You Have Heard That It Was Said...You Must Submit/Obey Without Question To Spiritual Authority and You Must Have A Covering

But JESUS said unto you:

Mark 10:42-45.
42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.
45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.(KJV)

Matt 20:25-28.
25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.(KJV)

This is the foundation that Jesus laid and set for those who are to rule in His kingdom. This is also the same foundation that the apostles and disciples built upon. As the apostle, Paul said, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" ( I Corinthians 3:11).

Many of those who are addressed as "pastor" in local assemblies of the body of Christ today have a perverted understanding of what it means to have the "rule" over others. As a result, it seems the majority of the local assemblies of the body of Christ operate either under the principles of a military “boot-camp” or by the corporate structure of a “fortune-five-hundred” company. In either scenario, you will find that the leadership roles function more like a dictating “drill-sergeant,” or the “mover-and-shaker” type chief executive officer (CEO). Both descriptions are referred to as “the pastor". Sadly enough, these unbiblical practices are done under the auspices of establishing the "proper-order-of-authority" or "chain-of-command" within the local assembly to the degree that many "pastors" proudly and boldly preach this concept of “submission-to-authority” from the pulpit.

Unfortunately, secularist mentalities have been allowed to infiltrate, influence and finally completely seduce the minds of those who are supposed to, “…by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” One of the most commonly misused scriptures to support this misapplied concept of "submitting-to-authority" is Hebrews 13:17, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." (KJV).

Your first question to this verse should be: 1). “Who is it that has the rule over me?” 2). “What are the areas of my life (parameters) in which I obey them that have this rule?” The Holy Spirit gave me the revelation of this verse as he reminded me of what Jesus (my sure foundation) said in Mark 10:42-45 and Matthew 20:25-28. It is obvious from these passages that Jesus first outlines how the Gentile (unsaved, secular and carnal minded) people demonstrated their system of authority. From this description that Jesus gives, we can see that those who do not have a relationship with the Lord (God), rule over other people by domination like a dictator (lord) does over those who are under his domain. In this type of system everyone is to be submitted to the whims, rules, regulations, policies and commands of the one who is considered to be the greatest and this is to be done without question.

Contrarily, Jesus instructs that those who are to inherit the kingdom of God will not operate by the same principles of authority as those who are of the world and without God. In fact, Jesus reveals a standard for ruling over others that is the exact opposite of how the carnal mind of man understands authority. Jesus explains that truly great people within the kingdom are those who minister to others and a person's ruler-ship within the kingdom is servant-ship. Jesus then reminds his disciples of his demonstration of this statement.To help bring more clarity to this kingdom of God principle of ruler-ship, the Holy Spirit revealed it to me like this:

According to the world's logic the person who is seated in a restaurant to be served is the ruler over the waiter who is doing the serving. In the kingdom of God, the waiter is the actual ruler over the person who is being served. If this statement seems mind boggling to you, it could be a good indicator that you need to meditate more on the word of God than you do on the systems of the world. It was after the Lord revealed this truth to me that I discovered what the Lord had said in Luke 22:24-27:
24 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
27 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth. (KJV)

So, I will use this same analogy (someone who serves food compared to someone who is being served) to help reveal what Hebrews 13:17 is saying about those who have the rule over you. Based on Mark 10:42-45, the ones who have rule over you are those who are serving you and ministering to you. Also please notice that the scripture says to obey "them," meaning more than one person (not just "my pastor"). According to Ephesians 4:11, Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers as "vocation" ministry gifts for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ. Each of these "vocation" (ministry) gifts have a specific area that it serves and ministers to other saints.

For example, just like in Hebrews 13:17, you are to obey the waiters, who are serving you and ministering to your needs because they have the rule over you for the purpose of making sure that your eating experience is as edifying as possible while you are in the restaurant or on a luxury cruise.

The next part of this verse says, "…and submit yourselves:" This is simply saying that you should allow the waiters (do not interfere or stop the waiters from doing their job of serving) to serve and minister to your eating needs. If a waiter is neatly setting your table with water for you to drink and silverware for you to eat with; do not make it difficult for him by putting your hands in the way.

“Why?” You may ask. The answer is found in the next part of verse 17, "…for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account,..." Again, waiters are held responsible (accountable) for being attentive and watchful to make sure that you enjoy your meal. If a good minister/servant/waiter sees that your glass of water is almost empty, his responsibility is to come to you and refill your glass with water without you having to call him over or having to get it for yourself. In this situation, the waiters are the rulers over you!

