Manipulations
Manipulation is a strong source and force of witchcraft, a weapon used to get folks to do things that they aren’t necessarily inclined to do otherwise. It has been used throughout the ages, from the beginning of mankind that broke away from the Tree of Life and partook of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil, therefore leaving our walk with God in the Garden of our hearts to follow our own devices, and to recruit as many to follow our misguided doctrines as can be ascertained.
Manipulation has been in mankind’s repertoire since we have left our undistorted walk with God, and has been used for so many millennium that we now take it as normal. This form of witchcraft is so familiar with us, that it is no longer considered unhealthy, and is therefore accepted as normal behavior; it is not normal, nor did we learn this performance from Gods’ Word as some say He would use. Even the ‘reward and punishment system’ was not created from the Grace of God, but thru the law, and its legalistic harshness, and was corralled into our existence, and thus, virtually, used as a tool or weapon by everyone as being normal. The apostle Paul wrote many times that the letter of the law kills, and is now brought to its’ death through the forwarding of Grace; for the law is unto death, but Grace into life. And even though there are many today that teach the law, even while proclaiming Grace; this has propitiated its’ acceptance of the ‘reward and punishment system’, and so also are many other forms of manipulations that we use in our everyday life. We may begin with our young child, and while they eat, are offered a reward if they do, but a penalty, if they don’t. We may have a wife, or a husband, even an acquaintance that we may speak words of nurturing to, if the conditions are right; but roughly if they’re not. Our demeanor and our behavior are really not supposed to be effected by our emotions, but because of the great acceptance of this form of manipulation, it is. We, as humans, are perfectly able to express ourselves without this up-and-down emotional behavior, and can present ourselves without the antics that are so commonly used and accepted as normal. In other words; most of us know how to talk straight whether we like the situation or not, but due to the longevity of this now customary language, that has been allowed, we find ourselves fitting in to the so-called normal behavior of man, therefore continue doing that which has been done for so long. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Through all this our societies have cultured in many norms that fifty years ago were corrupt, but consistent practice of these detrimental attitudes have adjusted us to accept the unacceptable.
Can you imagine Jesus talking down to anyone that called Him a heretic or a blasphemer? Of course we can’t. Yes He called the pharisees and scribes vipers or hypocrites, but that’s because they were. But what I speaking on is the way we may talk to someone that we don’t like, verses someone that we do; there really shouldn’t be a difference in our attitude, and Jesus didn’t use this form of manipulation on anyone. Whether they were prostitutes, lepers, a thief on the cross, or a noble man wanting to have lunch with Him, all were treated the same; with the character of God, kindly.
We look at this world and try to figure out what in the world is going on, when all we really need to do is, look at ourselves. For all of us has perpetuated this form of witchcraft, in the hopes that it might change someone’s attitude of behavior, but it might be us that need changing. We can’t, as children of God, look at folks the way that other people do, nor are we able to make a customary judgment on them because that’s the way we were taught; for who knows, maybe the situation was created by God, just for us, and this could be the opportunity given to us by Him to allow His change in us. The world is not going to change, it is set too deep in them, but we are called out of the world to proclaim the Love and Grace of God; we are all teachers and evangelist. Manipulation has crept into the lives of all of us, it’s been seeded, watered, grown to acceptance by virtually all of us, and we are losing our direction because of it.
“John, if you will do this favor for me, I’ll make it worth your while.” Another example: “Jane, I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it weren’t for me feeling so bad, so pretty-please, will you do it just this once.” Or how about this one: “Lord if you’ll do this for me and get me out of this situation, I’ll dedicate my life to you forever.” These are all just mild and silly examples of the manipulations that we use regularly, but can we see that each is designed to consume something on our flesh, and I really didn’t want to speak much on these mild versions, but to how this has escalated into ‘ministers’ as they deploy their skills to get so many to come to their form of belief.
How many times have we seen a preacher or lay-person try to talk another into coming to Christ by scare tactics? Such as; would you rather spend your life in the pits of hell where no relief is found and the tongue is never quenched; or to spend it in eternity with the God of all things beautiful? To manipulate this tactic to an adult is one thing, and still it is wrong, but to deploy this method on a child, and scare the pants off them, is entirely a situation that God would never use. But yet it happens over and over so much that it also has become a norm in our churchy society that it is accepted. When Christ abounds within any, He is then able to present Himself by the Love of God; and when that Love is shared, those that see will flock unto our God of hope.
Using guilt to manipulate folks to come to Christ, or even their own ‘church’, is a device, a trick, to try to make people do something, that, maybe at the time is not to be deployed as a weapon used against them; but is. God has His own timing, and very rarely do we understand it, but to guilt someone into coming to Him is never an approach that God uses. Yes, many may feel guilty, and many have come honestly to Him because of it, but it’s not a maneuver that the Holy Spirit uses. I’ve always, personally, seen God as a complete gentleman, so to speak, and with a kindness that surpasses anything man can dream of; and He loves each for ‘what’, they are, (His children),and puts no expectations on any, for expectations are also a form of manipulation.
You may ask. Is this not what this author is trying to do to those that is reading this? No! Only God’s Spirit can reach you, and I believe he has ask me to unmask the conditions of what this engineered influence that has, at least to some part, effected our walk with God, or even, to come to Him for the first time. I desire no honor, nor do I want to be known. I am perfectly content to stay in the background, and not even know the result of my obedience. God’s Truth is simple, and His way of Life is not a burdened Life, but the procreation of life, and not this non-sense that’s been taught from many pulpits that are bringing death instead of Life, and many can’t walk an unhindered Life with Christ, until we come out of denial.
