those he met in "the faith"), rather than obey God, we probably wouldn't have had the "born-again" RMDs and Vien Tetsola's of today! Thank God for Chris! He chose not to be "religiously correct" (he chose against so-called INTEGRITY) and thus became the prince of the Kingdom in his specific calling!
If the late Archbishop Idahosa had chosen "INTEGRITY" (so-called) and to be "religiously correct," he wouldn't have been the "catalyst" of the charismatic movement he is in Nigeria, bringing "colour" to an otherwise "black-and-white" spiritual landscape!
If Paul the apostle had chosen "INTEGRITY" (as defined by other Jewish believers), he wouldn't have been the Apostle to the Gentiles that we know him to be today! If Peter had chosen the same, he wouldn't have gone to Cornelius' house!
In my sojourn in the faith of CHRIST and in the ministry of the gospel, I have not only come to realize that those who "dare to be different" (not minding the "stain" on their supposed INTEGRITY) are the ones who really move things forward for God; but also that those who choose their so-called "INTEGRITY" and their "religious correctness" above doing the Will of the Father, they are the ones through whom a lot of wrong-doing, wrong beliefs and wrong ideas (masquerading, though, as "holiness" and "integrity") continue to gain ground in the Church and on the Earth.
God sends a man, for instance, to those you call "prostitutes," and he refuses to go, all because he cannot "afford" to tarnish his ministerial "INTEGRITY" by mingling with such people! Some would even claim that if God wants to reach "prostitutes" He would use women to reach them! Where did God tell you that? It's simply your idea because you're trying to be "religiously correct"!
A wife is suffering terrible brutalisation in the hands of an uncaring, irresponsible and cruel husband who daily makes her a punching bag, and the pastor keeps saying "Stay there, for the purpose of your christian 'INTEGRITY'" What a misplacement of the true meaning of INTEGRITY.
What do I need 'INTEGRITY' for? In the context in which I'm talking, 'INTEGRITY' is the Devil's way of keeping you "politically correct" and "religiously correct" so that you will never fulfil God's mandate for you.
INTEGRITY my foot! I would rather do what I know to be God's Will and Mandate for my life, rather than follow the so-called "standards of INTEGRITY" set up by men, the Church and Bible Schools! At the end of the day, CHRIST is the one before whose JUDGMENT SEAT I will give account of myself; I will not stand before the judgment seat of the proponents of "INTEGRITY" (so-called).
About the year 1979, a certain Pastor Roland Buck in Boise, Idaho, published an earth-shaking book of his, titled "Angels on Assignment," and penned down by Charles & Frances Hunter, healing evangelists who personally interviewed Roland Buck about certain "angelic visitations" he had experienced in a period of about 2 years prior to that time, and in which real "live" angels appeared to him and brought him messages from God.
At that time (the 1970's and previously), all the things we take for granted today (the Blood of Jesus, Authority in the Name of Jesus, the Power of the Atonement, etc.) were hardly known. Yes, we knew them by way of being Biblical "terminologies," but as for the practical application of them in the exercise of the Authority of the Believer, and allied matters, it was almost nil! We had healing evangelists who operated in their "anointing" as evangelists, but we didn't really have teachers who taught the nitty-gritty of New Creation Realities, and so on.
I was "born-again" in the year 1973 even though I had all my life been a "believer," but as to personally committing myself to vibrant faith and evangelism, it happened in 1973. Prior to that time I was a "good christian boy" who believed that Jesus is the Son of God; I even ministered in church but it wasn't until 1973 that I made it a personal commitment.
In Nigeria, for instance, there had been what was known as the "Aladura Revival" (i. e. the pentecostal/charismatic move of God that swept especially across South-Western Nigeria from the 1920's and especially gaining momentum as from 1936, through the instrumentality of Apostle Ayo Babalola and a certain Revd. S. G. Elton, a British pentecostal missionary who was the first person to preach the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in Nigeria); but that "Aladura Revival" was limited mostly within the circles of the Christ Apostolic Church and The Apostolic Church. The generality of the rest of the church in Nigeria - - and the overall population of Nigeria - - knew next to nothing about these miraculous happenings. The general landscape of the country was filled with what has since come to be known as "orthodox" churches.
However, shortly after the civil war that ended on the 15th of January, 1970, a revival of "mass evangelism" swept across the country. The main message was "accept Christ and be born-again so you can enter Heaven," and nothing more.
