The ManicaPost
Pastor Lee Fore Kingdom matters
In the history of the church the spiritual fathers and paparism debate has been raging especially in the Christian movement, I stand for the word of God as the canon to help many Christian believers on the issue of Spiritual Fathers, Paparism, Spiritual sons and daughters. The concept has been over stretched to the extent that when a particular man of God visits another man of God for acquaintance or guidance there is usually the question of “Who is your spiritual father?’.
I have learnt that even those who give prophecies sometimes start by asking the same question. This has seen many ministers in the body of Christ jostling to get connected to a spiritual father or mother and in most cases travelling places and distances in looking for the suitable ones to some extent that some receive mantles as a medium of power. The trend has been mostly to look for those spiritual fathers who prophesy so that they can impart the same gifts and “grace”.
There is no biblical reference which talks directly about Spiritual Fathers or Paparism, because there is no one who can give birth to a spirit except God who is the father of all spirits. We only hear the mention of the father in Christ according to 1 Corinthians 4:15 when Paul addressed the Corinthians church.
It is of paramount important to trace the origin of fatherhood in the Bible rather than depending on the human made doctrine. It can be traced back to the first book of the Bible, Genesis 31:3 as well as in Exodus 3:15 and many other Old Testament scriptures. Fatherhood started during the time when God gave Moses the law saying, “I am God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac”. There was no reference of them being spiritual fathers.
On breaking such a tradition of Spiritual Fathers and Paparism, Jesus said, “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.” Matthew 23:9 The Lord Jesus was showing them that they had to depart from the tradition and accept God as the only Spiritual Father because He is a spirit, who can give birth to a spirit.
Spiritual Fatherhood and Paparism, above that perhaps Christ forbade us to call anyone on earth father in order to hint at the inscrutable depth of the mystery of Spiritual Fatherhood. And He hastened at the same time to give us also the direct reason for this prohibition, namely the uniqueness of Spiritual Fatherhood, which strictly speaking must be reserved for the creator God. Such evaluation of Spiritual Fatherhood, which transcends the created limits of being within the world and literally refers only to the transcendent God, is certainly not a mysticist or merely pietistic explanation.
In John 4:23-24, Jesus said God is the father and He is a Spirit. God is the only Spiritual Father because He is 100 percent spiritual. Jesus was called the Son of God because he was flesh and blood. A man who is flesh and blood does not deserve or qualify to be a spiritual father because he or she can be a false god to the people. Anyone who subscribe to this philosophy calling their Apostle, Prophet or PastorSpiritual Father does not abide in the true doctrine of Christ. .
There are some questions to ponder if you believe in Spiritual Fathers and Paparism teachings, who finds who the father or the son? Is your spiritual father the one who preached salvation to you when you received Christ as your personal saviour or you need to look for one or the one who is shepherding you? If your spiritual father dies, do you become a spiritual orphan? What then your sons and daughters call your spiritual father, is he their spiritual grandfather? How many spiritual fathers can one have?
However this kind of relationship between these Spiritual Fathers and sons or daughters is cemented by spiritual gifts and sometimes some form of reverence as the sons pay respect and honour to their spiritual fathers and papas, sometimes in a very carnal way. Those who manage to have many spiritual sons and daughters usually benefit from the gifts and material benefits which accompany the relationships.
Those falling in the trap of Spiritual Fathers and Paparism believe that Spiritual Fathers are placed in their lives by God for their spiritual well-being. They also believe that they should submit to them, giving their hearts and serve and honour them. In return God will bring good to them through their Spiritual Fathers and Papas. More so there are regarded as a source of life to them through Christ.
Moses had a direct relationship with God and Jethro as father in law simply gave sound advice on an incident and that does not mean he was now spiritual father. The same applies with Jesus, John simply baptised Him and acknowledged Jesus was greater. Paul had Jesus Christ mentoring him personally he was not a spiritual son to anyone. Ananias just ministered to him on one occasion the same way all of us might have received ministration or impartation from certain ministers in the past. The Apostles related horizontally mutually ministering and reporting to each other without a formalised structure of hierarchy.
The mature ministers, Apostles, Prophets and entire fivefold ministry gifting who mostly lead church ministries can relate the same way and mutually gain from mutual relations without incorporating systems which Jesus Christ and the Apostles never put relevance to. Paul was able to rebuke Peter and where necessary Peter could do the same as they viewed themselves as brothers. Peter refused carnal reverence from Cornelius when he was about to bow to him. I want to end here.
Follow us on the next edition as I begin to expound my exposition with biblical references, call or email for feedback.
Pastor Lee Fore can be contacted on +263 773 469 191 OR +263 712 314 734; E-mail: [email protected]
