The Great Commission & Self-Oppression

7/31/2019 The Great Commission & Self-Oppression

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The Great Commission & Self-Oppression Dr. Joseph Luxum

Copyright 2012 New Wine PublishingAll Rights Reserved

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The Great Commission & Self-Oppression

Perhaps you do not realize that you quite involuntarily, and totally unnecessarily so,oppress yourself. Here Id like to tell you what the Lord reveled to me this earlymorning.

As I was waking up I was just coming out of a dream in which I saw bent over peoplewith closed hands clutching their breasts and looking down. The sun was beaming lighton them, the day was bright, but they could not see anything else, but only theirmiserable selves; and the ground they watched.

I saw green pastures, and on them animals peacefully grazing, just as those I have seensome years back in Kenya. The animals seemed happier than the people I saw. When Icame closer to those people I could hear their muffled language, as if all dialects andaccents were amalgamated into that one German-sounding language. I was quiteconcerned for those stooped people; and wondered as to what is that oppresses them somuch.

Then I saw a smiling face of Jesus, as if in the clouds thundering down on us from thesky with His awesome voice saying,

[Mark 16:15] Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

[Acts 1:7-8] It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father hasfixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit hascome upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in allJudea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

As I was coming out of the dream and out of my sleep I have realized what Ive beendealing with.

You can correct me if I am wrong, but this is the understanding Jesus gave me in thedream.

1. Watch the European nations and you will see differences like these. The British,Spanish, Portuguese, French, Belgian, Dutch, and even Italy to a lesser degree,colonized other lands. The Russians, Swedes, Polish, Hungarians, Austrians andGermans were doing the cooking in the same potthe European Continent.The result? Introverted mentality.

2. The second point is this: the religious indoctrination as to being humble, modest,e.g., pooror pretending, not outgoing, not reaching out too far, not seekingfame etc, produced hypocrisy and self-centeredness. Self-defeatism and hencedisobedience to the Great Commission, Go into all the World and preach.

3. As a third point, the self plays predominant role in the self-centered mentalitybecause under the pretenses of being modest, which is falsely equated withgodliness, the German speaking people did not reach out to the world as forexample the British did. (Right or wrong, even if they did it in selfishness; the


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point is that even that changed their outlook for they dealt with other peoplesmentalities.)

America has gone out all the way for the preaching of the Gospel to the entire creation.It started with missionaries; and many local churches have been missions-oriented,raising funds for missionaries abroad. Tent evangelism and huge tent evangelismimpacted Americans and beyond. The biggest Television Networks like TBN, Daystar,LeSEA, Inspiration, or Sky Angel Networks are busy with the preaching of the Gospeland those that support it financially do so faithfully. Their mentality is to reach out, andreach out again and again.

Anything that is introverted leads to stagnation and even to implosionan innerdestruction of spiritual life. This implosion becomes apparent in depressive thoughts,heaviness, self-analysis, self-doubt and hence doubting God; as if being bipolar, beingdivided, staying on two tracks and going nowhere. The more one looks inward, sort of,controlling ones urges, can be called moralitybut when it comes to the holy urgeslike doing charity, or supporting an evangelist on the mission fieldthat inward

mentality becomes a hindrance. So we ought not throw the bath water with the baby.

Those who are of the outgoing disposition are often being squashed as if they weredoing something wrong. Money is not being viewed as means to do more for the workof the Great Commission, but a symbol of power; which is equated with pride.Subconsciously and often automatically, it is being suppressed as something wrong. Butis it wrong? That is self-oppression and in many cases even self-terrorism. Whensomeone cannot say certain words, like missionary or Jesus Christ in Judaism, orIsrael or Jew in fundamentalist Islam that someone accepted self-oppression just tofit in. This is the point, just to fit in that oppressive frame is like a heavy yoke on yourneck.

Another sign of self-oppression is the replacement theology. An emotion of jealousy,superiority and competition arises when dealing with Jews as a whole. Christian Pastorswould rather do good work for a Jew, but never be taught by one. In the mind of someChristian pastors Jews have nothing to say, and nothing to teach, and this comes fromsuperiority complex or downright supremacy. As a matter of fact, and sadly so, this sortof mentality Luther injected into his clergymen. The reformation brought theknowledge of salvation by grace and free of charge but on the other handstrengthened supremacy. Putting down others, like Jews, reached the extremes. Basedon this extreme sentiment that the Jews have nothing to tell the superior Christianwho got it, while the Jew missed it is a continual self-oppression.

For a born-again Jew this is painful indeed, for he has so much to give, but no one seemsto be interested. Even if someone is interested that interest is always mixed withsuspicion. Worse. Such is labeled in-error to the Christian theologywhich seems to befenced in - gate closed. Its sad indeed.

