Par A disciple belongs to his master. He must never be the prisoner of a
tradition or the unthinking spokesman of a denomination. He must not
feel responsible for the inconsistencies of history, and especially
for the errors accumulated by the various theological movements which
have distorted the Word of God through the ages.
He is not burdened by any context other than that in which he was
introduced to the love of God. His encounter with God is not an order
to stagnate within human thought. He needs genuine ministries to
liberate it, he needs the Word of God to bring true understanding, and
freedom, the sure sign of the presence of the Spirit.
He also needs to be able to accept with humility everything that is
true, pure and worthy of praise in all things, but without ever giving
anyone a carte blanche, blindly accepting decisions taken by complete
strangers who have nothing in common with him but a vague cultural or
religious identity.
A disciple is not bound by space and time. He belongs to the Communion
of Saints. His true home lies with the Saints of Zion. For in the
Bible’s name, how many crimes and acts of treachery have been
committed, how many mistakes and manipulative deeds have there been,
how many deceptions and distortions have been made to the Spirit of
the Lord?
How many times did Jesus have to correct the misunderstandings and
misinterpretations which had enclosed zealous but unintelligent men in
the absurd?
A disciple must allow his Master to increase in him, while he himself
decreases. But he cannot decrease if he does not abandon the many
provisional and pathetic identities he inherits from previous
generations, the cultural framework, conditioning, way of seeing,
thinking, praying, reacting and resolving matters that are generally
beyond him.
So many people unthinkingly follow a leading thinker, an ideologist or
guru who tells them how to see the world.
This leads to one division after another, leaving Christianity, like
many other religions, rife with suspicion and resentment.
For Man is the champion of theoretical love. He can talk for centuries
about the ideals that he never manages to achieve, because by
definition there is nothing theoretical about love. Love is always
personal and never drowns Man within a crowd.
How strange it is now that to be faithful to the Lord we must
categorically reject so many proposals that appear to be Christian,
Biblical and innocent. The life of the Spirit is impoverished by
triviality, superficiality, the incessant search for artificial
stimulation, in an age when the slightest demand or discipline is
treated with suspicion.
The atmosphere created by sound and the “pathological” repetition of
songs and movements which are supposed to be an expression of elation
must be given their true definition: they are nothing more than
conditioning, preparation and stimulation, and not the true and holy
presence of the Spirit. For the Spirit does not need noise, shouts,
trembling or agitation to reveal itself.
The Spirit is present in peace and purity, stillness and transparency,
comfort and glory, leaving the anointed and healed disciple in
respectful silence. Thus we stand in the presence of the Lord,
listening to Him, to hear inexpressible sighs of eternity, for where
the Spirit reigns, freedom reigns as well.
Mickaël Berreby