Requiring skill and professionalism shows favoritism or partiality

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Since favoritism or partiality goes against God’s nature (a), why are His people then showing this when we are even told not to (b)?  In Jeremiah 31:31-34 (c), God no longer favors a top-down hierarchy of the “greatest [teachers] to the least among you” to disseminate the knowledge of God through scripture as He did through the teaching of Moses, Aaron, his sons, the Levites, the men of the other tribes, then the women, children, and finally the servants and slaves.  But now under the completely different-in-kind New Covenant, God explicitly warns: “Absolutely no longer in fact shall every person teach his neighbor or [even] his family members to ‘experientially, relationally ginosko know Yahweh.’”  This has the force of a command to stop teaching!  Why is this no longer necessary, since they were previously commanded to do this teaching?  Because God states a fact:  “For they shall actually ALL eido mentally ‘see’ to perceive/know Me.”  This is absolutely not through book-learning but is a term used most often for revelation through directly-spoken/heard prophetic rhema words, dreams, and visions!  But here’s another radical diversion from the previous “knowing of God” through the teaching of scripture – the completely different-in-kind New Covenant Way is “from the least of them to the greatest, declares Yahweh.”  Praise the Lord that He starts the revelation process from the bottom and works His way up!  <Notes> a) Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Galatians 2:6; Ephesians 6:9, b) 1 Timothy 5:21, James 2:1, 9, c) cited by Hebrews 8:8-12, 10:16-17.

Who are usually the last to “get it” in any revival?  The “skilled and professionals” running the churches!  Jesus explained the reason:  “The [so-called] ‘lasts’ shall actually be firsts and the [so-called] ‘firsts’ shall actually be lasts” (a) and “He who is [so-called] least among you all is the one who is actually great” (b).  Jesus had to sternly rebuke His disciples several times because they were trying to create a hierarchy of importance and authority among themselves.  He told them that this idea of firsts, rulers, lords, great ones, etc. and having authority over others is the way of the unbelieving world (c), but “this actually, ongoingly is absolutely in fact not to be so among you, for whoever desires to be ‘great’ among you must become a person’s servant, and whoever desires to be ‘first’ among you must be a person’s slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (d) and “Rather, let the [so-called] ‘greatest’ among you become as the neos youngest, and the [so-called] hegeomai ‘leader’ (e) as one who serves” (f).  You won’t hear many churches preach any of this!  I’ve written much more about the terms for leadership under “Coaches and Facilitators.”  Other than Jesus’ example, which should be good enough, why should we be “as the youngest?” <Notes> a) Matthew 19:30, 20:8, 16; Mark 9:35, 10:31; Luke 13:30, b) Luke 9:48, c) Paul also reveals that the demonic realms are organized as such:  Ephesians 6:12, d) Matthew 20:25-28; Mark 10:42-45, e) hegeomai means “chief-leader” but in the NT the dominant characteristic-meaning was to “humbly esteeming others more significantly than yourselves,” so in no way does it mean to exert authority or rule over others in the world’s use of the word, f) Luke 22:25-27.

In John 13:33 Jesus comforted His worried disciples by calling them teknion “little children,” which are “deeply-loved infants or very little children” who likely haven’t even learned how to read, let alone become “wise or learned” through the world’s methods of study!  They are still learning from their parents!  The apostle John, the closest to Jesus’ heart, often referred to Christians as “little children” as did the apostle Paul, because as “innocents” they were susceptible to deception and persecution from the world and its religions around them (a), even false teaching that they weren’t forgiven unless they followed the Torah Law of conditional-favor (b), being swayed to not trust Christ’s forgiveness (c), by swayed by the Greek philosophy of dualism that sin doesn’t affect the spirit (d), being swayed to also be unloving to fellow Christians (e).  However, as “little children” of God they “have already conquered them (the false teachers persecuting them) because the One who is in them is greater than the one who is in the world” (f), thus the importance of “meno abiding/dwelling/remaining in Him” (g) so they will “have confidence . . . when He comes back” (h). See A 11-21-2021 Vision about Meno abiding. <Notes> a) 1 John 5:21; Galatians 4:8-19, b) 1 John 2:12, c) 1 John 2:1, d) 1 John 3:7, e) 1 John 3:18, f) 1 John 4:4, g) John 6:56, 8:31, 15:4; 1 John 2:10, 24, 27, 3:6, 4:13, 16, h) 1 John 2:28.

