It could be that the ultimate evil in the world manifests through control. After all, the basic temptation revolved around man being his own god! For the natural mind, being god tends to come down to one question: who’s in charge? Control takes away freedom; it takes away choices; it deprives us of the very essence of being human and having the opportunity to decide our fate. In the end, control replaces the Lordship of Jesus with the opinion of man. Sadly, while violating nearly all that is godly it is most often done for our good and in many instances done in Jesus’ name!

Ultimate control is not overt physical force. No! Ultimate control is intellectual intimidation: the control of your thoughts and opinions. God gave man dominion over himself and over the natural elements of Planet Earth. Since the fall we have tried to exercise dominion over others as a substitute for self control. Man is held in control by keeping himself in darkness. Darkness, which is the opposite of what we have in Christ, disallows man of the God-given right to see, ask questions, and experience God for himself! When man cannot see he needs a guide; thus, the outplaying of darkness becomes the physical, economic, and spiritual control of our lives by those who “lead” us.

Control comes dressed in many costumes. In some dictatorial environments it is overt, easily understood, and quickly identified. But in other environments it is an oppression that lurks beyond the veil, just past the clarity of reason. In an environment that espouses freedom, control is always dressed as a concerned benefactor there to give us what we seem unable to get for ourselves! It is a defender of the faith, a crusader for the cause; it is the knight in shining armor that has come to do for us what we have been led to believe we cannot do for ourselves.

Politicians fill us with fear of the future and then offer to protect us from the monsters they created. In education teachers omit the facts they determine to be damaging. The medical practitioner confidently tells us what is good for us and is quickly frustrated if we question his radical procedures. The scientific community is no better than any other group; they may, in fact, be worse than most. By disregarding facts they make us feel ignorant if we so much as consider that which does not fit into the accepted dogma of academia. And then there is the meanest and deadliest control of all: religion. Religion wants to impose its view of God so that you see God in the approved manner.

Regardless of the arena, the limiting of ideas keeps man crippled. It restricts him from attaining his rightful place in Planet Earth as a child of the Creator. In the church world it causes us to doubt who we are in Christ and what we have through His finished work. When the goal is control of the person, what better way to control than to undermine your belief and experience of who you are in relation to God? All the woes of society, from the fall of man in the Garden to the vilest expression ever known, have resulted in man’s refusal to see God as a good God and to see ourselves as God has created us, in both the natural world and as believers in Christ! When man is not held in the esteem God intended the vilest of actions can be justified!

The message of the codependent controller, no matter what language is employed, what dogma prevails, or in which arena it exists, is always the same: “I have something you don’t have and you need me. You’re not smart enough, strong enough, or anointed enough to get what you need.” From the pulpit to the White House where codependency exists, it exists to give other people control of your life. Those who consider themselves the solution usurp the Lordship of Jesus and alienate you from the grace of God for yourself!

One of the unique factors of oppression is that it cannot be questioned! In smug arrogance those who seek to control will not tolerate being questioned. Questions reflect independent thinking and independent thinking is the path to loss of control! Today if a scientist is challenged about the accepted explanation of global warming the thinker, whether a member of the scientific community or a journalist, will find himself ostracized and very probably dismissed from his job.

Much of the scientific community, which prides itself on the pursuit of knowledge, is very clear that it is only in pursuit of knowledge that supports what it already believes. Simply ask an evolutionist about any form of intelligent design and you will encounter an onslaught of intellectual attack, intimidation, and belittling worse than anything you have ever encountered from the most insecure bully on any school playground!

Challenge a journalist about using “unidentified sources” in a scandalizing column while identifying absolutely no proof of legitimacy and you will meet with fury. Hiding behind the misuse of the Fifth Amendment, no matter how bizarre, has become a “self-evident” freedom for one man who violates the freedoms of another. Simply question the “source” and you will be made to feel that you are the one who does not honor the constitution; you will be portrayed as an anti-freedom, anti-American troublemaker.

