How To Rid The Church Of “Yeast Infections”!
In my previous blog I talked about how the church has no time for “yeast” during revivals, when God is on the move. “Yeast”, properly “kneaded” takes time to rise before being baked by the heat which produces a loaf of bread with a “protective crust”. The fleeting movement of Passover did not allow time for the “kneaded” process. The Israelites “needed” to get moving because it was time for freedom, time to display God’s power, time to move through the Red Sea on a quest to the Promise Land. Even in the dessert there was no time to “knead” bread, thus no “need” for “yeast”, for God was still on the move leading His people by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In the dessert he produced “yeast”-less bread called manna, collected daily or it would rot. Manna has not use to “stay around”, for God was on the move.
Today, I am embarking on a topic my Christian sisters can blog about better than I can, for I, personally, thank heavens, have never experienced: “yeast infections.” Being married, I have seen the pain, discomfort, and irritability caused by them through my wife, but just seeing the “fruit of discomfort” caused by them, I, in the imbecilic lack of knowledge on the subject, can only write about the second hand results. I can safely draw the inclusion that “yeast infections” are not nice, not wanted, and should be banned!
Spiritually, the Bride of Christ, body of Christ, the Church, is experiencing “yeast infections,” and it ain’t pretty! “Yeast infections” never are! Jesus warned about the “yeast”, the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees of his and our day. It still scares me that Jesus forgave sinners, the unclean, the down and out of his society, for forbidden ones, yet he severely criticizes the religious leaders of his day: “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees.” Although we Christians will never admit it, there are Pharisees and Sadducees in our midst. We definitely will not admit it, but defend it, if we are actually ones ourselves! It is painful when one makes that discovery, I know from personal experience, for I am a “recovering Pharisee” in my own right. “Yeast” naturally rises over time, and being a Christian for 50 years has given it plenty of time to rise in my Christian walk, but when there is revival, there is no time for it to rise. If I want to see revival, I must clean the “yeast” out of my own life? How about you? Where do you stand on the “Pharisee” meter if you have been a Christian for any length of time?
“Yeast” is the “teaching” of traditional, structural “truth” over time. That definition, I am sure, could be highly debated by the Pharisees of our time, but this “yeast’s” fruit has been division in the body of Christ, not unity. I personally believe it is time to 1) recognize the five fold as being the “norm” in a God moving revival and 2) the Church needs to reinstate the apostolic and revive the “apostolic teaching” recorded in the book of Acts.
Why do we need the five fold? To prevent and cure “yeast infections” in the Bride of Christ, the Church. The fruit of the five fold, as outlined in Ephesians 4:14-16 is “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself in love, as each part does its work.” Through “serving” one another, laying down one life for one another through submission and accountability and following the Holy Spirit, “sectarian teaching” through the teaching gifting in the five fold should be checked by the other four passions and points of view. As the teacher continues to study the Logos Word, the Bible, unity, balance, and truth will prevail through the Rhema revelations through the prophet, the birthing of those revelations through the evangelist, the daily working out of those revelations in practical life experiences through the pastor/shepherd, with correct oversight, the seeing over what the Holy Spirit is doing and teaching while releasing the other giftings to fulfill the big picture by the apostle, all prepares the ground work for the “apostolic teaching” as found in the book of Acts.
The restoration of the “apostolic” passion and point of view into the body of Christ, the priesthood of believers, will usher in the restoration of “apostolic teaching”, a teaching that will bring unity not division, simplicity not complexity, power and life not stagnation, and clarity instead of cloudiness. The tossing “back and forth by the waves”, and the blowing “here and there by every wind of teaching” will be diminished if not eliminated by the apostolic speaking “the truth in love” causing individual Christians and the Church as a whole “in all things” to “grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ.” Results: “Every supporting ligament” of the body of Christ “grows and builds itself in love, as each part does its work.” Unity not sectarianism; One Body of Christ not multiple sects, denominations, groups, mega-churches, etc. all under different banners; and one Head speaking for there will be only one “mouth” to this Head, speaking the same message of truth throughout the “whole” body of Christ.
The gospel is simple, yet we, the Church, have made it complicated over the centuries. The gospel is unifying, yet we, the Church, have brought only division among ourselves. The gospel is truth, yet we, the Church, prorogate the lie that only our sect has the “true” insight into “all things”, not the rest of the body of Christ. The way to fight the “yeast infection” in the Church today is to embrace the five different passions and points of view as found in Ephesians 4:11, allow the Holy Spirit to design them according to God’s plan for the purpose of unity in the body of Christ and the “growing up”, the maturity, of individual believers as well as the corporate Church into the fullness and image of Jesus Christ through the true restoration of the apostolic and the apostolic teaching to the Church. The cure to “yeast” infection is Jesus Christ and responding to the constant “moving” of the Holy Spirit.