However, by 1975, that "evangelical" revival had metamorphosed into the "pentecostal" revival, spearheaded by Pa Elton and with its nucleus on the campus of the University of Ife. By 1979, the "pentecostal" revival had further metamorphosed into the "charismatic," and with the nucleus at the University of Benin. While the "evangelical" emphasized "being born-again" (i. e. giving your life to Christ) and nothing more; the "pentecostal" added the dimension of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues; and the "charismatic" further added the dimension of all the other nine gifts of the Spirit!
However, something was missing! We had "power" but not knowledge! And, you know, "My people perish for lack of knowledge," the Bible says. We didn't know the nitty-gritty of faith, apart from just having faith in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
Somewhere in the United States, a certain Kenneth Hagin had started preaching and teaching "faith" as a subject of the Bible. Through him we got to know that "faith" must be based on Scripture and not on our feelings, circumstances, wishes and desires.
It took a long time before that "Faith Movement" gained world-wide momentum! In fact, in Nigeria, the Faith Movement, as a unique and specific "move" of God, did not quite begin until Chris Tunde Joda started teaching faith on his campus at the College of Medicine, Idi-Araba, and which later metamorphosed into what is now known as Christ Chapel International Churches! It was only after that, that the Faith Movement "exploded" in Nigeria, culminating in what the gentlemen of the press have since referred to as "new generation" churches that we find all over the place today.
That angelic visitation to Roland Buck in the late 1970's, turned out to be God's way of passing across a message to His Church on Earth - - a message that would eventually prepare the Church for what as at that time was the imminent Faith Movement that would sweep across this Earth.
In those angelic visitations, Pastor Buck told how those angels, in several visitations to him in his home, brought the message from God about (1) The importance and place of the Blood of Jesus in the Redemption of Man; how faith in the Blood must be a "living" present-tense "active" faith and not just a liturgical terminology in our prayer-books; (2) How Fellowship and Communion with God was God's desire for His children, and not just a Sunday-Sunday "visitation" to their place of worship; (3) How, indeed, Jesus is ALIVE - - currently and forever, and must be related with as such, One who has overcome death indeed and is now (present-tense) fulfilling a LIVING ministry on the behalf of His Saints on the Earth; (4) How God wants us to take Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit very seriously, and to ensure that we submit to the Baptism of that Holy Spirit in order to be able to walk in all of the Will of the Father; (5) How we are to take all of this Living Message to the whole world! declaring that Jesus is Lord, the Saviour and the King! (6) How the Atonement procured for us by Jesus is an EVERLASTING atonement and that we can depend on God to be faithful to the Benefits of that Atonement for us; (7) How the Return of Jesus is a Reality that will happen in "the fullness of Time."
All of these things, though taken for granted today, were things which, back then, existed only majorly inside the pages of the Bible, although we were already "born-again." The generality of the Church didn't know about casting out of evil spirits, spiritual warfare, faith, etc., etc.
Like I've said, that book by Roland Buck was to prepare the church for that Faith Movement which has since become the "water-shed" for further developments in and of the Body of Christ.
Now, the point I really want to make is that, Roland Buck said that the message which those angels brought to him and which he was told to preach and also to publish through audio tapes as well as the printed page throughout the world, was a message he, initially, was most reluctant to preach! He had spent decades of his life being a "respectable" and "respected" minister of the gospel in Boise, Idaho, and he wasn't going to sacrifice all of that "INTEGRITY" in ministry, just because some angels came saying something that wasn't going to be in line with the "INTEGRITY" he had built over the years! Back then, to talk of "seeing" angels would make people feel you were hallucinating! The appearance of angels, as far as many people were concerned, was limited to Bible times!
It reminds me of the time I came to Ondo and, through my ministry, people began to understand that living the Christ life was not synonymous with living a lack-luster, mediocre and pedestrian existence! If I were to have followed the "integrity" standards of those days, I wouldn't have preached such a message!
Now, what I'm trying to bring forth is this: if Roland Buck had, in the name of wanting to maintain his "integrity," if he had refused to disseminate that message, which, like I said, was to prepare the Church Worldwide for the Faith Movement, what would have been the fate of the Church today?
If Jesus, for instance, had, instead of doing the Will of His Father, if He had settled for the "integrity" standards of His day, He would have simply become one of the Pharisees and not the Saviour we know Him to be today!
If Martin Luther King Jr. had chosen "integrity" rather than being an advocate of civil rights, we probably wouldn't have had a President Barack Obama later on.
If the 'original' Martin Luther (the Reformer) had not jettisoned "integrity" and chosen the path of a "deviant" to speak against the apostasy of the Church of the Middle Ages, we probably wouldn't have known the truth of "Justification By Faith."
