God Does Not Want Clones!

Has it not struck you that in many churches, the preachers not only look a bit like each other, but also sound very much like each other?  In one denomination, the preacher refers to, for example, John's Gospel, the chapter 4, and the verse 18. In another, a very similar tone of voice is used, uninspiring, unexciting, and monotone.  In yet another, there is a kind of sing-song voice what is used by the minister.  And further, there are those who are so content within their own establishment that they will never apply the Gospel to the church in which they are ministers.

This raises the obvious question: when God calls men into the ministry of the Gospel and sacraments, does He chose only those in whom there is a sameness, and by that I mean, only those who will settle down so comfortably into their ministry that they create a 'fellowship' that is also comfortable?  Does He call men who will be the image of those who are in the ministry before them?  If the others do not want to disturb the devil in the congregation, then there is no way that I am going to do it!  If the devil and his servants are welcome in our church, who am I to say otherwise.  After all, we want to build up the numbers so that there will be sufficient people there to give to pay my salary and to keep the organisation going.  And if the devil's servants say they are Christians, I cannot see into their hearts, so I am obliged to accept them as Christians!

This is how church clones operate. They do exactly what others have done, and, in time, go even further.  They tolerate those who will not tolerate the real Gospel; so they tone down their preaching considerably so that the devil's servants do not even suspect that he is one of these extreme evangelicals.  They decide not to exhibit enough evidence that would convict them of being the servants of Jesus Christ.

What have they become?  Clones, silly, yet dangerous clones.  But God does not want clones; He wants men who can think for themselves out of God's revealed will in Scripture, and apply what they learn to their congregations.

But perhaps, the trouble lies elsewhere.  Perhaps it lies in the theological college they attended and in which they were 'trained' for the ministry.  Perhaps, the college inputs to their minds ideas about being 'good churchmen' - a most commendable thing to be!  "You are servants of the church, and, of course, you are bound to submit to the courts of the church (and forget about this 'in the Lord' business; we have dispensed with that old idea years ago).  You are there to serve the best interests of the church, and we will not brook any departure from what we believe to be true and right."

So these once gallant men emerge from their theological education and ministerial training, with the aim of being 'good churchmen.'  What I am really saying is that they emerge as clones of those who have trained them and who have gone before.

But what seem to have missed somewhere along the road is that God does not want clones in His church.  He wants men who will preach the Gospel fearlessly, understand that they have been called to preach the most unpopular message in the world, and that they will be persecuted for so doing. Only when they believ this, and are convinced of its truthfulness, will there be any likelihood of fundamental change in the spiritual temperature of the church in today's world.