The next part of this verse says, "... that they may do it with joy, and not with grief:" If you make it hard for a waiter to serve and minister to your eating needs by walking around the restaurant after he brings you hot food; getting other amenities on your own; or by repeatedly changing your seat to other tables in the restaurant, the waiter/waitress probably would not enjoy serving you because he/she would have to unnecessarily work twice as hard. Then the act of simply and joyfully serving you would become a burden.

Well someone might say, "So what is the big deal if a waiter has to work a little harder to serve me, after all that is his job!" Yes, this is true, but no matter how much excellence a waiter may have in serving and ministering to your eating needs; if your attitude or actions show that you are unappreciative, you will not recognize nor receive the benefits of being ministered to with good service.

The last part of verse 17 says exactly that, "…for that is unprofitable for you." In order for you to receive the profits of being ministered to, you must not make it hard for someone to serve you. Remember though, when you allow people to minister to your needs, you have given them the rule over you in the specific area that they are serving you.

If Christians truly understood this principle of ruler-ship and understood what their individual purpose and function is in the body of Christ, they would then serve/rule within the area that they are gifted by God to serve/rule in. Now within the kingdom of God, servant-ship is ruler-ship, but there is no ruler-ship that is without accountability. Even the supreme ruler-ship of our heavenly Father (God) is accountable to even his own words (The Holy Bible).

If we swing wide open the doors of many local assemblies of the body of Christ, the general consensus of those who are in leadership (“pastors”) is clearly that a Christian who is (full of the Holy Ghost and armed with the word of God) not recognized as a leader himself/herself still has no rights, or authority and is forbidden to hold these pastors accountable for preaching or teaching false and unsound doctrines. But here in Hebrews Chapter 13, verse 17 we can see that those who are ruling must give account for their actions. Although, this verse never says specifically who they must give account to, the majority of those who rule in the body of Christ today automatically assume that they are not required to give account to those to whom they are supposed to be serving.

This is not the attitude of a servant/ruler but instead it is the disposition of a tyrant/ruler. Instead, they will pick and choose certain and select persons who they consider to be authorized to hold them accountable. These people who are "chosen" to hold others accountable are usually considered to be on a higher plateau of spirituality or biblical experience and are usually partners in (crime) the same false doctrines. This is where the term "covering" comes from and even though it is taught by many, it is a false doctrine and practice that is clearly not biblical for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself, when seeing the errors and sins of the Pharisees (the false religious ruling authority) constantly rebuked and corrected them publicly for the purpose of holding them accountable to the word of God and to the people by exposing them.

I Timothy 5:20
20 Them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear.(KJV)

As Christians (members of the body of Christ), we are all held accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ and to each other by the word of God. The Bible clearly gives us instructions and examples as to how to hold those who rule accountable by confronting them with the word of God and exposing their errors. A person’s age, position in a local assembly, education or even his/her “vocation gift” is not what determines whether or not those who are ruling must give account to whom they serve. Any person, who is ruling (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, bishop, elder or deacon) over others within the body of Christ, is first accountable to the Word of God and then to the people to whom he/she is to serve within the body of Christ.

Now we need to see how the illustration of this principle of ruler-ship actually works within the body of Christ for which it was originally intended. In order to do so, let us start with another scripture that is also found in the 13th chapter of Hebrews, verse 7 reads:

Hebrews 13:7
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. (KJV)

According to this verse, within the body of Christ, those that have the rule over you are those "…who have spoken unto you the word of God:" Many Christians who have read this without revelation and without considering the foundation that Jesus laid down concerning ruler-ship would, as a result, follow the status quo of the traditions of men in this area. But no! This verse does not endorse the philosophy that whoever has the microphone on the platform is the ruler over you. Nor does it imply that someone is the ruler over you just because he/she is called "pastor" within a local assembly of the body of Christ where you may fellowship.

As we look back at this verse we can see that one of the qualifiers for those who are to have the rule over you is that they, "... have spoken unto you the word of God." This means first that what the person speaks has to be sound doctrine. If what has been spoken is not sound doctrine, then that person has not spoken unto you the word of God. Therefore, he/she does NOT have the rule over anyone in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is just that simple. Whenever the word of God is spoken, there should always be an impartation of either sound doctrine, revelation, faith, correction, rebuke or instruction in righteousness, etc. The scripture says next that it's the faith of these ministers/servants who have spoken to you the word of God that should be followed. This is because there should be a demonstration of the same sound doctrine by those who have spoken as an example of faith for others to follow. And the final words of this verse says that the purpose (end) of their speaking and life demonstration should always be weighed or measured to see indeed if it is what verse 8 dictates it should be, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever," Nothing more and nothing less. It's just that simple.

So use these scriptures as the measuring stick and compare the scripture to those who say that they have the "rule" over you and expect you to submit to and obey them.

The 21st century apostle,
Orlando Bethel
Acts 3:26