|
GWR
Chapter 2
A
Brief Look at Paradigms
click
below for
Author's Videos on YouTube
Author's Brief Testimony
"Paradigm" is word that not
everyone may know. Nevertheless, we are all powerfully affected by our
paradigms. There are paradigms which guide our thoughts and understanding
in art, culture, religion and technology in every age. We become victims
of these understandings which we come to accept as laws or "facts" when
presented by teachers or leaders. A Paradigm is a system of accepted
understanding that attempts to answer 'the way things are,' or answer
questions about essential facts. We rarely question or think outside of
these premises or to escape from the paradigms that are set in place for
us. It takes imagination and even courage to reexamine paradigms
critically. Outside of a paradigm is where invention and discovery occurs.
Paradigm break-throughs lead to advances in science, art, or religious
thought.
-
Paradigms: define our
understanding. They are pre-suppositions of how things are or how
things have to be.
-
Paradigms: limit our ability to
function outside of that paradigm - or receive understanding outside
of the paradigm. They are in a sense glass walls or ceilings in the
domain of that paradigm.
-
Religion is among the many
domains where paradigms exist
-
People who are paradigm
breakers may be considered radical, even blasphemous or heretical
-
Paradigms of science or
cosmology have often been in conflict with religious teaching and
dogma. Religious authorities were frequently intolerant of new ways of
thinking. Whether about the earth and solar system as envisioned by
Copernicus or Newton or teachings that are outside of their own
orthodoxy. Old ways of thinking do not receive a new paradigm without
resistance and tension.
Examples of religious paradigms
1. The
Church
is the "house of God"
2. A Church is where you go to worship.
3. All human beings are the children of God
4. Religious
(Spiritual) knowledge is the domain of the clergy or
priesthood
5. Heaven is the place you go
when you die
6. Believers should submit to the headship (covering)
of a church authority or pastor
7. The
saints
and
disciples
are Biblical personalities from another by-gone age
8. Signs,
wonders and the miraculous have passed away in modern times
9. God
does not speak to human beings in the He way did in the early days of the
church.
10. The new covenant excludes the root and foundation of
the covenants of Judaism.
Some outside-the-paradigm
view points
11. Priests or sacramental rites provide a guarantee of
good standing with God.
12. Duties in the form of 'good works' will
help us to win favor with God and give us spiritual stature.
Biblical Support For Contrary
Views to the Above Paradigms.
-
1. The church is comprised of
each person who believes and has been born into the kingdom of God.
Each believer is described as a 'living stone' that
forms the greater house, also known as the body of Christ
-
2. You do not
go to a church
rather each believer is a component of the the Church (Ekklesia
Christ's called-out body.) You and others are called to come together
in Jesus' name. Whenever two or three gather in His name, you become
an assembly of believers Christ the Messiah is manifested. The
Ekklesia. He has called us OUT of darkness into the glorious light of
the sons and daughters of God. (See link:
Why Should Christians Gather?)
-
3. The Jews sought to stone
Jesus when he inferred that God was his father. There was no such
designation as 'children of God' until Jesus pronounced this doctrine
on our behalf and taught his disciples to pray, "
Our Father... " Furthermore, no man comes to the Father except through
Jesus Christ, the door. Others in the world are not children of God.
Jn 1:12 -
for those who believe on His name he gives the power (exousia
= authority) to become the sons
(children) of God
-
4. The priest hood has actually
been eliminated in the new covenant Gospel of the Kingdom. In the days
of Moses, the people of Israel rejected God's plan to become a
nation of kings and priests (Exodus 19:) and demanded that Moses and
Aaron become the intermediaries before God on their behalf. Since the
founding of the church (also the day of Pentecost) The fire of God
fell on each believer and they received the Power (Gk.dunamis) to be
witnesses of the wonderful works of God. Gradually after the
original apostles passed from the scene, the priesthood insinuated
itself back into the world of Christianity and has held believers
captive until this time. The ecclesiastical traditions of formal
religion dominate the whole world of Christendom today.
-
5. Heaven. Jesus prayer among
other matters, essential to the life of faith, about connecting the
realm of the heavenly (The Kingdom of Heaven) which is the realm of
the Spirit with this world.
Let
thy Kingdom come.
Let
Thy will be done. On earth as in Heaven!
