Jubilee 99 - Wineskins - Accountability Joseph Campbell speaks of Jubilee 98-type symbols. New Wine Skins are a very common symbol or affect image to call for a religious revival. This pattern is that the gospel and Kingdom of Christ is fermenting wine. However, the book of Proverbs and common sense knows that this is not Biblical and not complimentary to the Incarnate God of the Universe. Your mom knew that if she put new grape juice in a sterilized jar it would not ferment. Christ put the Gospel in ceremonially pure earthen vessels. This would prevent fermentation. A site on the web speaks of buying five gallon cans of grape juice. He opens it to air and yeast, puts it in the sun and it ferments.Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you John 15:3
The affect image is noted by Campbell who wrote:
"Standing in the bowl of the winged serpent, we are inside that sacramental chalice, drinking with our eyes, so to say, the intoxicant, there symbolized as wine, of the mystery of the substance of our being." - Joseph Campbell, Creative Mythology
Joseph Campbell notes two areas of concern about ancient paradigms: First, the symbols of the old group loose their punch and no longer work. The "food supply" is found to be just "empty calories." The second problem is more severe: when the group opens itself up to direct spirit influences the spirit will most often be from outside the group or the "grapes of Sodom":
"when the symbols provided by the social group no longer work, and the symbols that do work are no longer of the group, the individual cracks away,
becomes disassociated and disoriented, and we are confronted with what can only be named a pathology of the symbol." (Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By, p. 89).
This should warn that immaturity and confusion about masculinity or spirituality makes us vulnerable to new symbols and promises to keep. The new symbols appeal to what Campbell notes may be pathological impulses needing to be anchored by a new symbol.
In the "new wineskin" model of the church which seems to propel Jubilee 99, there is an urge to get the wine fermenting again and expanding the wineskin to make it expansive enough for all "sincere" opinions to fit without exploding. However, in the literal wineskin, opening it permits strange yeasts to come in and you might get vinegar -- "more harm than good."
We should all know that symbols manipulate the unthinking mind. When we loose our anchor in Christ we may not know why or be able to control the mind-manipulating as change agents employ the psychological weapons (instruments) against us:
"Now the first and most important effect of a living mythological symbol is to waken and give guidance to the energies of life.
It is an energy-releasing and directing sign, which not only 'turns you on,' as they say today, but turns you on in a certain direction,
making you function a certain way --
which will be one conducive to your participation in the life and purposes of a functioning social group." (Joseph Campbell, Myths To Live By, p. 89).
Campbell noted that the old religions no longer work because the clergy has often abandoned the old "juice" by abandoning the Biblical role or "skin" in which God placed them --
"And even, finally, in their intimate role of giving spiritual advice, the clergy have
now been overtaken by the scientific psychiatrists -- and indeed to such a degree that many clergymen are themselves returning to psychologists to be taught how best to serve their pastoral function.
The magic of their own traditional symbols works no longer to heal
(the milk and water symbol of Scripture) but only to confuse (drunk without wine)." (Joseph Campbell, p. 91).
This is why they can "flash the dead symbol" to produce an "affect image" and bypass the rational mind of the most educated member of the church.
- He don't say nothing,
- he don't do nothing,
- he just keeps bubbling along.
And the people love it -- until the "mind kicks in." These "don't get caught changing the system symbols" work with the ignorant but that is enough -- often even the slow mind kicks in.
Spiritualism is Legalism
The symbol of Jubilee 99 or the Pope's Jubilee 200 has mystical power. Is this new wine or just an old drug? To keep the "mind from kicking in" the psychologists pretend that to question any of these religious movements is to commit the sin of "judgmentalism" or "legalism" --trying to "quench the Spirit" or "stop the wine from fermenting" or "opposing God's annointed." However, when the mind kicks in students of spirit-enhancing movements note what is clear in the history of ancient religions--
"That the spiritualistic and the legalistic are not polar opposites but in fact correlatives has been one of the discoveries of this study... If the Spirit does not come to us freely in Christ then
we must go to him through some kind of spiritual achievement and this means, ultimately, via law." "
One of the most striking aspects of the Scrolls is the coincidence in them of a 'legalistic' and a 'charismatic' piety." (Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit, p. 229)
The confessed use of Musical Worship Teams, Musical Worship Facilitators (manipulators) or Pastoral Musicians in order to lead the audience into the presence of God is rank legalism. Nothing is more labor intensive than "talented" musical performances which "bottle up" years of intensive training for performance.