What I am saying is this: Today, many people are proclaiming "Integrity," as though Jesus was a man of integrity! Jesus was NOT a man of "integrity" (in the eyes of the people!) As far as those who crucified Him were concerned, he was a CRIMINAL! As far as the Pharisees were concerned, He was an IMPOSTOR! As far as the Saducees were concerned, He was a FALSE TEACHER! As far as Simon the Pharisee was concerned, Jesus was an UNRIGHTEOUS man for allowing that "sinner woman" to kiss His feet and shed her tears on them, anointing the feet with precious ointment! Simon said in his heart, "If this man were a RIGHTEOUS MAN, he would have known that this woman is a sinner and shouldn't have allowed her to come near Him"! In other words, Simon was saying Jesus was NOT a RIGHTEOUS MAN!
Even the "friends" of Jesus, the Bible says, said that he (Jesus) was "beside himself" (that is, he was insane!) His (Jesus') brothers (sons of Mary) didn't believe in Him either!
If Jesus were to think of all of that opposition, and had chosen to take the path of "INTEGRITY" so-called, he would not have associated with "publicans and sinners" (which was one of the things people didn't like about him - - he was too free with those considered as the dreg, the refuse dump, of the society); he would, instead, have chosen to be "politically correct," as well as "religiously correct," and we would not have had a Saviour today!
As the FAITH MOVEMENT gathered momentum in the first-half of the 1980's in Nigeria, a certain Chris Okotie, a jerry-curl-sporting singer became "born-again" and became a pastor. Many people expected Chris, for the sake of being "religiously correct," to dump his jerry-curl hairstyle and adopt a more "holy" exterior! But the young man said God asked him to maintain his hair that way! He became the conduit-pipe and the agent that God used to "open" the door of the Kingdom to the "social sophisticats" in Nigeria! If Chris Okotie had chosen "INTEGRITY" (as defined by those he met in "the faith"), rather than obey God, we probably wouldn't have had the "born-again" RMDs and Vien Tetsola's of today! Thank God for Chris! He chose not to be "religiously correct" (he chose against so-called INTEGRITY) and thus became the prince of the Kingdom in his specific calling!
If the late Archbishop Idahosa had chosen "INTEGRITY" (so-called) and to be "religiously correct," he wouldn't have been the "catalyst" of the charismatic movement he is in Nigeria, bringing "colour" to an otherwise "black-and-white" spiritual landscape!
If Paul the apostle had chosen "INTEGRITY" (as defined by other Jewish believers), he wouldn't have been the Apostle to the Gentiles that we know him to be today! If Peter had chosen the same, he wouldn't have gone to Cornelius' house!
In my sojourn in the faith of CHRIST and in the ministry of the gospel, I have not only come to realize that those who "dare to be different" (not minding the "stain" on their supposed INTEGRITY) are the ones who really move things forward for God; but also that those who choose their so-called "INTEGRITY" and their "religious correctness" above doing the Will of the Father, they are the ones through whom a lot of wrong-doing, wrong beliefs and wrong ideas (masquerading, though, as "holiness" and "integrity") continue to gain ground in the Church and on the Earth.
God sends a man, for instance, to those you call "prostitutes," and he refuses to go, all because he cannot "afford" to tarnish his ministerial "INTEGRITY" by mingling with such people! Some would even claim that if God wants to reach "prostitutes" He would use women to reach them! Where did God tell you that? It's simply your idea because you're trying to be "religiously correct"!
A wife is suffering terrible brutalisation in the hands of an uncaring, irresponsible and cruel husband who daily makes her a punching bag, and the pastor keeps saying "Stay there, for the purpose of your christian 'INTEGRITY'" What a misplacement of the true meaning of INTEGRITY.
What do I need 'INTEGRITY' for? In the context in which I'm talking, 'INTEGRITY' is the Devil's way of keeping you "politically correct" and "religiously correct" so that you will never fulfil God's mandate for you.
INTEGRITY my foot! I would rather do what I know to be God's Will and Mandate for my life, rather than follow the so-called "standards of INTEGRITY" set up by men, the Church and Bible Schools! At the end of the day, CHRIST is the one before whose JUDGMENT SEAT I will give account of myself; I will not stand before the judgment seat of the proponents of "INTEGRITY" (so-called).
I love the last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteINTEGRITY my foot! I would rather do what I know to be God's Will and Mandate for my life, rather than follow the so-called "standards of INTEGRITY" set up by men, the Church and Bible Schools! At the end of the day, CHRIST is the one before whose JUDGMENT SEAT I will give account of myself; I will not stand before the judgment seat of the proponents of "INTEGRITY" (so-called).
Thanks so much, Atiemie Gift James
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