Well, today, Nov 18th 2019, the MCF(Melbourne Christian Fellowship)/BCF daily ‘devotion’ is on . . you guessed it, guru headship!
They’re quoting 2 Cor 4:6 again that they, as the elders, are the face of Christ to us:
| Monday | 18 November 2019 Light from the face of Christ Summarising the ministry through which a person is born again and is then brought to maturity as a son of God, Paul wrote, ‘For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’. 2Co 4:6. To explain this point, Paul drew our attention to the ministry of Moses.When the Lord spoke to Moses concerning the Law Covenant, He wrote on tablets of stone. This covenant had a glory, meaning that it revealed the conditions of God’s Covenant through which an Israelite could receive their sonship as an eternal inheritance. After Yahweh had spoken His word to Moses from the fire of Their fellowship, the glory of this Covenant shone from Moses’ face. Exo 34:29-30. 2Co 3:7. The people of Israel were unable to relate to the glory of the Law that shone from Moses’ face. He wore a veil on his face because the children of Israel were afraid to come near him. Exo 34:30,33-35. 2Co 3:13. Only then could he fraternise among them. The veil on his face was the veil upon their heart. Because of this veil, signifying their bondage to fear, the children of Israel were unable to access their sonship. Rom 8:15. Paul explained that this veil remains on the face of the Jews, even today, when the Law is read to them. 2Co 3:14-15.Paul described the New Covenant as ‘the ministry of the Spirit’. 2Co 3:8. He said that the glory of the New Covenant far exceeds the glory of the former covenant that shone from the face of Moses. The Father shines the New Covenant into the heart of His aggelos messengers through the four ascension-gift graces of Christ. 2Co 4:6. When these presbyters have been born of this light, which is the life of God in Christ, the glory of Christ shines from their face. |
Did you read that?!
Here’s the cult:
Somehow this gets switched from Paul to the ‘presbyters’ = elders! They are saying that Christ shines from the faces of the elders. Again!
If anything it can be applied to all of us as we shine Jesus as messengers! There’s nothing in there about ascension gift ministries or elders.
And they say that this shining in the elders hearts makes it shine from their faces! But 2 Cor 4:6 ACTUALLY says the light in their hearts is to give the light of God shining in the face of Christ. Not the face of the elders.
MCF/BCF ARE right about one thing however: the context of 2 Cor 4:6, indeed is that God revealed Christ to Paul and his fellow ministers of the gospel for our sake:
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Cor 4:1-9
But here’s the correct, consistent, face-value interpretation of these verses:
- This Scripture is about Paul (and his fellow messengers) getting the original gospel of Christ from the Lord and bringing it to the people.
- It’s about the revelation that Christ is the Son of God and died to save us! (That’s the gospel Paul preached: Christ and Him crucified.)
- It’s not primarily about future day elders. If you want to apply it, it’s about anyone who is a messenger of the gospel. And we are all called to be ambassadors of Christ. ‘We have this treasure in earthern vessels’. We all do.
- And it’s 100% certainly not about elders giving us advice about our daily lives and jobs and careers and ministries and marriages and houses and finances and hobbies and travel plans!
- Along the way, MCF/BCF is trying to equate itself to the original receivers of the gospel!
Lastly, what is ‘this ministry’ that Paul is talking about nd who is being transformed into ever increasing glory? We find it in the last verse of the previous chapter.:
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Cor 3:18
It’s ALL of us, as we allow Him to transform us. It’s not the elders. And it’s not primarily through the elders. The Bible just does not say that. As it says, it’s from the Lord. Of course.
They are still at it folks.
This twisted ‘devotional’ stuff is what they all read every morning at home in bed. Or at prayer meetings together.
We never, ever looked at it critically. Even though they took over our lives from that point in 1995 or 1996. We were not encouraged to read the Scriptures in context to see what they are ACTUALLY saying. And the code-of-silence ensures nobody ever points out contradictions like this at home group. The only time stuff was debated in my 25 years of Vic’s stuff, the guy had to apologize later.
We need to make it known to those still in there that that teaching is extra-Biblical, destructive and hurtful and wasteful of 100s of lives if not thousands.
Open Letter to Melbourne Christian Fellowship (MCF) 