Danger in the Local Church
Part 8
by Dr. John Tetsola

Last month we unveiled two additional traits of the spirit of disloyalty and betrayal. We mentioned how the carrier of the Absalom spirit contaminates its followers and feeds on a fault finding and critical spirit, and justifies its conspiracies. When an Absalom spirit is manifested, it produces a great deal of casualties, for it breaks relationships, and splits people in churches, teams and businesses. We mentioned how the insurrections that the Absalom spirit leads is cursed from its inception and will never flourish. There are warning signs and signals that an individual in a local church exhibits when the process of detachment or disconnection of a member from a leader is taking place. These signs, when unnoticed, can eventually lead to disloyalty and betrayal, and pastors and leaders of ministries and churches must learn to detect them. Let's unveil one of the warning signs of detachment. .

Choosing the Heart of the People

And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
Exodus 32: 21-24

Moses at the beginning of his ministry chose seventy men who received his spirit and then eventually lost it because of their detachment. Why did this happen? The people who were sought out through fasting and prayer to assist in carrying the load turned against the pastor whom they were called to serve. Those who previously embraced the pastor became his spiritual enemies. You can tell that a person is gradually detaching and disconnecting from a leader or a church when they start choosing the heart of the people over the heart of their leader or pastor. Aaron would not have been influenced by the people if he had accompanied Moses to Mount Sinai, as Joshua had. When Moses returned to the camp, he was met with shock and disgust at what his brother, his right hand man, had allowed to happen.

As soon as pastor Moses was away on a speaking engagement, Aaron began seeking the heart of the people and this brought sin into the camp. When he was approached about his action, Aaron first blamed the mischievous people. In verse 23, he began to focus the blame on Moses. Accusations went from, "We did not know what had become of you. You did not report to us and inform us about what you were doing. If you had been here where you belong, this would not have happened."

Aaron got detached and disconnected from Moses' heart and spirit because he chose the heart of the people. When a person with the leader's or the pastor's heart and spirit begins to listen to contentious people, they will repeat accusations from the people, as well as blame the pastor for the sin of the people. Moses was upon Mt. Sinai, and Aaron was with the people. Aaron was closer to the people who needed to be led than he was to Moses, the leader of the people. There was a transfer of spirits and a spiritual detachment that took place. The murmuring of the people infected Aaron, and his heart was so full of the murmuring, that it removed the pastor's heart from him and created a disconnection.

Elders and leaders of the church must be trained to impart the heart of the pastor or leader to the people. Otherwise, they will listen to the murmuring of the masses, and ultimately disconnect and detach from the pastor's heart and vision. Pastors must train those whom God has sent to them; teach them how to go out and how to come in among the people. Their job as leaders is to amplify the pastor's spirit among the people. The instructions from the pastor's heart are to be implemented and initiated among the people. If this is not done, their time among the people will be reflective of Matthew 12:30, and that is, "he that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad." The spirit of the pastor must be displayed through the elders, to the people, for the people must be led into carrying out the vision of the house. Leaders must spend the necessary time instructing and rehearsing the vision of the house to the people.

by Dr. John A. Tetsola