This revelation of the Kingdom can be experienced to various degrees
in this present dispensation, while we live as people 'born and led by
the Spirit.' We have overlooked that which is that which prevails at
the present most fundamental in the religious experience. (The Lord's
prayer or the Disciple's prayer.) Heaven is a continuing reality but
on a Spiritual (non intellectual) plane. Heaven
was presented by Jesus as
accessible
by his disciples. How can heavenly things become accessible? Only
through a Spirit-born and spirit-governed life in which the natural
man has been transformed. The "new man" with his natural limits
subdued and crucified by the POWER OF God. Access to heavenly things
is gained by losing one's self awareness, self-identity and
self-governed life.
Jesus said, "I go to prepare a
place for you, that where I am you may be also. - -" To be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord - - I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day - - I heard - - and behold - - I see - -.
Physical death is the ultimate
loss of self control. "Carrying the cross" is about losing our
preoccupation with self so that Christ's life may manifest within us.
-
6. The concept of pastoral
authority (or covering) is a feature of the tradition-bound,
priest-led institutional church. From early times priests were
designated clergy and the general congregation of pew-sitting
listeners was designated laity. In this system the laity functions
primarily as a personal support system that supports the institutional
church. (Ownership of a flock of God permits the overseers to make
merchandise of them.) Pastoral leadership should not be a distinctive
superior class but as examples to disciples who are maturing in their
own leadership. John writes regarding this misuse of authority: Read
about Diotrophes in 3 John and in The Revelation see:
(Nicolaitinism. See.. Rev. 2
and Rev. 3)
This is the answer to the
question of human headship;
The Lord is my shepherd - My sheep hear my voice - - There is one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
Also we are told in Luke's epistle (Gospel of Luke) That we are not to
call any man
"Father," "Master," or
"Rabbi," Matt. 23: 7-11.
I make the assumption that the
term pastor fits the criterion of religious titles that set leaders
apart. Servant leadership is the correct model.
-
7. We who believe and have
received the transforming gift of
New Life,
are called to be Saints, for we are all called to be "in Christ
Jesus", seated in heavenly places. We are exhorted to grow up in the
knowledge of Him until we reach the fullness of Him.
(Ephesians 4:13.)
The only question is how do we grow and how are we discipled? The
pastoral leadership (discipleship)
paradigm is only partially effective as it does not prepare all
brothers and sisters for
leadership
and
full participation in the
things of God.
There is a continuing notion that some are called into the ministry
and then seek to be trained in "the ministry." I have heard this
countless times. Discipleship is what the great commission seeks to
produce. "Make disciples of all nations - - ." (Matt. 28:19)
Discipleship is best realized through
Koinonia
meaning mutual participation and sharing of the God life in
fellowship.
(It is my position that
there is no Ekklesia without Koinonia!)
Those called out of the world into the body of Christ have within them
the essence of Jesus' love. These believers are drawn to value and
share their fellow brothers and sisters that make up the body. A
number of authors are adding to the same message that I promote here.
We see liberty in the body being promoted and the trend to come out
from institutional religious systems."
Mega Shift"
by James Rutz and other web published writings which teach the full
gospel message free of institutional religious connection: One of my
own published titles is found under the title, "
The Gospel Without Religion."
-
8. Signs and wonders and
miracles are either part of your religious doctrine or they are not.
Those who exclude this from their doctrines do participate in the
living reality of a church that is that first delivered to the saints.
(Jude 3) Miracles and supernatural that was part of the
Pentecostal awakening movement that began in the recent century in
1906. But experiencing the supernatural seems to be waning among the
Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians today. If your paradigm does not
allow for the supernatural you will not see it because you are
essentially saying No to the experience. Today more supernatural signs
and wonders are in evidence than ever before. There is no more
powerful key concepts to understand than Paul's statement that the
gospel is the "POWER OF God" I have never heard a substantial teaching
on this phrase. Yet it is a key to our understanding the promise of
the gospel. The Power of God is all about what God does, is doing, and
will do. It is not about our ability to understand the Bible, solve
problems or transform ourselves. The "new creation" is a product of
the power of God. Spiritual gifts are a product of the power of God!
