As I was waking up I was just coming out of a dream in which I saw bent over people with closed hands clutching their breasts and looking down. The sun was beaming light on them, the day was bright, but they could not see anything, else but their miserable selves; and the ground they watched.
I saw green pastures, and on them animals peacefully grazing, just as those I have seen some years back in Kenya. The animals seemed happier than the people I saw. When I came closer to those people I could hear their muffled language, as if all dialects and accents were amalgamated into that one German-sounding language. I was very concerned for those stooped people; and wondered as to what is that oppresses them so much.
Then I saw a smiling face of Jesus, as if in the clouds thundering down on us from the sky with His awesome voice saying,
[Matthew 16:15] Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
[Acts 1:7-8] It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
As I was coming out of the dream and out of my sleep I have realized what I’ve been dealing with.
You can correct me if I am wrong, but this is the understanding Jesus gave me in the dream.
- Watch the European nations and you will see differences like these. The British, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Belgian, Dutch, and even Italy to a lesser degree, colonized other lands. The Russians, Swedes, Polish, Hungarians, Austrians and Germans were doing the cooking in the same pot—the European Continent. The result? – Inverted mentality.
- The second point is this: the religious indoctrination as to being humble, modest, e.g., poor—or pretending, not outgoing, not reaching out too far, not seeking fame etc, produced hypocrisy and self-centeredness. Self-defeatism and hence disobedience to the Great Commission, “Go into all the World and preach.”
- As a third point, the self plays predominant role in the self-centered mentality because under the pretenses of being modest, which is falsely equated with godliness, the German speaking people did not reach out to the world as for example the British did. (Right or wrong, even if they did it in selfishness; the point is that even that changed their outlook for they dealt with other peoples’ mentalities.)
Anything that is inverted leads to stagnation and even to implosion—an inner destruction of spiritual life. This implosion becomes apparent in depressive thoughts, heaviness, self-analysis, self-doubt and hence doubting God; bipolarity as if staying on two tracks and going nowhere, or being divided. The more one looks inward sort of controlling ones urges, can be called morality—but when it comes to the “holy urges” like doing charity, or supporting an evangelist on the mission field—that inward mentality becomes a hindrance. So we ought not throw the bath water with the baby.
Those who are of the outgoing disposition are often being squashed as if they were doing something wrong. Money is not being viewed as means to do more for the work of the Great Commission, but a symbol of power; which is equated with pride. Subconsciously and often automatically it is being suppressed as something wrong. But is it wrong? – That’s self-oppression and in many cases even self-terrorism. When someone cannot say certain words, like “missionary” or “Jesus Christ” in Judaism, or “Israel” or “Jew” in fundamentalist Islam that someone accepted self-oppression just to fit in. This is the point, just to fit in that oppressive frame like a heavy yoke on your neck.
Another sign of self-oppression is the replacement theology. An emotion of jealousy, superiority and competition arises when dealing with the Jewish people. Christian Pastors would rather do good work for a Jew, but never be taught by one. In the mind of some Christian pastors Jews have nothing to say, and nothing to teach; and this comes from superiority complex. or downright supremacy. As a matter of fact and sadly so, this sort of mentality Luther injected into his clergy. The reformation brought the knowledge of salvation by grace and “free of charge” but on the other hand it strengthened Christian supremacy. Putting down Jews has reached the extremes.
» Read more about Luther's antisemitism
Based on this Protestant extreme sentiment - Jews have nothing to tell the ‘superior Christian’ who got it; while the ‘Jew missed it’ - absurdities like the fall of Lucifer with 1/3 of his subordinates captivate the Christian mind. For a born-again, Jesus-believing Jew this is painful indeed, for he has so much to give, but no one seems to be interested. Even if someone is interested that interest is always mixed with suspicion. Worse. Such is labeled as being in error; but only against to the backdrop of the fenced with closed gate Christian theology. It’s sad indeed.
Another problem people face is that they would rather be preachy than share something personal, from the heart, unless it is some kind of religious vision or picture, which must be examined as if being of God, or perhaps of the devil. Then comes the “correct” and the “incorrect” interpretation; and that’s bondage too. People are afraid to share their heart, lets they might be labeled “false;” as a result they’d rather shut up. That’s bondage.
