Part1: Being Married to Christ in a Day of Spiritual Prostitutes – here.
Please Note: this writing uses examples to express truth about the necessity of holiness in ministry. I am in no way saying that its wrong to preach the gospel to prostitutes or shine the light in dark places. I am saying it is wrong to come into agreement with darkness in order to try and shine the light into it:
2 Corinthians 6
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
This is adapted from a letter I sent to a friend who is “shining the light” in the music industry, but struggling to stay lit:
“I understand your desire to shine light in the dark places. But in the Bible the Lord has shown so much in about what He requires from His ministries. Satan is so skilled at corrupting God’s servants, especially in music, so I know its hard for you. God’s solution for the challenges you are facing is holiness, which means being set apart to serve him in your spiritual work. I’m sure you know this, but in the Kingdom of God, his Levites are called to be employed in the work of worshipping Him day and night. Music is a special calling that requires holiness. It’s something that can shine light, but it’s not necessary to separate from God’s Ministry to evangelize.
I’ll try to my best to explain it like this:
WIFE/PROSTITUTE
1a. If my wife wants to help me bring income to the family, the job I don’t want her to get is one of a prostitute.
1b. When you use your ministry gift to bring profit to a concert or organization that has a mission against the Kingdom, it advances the enemy even if you shine a light while you’re there.
CHURCH/INDUSTRY
2a. If I want children and my wife thinks she can’t have any, it’s not a good decision for me to try to get children by my mistress (like Abraham).
2b. In the same way, the music industry is a whore, and the church is the bride. We have to build up the Bride, not try to give God children by the whore. Artists see themselves as shining the light in dark places, but the devil is manipulating them to make the gospel ineffective. They don’t have the same perspective as the leader of the organization – so they miss the real effect of what they do.
I know there are not a lot of churches that can even support your gift, or even have the heart to let you flourish in your calling… but God is raising them up in our generation if we can only believe and not settle for anything less. You’ve got to sanctify your ministry gift for the church of Jesus Christ exclusively. God can build something better than the music industry for us if we believe and work accordingly.
CONTROLLER/CONTRIBUTOR
3a. It’s kind of like if you were just a singer, not a writer. Imagine if you were just a singer, and you had no writing ability. You sing songs, and your voice is great, and you smile… so you think you are shining a light. But whoever controls the lyrics has the real power of the message, and most of the power and effect in reality. You are contributing your “light,” but the controller makes it dark anyway.
3b. It’s a similar situation in ministry. Just because you say something good is not enough. If you say it within the wrong organizational mission and bottom line, it becomes void of power, and eventually will be corrupted by satan. So if you “shine the light” at a Slum Village concert, satan still gets the glory and the profit and the souls from the concert. You are contributing your “light”, but the controller makes it dark.
The bible says satan comes immediately to steal the words that are sown. So the people that heard your good word in satan’s house – satan came immediately to water it down, resist it, and tell them that they didn’t really have to repent from sin, obey Christ and join God’s Bride in love. This is why God commands holiness and separation from the world in ministry, because it’s more effective – even in evangelism. God is not just about “shining a light” he’s about building a “light house” under His control.
I hope you understand bro, I know this is long but please let me know what you think… please know that I am telling you this because you are much much too precious to God. I know you’ve been thru a lot, but realize God ALWAYS rewards double when you suffer in Him. Don’t let the devil deceive you at all, you have the power in God. The devil has nothing for you, and you don’t need his industry to succeed in your purpose.
Last thought: Imagine if every Christian in the music industry (shining the light and struggling to stay a light, then becoming darkness themselves)… decided that they were going to leave the industry and start a MINISTRY that honored God with music AND teaching, and created their own business where they didn’t have to join in agreements with satan’s deceivers. All the talent and the glory of God would attract people out of the secular concerts into the House of Prayer. We wouldn’t have to go sing on stage for Slum Village because the people would be joining us instead of them.
That’s exactly what God needs in our generation! We need a generation that will seek His face in holiness and we need you to lead by example!”