-
9. The most amazing thing any
believer can ever discover is that God can and does reveal himself to
us individually. The miraculous and revelation awaits any who through
the power of the Holy Spirit seek first the kingdom and knock at
heaven's door. Hebrews 11:7 is a powerful key concept in realizing
that some seem to never believe or receive the gift of salvation. "- -
whoever comes to God must FIRST believe that he is and that he WILL
REWARD those who diligently seek him. (!) Hebrews 11:7
-
10. The paradigm of the Old
covenant (Judaism) is the root into which Christianity has been
grafted. Christianity is actually nothing more than Messianic Judaism
in which we discover the wholeness and fulfillment of God's word in
which the Mashiac was foretold and depicted in typology,
from Genesis to the prophets and in the Psalms. He fulfills the
promise of the "One new man," Jew and Gentile joined under the
Messiah. It is unfortunate that the terminology of the Messiah was
traded in for the Greek term Kristos (the anointed one) This
designation has reinforced the deception that Judaic foundations has
been replaced by Christianity with a rejection of anything Jewish. We
Gentiles by the grace of God have been grafted into the vine of
Israel. To disregard this HERITAGE of our root and foundations is
unbiblical and damnable. The Gentiles in the age of the church is a
distinct chapter and expression of God's planned time-table in
restoring his people Israel, The physical kingdom and rule of the
Messiah upon the earth is the culmination of God's plan. It will be
the reign of the Messiah for 1000 years upon the earth.
-
11.
Religious studies have prepared scholars to ordination thus to
qualify to become priests and overseers. They erroneously give
the laity to understand that they posses a particular power and
authority that the church goer does not have. We may well place our
faith in a priest to communicate with God on our behalf. If only the
Christian world knew and understood that there is but "one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus."
The great
questions of life that philosophers ask:
"Who are we? Where
do we come from? Where are we going?
Where will we go to
seek wisdom and answers to these mysteries?
Do we inquire according to secular wisdom, or religious teachings? Or is
there another? How does Godly Wisdom contrast to secular wisdom? How does
Godly Wisdom contrast with "religious" wisdom?
3 PARADIGMS OF
WISDOM AND TRUTH
The
Paradigm of Worldly Wisdom Contrasted to Godly Wisdom
For it is written, I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the
prudent. (1Cor:1:19:KJV) For after that in the wisdom of God the
world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe. (1Cor:1:21:KJV
)
THE PARADIGM OF WORLDLY WISDOM
Worldly wisdom
extols and rewards self-exaltation and individuality Godly wisdom (the
Truth) says deny yourself take up your cross, die to yourself. In the
Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom no man is "good "Worldly wisdom is based
upon observation and the appearance of things Godly wisdom (the
Truth) The unseen things are eternal and have a substance yet to be known
by human reason.
Worldly wisdom is based upon "scientific"
principle and measurable phenomena. Godly wisdom (the Truth) teaches that
if you believe in the unseen you have faith and will see the results
manifested. Worldly wisdom is characterized by the domination (rulership)
of the strong and the mighty over the weak.
Godly wisdom (the
Truth) teaches that God chooses the weak and the insignificant to shame
the wise and strong.
Worldly wisdom devalues humans with few
assets, (the poor) having childlike meekness and simplicity. Godly wisdom
(the Truth) reveals that the greatest in the kingdom of God are like
children. Humble, trusting, and meek.
Worldly wisdom values and
rewards intellectual achievement, scholarship and leadership attributes.
Godly wisdom (the Truth) teaches that the wisdom of man is
foolishness to him.
Worldly wisdom recognizes classes as inferior
or superior rank and class, this is respect of persons.
Godly
wisdom (the Truth) teaches that those who are poor shall eventually
receive the blessings of the kingdom. The proud and the mighty he scatters
and turns away.
Worldly wisdom's view of the "vast timeless
universe" diminishes or negates the need of a savior.
Godly wisdom
(the Truth) teaches that God created the heaven and the earth by wisdom
and all things that are in it. And he called his creation "good."
Worldly wisdom values "self preservation" as a principle
Godly
wisdom (the Truth) speaks of self sacrifice as a divine virtue
Worldly wisdom believes life may well be over when one dies
Godly
wisdom (the Truth) we are eternal beings who retain our own soul's
personal identity forever. Some will inherit eternal blessings and others
will inherit eternal separation from God.
