Hold High The Flag!
By: Roger Barcus
“And shall consume . . . his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard bearer fainteth”, Isaiah l0:18. When holiness standards fall, it destroys the soul, then the body!
“Now all these things happened unto them (Israel) for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come, ” I Cor.10:11. Those who are used in the church are examples of what the church expects it’s members to be like.
Local churches have guidelines or standards of how that particular church should be run and what personal conduct is expected in the lives of it’s members. Webster’s New World’s first meaning for standard is:”
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Any figure or object . . . used as an emblem or symbol of a leader, people, military unit etc.” The standard is the “flag of the church”. The people who are used in the church are the “flagpoles” or standard-bearers of what a church believes.
In the churches of the world, the people do what is right in their own eyes. The first reason is they can ” living a life that is less what God expects of them the weakness of the pulpit Some pastors are like hirelings not shepherds.
2. Preachers are not allowed to “take the oversite” because little by little, the people of the church were given more and more power to control church policy. It was no longer the job of the pastor to preach and expect obedience to the scripture, “Follow me as I follow Christ”. By the example of what was allowed in the lives of the “platform personal” of the church, the people of that congregation slipped away from Biblical standards. A pastor told me, as I sat in his home, that he was losing the battle in the issue of woman’s uncut hair. But I noticed he had “run down the flag”! He had fainted! It’s not his people’s fault that they now look like the world; it’s his!
Perhaps the ministers of those churches just got tired of fighting the strong personalities in the church. Perhaps the ministry was fearful of losing his pastorate or income if certain toes were stepped on. Is holiness in those churches like speaking in tongues in some churches? They say they believe in it, but you don’t hear it. Or why the majority of “Christians” say they believe in a trinity but only expect to see Jesus in heaven? Some churches say they have standards of holiness, but they have fainted and “run down the flag”!
Those who teach that “God will teach you what is right and wrong”, and do not preach a standard of holiness forget people are like sheep and need to be led, not followed!
“Don’t as I do and do as I say”, is one reason why I am in the church today! I saw people live for God! Some people see hypocrisy in the lives of their leaders and go the opposite direction. Can we blame them? Hardly.
Preacher – tell it like it is – with love! Preach without fear or favor to the people in the local church! If you must lean in your standard bearing, lean towards holiness! You will “save yourself and them that hear you”!
The ministers of the United Pentecostal Church International recently passed a resolution to sign an affirmation stating it they would teach and preach, among other things, holiness standards. We are trying to keep the local church acting and looking like the Bible teaches! It reminds us what colors to weave in the local church flag.
Color it right and hold that flag high! If you have fainted as a standard-bearer, God can revive you! Just smell His Biblical “salty examples”. It will bring you out of your faint! Praise God! We love you, too, and believe you can be revived!
The Above Material Was Published In The Minnesota Messenger, March 1996, By Roger Barcus, P. 7. This Material Is Copyrighted And May Be Used For Research Purposes Only.
