Pompous Pentecostals Copied from Bro. Martyn Ballestero's Blog
(May the Lord be praised that we Pentecostal Apostolics have been given the honor of hearing and receiving the Gospel truth of Acts 2:38. It is a privilege to live separated from the world. I have no desire to change from this holiness lifestyle.)
In spite of our God-given heritage, too many of us are plagued with a self-righteous, and holier than thou spirit. It severely hinders the work of God.
1. Pompous Pentecostals Are Hurting The Church. They are hurting our church growth. They are hurting our spiritual growth. Saints and sinners alike observe them with disdain.
Pompous Pentecostals won’t speak to other Pentecostals in the Mall or on the street. You see them coming toward you in the mall and you nod. They don’t even nod back. They act like you are invisible. Why?
I have had warmer responses from Baptists and Methodists. Even strangers, that by all appearances have never been in a Holiness church, will readily respond to a friendly ‘Hello’ or a ‘Howdy’. Why can’t we Pentecostals be friendlier? Are we saying to the world, and even to other Pentecostals, “I’m too holy to talk to you?” Whatever happened to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’?
2. Pompous Pentecostals Will Disfellowship One With Reckless Abandon. I’m not talking about disfellowshipping a person or a church because of immorality or doctrine that is contrary to Acts 2:38. I’m talking about precious people have been disfellowshipped for doing things that fall into the category of ‘doctrines of men’.
Here is a short list of things I’ve seen some disfellowshipped over by pastors and saints.
Wearing the color red Wearing shoes with heels out Wearing shoes with toes out. Women’s hair not in a hair net. Because of no seams in women’s nylons. Women shaving their legs. Playing Old Maid. The list is endless. Pompous Pentecostals are inconsistent. Pharisees always seemed to incur the rebukes of Jesus. He was more angry with them than the sinners.
My point is this. What if we Pompous Pentecostals disfellowship someone who God is still in fellowship with? Why are we so quick to cut people off?
How are we going to explain that in the Judgment? God forbid that we should go to heaven together with those that we disfellowshipped.
3. Pompous Pentecostals Are The Only Ones That Are Right. They are the last defenders of truth in their minds. Everyone else is wrong. If they are not in our fellowship circle, they are lost.
Two things will be our downfall… Worldliness and Fanaticism.
Eccl. 7:16 Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
Eccl. 7:17 Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?
There are good Holiness minded Apostolic people who are scorned, shunned and discounted because they are not considered exactly like those that we are comfortable around.
4. Pompous Pentecostals Have Need Of Nothing.
Rev. 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev. 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev. 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev. 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Pompous folks won’t receive preaching that involves correction or instruction. They feel no need for improvement.
A fine young couple moved to the assembly I pastored from a church 2,500 miles away. I knew his former pastor preached against wearing watches.
The couple had been at our church for several weeks. One Bible Study night I singled out our new brother who was sitting on the front row. I welcomed him and told him what a blessing he was to the whole church.
“I notice that you do not wear a watch.” I said .
He shook his head no.
“I honor and respect that carefulness in you. Never lose your carefulness before the Lord.
We have some that wear watches in this church. I appreciate the wearers using them for timepieces and not for ornamentation.
“But I don’t want you to go out and buy a watch and hurt your conscience because everyone here has one. I don’t want you wearing one just because we allow them here. Do you understand?”
He nodded.
“On the other hand, if you don’t wear one and we do, then I don’t want you to sit there and feel holier than the rest of the church and the pastor because you don’t and we do.
Because once you feel holier than the pastor, he can no longer help you or teach you. You in your own mind are holier than him and the church.
“If that spirit ever gets ahold of you then I am ordering you to go out and buy two watches and wear one on each wrist until you get over that spirit.
He nodded. He bought a watch.
5. Pompous Pentecostals Get Caught Up In Secondary Boycotts. You are my friend’s enemy, so you are then my enemy, because I love my friend. I don’t know what you did, but my friend leaves you alone, so I will too. There has to be something wrong with you if you and my friend are not close friends.