Another problem people face is that they would rather be preachy than share somethingpersonal, from the heart, unless it is some kind of religious vision or picture, which mustbe examined as if being of God, or perhaps of the devil. Then comes the correct and


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the incorrect interpretation; and thats bondage too. People are afraid to share theirheart, lest they might be labeled false; as a result theyd rather shut up. Thatsbondage.

[2 Cor. 3:17] Now the Lord (Jesus) is the Spirit, and where the Spirit ofthe Lord is, there is liberty.

Q. Why did they hate Jesus?A. Because He did not fit in.Q. Why they wanted to get rid of Jesus?A. Because people were drawn to liberty.Q. Where does the miraculous work?A. In liberty.Q. Why Jesus could not perform a miracle in Nazareth?A. They restricted the liberty of expression.Q. Why we do not see miracles today?A. We oppress ourselves and grieve the Holy Spirit thereby.

Going out means: going out, travelling, reaching out to others, transforming lives,healing the sick, raising the dead; big meetings, big crowds, all possible media,publishing books, and make people read them through exciting/appetizing advertising,etc. When a German-speaking person sees someone like that he or she draws back, andfor some inexplicable reason tries to suppress this sort of outgoing activity as if beingwrong. Why?

But in the secrets of their mind many dream of (self) greatness, popularity, fame, nameand riches, but here again, that is being also suppressed as being selfish. So, using thesame mentality some view a ministerwho goes out into the entire world obeying

Jesusas someone that does not reach out to the lost, but someone that goes for fame,name and wealth. This subjective sentiment speaks of bondage of all bondages; it is self-terrorism and self-oppression. Worse. With these bondages they also bind those whoare free in Christ. As a result such people create clique type of a group having someoneall to themselves and the heck with the world, as long as the I is satisfied.

Reinhard Bonnke. This humble missionary man sort of exploded to the scene in Africaand is being supported by Germans, for after all he is German, and represents Germany,that sort of greatness Germans do support, but a foreigner they are rather slow tosupport. For after all he or she is a foreigner and does not represent the great nation ofGermany like Bonnke does. Therefore, in view of that which has been said above, inpoint #1, we must look at ourselves from Gods point of view rather than the

nationalistic one. An anointed vessel of God is anointed for world evangelism; hence forthis sort of greatness.

Benny Hinn, a foreigner, came to America and today is the most celebrated preacher. (Agood or bad preacher, agree or disagree; whether I am for or against, really dont matterhere, for what Jesus is after is obedience to His Great Commission. Thats the point.)However, we go about it, the going out takes lots of money and exposure to many morepeople than just a small group.


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The apostles were also introverted and hesitated to go out. The self-love in Peter wasevident in the Joppa experience. God forced him to go to Caesarea.

Out of that frustration with those introverts Jesus called yet another apostle of His ownchoice, Paul, who practically became a slave to the Great Commission.

Out of all disciples/apostles only Philip was called an evangelist. God loved Philip whodid not waste precious time on self-analysis. Philip obeyed and obeyed; every actioncalls for reaction, which in his case was translation. The Holy Spirit snatched Philip andtransported him to another place in a split second.

Self-oppression is a disease, which must be dealt with. You need a shot of the holypenicillin to kill that disease. Today, the neo-Nazis thrive because the soil is still fertile,which they feed on. Self-centeredness leads to disobedience to what Jesus commissionedus to do.

Once I stayed in a monastery where I spoke with monks who explained the words ofJesus in their own subjective way. They exalted prayer for the world, above all otherthings. They said to me that they do not need to go out, but rather stay in. They praythree times a day, tend their gardens and beehives; and thats the extent of theiroutgoings into all the world and preaching the Gospel. In a similar way some would notsupport a missionary evangelist with more, just in case that evangelist might becometoo proud. So, fame of an author, or a songwriter, preacher in their mind wouldendanger modesty. Endanger is the word. False modesty is a put-on modesty and hasnothing to do with being a living sacrifice by being obedient to the Master. This sort ofthinking comes from an introverted mentality, which would be all right if one would notreach out to others in mercy and with Gods love. If one writes romance novels just to

sell, or be a motivational speaker to the business peopleeager to make more moneythen thoughts of modesty and humility would apply, but not when we obey the MasterLord Jesus who had commissioned us to go out and preach the Gospel.

Imagine. You are obeying Jesus. You are going out into the nations of the world,preaching the Gospel to all creation, millions know you, and thousands support you,plus millions read your books, lives are transformed, people come to God, their thinkingis made clear, etc. Is that righteousness or something wrong? From an introverted pointof view it does endanger modesty or humility of the unstable and fearful person.Which one are you?

[Proverbs 28:1] The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the

righteous are bold as a lion.