Those who seek to play god and take control of our lives shame us into sitting quietly with our eyes closed until we believe all that exists is darkness and we do, in fact, need someone to deliver us. In the darkness of no challenging thoughts that which is real and obvious becomes twisted and distorted. That which is evil is called good and that which is good is called evil. And none dare question the powers that be! To do so would require opening our eyes and we are not qualified to open our eyes lest we see a different point of view. In various ways using corrupt reasoning we are told to keep our eyes tightly closed and we will be safe because someone else will tell us what they see!

Knowing God is a walk, a journey; it is not a stagnant event. There are several aspects to growing in the knowledge of God. One is the fact that there is no end to God. We will forever be growing in the knowledge of Him. Second, our life is not static. Every day brings new challenges and issues. Therefore, I must experience God in each of the scenarios in a way that allows the God-desired outcome of the abundant life. Therefore, growing in God is a constantly expanding awareness of what I have in Christ.

When the New Testament talks about knowing God it is talking about experience, not simple academic information. Experiencing God, as I need to know Him today, is based on revelation. In my current situation I need to perceive and experience God in some way that I have not previously perceived and experienced Him. I am not talking about something beyond the bounds of what He has shown us in the New Covenant; but I do need to see how I can experience Him in my current situation.

Religion has said that certain people have anointing that has allowed them to know God in ways that you haven’t, and it is implied that you probably won’t. Since they have what you don’t, you come to them instead of to God. No, it’s never said, “Don’t go to God.” In fact, you are encouraged to go to God with the implication that you are not as qualified as the anointed ones (or in some circles the professionals) or the clergy. While pointing you to God, they, in fact, become your mediator. They don’t lead you to God by praying with you or even showing you how to pray; they come between you and God by praying for you. (Sometimes that is obviously valid.) But in the end you are somehow left with the idea that you need them and they will take care of your God issues.

In somewhat the same manner the government says you need them to make life bearable. In the same way scientists say you need them to think for you and educators say you need them to explain the information to you. Like the over-protected child, the unspoken message is that you are not smart enough or capable enough to run your life; you need someone to do it for you.

In Matthew 13, when Jesus was asked about the use of parables, He made two seemingly paradoxical statements. In so many words He said, “I speak in parables because it is given to you to know the mysteries of Kingdom of God.” Then He said something that seemed to contradict all He stood for, “but to them it is not given.” If the Gospel is given freely to all how can we understand such a statement? Did God select to whom He would give revelation and to whom He would withhold it? Absolutely not!

Jesus made it clear that they would look and not see, listen and not hear. They would be exposed to the same opportunity to internalize and perceive truth but there was a reason it would not happen. Matt 13:15 says, for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them. God didn’t close the hearts and minds of the people. They closed their own hearts and minds. They had been conditioned by the religious leaders not to think, not to ask questions, and not to consider anything beyond the religious boundaries that had been defined. They needed a revelation they were not willing to see because it would require them to think and experience God for themselves.

Revelation doesn’t come because God decides He will show what He has previously kept hidden. After all, Jesus came so we could look at Him and see God! But religion doesn’t really look at Jesus and His finished work to understand God. Religion takes just enough of the Bible to make it seem true, then makes it fit in with accepted cultural concepts and the lie seems self-evident! Religion always makes adjustments in God’s offer to mankind. After all, if it is all free and freely given to all men, look how many people would be out of jobs, or even worse, lose power!

People listened to Jesus and not only failed to “get it;” they often wanted to kill Him for what He said. Keep in mind it wasn’t the “common” people who wanted to kill Jesus but those who controlled the common people by their religious ideas. The Jews and almost every version of the church have felt that only the elite should think and interpret truth. After all, the common ones, the laity, the nothing ones, just aren’t capable of reaching the conclusions that were sanctioned!

Leaders think the proof that we need to think for the masses is revealed by their lack of reaching the right conclusions. That only reveals that they have not been taught how to study, pray, listen, and think! People who are controlled can’t make the right decisions even when they have the right information. The teaching methods of those motivated by the need to control are not based on Jesus’ model.

