Copy Of A Copy

No, this city will not be an iron pot for you, and you will not be like meat safe inside it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel, and you will know that I am the LORD. For you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you.” [Ezekiel 11.11-12]

Before I even began to read today, I had a thought about what we think of as "ministry" when we think of it. When I read the passage above in Ezekiel, I realized that what I had thought has significance as it relates to these words in particular: you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you.

What do we think of when we think of "ministry"? Our own pastor? A mega-church pastor? A missionary? Billy Graham?

As good as all these examples might be, they are not Jesus. Bear with me...

If we base our ministry on the life of anyone other than Jesus, we are in certain danger of having the degraded "copy of a copy" syndrome. This seems to coincide with "you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you" in that Jesus represents that nation of God's people and anyone else represents the nation of their version of God's people (regardless how valid it may seem in our eyes).

Jesus was not unclear with His disciples about what ministry should look like. There was, without argument, a "forsaking all" required in order to follow Jesus. There was also a certain "this is what it looks like" explained more than once, but specifically here:

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12]

Have we instead copied the standards of others around us instead of staying true to God's Word as spoken by His very own Son? I think so. The proof is seen in a simple comparison to Jesus. Why is this important? Because Jesus was rather "narrow"-minded about it:

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.13-14]

Jesus, again, was not unclear about what our lives are to look like, including God's will in the mix:

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” [John 20.21]

And then the significance of God's will is clarified (underline mine):

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ [John 20.21-13]

This should shake us as to the importance of focusing only on being "in Christ" and "Christ in us" because anything else is not God's standard for us. To console ourselves with our own contemporary version of what following Christ looks like today should stir the very fear of God in us because "our version" of following Christ IS AN IDOL (it is made by man - the result of man's conclusions). We must remember that Ezekiel's prophecies, like most of the OT prophets, was resultant to Israel's adultery with idols - which were many times the standards of surrounding nations.

The implication of what is said here is so overwhelming, most will pass it off as "radical" and "irrelevant." But, if only a few see the gravity of it and genuinely repent, Jesus' own words confirm it: only a few ever find it.

Father in heaven, forgive me for measuring my obedience to You and Your Word on how my like looks likes others instead of Jesus. I see the error of my ways and beg You to forgive me. May You look upon me and see only Jesus!