Love-Deficit or Authority-Breach

The Radical Middle — August 20, 2004

Warmest greetings! I trust that the summer has given you enough snippets of quiet

reflection to maintain your personal equilibrium.

I’d like to pass on something that we’re learning here at Belmont Church, which

represents a substantial shift in the way we’re shepherding people into wholeness.

Much of the counseling ministry in many churches is based on a key assumption:

that the primary problem with most people is a love-deficit. No one would dispute

the fact that such a deficit is, in fact, a huge reason why we are not whole. But is

this the root of our dysfunction? I’m not sure…

If we trace the problems in the world to their ultimate source what do we find? We

find an archangel by the name of Lucifer deciding to rebel against God. Two things

to observe here. First, Lucifer’s sin was not rebellion in the full sense of the word.

He did not seek to replace God or overthrow God. He simply sought to act

independently of God. Second, Lucifer, when he did rebel, was perfectly loved by

God. His action was not prompted by a love-deficit.

This leads me to two corresponding conclusions. First, the root sin of all sins may

be located in the desire to act independently of God. Second, the root of all problems

in the universe is not a love-deficit, strictly speaking, but an authority-breach. If

this is so, it should radically alter the way we minister to people.

My hunch is that because we assume that the root problem is a love-deficit, our

ministry to people is shaped along soulish lines. In other words, we emphasize the

building of one’s esteem, helping people feel good about themselves, restoring in

them a sense of God’s Fatherhood – that sort of thing. And all these approaches to

the human condition are right but may not be root.

I have wondered why a good many believers continue to have problems, continue to

need therapy. Could it be that they – and we – are trying to address the problems by

treating the soul and not the spirit? Getting people to focus on healing their

wounds rather than repenting of sin?

Now before anyone recoils at my apparent “fire-breathing” let me offer some very

important qualifiers. First, I am not saying that love-deficits aren’t critical, and that

wounds don’t need healing. But I would suggest that a love-deficit is the

consequence of the root of independence manifest in a system of rebellion – which

is the system of the world.   We can be victims of this system and thus experience a

real love-deficit. But the spirit of independence infects us nevertheless.

Second, I am not for a moment pooh-poohing the priority of walking in honest,

vulnerable relationships where the on-going mending of one’s soul, through the

curative of love, sweetly massages the very real bruises of victimization. In short, I’m

not trying to be the Ying to Brennan Manning’s Yang (for those of you aware of his

excellent books).

I’m simply saying that to treat humankind’s ills solely along these lines is

shortsighted. If the ultimate root of evil has to do with an authority breach and not a

love-deficit, then the root of all roots is the spirit of independence. I would go so far

as to say that the spirit or attitude of independence may be the essence of pride,

and the root of the entire demonic system. And the only way this is dealt a death-

blow is through a lifestyle of repentance – for it is in repenting that we both reaffirm

God’s authority, and express our commitment to that authority.

Obviously, I’m raising more questions than I can adequately address here – I just

wanted to give you a brief glimpse into what we’re experiencing here at Belmont

Church at the present. By stressing a lifestyle of joyous, continuous repentance we

are seeing people maintain their freedom in God, and actually experience

overcoming victory in the Lord on a regular basis.

Again, I’d like to invite you to join us this October for two strategic conferences.

From the 11th to the 13th, Messenger Fellowship ( www.messengerfellowship.com)

will be hosting a conference for spiritual leaders and their ministry teams called

“The Church at the Crossroads: Recentering the Church on the Presence of God”. Then

on the 14th and 15th, Lydia Fellowship (www.lydiafellowship.org)  will be convening

intercessors and their pastors from around the nation for their national conference,

“God’s Call to the Church to be Holy”.

The first conference is designed to encourage and equip spiritual leaders and their

leadership teams to pursue ministry models that center on the Presence of God and

to focus on some of the key issues that will spark a greater spiritual awakening in

the nation. Our special speakers are Francis Frangipane and John Mulinde from

Uganda, whom many of you have seen in the documentary, “Transformations: The

Glory Spreads”.

The second conference is aimed at mobilizing and training intercessors (and their

pastors) to vigorously pray for such a spiritual awakening in the Church! Those who

have seen the “Transformations” documentaries will recognize the names of John

Mulinde and Ruth Ruibal. Having seen God remarkably transform their respective

communities in Uganda and Cali, these two bring a depth of experience and

understanding to the issue of spiritual awakening. They will be the guest speakers

during the Lydia conference.  For more information, including conference schedules,

please contact the above websites.

Grace to you!

Steve Fry

Go Back to The Radical Middle Home