One thing Jesus’ style of teaching did that was not done by the religious leaders of His day was that it required you to think for yourself. The public was very religious, they knew the rules that were imposed on them, but they really didn’t know the Scripture in a way that really worked. Yet, Jesus modeled the love of God, talked to them in ways that required them to think, asked questions, and trusted the Spirit of God to do His part! Many times He answered their questions with questions. Occasionally, He just walked away without answering their questions. This was completely different from those who sought to control their every thought about God!

People who don’t want others to think build walls. The Communists built the Berlin wall. It was designed to keep out the ideas and philosophies of the West. It was done, of course, for the benefit of the people. They didn’t want their people corrupted by the ideas of the West. And the concern for those people imprisoned, I mean protected, by the wall was so deep and heartfelt that they would kill their own people if they attempted to cross the wall. Politicians call that political parties, religion calls that denominations, scientists have a name for it, and so does every other group committed to control.

In the end, refusal to be questioned brings about hostile repercussions on those who ask. As a way of keeping the disease from spreading, those who dare to think or ask are attacked and vilified in such a way that inspires deep fear in the hearts of possible “dissenters” who would dare to color outside the lines. And, as always, it is done in the name of “protecting the innocent,” which is another word for “the ignorant.” But the truth is, it is designed to protect the power of those who attempt to be god to those who are less fortunate.

Without questions we can’t find new answers. It isn’t rebellion and unbelief to ask questions. New questions can be the pathway to answers that become the revelations that change our life and our experience with God. Every new revelation brings us to repentance, a change of mind about God. I am not talking about revelation outside of His Word; I am talking about new depths of experiencing Jesus! When I was a child I spoke as a child… How I experience God continues to grow as I grow in Him. But growing in Him means I have to always be ready to question my understanding and application of truth. In the absence of revelation, i.e. seeing God and His Word in an applicable mode that matches our current need, we are stuck where we are.

When we become “stuck” we create circumstance theology that explains and justifies why we are not experiencing God the way the Bible promises. The tendency then seems to be to hold others within the realm of our current experience. Our faith has been systematically and theologically sabotaged by those who would be threatened if our experience with God somehow overshadowed theirs. So the shadow of darkness is spread by those who through their insecurity attempt to validate their limiting experience by limiting the experience of others.

The heart that cannot ask questions cannot live in faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. If believers had been allowed to ask questions we would have had steam engines, air travel, medicine, and unimaginable discoveries centuries before we had them. And, had believers been allowed to ask questions these discoveries would not have fallen into the hands of the wicked who line their pockets on the suffering of mankind. God would have been viewed differently and the world would not have become so anti-God!

The apostle Paul said: It is for freedom we have been set free. (Gal. 5:1, NIV) He then encourages us not to misuse freedom. However, because of those who would misuse it, he never justifies taking it away from us. People will misuse freedom. It is that very battle cry that the American government is using today to justify the stripping of almost all of our biblical and constitutional freedoms. But the institutionalized church has waved the same banner for around 1800 years. Whether it is government, educators, scientists, or religious leaders, the refusal to embrace and allow freedom is always for the sake of giving power to the corrupt controllers, “for the good of the people.”

Neither in a free society or a society that wants to appear to be free do people go into bondage by force; they go into bondage by oppression. The slow process of brain washing, of shaping thoughts and ideas, ultimately leads to the disallowing of free thought. People are misinformed, shamed, and intimidated into giving up the truth and ultimately their freedoms. The process is so slow that all our limiting beliefs seem self-evident! We think it has always been this way!