Because Jesus said "my words are spirit and life" those who depend totally upon the "unfermented" Word of God are spiritual (not perfect) people. However, any attempt to arouse or awaken god or the members through some exciting ritual is true legalism. The "kicked in mind" finally reaches this conclusion.
Palming Off Old Wineskins
We should understand the double-speak of change agents. The stated goal is to get a new wineskin to hold the fermenting, bubbling, red-in-the-vat, wine of the gospel. However, this may be a secret code word known only to the mind manipulators. The history is that shakers and movers most often want to get both new wine and a new wineskin.
That is, change the name of the church and change the nature of its worship to a wine worship which has always been with "wine, women and song." The way to detect this total repackaging, and repudiation of the old, is to see whether they adopt legalist worship patterns which existed before the final atonement and the final Jubilee by Christ. These legalistic symbols promise something new and refreshing but may just be a revival of the ancient Jubilee which would deny the ultimate redemption:
"Church history is rife with examples demonstrating how virtually every past renewal has been hampered because the new wine has been
routinely repackaged into old wineskins.
By the old wineskin, I mean those traditional church practices that are
patterned after the old Judaic religious system which
(1) separated God's people into two separate classes, (2) required the presence of human mediators, (3) erected sacred buildings, and (4) laid stress on outward form and ritual. The facets of the old wineskin are many: (5) the clergy/laity distinction, (6) the spectator-performer styled church meeting, (7) the single-pastor system, the (8) program-driven worship service, (9) the passive priesthood, (10) the edifice-complex, etc."
The way to fool the fools is to turn things upside down. The new wineskin suddenly looks just like the old wineskin. We have the "fermenting" worship ritual, legalistic Jewish holy days, dominant "located evangelists" (an oxymoron), a sit down and shut up congregation and programs which look good on the resume:
"Thus, the present cry of the Spirit of God for genuine renewal will never become a reality to those who ignore His concurrent voice regarding the call for a new wineskin -
the same wineskin that was fashioned under the New Covenant when the church was born.
While not a few have presumed that God has largely left the wineskin of church practice to the pragmatic whims of well-intentioned men, the Lord has not left us to ourselves concerning the pattern for His church. We so often forget that the church belongs to Christ and not to us! As in the Old Testament type, no peg of the tabernacle was left to the imagination of man. Rather, the house was to be built "according to the pattern" given from above. ( Frank A. Viola, RETHINKING THE WINESKIN The Practice of the New Testament Church)
It is clear that Jubilee 99 has tapped into a very magical spot among some and a very, ugly spot among others. Perhaps neither know why. We are all disgusted with the "dogma" which is paraded as "doctrine" just because it gets its ideas from the Bible. However, Jubilee 99 would be more successful if it did not try to add other cast off symbols from denominational failures.
When the old destructive pattern of the church is exchanged for the ancient paradigm of wineskins and music, the new wineskin will become rigid, inflexible and some young turk will overthrow it as "decadent" and "deleterious" because:
Nothing is clearer in history than the adoption by successful rebels of the methods they were accustomed to condemn in the forces they deposed. --Will and Ariel Durant Click Here to see the ongoing neo-pagan methods of forcing change.
Kenneth Sublett
Some timely books you may want to take a look at:
The Practice of the New Testament Church
(Revised Edition)
by Frank A. Viola
This is a ground-breaking look at the nature and life of the early church through the lens of God's eternal purpose. Packed to the gills with Scripture, Wineskin demonstrates beyond dispute that the modern institutional church doesn't have a right to exist! A devastating book ... and a must read for all who have a passion to see first-century ways restored.
WHO IS YOUR COVERING?
A Fresh Look at Leadership, Authority, and Accountability (Revised Edition) by Frank A. Viola Issues involving leadership and authority have been a problem for countless Christians. Leadership can be a helpful servant or a debilitating nightmare. This book answers every conceivable question that is raised about how leadership, authority, and accountability functioned in the early church. It takes dead aim at the abuses of authority that mark many modern churches and sheds fresh light on how to secure Christ's Headship in His Body today.
FOR ORDERS IN THE UNITED STATES AND OVERSEAS
- Order from SeedSowers Christian Books, P.O. Box 285,
- Sargent, GA 30275
- To Order Call 1-800-228-2665
Other Indexes on This Site
<img src="cgi-bin/Count.cgi?df=piney/counter_WinAfect.html.dat">
