On the heels on my last post on duality, I feel compelled to jam this level or stage thing down the throats of a few tight-lipped, high-collared individuals who thumb their ever up-turned noses at the notion they might be pigeon holed into a category beneath their well-manicured image. But then why should I deal with this matter without the evidence already staring them in the face?
Heb 6:1-3 Wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ, and press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, (2) of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (3) And this will we do, if God permit.
Forgive me for a moment while I collect the facts found in this passage. This is written first and foremost to the Hebrew people, a group who was dealing with their entrenched beliefs and about how what God had done through Christ in their lifetime affected those beliefs. It declares the apparent need to stop talking about the first principles of Christ. Now obviously this leads me to ask if there are first principles, would that not also imply a second, third, fourth, to the nth principle too? It would appear so from all indications found in verse 3.
It also seems to appear that the first principles of Christ involve instruction on the subjects of repentance, faith, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrections and eternal judgement. I’ve been in church services for quite a few years now and even seen my fair share of sermons on the tv; but not once have I heard anything OTHER THAN this. Meaning: No one appears to know what the second, third, fourth or nth principles are. IF you don’t know, well, then you don’t know how to teach them.
I find it interesting that this writer can list six steps in what could be described as a level or stage of coming into the knowledge of Christ. However, due to the time in which he was writing, there is the understanding that God somehow can determine when a new level is to be presented to the reader.
What if one or more of these levels already occurred in God’s timing and no one could recognize it simply because it had never been seen before? What if God had permitted a multitude of unveilings designed to lead us onto perfection but our dogmatic insistence that if it wasn’t in the bible it wasn’t God kept us…no, constrained us from living up to the character of Christ?
500 years ago, a great protest arose against the church. The 95 theses that Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Wittenberg cathedral fractured the only known church of the world into the denominational fox-hole of a mess we have today. While all claim to be the true path to Christ, none will risk moving beyond the first principle. Honestly, what do they have to lose as congregants leave the first principle on their own in search of…well anything that doesn’t resemble “church” as they’ve known it.
If you are a pastor or teacher in a local fellowship, I challenge you to ask this hard question to yourself. “What are the remaining principles of Christ I don’t know and can’t teach to others?” James says if you lack wisdom ask for it. But be prepared! The answer will challenge everything you’ve built around the little kingdom of first principles thinking that you’ve somehow already arrived.
If you’re just a pew warmer, take the same challenge. It is about time that the body of Christ put a flame to the feet of those who claim to lead us. The best way to do that is to demand an answer to the same question. If you go to church on Sunday and the minister starts talking about repentance, faith, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrections or eternal judgement, ask them when they are going to begin on the second principle of Christ. But be prepared! Churches don’t cater to people who want to grow up in Christ, no matter how much they say they do. They want you to obey and follow the rules that they’ve created to maintain order within their little kingdom. You, however, come from a much greater kingdom, one which reside within you. Ask and you shall receive. It just might not arrive from the source you’re expecting it to come from.
Now I realize that there might be some of you who think that what I’m proposing is rebellious in nature. You’re right. Sometimes the only way to get a mule out of the rut it has created is to keep kicking it good and hard in the ass. If the shoes fits, one must also be prepared to feel it.
Be forewarned: I’m not done with this level thing yet. As a matter of fact, I’m just warming up.
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