[2 Cor. 3:17] Now the Lord (Jesus) is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Q. Why did they hate Jesus?
A. Because He did not fit in.
Q. Why they wanted to get rid of Jesus?
A. Because people were drawn to liberty.
Q. Where does the miraculous work?
A. In liberty.
Q. Why Jesus could not perform a miracle in Nazareth?
A. They restricted the liberty of expression.
Q. Why we do not see miracles today?
A. We oppress ourselves and grieve the Holy Spirit thereby.
Going out means: going out, travelling, reaching out to others, transforming lives, healing the sick, raising the dead; big meetings, big crowds, all possible media, publishing books, and make people read them through exciting/appetizing advertising, etc. When a German-speaking person sees someone like that he or she draws back, and for some inexplicable reason tries to suppress this sort of outgoing activity as if being wrong. Why?
But in the secrets of their mind many dream of (self) greatness, popularity, fame, name and riches, but here again, that is being also suppressed as being selfish. So, using the same mentality some view a minister—who goes out into the entire world obeying Jesus—as someone that does not reach out to the lost, but someone that goes for fame, name and wealth. This is subjective sentiments speak of bondage of all bondages; it is self-terrorism and self-oppression. Worse. With these bondages they also bind those who are free in Christ. As a result such people create clique type of a group having someone all to themselves… and the heck with the world, as long as the “I” is satisfied.
Reinhard Bonnke. This humble missionary man sort of exploded to the scene in Africa and is being supported by Germans, for after all he is German and represents Germany, that sort of greatness Germans do support, but a foreigner they are rather slow to support. For after all he or she is a foreigner and does not represent the great nation of Germany like Bonnke does. Therefore, in view of that which has been said above, in point #1, we must look at ourselves from God’s point of view rather than the nationalistic one. An anointed vessel of God is anointed for world evangelism; hence for this sort of greatness.
Benny Hinn, a foreigner, came to America and today is the most celebrated preacher. (A good or bad preacher, agree or disagree; whether I am for or against don’t matter here, for what Jesus is after is obedience to His Great Commission. That’s the point.) However, we go about it, the going out takes lots of money and exposure to many more people than just a small group.
The apostles were also inverted and hesitated to go out. The self-love in Peter was evident in the Joppa experience. God forced him to go to Caesarea.
Out of that frustration with those introverts Jesus called yet another apostle of His own choice, Paul, who practically became a slave to the Great Commission.
Out of all disciples/apostles only Philip was called an evangelist. God loved Philip who did not waste precious time on self-analysis. Philip obeyed and obeyed; every action calls for reaction, which in his case was translation. The Holy Spirit snatched Philip and transported him to another place in a split second.
Self-oppression is a disease, which must be dealt with. You need a shot of the “holy penicillin” to kill that disease. Today, the neo-Nazis thrive because the soil is still fertile, which they feed on. Self-centeredness leads to disobedience to what Jesus commissioned us to do.
Once I stayed in a monastery where I spoke with monks who explained the words of Jesus in their own subjective way. They exalted prayer for the world above all other things. They said to me that ‘they do not need to go out, but rather stay in.’ They pray three times a day, tend their gardens and beehives and that’s the extent of their outgoings into all the world and preaching the Gospel. In a similar way some would not support a missionary evangelist with more, just in case that evangelist might become too proud. So, fame of a book or songwriter, preacher in their mind would endanger modesty. This sort of thinking comes from the self-oriented/inverted mentality, which would be all right if one would not reach out to others in mercy with God’s love. If one writes romance novels just to sell, or be a motivational speaker to the business people eager to make more money then thoughts of modesty and humility would apply, but not when we obey the Master Lord Jesus who had commissioned us to go out and preach the Gospel.
Imagine. You are obeying Jesus. You are going out into the nations of the world, preaching the Gospel to all creation, millions know you, and thousands support you, plus millions read your books, lives are transformed, people come to God, their thinking is made clear, etc. Is that righteousness or something wrong?
“It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.”—Jesus said. We would rather sit on our warm pillows and sort out epochs of time, or speculate as to the exact date of His coming. Worse. We would formulate our theses about God and His ways, which is theology. Would that please Him? I do not think so. This disease must go. Being inverted leads to implosion.
