The Saul Complex:
Why Ministerial Mayhem is Rampant in Ministry
Gaddiel Odum ben Shomeyr
Some say the
problem in circles of ministry and faith, specifically in Christianity and
Messianic/Natsari Judaism is Hypocrisy. The reason there are so many “Red Flag”
groups, people, ministries denominations, sects and cults today is because of
charlatans and hypocrites. I disagree, hypocrisy may be a component but is not
the main issue; I think flesh is. I do not necessarily think we have a bunch of
hypocrites running around in Natsari Judaism as I do people who have the “Saul
Complex.”
A hypocrite
is someone who is defined and pretending to be someone they are not. Was Saul
legitimately and genuinely called, ordained and anointed by God through the
Prophet and Judge Samuel? Yes! But he acted in ways in which he did not live up
to or act in ways becoming of the position into which he was called, placed and
occupied; much like many politicians today.
A hypocrite
is preaching one thing and living another. We do not see this being the case
with King Saul. But we do see Saul rationalizing his behaviour and actions
whose logic comes out of fear and a spirit that is sick. Hypocrites do not to
this; hypocrites do wrong and know they do wrong. Hypocrites live a double life
and know they are living a double life. Hypocrites speak out of both sides of
their mouth and know they are doing it. They know and try to hide these facts
from others. Saul never tried to hide his sin from Samuel, but instead tried to
rationalize and explain away his poor decisions. Saul never tried to hide his
hatred and his lethal intentions towards David. Hypocrites do not do this.
Let’s
briefly take a look at Saul. Saul for one had a low self-esteem. He was tall in
stature but lowly in spirit. He felt insignificant and unworthy because he was
from the smallest tribe and smallest clan in Israel and was at first so
reluctant to be king that he hid (I Sam. 9:21/I Sam. 10:20-24). This is
initially why God choose him and could use him as the first King of Israel. We
see once he got use to the “captain’s chair” which is the Throne, that his head
and chest began to swell a little bit with pride and thought he had more
liberties and rights than he truly had and we see this manifest when he did not
follow Samuel’s instructions to the letter, later rationalizing it away and
when he grew impatient waiting for Samuel and sacrificed without him (I Sam.
13:8-15). This not only revealed his pride but also his fear of the people
instead of fearing God. Even in the midst of Saul’s disobedience and sin this
did not negate the call, anointing and gifts bestowed upon Saul; did he not
still prophecy in the midst of his rebellion (I Sam. 19:19-24) and was he not
so anointed that David refused to harm him in anyway (I Sam. 24:6)!? His disobedience and sin did not negate or
retract the call and gifts given to Saul by God but it DID remove the divine
hand of blessing upon him and blocked up the divine channels of communications
with God (I Sam. 28). Also think of Samson, who was in sin against God and in
rebellion against the Nazarite vow to which he was called into and born under,
he didn’t lose his anointing, he didn’t lose his strength (until he submitted
to the enemy) but instead he lost the protection, blessing and favor of God
(Jud. 13-16).
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. – Romans
11:29
When
confronted by David I believe Saul genuinely was remorseful and saw the error
of his ways (I Sam. 24:16-22; 26:17-25) but because he did not fully repent,
submit and seek help, his fearful and faulty logic and rationalization out of
the sickness of his spirit kicked back in and he rationalized away his pursuit
of David. His failure to fully repent, submit and seek help left the door of his
soul wide open to permit the evil one to come in (I Sam. 16:14-18; 19:9-10 ).
The example
of Saul gives us, I think, a clear picture of why there can be so many
legitimately anointed and inspirational teachers and leaders in this movement
who have and eventually reveal fatal flaws that hurt themselves and their
followers. It’s not that you had the wool pulled over your eyes and you were
duped and taken for a ride, it’s that their Saul Complex got in the way of
doing right by you and succeeding in ministry.
Imagine if
when Samuel told Saul that the kingdom had been taken away from him and given
to another, he fully acknowledged his fault, submitted and determined to live
out the rest of his reign accepting that it would be David’s and not Jonathan’s
and that despite this he would finish out his reign in a godly way to the best
of his ability, how different would have been his outcome? Remember, even when
Samuel said the kingdom was ripped from him Saul was still called, ordained and
anointed as King. If he would have confessed and repented of his sins right
then and there and would have totally been submitted and accountable and
transparent with Samuel he wouldn’t have gotten the kingdom back, but perhaps
we would have read in the Scriptures:
“King Saul secured the Land of Israel for all
of the tribes, He removed the High Places and God delivered him and Israel from
all her enemies. King Saul died full of years, and all of Israel mourned
greatly for their first king. And Saul slept with his fathers and was buried and
David son of Jesse succeeded him as King.”
Instead of:
Our problem
today is that our teachers and Rabbis, very few of them are accountable or
under submission to anyone thus the rationalizations claimed to be revelations
of the Holy Spirit supposedly justifying their actions and reasoning’s. I myself
have a group of peers and leaders that I trust that I am accountable to and
that I submit to and that are not afraid to call me out and set me straight when
necessary.
“…I die
daily.” - I Cor. 15:31
Just think!
We could literally turn the world upside down the book of Acts style if all
these genuinely anointed teachers and leaders within our movement who just have
these fleshly hang-ups would totally surrender!
Brokenness
is the only cure, the only remedy for the Saul Complex. It took consulting a
witch for Saul to finally hit rock bottom (I Sam. 28). It took the scandal with
Bathsheba for David to become truly broken and repentant (II Sam. 11-12, Psalm
51). Like Joshua and Achan, sin in the
camp doesn't stop the anointing of God, but it stops the protection, favor and
blessings of God (Josh. 6-7).
So now we
can see and understand how there can be so much powerful truths, anointed and
revelatory teaching in this movement and yet a good synagogue, a good
congregation, a good ministry, a good Rabbi, or a good Teacher is so extremely
hard to find! We also see how rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft because it
opens the door for that evil spirit to come in and sabotage a leader and or a
ministry (I Sam. 15:23).
So I suppose
another red flag to watch out for is if there is anointing in a leader and or
ministry without fruit and blessing following it, run! It’s a red flag!
We so
desperately need transparency and brokenness if we are to survive and pass out
of the time of the Judges and into the Book of Acts.