Jesus also uses the term nepios (a) for “an infant, a simple-minded, unlearned, unenlightened, or immature person.”  They are clearly not adults because they don’t talk, think, or reason like adults (b)!  They aren’t old enough to claim their inheritance, in that respect no different than a household slaves . . . still enslaved to the elementary forces/principles of this world (c).  They may even still be nursing from their mothers (d), but they may have been old enough to be indoctrinated, even by teachers of the Torah Law of conditional-favor that the Pharisees strove to reach (e)!  Even the apostle Paul had to speak a different way to unbelieving “people of the flesh” but also to “infants in Christ” who just came out from the unbelieving world, differently than how he would speak to “people of the Spirit” (f), so Paul calls these “infants” to grow up:  “So we are no longer in possibility to be infants tossed back and forth [as with waves] and carried/driven by every violent wind of teaching by the dice-playing deception/cheating of men by trickery/craftiness towards the end of being fraudulent cunning.  <Notes> a) Matthew 11:25, 21:16; Luke 10:21, b) 1 Corinthians 13:11, c) Galatians 4:1-3, d) 1 Thessalonians 2:7; Hebrews 5:13, e) Romans 2:20, f) 1 Corinthian 3:1.

Yet, in Matthew 11:25 and Luke 10:21, after rebuking cities that rejected His logos gospel message of The Truth, Jesus talks about His disciples whom “the Son chooses to reveal the Father to.”  Jesus thanked the Father “because you have definitely/wholly kept hidden/secret these things (a) from the ‘sophia wise and sunestos connect-the-dots understanding ones’ but revealed (b) them to nepios infants.”  It was these “infants” that were crying out in the temple courts “Hosanna to the Son of David” as Jesus entered Jerusalem shortly before His death (c).  Jesus in dexplained to His disciples (d) why the masses got vague parables taught to them yet specifics were taught to the disciples:  “Because it is given unto you to experientially, relationally ginosko know the mysteries/secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but this is not given to them (the masses).”  It’s all about “ginosko experiential, relational knowledge” versus “gnosis book-learning, factual, info-knowledge” – the masses are content with the latter, but those who press in closer and hang around longer will get the former!  And this ginosko knowledge doesn’t come from logical sunesis ‘connect-the-dots’ understanding through reading and study but through the Spirit’s revelation!  Paul’s “gospel and preaching of Jesus Christ is down-from/according-to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but NOW it has been manifestly declared and also through the prophetic scriptures have been declared to all the nations.”  Throughout all of Paul’s writings to Jews, he only uses the prophetic scriptures to point to Jesus!  <Notes> a) the gospel truths about Jesus, b) unveil to manifest, c) Matthew 21:15-16, d) Matthew 13:11, Mark 4:11, and Luke 8:10.

Clearly the Lord favors “infants” that haven’t even learned the scriptures as the teachers of the Torah Law of conditional-favor endeavored to indoctrinate with scripture.  The irony was that the deception actually was coming from these teachers of scripture – that’s what tossed them around like the waves and violent wind.  All religions have sacred books that their teachers use to indoctrinate people by.  The Jews were attacking Christians with the scriptures!  The Greek philosophers attacked Christians with their ‘special’ writings!  But if Christians can remain “innocent as infants” of these sources of confusion, and instead listen closely to the Spirit of Christ, then they will have grown up!  Because “the things” about the Kingdom are revealed by the Holy Spirit – they aren’t learned any other way!  “Infants” aren’t expected to have skill or professionalism but to listen to their Father in order to learn!

As Christian musicians, aren’t we supposed to be like little children, even infants, in order to have the secrets of the kingdom revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, instead of trying to be like Pharisees and scribes to learn about God through studying the scriptures?  Especially since these “secrets are kept hidden from them” despite their study?  If we require others to be like these bible students, described as false teachers because they distract from “the simplicity of devotion to Christ,” aren’t we showing partiality against “the least among you” that God actually considers as “firsts and the greater?”  And isn’t it true that the “skilled and professional” churchmen are usually the last in every revival “to get onboard” with the move of the Holy Spirit?  Do you also want to be last?  Religious people always make knowing God complicated!  We need to keep it simple just as a little child learns from their parents!

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