Much attention has been given to this video of
Bishop Wayne T Jackson of Great Faith Ministries of Detroit, consecrating 2 gentlemen to the office of Bishop. As you will note, during the ceremony, Bishop Jackson not only covers up the 2 men in effort to simulate burial, but also lays on the men in prayer in effort to symbolize the men being raised with a new spirit or empowerment for their office. Although it is being removed as rapidly as possible due to much internet chatter on the subject, here is the video:
Bishop climbs onto of men during ceremony part 1 by expozethismess
First, The Error
This is certainly in error. The problem I have is not only that the ceremony is out of order as biblically, we don't see anyone laying on top of another in order to consecrate them to office. Although we do observe within scripture where a prophet (Elisha) laid on a dead person and the young boy was healed,
2 Kings 4:32-35 ~ 32-And when Elisha was
come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
33-He went in
therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 34-And
he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his
eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon
the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35-Then he returned,
and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him:
and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
Then there is Paul himself that laid on an individual to speak life into his body when he fell dead in a Christian gathering:
Acts 20: 9-12 ~ 9-And
there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a
deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell
down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. 10-And Paul went down,
and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his
life is in him. 11-When he therefore was
come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even
till break of day, so he departed. 12-And they brought the
young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
We do not see any association of this type with installation into office or anything similar.
No one is dead in this scenario, and therefore any biblical example of death and resurrection is misapplied. Of all things, the minister is not a "dead" individual. The scripture says he (the minister) is a "flaming fire" (Ps. 104:4). This represents one who is live and lively and ready for God's use. So at the very least, this is not a representation of one who is "dead" at least in the service of the Lord. So, there is gross error in the representation and the enigma of a minister dying in God's service, yet alone of one laying on another in the service of the Lord. That type of representation is more akin to baalism than anything else.
Here are the scriptures dealing with consecration and whether physically or figuratively, 'HANDS" not bodies were supposed to be laid upon the individual to encourage him into office.
1 Timothy 4:14 ~ Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the
laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
2 Timothy 1:6 ~ Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is
in thee by the putting on of my hands.
Second, The Danger Of Christian "Blossip"
Since we can readily see that Bishop Jackson erred, or at the very least, needs space to tell why he did what he did from a biblical standpoint, the greater problem I have is that the Christian community has arisen in the promotion of what only amounts to GOSSIP by saying that this ceremony is wrong because it resembles a Catholic, Masonic or Buddhist rite. Then some are saying that the Bishop was performing a homosexual act. Are you serious????
The fact is that there is NO EVIDENCE that it resembles either of these accusations and what evidence that does exist is spurious and based on conjecture to say the least.
Listen, this event is wrong simply because it IS WRONG, not because it represents being gay, or because it is Masonic, Catholic or Buddhist. It is simply out of biblical order, wrong and scripturally unsupportable. That is the answer that the church dedicated to truth should give.
Third, The Error Filled "Christian" Defense
I can't conclude this without further pointing out that some have arisen to give an apologetic for this act. According to our friends at GCMWatch.com, one named
Bishop Corletta J. Vaughn has arisen to say that what the Bishop was doing was preforming what is called a "a full body covering" in effort to "empower" and strengthen the minister into the service of his new office as Bishop. Although she would not allow this practice to be done to her, when she was consecrated (for obvious reasons) she defends the right of the officials or person consecrating. Her statements:
 |
| Bishop Corletta J. Vaughn |
"I don’t know if Bishop Jackson’s Consecration service is available, but if you were to see how he was ordained you would understand what is happening on this video. PLEASE do not disrespect the procedure or this Man of God; nor the men who received this new level of leadership. Pageantry is honorable!”...
When I was consecrated as a Bishop (this is controversial too) My Chief Presider did NOT lay on me! I was asked if that’s the format I wanted and I said NO. Obviously these men agreed and said yes. Its their experience and their elevation. I have NOTHING to say about it being right or wrong.”
As stated, in my opinion, that is just as much in error as anything else. Any "disrespect" has been demonstrated by the act and actions themselves. This is not a biblically centered ceremony. It is clearly not the fault of the onlooker that these things occurred, so they should not be blamed for assessing what they see. In addition the Bishop refers to "pageantry" of the consecration event being honorable. Where is that written? In some handbook for consecration or in the bible itself? Pageantry, although not evil in and of itself, is certainly NOT a Christian or biblically centered moral value. That is a humanistically inspired value that has no or at best very little, place in spiritual things. So it is hard to get a grip on the defense of the Bishop regarding these things.
Conclusion
We need not invoke the Masons or some kind of secret rite or ritual to know that Bishop Jackson was in error. The fact is that there is no history of this type of event among Christians. It is not a Catholic ceremony as Catholics don't jump on people on the floor. Masons that have been consulted, don't find any resemblance to any ritual that they perform and Lord knows about Buddhism.
So far as the death and burial aspects of this, as Christians we perform baptisms all the time without the inference that we are practicing a Masonic or Buddhist rite. In fact Baptism is representative of the life, death, burial and resurrection to new life that the Christian experiences. So to say that a death and resurrection rite is Masonic is plain old silly.
If we are critical, at least let us be critical based on TRUTH...not BLOSSIP and GOSSIP. In my efforts of blogging, I can say that I have tried to make sure that every thing that is presented here is indeed fact or is supportable with some credible evidence and most of that is witnessed by more than just myself. My opinions are just that and everyone, including myself, is entitled to them, however, even for that one should usually have some support for as well.
I would hope that as believers, we could rise to the point that we look for the truth of an issue rather than for a worldly parallel to make a point or an example and all kinds of misstatements of fact. There is no need for false facts. The only thing necessary is factual truths.
John 8:32 ~ And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Blessed!
Read: Bishop Wayne T. Jackson Response
