Control steals away the preeminence of Christ and replaces it with that of man. Control will empower one to exalt themself, disvalue trust and dependence on Christ, and ultimately create a leadership model of being wise in our own eyes in our walk with God. While the cure for control is simple, it has to be activated both individually and collectively in the body of Christ. This cure is dependence. Dependence is most demonstrated when we WAIT before we DO. While God values stillness and patience for strategy and success, we usually value intense preparation and planning for it. The two produce dramatically different outcomes. The first encounter the living God while the second encounters a figment of our imagination that we have created God to be that usually protects our desire for safety, control, and comfort.
"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand and watch in vain." -Psalm 127:1
Jesus’ primary mission has always been the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. When God manifested Himself in the flesh in the life of Jesus Christ, he did not merely come to start a religion called Christianity; he came to give humanity access to the Kingdom of God. This begs the question, why is there such little participation with and evidence of the Kingdom of God within the Church?
First and foremost, realizing that Satan is raging with great zeal to squelch and eliminate God’s people from accessing the realities of heaven is critical. It will enlighten us to recognize that we are as susceptible to yielding to Satan’s schemes as anyone. We have to start with this truth if we are going to break down the barriers that have been built up in the Church that prevent the Kingdom of God from breaking in. Putting a stop to God’s people encountering and walking in the presence and power offered to them in Christ is Satan’s ultimate mission.
We can discuss many topics regarding what blocks God’s people from encountering his Kingdom. The previous two blogs discussed the first two: offense and deception. In this blog, I want to highlight how control quickly creeps into our midst and keeps us closed off from the breaking in of God’s Kingdom. I encourage you to honestly evaluate whether this barrier exists within you and your leadership of influence. If it does, confess and repent of it before God, rather than justify why it exists within your life. He is more zealous for imparting the Kingdom of God in our lives than we are. A surrendered life to Christ is the simple answer to more frequently and powerfully encountering the breaking in of the Kingdom of God in our lives.
Control
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So, when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.”
– 3 John 1:9-10
Control is detrimental, as it places leaders in the church to operate as if they are the head, rather than another member of the body. Control will consequently create collective systems of thought in congregations of the Church that don’t value and ultimately live under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. When this happens, immediately man takes the place of God, and the leadership the Spirit was meant to have gets usurped in the pulpit. Consequently, when the Kingdom of God breaks in and begins to disrupt the control that is being exhibited, immediate resistance and rejection will occur. Unfortunately, when the control is occurring at the hands of leadership, the other members of the body suffer the repercussions of not experiencing the realities of God’s presence in their gatherings.
This was occurring in the case of Diotrephes, who controlled others through manipulation and falsehood for the sake of preserving his own pre-eminence in others' lives. This is occurring currently in the body of Christ, and like Diotrephes, many leaders have a tendency to spread malicious talk by exaggerating stories and slandering reputations, all for the sake of ‘protecting the flock.’ Unfortunately, what many end up protecting their flock from is encountering more of God for the sake of preserving their leadership and pre-eminence in others' lives. All should be alert and aware that any leader in the body of Christ whose primary mission isn’t solely to lead others into allowing Jesus to be the preeminent leader in their life, is operating in a spirit outside of Christ. Like Diotrephes, leaders who are operating out of a spirit of control will attempt to:
1) Persuade you from pursuing other movements of God out of fear that by doing so they will lose your attendance and influence in your life.
2) Masquerade slander and gossip as “wisdom to protect you.”
3) Look to “remove” from their Church those who create new movements that they perceive compete with their own.
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” - Jer. 2:13
Another form that control is accompanied by is a spirit of independence. This spirit will empower one to reject God's way, but continue to build other ways to try and please him. This is what God was speaking through Jeremiah to the people. He was addressing the fact that their spirit of independence and control empowered them to turn from God. The people were building in their own strength and wisdom with strategies they believed could provide the structure necessary to contain his presence. Like them, we too can come under an independent spirit that attempts to build our own structures we believe are best. No matter how genuine our motives, it will also be done in our own strength and reap the words of Jesus in John 6:63, “The spirit gives life, but the flesh counts for nothing.”
Lastly, whether intentional or unintentional, control will also put boxes around what God can and cannot do. These parameters lead collective groups of people’s hearts to live in disbelief and skepticism about the power of God meeting us today as it did throughout all of human history as recorded in the scriptures. Though God could pierce past our boxes and hard hearts, he responds in accordance with a group of people’s hunger, humility, and faith. The reason he moves in this way is that he wants free-willed lovers, not robotic slaves. Control, both personal and collective, will hinder our experience in this life with the realm of heaven on earth. We will be left with encountering a portion of the promise, but void of experiencing all God intended.
The Cure for Control – Dependence
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.”
- Psalm 127:1
Dependence is something that all good Christians claim to have. However, true dependence on the leadership of the Holy Spirit is rarely expressed, both in our corporate meetings and our individual journeys with Jesus. Our services and lives quickly can become so programmatic that if the Holy Spirit spoke, we wouldn’t even listen, as his request would completely violate our plan. While the cure for control is simple, it has to be activated both individually and collectively in the body of Christ. This cure is dependence. Dependence is most demonstrated when we WAIT before we DO. While God values stillness and patience for strategy and success, we usually value intense preparation and planning for it. The two produce dramatically different outcomes. The first encounter the living God while the second encounters a figment of our imagination that we have created God to be that usually protects our desire for safety, control, and comfort.
Dependence on God also roots out of controlling leaders their desire to manipulate situations and people to fit their agenda. Dependence always develops trust in God, which in turn develops freedom in the way we lead. All of us who lead with the spirit of control, are held in a prison cell of slavery constantly anxious and stressed about the variety of situations that are occurring and the ones that could potentially occur. Truthfully, dependence is the key to freedom and will free you in leadership from feeling the weight and pressure to perform, be valued, and succeed.
True dependence can be practiced in our individual walks and corporate gatherings and is a necessary medicine for curing the spirit that constantly desires control in how and what we do. If we are going to prepare ourselves to receive at any moment the breaking in of the Kingdom of God, we have to learn a lifestyle of dependence that holds everything with a loose grasp, knowing that God is leading our lives and meetings -not us. If true dependence becomes the culture that a collective group of people values when God shows up they let go of everything planned and follow his lead. This truly is the posture God is looking for his people to position themselves in. When they do, they should expect many encounters with God, as his Kingdom is welcome in their midst.