6. Pompous Pentecostals Show Their Prejudices. God doesn’t have a White Church, a Black Church, a Hispanic Church or an Asian Church. He just has a Church. How can we say we love God and hate our brother enough not to want to worship in the same building with him?
I was at a church were several dozen people boycotted the Sunday services because the pastor had personally canvassed and bused in several bus loads of people from the ‘projects’ the week before.
They wanted no one from the ‘low income’ housing development to attend their upscale church. The boycotting of the weekend services by all the ‘rich’ people was to get the pastor’s attention and make him ignore ‘those low class people’
Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. What would it be like in a world where love was felt and people were treated with kindness regardless of income or race?
The opposite of being a Pompous Pentecostal, is being a Modest Pentecostal.
May we all remember the timeless lesson Jesus gave about the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisee was proud that he was not like ‘other’ men and bragged on his own ‘godliness.’ The Publican was ashamed and with much inward pain smote his chest and asked for God’s mercy. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. ” Luke 18:14
I can’t imagine living in a more distracting time in human history. Hundreds of cable channels, millions of Web sites, and the constant pinging of email and social media all compete for our attention. It’s enough to make anyoneA.D.D.
But if you are like me, you still have to get real work done.
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A few weeks ago, I had to prepare for a board meeting. I really needed an extended period of time to review the material and prepare my presentation. In doing this, I realized that I go through a similar pattern whenever I need to increase my mental focus and get a lot of work done in a short period of time.
Here are ten tactics I use that may help you:
Block off time on your calendar. I schedule time on my calendar for special projects. Following Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s recommendation in Rework, I call this “The Alone Zone.” If some asks if I am available, I reply, “I’m sorry, but I have another commitment at that time.”
Isolate yourself in a quiet place. I try to eliminate all the distractions I can. While I generally practice an “open door policy,” I close my door when I have something important to get done. This signals to my colleagues that I am in project mode.
Turn the room temperature down. If the room gets too warm, I get sleepy and lose my edge. As a result, I intentionally turn the thermostat down to 69°. After years of testing, I have noticed that this is the temperature at which I am the most productive.
Get comfortable. When I need to get a lot done, I dress comfortably. For me that usually means jeans and a loose shirt. Even in the office, I kick off my shoes. I don’t want anything constricting my blood flow or distracting me.
Take email and social media software offline. When you are constantly checking email and social media, you can fool yourself into thinking you are working. Therefore, I take my email software offline. I also shut down HootSuite, my Twitter client. I do leave my browser open, because I have to use it for research.
Put on music that helps facilitates concentration. Certain music really helps me concentrate. When I wrote my first book, I created a playlist of instrumental music that moved me. Listening to it became a powerful ritual. It got me into the writing zone quickly and made me more productive. It still works for me today.
Drink caffeine in moderation. Various studies have shown that caffeine can have a positive effect on your mental focus, provided you consume it in moderation. Personally, I do better with a product like AdvoCare’s Spark. In addition to caffeine, “the neuroactive amino acids … help increase your mental focus and alertness by supporting your brain’s ability to receive and send messages to and from the nervous system.”
Avoid high glycemic carbohydrates. Nothing makes me sleepy faster than foods containing white flour and sugar. Breads are the absolutely the worst. Low glycemic carbs—darker vegetables, for example—are fine, because the sugars are released slowly. But high glycemic ones spike my blood sugar, and then I get sleepy.
Set mini-goals. I try to focus on one project until I am done. If it’s a big project, I break it into smaller goals. This usually means something I can finish in three hours or less. I personally get a rush from accomplishing a task and checking it off my to-do list.
Set a timer and take predetermined breaks. I am competitive by nature. If I set a timer on my iPhone and determine in advance how much time I will spend on a task. I will work hard to beat the clock. Not everyone is like this, but it works great for me.
In a world of distraction and competing demands, mental focus is a scarce commodity. If you want more of it, you will have to be intentional about getting it.
