Credentials

One of the strangest telephone conversations I ever had was with a preacher. I had heard a fantastic testimony by a man who, against all odds, had come to know the Lord. I thought he should be telling this everywhere. So I did what I could, calling pastors I knew. But then I made a mistake. I called a pastor I didn't know, although I knew the church, and knew they would be glad to hear a good testimony. The pastor killed that idea, you might say, with gusto. Before I could explain anything, he asked, "What are his credentials?" When I tried to explain a little more, he butted in and asked, '"What are your credentials?" I could tell he had a fixation on that word, so I gave up. I had to wonder after that. Did this credentialed preacher ever hear of Jesus, the nobody, the outsider, the non-credentialed man? Did he realize he was acting just like the Pharisees? Why was he so afraid of a testimony? He could have talked to the man two or three minutes and discerned his spirit. Some will say it's his job to protect his flock. Whoa! Whose flock? He should have been familiar with Nicodemus' words, "Does our law judge any man before it hears him and knows what he's doing?" (John 7:51) In the verses preceding this, the Pharisees sent police to arrest Jesus. They came back without Him and the Pharisees were enraged saying, "Why didn't you arrest him?" The officers answered, "Never man spake like this man." Then the Pharisees showed their true allegiance. "Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed on him?" There it is. Their inner circle, their credentialed ones, were the only ones that could call the shots. Not even God could get a word in with this crowd. Look what the Pharisees said in John 11:48, This man, (Jesus) does many miracles. What should we do? If we leave him alone, all men will believe in Him, and we'll lose our place (position, prestige, salary). From that time on, they plotted His death." Remember these were the credentialed men!! I think I can say without hesitation that God hates credentials. Man puts a lot of store in preachers being ordained, but it's by them — a direct contradiction of the words of Jesus. John 15:16 says, "I have ordained you." Of course, the denominations, etc., claim they are acting in His place, but they have a pretty dismal track record. Who is it that tries and often succeeds in killing the church? It is the credentialed crowd. They don't listen for God's voice. They listen to each other. They don't mind dividing God's people into an "in" crowd and an "out" crowd. This is another direct contradiction of scripture. "Ye are a royal priesthood." (1 Peter 2:9) This is spoken to all God's people. In Acts 2, we read that all were filled with the Holy Spirit, which was a fulfillment of Joel 2:28 that "all flesh shall prophecy (preach)." There was no special class, wearing special clothes, taking special titles (Reverend, Senior Pastor!). Splitting people like that has effectively shut the mouths of everybody but the special ones. Try to talk to someone about the Lord and they'll say, '"What are you, some kind of a preacher?" So, people clam up and say nothing. The clincher in this discussion is the great Apostle Paul. He wasn't credentialed. After the Lord appeared to him, he "Conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went to Jerusalem —. After three years, I saw Peter —. After 14 years, I went to Jerusalem —. Those who seemed to be somewhat (leaders) added nothing to me." (Galatians 1:16- 2:6) This should convince anybody that Paul had no use for credentials. I'd say, Lord, help us to get rid of them, but it won't happen until He comes back and sets up His Kingdom. Let's pray that He will come soon!