[Acts 4:31] And when they had prayed, the place where they hadgathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the HolySpirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

The first time I arrived in Germany and spoke in the Markt Kirche (Market Church) inHalle, which was being build as a Catholic church and then was finished as Lutheran; I


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preached with boldness. I was outright rejected and hatred was clearly displayed,blaming me for being too bold or immodest. How can you talk like that? They shoutedat me. On the next day I made a long list of scriptures that were flowing in a logicalmanner just like a good sermon should. One after another, one after another I have letthe word of God speak for itself and only Gods boldness was manifested. I did notspeak from my mind and have not added anything else, but only quoted the Scripture.Imagine, they did gnash their teeth against that too, for they felt that they were beingtricked by this (Hm hm hm)

Boldness is unnatural, but very much supernatural. Here is another story.

I heard God telling me to go to Russia for a nth time and again smuggle Bibles. Acouple days before my flight I had a frightful dream. I woke up in a cold sweat. It wasclear to me that I was going to be arrested and imprisoned. It was still Communism(1984), and I was more than a Bible smuggler. There were many other reasons thatmight have given the authorities grounds, not only for my indefinite arrest, but also foran exile to Siberiaas I was later threatened with.

I asked the Lord regarding this dream, which obviously He gave as a warning againstmy going. Being quite confident in my logic I asked Him if I should go? To mysurprise, He said that He had appointed an angel to deliver me and that I should go toMoscow. I reasoned within myself as to whether I should stick my neck out, and see theangel, or stay where I was and see no angel. I chose the first option because an educatedfaith dictates it. (Some years earlier, I had made a solid covenant with God regardingmy own will. Well, I lost my will then. My life ceased to be precious in my own eyes,neither had I realized then that I no longer have my own free will nor do I have myown eyes. All is His.) Imagining things is empty and futile. Proving things as comingfrom God is not just the substance, but also the actual work of faith.

I went straight into the lions mouth. I was searched, arrested and imprisoned, butbefore they took me, God appointed a time for me to preach the Gospel. I snapped theopportunity knowing very well that this was my chance to fulfill my mission in life asHis Evangelist. I picked up one of the confiscated Bibles. I lifted it and said, This is thebread of life, which you are about to take away from the hungry mouths. From there onit was like prophesying. All the arriving travelers were not in a great hurry to goanywhere. They stood around me for about 20 minutes while I kept preaching inRussian. (I learned Russian in school, and from my father, a native of Russia.) No onedared to move. All officers stood frozen, still and terribly perspiring. Their frightenedred faces dripped sweat.

People just stood there watching this wild preacher. I was practically laying down mylife for the Gospel. The Lion of Judah in me roared, and I seemed to have lost mynatural senses. I sort of watched myself through their eyes. It was unusual.

I finished my preaching and invited all those around me (about 100 people) to give theirlives to Jesus. One of the Customs officers in charge whispered in my ear telling me thathis mother was also a born-again Christian. Then I told him, Now you know what todo with those Bibles. He winked.


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The next day, an angel of the Lord with a smiling face came to rescue me. My being wasflooded with the heavenly peace. Then, he told me to run after him. I wanted toremember his face. All I can say is that his rather golden short hair was well trimmed.His eyes were piercing blue. His face glowed. His skin seemed transparent without onecrease or wrinkle, discoloration or even a minute pimple. He wore a high-rankingmilitary uniform and everyone along the way saluted. He took me through all thesecurity checkpoints bypassing all the metal detecting gates and scanners. There was notime to go through it. Everyone watched us running in disbelief as if Yuri Andropovhimself was passing through. He brought me to a plane departing for Frankfurt, WestGermany. He seated me in First-Class. The plane was almost completely empty. Thedoor closed, and I arrived in Frankfurt.

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It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His ownauthority.Jesus said. We would rather sit on our warm pillows and sort out epochs oftime, or speculate as to the exact date Jesus might return. Worse. We would formulate

our theses about God and His ways, which is theology. Would that please Him? I donot think so. This disease must go. Being introverted leads to implosion.

A visionary is not blind. An Olympic jumper knows how high he can jump. A prophetknows whats ahead, and so he dares the impossible. But, impossibilities are onlyviewed as such by those who have lost their vision.

[Ephesians 2:14-17] For He Himself is our peace, who made bothgroups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, byabolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandmentscontained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into

one new man, (John 10:16) thus establishing peace, and might reconcilethem both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put todeath the enmity. And HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOUWHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERENEAR.

Peace is mixed with altruism, consideration, intuition, and deduction. I call it the mercyfactor. Helping someone else heals and restores, for in helping others, I also help myself.

In the 80s, an expedient and self-serving trend started in Christianity. It started withthe PTL TV network. Americans started to lose their missionary outreach vision. Toomany Christians started to get more interested in rewards for their own wonderful

faith and their own goodness instead of beaming the light of grace beyond theirfrontiers.