Today the world is in a dark place. The Kingdom of God is the only force capable of reshaping our world! The institutionalized church, (not all of the church) in the name of Jesus, will either conform in order to survive and maintain the freedom to assemble, or it will try to push us over into an anti- government conflict. One is a deliberate path of compromise to keep the preachers in a job. What’s the point in having the freedom to assemble if we can’t tell the truth when we come together? The other, the call to fight the government in the name of Jesus, will justify those who desire to stamp true Christianity from the face of our country. But we must not be drawn into the battle on the terms of the carnal controller; our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

For almost two thousand years the church has tried to establish righteousness by force. Wars have been fought; people have been murdered, vilified, tortured, and ostracized in a vain attempt to force on others what can only occur in the heart. The Kingdom is within. We enter that Kingdom when we believe that Christ was raised from the dead and that, as our Lord, we were raised up with Him.

The only reason our country and the world is where it is today is because those who sought to control us assassinated the fact that we are created in the likeness and image of God and that we have been made righteous in Jesus. By stripping us of our identity, our every pursuit of God and the Kingdom of God was reduced to behavior modification with a sprinkling of religious ceremony and biblical terminology. It was a pretty message with no power.

Be a responsible citizen. But do not for one moment think that the war you must win is “out there.” To complain about our country and not be a better citizen is hypocrisy. To want change and not be the change is a contraindication of all Jesus taught and modeled. Open your Bible; discover who you are in Jesus. Know and experience God for yourself. Write the truth of your identity on your heart. Become immovable in your faith. You don’t have to be an activist, just actively be who you are in Christ! Establish the Kingdom of God by influencing the hearts of others through your own life of love and kindness. Be who you are in Jesus. Show the world the love of God they have never seen through institutionalized Christianity. You be a light in a dark world.

When explaining why some people would never experience the truth Jesus said, For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matt. 13:12) We get more of what we have in our heart. We see more of what we have already decided to see. Our understanding of anything becomes more locked into our preconceived ideas because that is how we need to see it; in other words, it is our world view that determines how we see the world, therein how the world becomes.

Our world view drives our scientific, political, and religious beliefs. Those who have their security in Jesus don’t mind asking questions and don’t mind being asked. In fact, those who are secure are comfortable with the idea that we may not know the answers. But those who build a false persona of spirituality tend to feel secure by being right and controlling the information. If your security is in your ideas instead of your Savior, those who challenge your ideas threaten your security and in that fear you become an irrational defender of the faith. You attack, slander, and assassinate others in the name of Jesus. You create an imaginary enemy out there while nurturing your own demons through fear, intolerance, and unbelief.

Jesus said all things are possible to him who believes. Instead of making excuses for the impotence of the church or our own ministry, if we would go back to the place where we started our journey, that place of surrendering all to Him, that hungering for all He is, then maybe, just maybe, we would be filled! If we are living and thinking in a realm where few things are possible maybe we believe what man has said more than what Jesus said.

The Spirit of the Living God is the Teacher; He will teach you. Part of this covenant we have in Christ is based on the fact that we don’t have to teach one another to know God. Every man can know God for himself in Christ! Teachers don’t control the truth, they point you to the truth and then the same Spirit that is in them can speak to you and help you experience that truth in a way that works in your life.

After teaching the famous parable of The Sower and the Seed Jesus said we would only get the benefit from the word we heard in relation to the amount of thought, study, and meditation we give it. After we have heard the truth we don’t need someone else to explain it. We need to ponder it and allow the Great Teacher to speak in our hearts and draw every life-giving element of that word. And He will gladly lead you to the answer of every question.

(I am not an enemy of the church, but I have no use for religion. Religion sets aside the finished work of Jesus and instead exalts rules and regulations that do nothing to benefit the world for whom Jesus died. I am so very thankful for those pastors who really do want to help people. They have that ability and heart to build organizations that really have a Kingdom purpose and Kingdom values. Institutions that exist to keep people in jobs and support the failed ego of its leaders are the darkness that has kept the world from seeing God as He is. You’re the only one who knows if that is what you are doing. No one has the right to judge your motives. I encourage every believer to be a part of a healthy church, free of control, built on the love of God, that exalts Jesus and His finished work as Lord. If you are in a church that is mean, controlling, legalistic, and judgmental – run! )

Escape From Codependent Christianity by Dr. James B. Richards