Worldly
wisdom presumes that God regards any and all religions or faiths as
equally valid.
Godly wisdom has limited the way to a narrow one.
There is one narrow way and one name only by which sins may be atoned and
we may be saved. Jesus Christ. There is only one mediator between God and
man. This Jesus is the son of God, the king of the Jews.
Worldly
wisdom presumes that God does not favor any one nation over another.
Godly wisdom (the Truth) reveals that one nation has been designated
as the chosen people of God. The Bible has established upon infallible
promises,
Godly wisdom (the Truth) reveals that one nation is the
chosen people of God.
Worldly wisdom would suggest that whichever
God we name that it is the same divine being but simply designated by many
names.
Godly wisdom (the Truth) though there are many Gods there
is but one God who is above all and we can hold no God higher than He.
There is no other
God above Him. Those who name other gods are
idolaters and their fate is judgment and destruction.
Worldly
wisdom presumes that God is essentially impersonal.
Godly wisdom
(the Truth) says that we can become sons of God. Adapted into the
family. We are called to inherit the blessings and partake in His
divine nature. Worldly wisdom (allowing
religious belief) believes that all of the human race are automatically
"children of God".
Godly wisdom (the Truth) Whoever believes on
the Son of God, Jesus Christ, shall have eternal life. Whoever has not the
son has no life but the condemnation of God remains upon them. (John 3:18)
In the religious paradigm the
religious life centers around a "church house".
In the
religious paradigm the church building is called the "Church".
In
the religious paradigm the traditional church features such elements as:
pulpits and pews, stained glass windows, organs and 'sacred music'
solemnity and formalism, Ecclesiastical garb, robes, orders of service,
ritual, - designated ranks of clerical authority.
In the
religious paradigm a formally trained priest or clergy "officiates" over
the "services".
In the religious paradigm a formal address or
sermon delivered to the faithful is called "preaching" .
In the
religious paradigm one or two hours a week meet one's religious
requirements, involvement.
In the religious paradigm only
the professionally trained clergy are qualified to "minister".
In the religious paradigm there is "respect of persons" - - a
heirarchy of spiritual rank or authority.
In the religious
paradigm members may be totally disassociated in worship or prayer.
In the religious paradigm a person's spiritual life is largely
governed, directed or sustained others.
In the religious
paradigm the exploits of God and Saints are in the dim past.
In the religious paradigm people are taught how to please God with
certain deeds or obligations.
In the religious paradigm there are
may be particular duties required to attain "good standing".
In the religious paradigm one often does not experience God but only
hears about God.
In the religious paradigm one often
doesn't know if he/she qualifies for a heavenly reward, (is saved).
In the religious paradigm Bible doctrine plus traditional
teachings form core doctrines.
Paradigm of Godly Wisdom,
(Modeled by Jesus)
In the Jesus,
Spirit-led model of wisdom there are paradoxes to the natural
instincts or wisdom of man the least shall be greatest;
The first shall be last; many called but few chosen; we must die
(to ourselves) in order to live;
We must hate the things of
this world; we must be like a child, God has hidden wisdom from the
wise; the unseen things are a greater reality than the seen. etc.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom man in his natural
abilities (I can do nothing of myself) can do nothing of value for
the kingdom of God.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led model of
wisdom, the spiritual man is totally dependent upon the guidance of
the Spirit.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom we are in a
perpetual spiritual battle for survival and dominance in life.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom there is eternal life,
promised rewards and consequences.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led
model Jesus preached to those outside pertaining to the Kingdom of God and
taught his followers.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom
only those who are born of the Spirit and led of the Spirit are the
Children of God.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom people
are discipled; disciples are nurtured and matured and prepared for
ministry.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom ministry is
through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
In the Jesus,
Spirit-led model of wisdom true worshipers worship in Spirit and in
Truth.
In the Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom, wisdom and
insight is hidden from the double minded and the unredeemed.
In
the Jesus, Spirit-led model of wisdom we could memorize the Bible and not
fully know God and the truth- only the Spirit reveals it.
Next
Chapter
E Book 2:
A Disciples Handbook
General
Index to all Charles Pinkney Christian Titles
Resources:
Understanding Home Fellowships
Frank Viola Interviews a typical
church-goer
(Discussion of Open Church)
03-25-2025
|