It was the missionaries that made Great Britain great and spread Americas influence farand wide, like Hawaii and Guam. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Bahamas arewhat they are today thanks to Christian missionary activities. Knowing this, someIslamists forcefully convert many today. Many in Africa and Asia have fallen under thespell of Islam, which uses the Koran based intimidation.


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We ought to be careful how we present the Gospel, for if you threaten people with Helland eternal damnation then you do not seek Gods lost children, but strangers. Theprodigal sons and daughters have always been Gods children, but they went astray, weseek them out by driving sense into their clouded minds. The Gospel is that sense, but ifit is a bunch of nonsense then we better leave it alone. This world has enough ofreligious confusion.

If we intimidate people with those things like devils, hell and lakes of fire for eternity;then we do what Muhammad wrote in his Koran. Is our God an oppressor?

Is God a terrorist? A strange question isnt it? But, let me bring here Yasser Arafat whospoke at the UN Assembly in 1974. Arafat stated that Zionism is racism and that theJews are a religion and have no right to national self-determination. According toArafat, UN Resolution 181, partitioning Palestine, was invalid and that it was theZionists who attacked the Arabs in 1948. Arafat told the UN General Assembly thatterrorism is permissible as long as it has the right goals.

Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun.Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat: do not let theolive branch fall from my hand.

Obviously, the gun represents the threat and the olive branch a peace offering. In otherwords give me the land or else. In the same we portray God. Accept My Son Jesus andHis sacrifice on the cross or else youll burn in Hell.

Some fundamentalist Muslims do not know Gods love the way we do. Our HeavenlyFathers love for His Son, and through Him also for us is a strange thing to a Muslimwhose outreach has nothing to do with the love of Christ, or the freedom of the Holy

Spirit. Instead, it is filled with punishments, intimidations, and threats of lashes, orbeheadings. So many Muslim are oppressed, stuck in the letter of their holy book.

America opened the gates of mercy to countless immigrants until protectionism andracism slowed the pace of entry. Time rolled on, and all of a sudden scientific andcreative geniuses started to also come; some became famous, others remained unknown.Extraordinary artists, writers, and inventors are being squashed and stonewalledbecause theyve got no prayer in this world of clandestine protectionism and specialinterests. The land of opportunity is not shrinking, but the opportunities are.

When I came to this land of opportunity in 1979, I came with just the shirt, pants, andshoes I wore on my body. That was all. I ran from oppression and a crazy system of

limited space and limited thoughts. I wanted to bloom, and I have. But, what I see todayis the reversal of the American values as I came to know them. Americans seem to beobsessed with their identities because they were born here. They sing BruceSpringsteens Born in the USA as if that alone is some great achievement.

Americans crave culture and antiquated history; when they did not find it here, theytried to invent it. Those ancient genes echo that distant past, although the FoundingFathers wanted to start something new, and to certain extent they have succeeded. Lets


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continue their legacy and focus on the new. God loves the new. There are no antiques inheaven. Everything is constantly new.

We must be careful to not oppress people for if we do; that oppression usually turns onitself and on the one that caused it in the first place.

I must say that I have obeyed my Master. I travelled the globe preaching the Gospeland was successful in bringing tens of thousands new souls into Gods kingdom. Yes, Iwas persecuted, rejected, beaten and spitted upon my face. If I took all these thingspersonally I would perhaps become ill and die, but the boldness of the Lion of Judahwithin me does not give up so easily. Once He calls you; He anoints you; and once Heanoints you; He sends you out; and once you are sent; you must preach and practicallylay down your life for the Gospel.

[Romans 10:14-15] How then will they call on Him in whom they havenot believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach

unless they are sent? Just as it is written, How beautiful are the feet ofthose who bring good news of good things!

Miracles signs and wonders follow the preaching of this potent message of the Gospel,and quite naturally so. It is all in one package. Unless you have assumed that you areanointed; and then have sent yourself, you cant be anointed and sent out; and yet see nomiracles. Some are self-motivated hirelings who go for rewards of different sorts, likefame, name and money, but thats just unavoidable; the package also includes it. Inwhatever way the Gospel is being preached, what really matters is the obedience to theGreat Commission.

[Philippians 1:15-18] Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even fromenvy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love,knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the formerproclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives,thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Onlythat in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is

proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.

Here is a typical example of the sons and hirelings. Obviously, since it was given to Paulto see it, by this very measure of insight; Paul is Gods son, not a hireling. Even his lastsentence, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, speaks of Pauls belonging asson, a living sacrifice.

Apostle Paul never used the word hell. Not once. Sons do not talk about hell thatsoppression and we are called to lift all forms of oppression.

[Luke 4:18] The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach thegospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery ofsight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed. Jesus.

The Great Commission & Self-Oppression

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