To say that God is wanting our ‘church’ to start a new program, or to buy advertisement in the yellow pages, or to portray our name in large letters on the ‘church’ van, or have one of these cleaver marquees, lit-up and announcing pride; are all about the impressive image, and not about the forwarding of the Kingdom of God; but we aren’t supposed to know that. It’s all about self, and the bragging rights that we think we can accomplish by making ourselves, or ‘our church’ look better and be more attended. Do you think when you see and hear a political candidate that you’re hearing who this man or woman really is? No! All we get is what they want us to get, it’s a performance. And so is the strutting that goes on with these man- made structures with a steeple. If in truth, these ‘churches’ were following the lead of the Holy Spirit, what purpose is the advertisement for? Has the Power of God been diminished, or is His hand shortened; or His ear deafened?
God’s Grace has been more than sufficient thus far, and Him not moving mightily upon babylon is not a sign of His approval of this that’s been going on all these centuries. Is it not time to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from the wicked ways of man, and allow God to reign upon His own Throne for a change?
I spent the first eighteen or twenty years of my walk with Christ inside the doors of several ‘churches’ and without regret, as a new- born believer, I read as often as possible and had many questions, but as I’d ask them, compared to the Scriptures, I would get many different interpretations that would not align with what I’d read. The first thing the denominational leaders would do is explain how this stuff is no longer valid, it was meant for those that were apostles and such of the early years. And I thought; if this were true, then why did God preserve His Word for all these millenniums just to give me a history lesson? I then had to fall back on my walk with Him to find out that His Word is eternal, alive, well, and as sound today as it was then.
There was one time and place in my life that confusion was about to overtake me in this matter, so one night, while in quietness, I prayed. I told God that if this is what it is to be a ‘christian’, then I was going back to the world. For even in these early years of my walk, I could see and hear the hypocrisy, and feel the manipulations of them trying to mold me into their image. But after my prayer, I was expecting to be knocked down by God, but what I got instead was, His understanding and gentleness. God words to me then were: ‘This is not my Life, nor the Life that I have stored for you; allow Me to teach you, for the Holy Spirit that knows all things, teaches all things.’ And that was the beginning of God calling me out of ‘this thing called church’, but it was still many years later before I would completely leave. The feelings of guilt from the manipulations were strong in me, and as I would slowly stand up and protest what was being taught that didn’t measure-up to scripture, the process of me coming out of ‘her’ began to happen. For God continued teaching from His truth, and I began to understand the transparency and motive of those caught up in this system; it still took many years. And I didn’t go back to the world.
The walk that God is calling us into is, again, to have a relationship with Him from where each is at, we do not have to adhere to some strict set of rules, for God Loves us for ‘what’ we are, not ‘who’ we are; we are His children. All preach that God’s Grace is sufficient, but in the same breath preach that we have to observe the so-many rules to get there; that’s bologna. There is nothing we have to do, nor are we able to do, that will win God’s affection; we already have it.
Through the years of being also caught up in this system, I could see that many of the ‘church’ leaders would come up with a program, or event, that might just lasso a few more converts into their assembly. One of these being ‘vacation bible school’, or maybe a pageant play towards the end of the year, or could even start a youth basketball team, or one of the many famous bazaars, and the list could go on-and-on, and although they may have a hint of innocence, they are placed there to indoctrinate the kids, and maybe snatch a few of the parents in the process. These formulas of bringing the coveted enrollment status up has been tried and tested through many years, and then passed along to their neighboring ‘churches’, and is well-founded to work; therefore the same formulas are passed around until virtually all use them. There is no scriptural evidence found, nor are we to use these entrapments and manipulations to bring sheep into the fold; for this is the Holy Spirit’s job, since it’s His assembly and not ours.
So what are these manipulations used for, if not as a gimmick to bring more in, and increase their bottom line? The tactics aren’t necessarily used by insincere people, but the usage of them has been so founded on the results, and the competition is so great, and the fact that they have worked for so long, that we now count them coming to our Lord and Christ by the droves, nor are God’s people growing in the wisdom, freedom, and an unhindered relationship with Him in vast numbers; but on the contrary, His people are perishing from lack of Knowledge. Most are drawn to the ‘church’ as a replacement of Christ. Somewhere, somehow, we have got to become embarrassed for the ways that our Fathers House has been treated and neglected, and has now turned It again into a den of thieves. as a normal process of being ‘churchy’, even by the sincere leaders. God is able, and we are unable, or one could say unqualified, to do those things that the Holy Spirit is equipped for, and the results of our doings has brought us to this ‘church’, with this mask that is covering her face. People today are not
Where did we come up with the idea of an altar-call? There are no scriptures, old or new, that I’m aware of, that a call is made from an altar for the folks to repent and come up too. If we are to pray in a closet, then, would not we also repent in the closet also? But, if someone can coax an individual with their skilled tactics, and their years of proven speech, and fill the ‘so called altar’ with the emotional display of their words, then a worldly ‘church’ will use them; but not by the authority of God.
Whether it’s passing around a collection plate, or spending big- bucks for choir robes, or engraving the windows with stained glass, or having the convenient baptismal, or sending the preacher to school to learn all the proper etiquette of a sermon; when we realize that this is not God’s House of prayer, but some man-made invention to try to make these guys look good, at the expense of the growth of His children, then, we can see why His children are being called out of ‘her’. If God’s call is for His people to humble themselves, seek, pray, and turn, then how did so many get caught up in this ritualistic, meaningless image of man’s ideas of what God wants, and then be so blinded by the centuries of its approval, that we haven’t figured it out yet? We’ve all been tricked into believing that this system is what we are all supposed to adhere to; let’s take the mask off our own faces, take a long honest look in the mirror, then turn our face from that looking glass and seek God. God said; today is the day, and now is the time.
God, give me your salvation to save me from myself.