SHEPHERDING - DISCIPLESHIP Written by Albert James Dager The Shepherding-Discipleship Movement which attained its greatest impetus during the 1960s and 70s exemplifies the extreme authoritarianism which would probably be necessary to implement and sustain any attempted theocracy. In spite of extreme abuses against personal freedom in Christ, the thought control that characterized that movement continues to rear its ugly head among Kingdom Now groups. Former leaders of that movement have gained new respectability among other leaders within charismatism. They have much to offer in the way of instruction on how to bend the wills of others to their own - a talent vital to any human attempt to set up the Kingdom of God.
There is no doubt that a great need exists within the Church for 'scripturally-based' discipleship and authority. Such must be founded on the concept of authority as servanthood, ministered in love and humility by those mature in the faith.
Shepherding-Discipleship as the movement it became, however, is nothing less than spiritual child-abuse. Through intimidation by the instilling of fear and unfounded guilt, it bludgeons babes in Christ into obedience to the wills of the "shepherds" in authority. And not only babes, but many "mature" Christians have fallen prey to this evil due to the misuse of Scripture to establish "coverings" over every member. Ephesians 5:11-14 is used to convince the unwary that in order to be perfected they must submit to those in authority, regardless of what that authority requires of them. Thus, abuses are rampant in Shepherding-Discipleship.
In extreme Shepherding-Discipleship many are compelled to live a communal lifestyle in total obedience to their "shepherds." They may not marry, work, minister, buy or sell, or exercise their own wills in any matter without their shepherd's approval. They live in strict conformity to religious and temporal duties within their communal society. Disobedience, and even weariness common to such a stringent lifestyle, meet with strong disciplinary action. There have even been reports of physical abuse to keep the "sheep" in line.
In such a scenario the individual's personal relationship to God is subordinated to the corporate structure of their religious society. One is not allowed to hear from God directly, because God only speaks to them through their shepherd. Should a person leave the "covering" of his shepherd to pursue his freedom in Christ, he is threatened with reprisals from the hand of God: loss of salvation, sickness, divorce, financial ruin. He is shunned by the community of which he was a part, and spoken of as a servant of Satan or in some other derogatory way.
Even the marriage relationship is subordinate to the relationship of the shepherd with his disciple. Broken homes and divorces are not uncommon among those marriages where one spouse develops a stronger bond to the shepherd than to his or her mate. All these abuses exceed the parameters of disciple- ship intended by Jesus, and establish the babes in Christ as disciples of men rather than disciples of Christ.
The Shepherding-Discipleship mentality is such that self-prideful humanity finds it appealing. Those disciples who obey are rewarded by being made shepherds over others. Thus is propagated a brutal and demeaning society governed by fear and guilt.
Though these are the extreme abuses of Shepherding-Discipleship, the mentality is the same throughout the movement. Such a mentality is critical to Kingdom Now Theology. For how can a significant portion of mankind be made to conform to the dictates of the apostles and prophets except through d guilt? No one wants to miss out on what appears to be a move of God. Ignorance on the part of those who are unsure of their relationship to God breeds indecision which, in turn, results in acquiescence to authority at the expense of their personal relationship to Christ.
Inherent Fear And Guilt
The use of fear and guilt to bring people into line with the dictates of self-appointed authority is not the exclusive property of Shepherding-Discipleship. Were we to analyze each movement germane to Kingdom Now Theology Theology we would find strong elements of such fear and guilt at the core of their structures. They all subordinate the individual's relationship to Christ to the dictates of the religious leaders. To illustrate, let's take the other movements with which we've already dealt and briefly see how fear and guilt play a part.
Identity: Fear and guilt are essential ingredients in any racist, authoritarian structure - especially where the use of para-militarism is utilized to foment hatred and threaten bloodshed.
Manifested Sons of God: Extreme fear and guilt for those who do not move forward to perfection in order that the Kingdom of God may be established.
Restoration: A strong condemnation of utilizing judgment breeds guilt in those who question the teachings of others, resulting in fear that God's displeasure will be the consequence. This applies even to the righteous judgment of sin and doctrinal error.
Reconstruction: Guilt results from not becoming involved in attempting to establish the Kingdom of God through politics and other societal strategies.
Charismatic Renewal: Guilt is instilled in those who balk at attempts to meld them into unity with others whose doctrines are seriously in conflict with Scripture. This results in a fear of God's displeasure for hampering unity, and fear of men's reprisals for speaking out against error.
Positive Confession: Fear that if one doesn't act and speak in a prescribed manner God will not answer. Guilt that one's faith is deficient should his prayers not be answered to his satisfaction.
These are sketchy but accurate assessments of how religion based on fear and guilt has encroached upon the modern Church. The individual relationship of the Christian with his Savior is a sacred trust to be nurtured and strengthened by the teaching and counsel of the elders in his church. While the corporate expression of faith is vital to the life of the Church, that life is only as strong as the strength of the individual links in the corporate chain.
The subordination of the individual to the corporate body at the expense of individuality actually weakens the Church in its ability to stand against deception and, ultimately, even against the overt evil influences of the world. [ For the whole article go to source: http://www.geocities.com/~contenders/kingdom4.htm ]