The Heart of The Matter

By all appearances, Brenda and Brad were a successful young couple. They dressed impeccably, were athletic, and drove BMW’s. After becoming Christians, they channeled their ambitious drives for success into becoming deeply involved in a local church. They became active in various ministries, holding dinners and prayer meetings. Their winsome and outgoing personalities attracted many. It seemed they were born for ministry. Not long thereafter, Brenda and Brad gained the attention of Henry, the senior pastor. A bond of friendship grew. In time, Brad became Henry’s associate pastor. But trouble was brewing under the surface.

On the outside, Brenda and Brad seemed to have the perfect marriage. Brad was poised and strong, but through his new position, Brenda was slowly becoming more intimidating. She could be emotionally overwhelming. After Brad had been four years on staff, the pastor began to notice that Brenda’s opinions now seemed to overrule Brad’s wishes. He would simply cave into Brenda’s strong and unflinching will.

Just as she had done with Brad, Brenda began to exert her strong will toward Henry. If she was not given a position for which she had lobbied, Brenda would pout and vent her disappointment. This unchecked rebellion was now turning into anger and bitterness. Although she maintained a face of compliance in front of Henry, she began to spread lies, saying he had a deep-seeded hatred of women. Although she had never approached Henry about her feelings, he had begun to hear rumors of what was being said behind his back.

On several occasions, Henry approached Brad about the rumors. This strategy seemed to quiet Brenda, but the calm was only momentary. Periodically, Brenda’s anger would explode in staff meetings. During those times, she would confront Henry in a hostile and derogatory way. Soon, Brenda was meeting privately with other leader’s wives and stirring up dissension. Two staff members resigned as a result.

From behind the scenes, Brenda had hoped to stage a coup and instate Brad as the senior pastor. She believed he would make a much better pastor than Henry. However before this could happen, the people began to scatter and run. Half the church left. Then, just when Brenda sensed the ruse was up and Henry was aware that she was the real problem, she convinced Brad to resign. Sadly, Brad never realized what his wife had done.

Gestation Time

As seen in this story, a Jezebel spirit matures over time. This developmental process involves individuals gradually accepting demonically inspired thoughts. Over time, these thoughts became justified in their minds and lead them to take actions which they believe are from God.

As the spirit measures, it will bring forth an abundance of prickly, poisonous, and deadly fruit, which is often disguised as enticing and spiritual. Those who reach for this fruit are pricked by hidden thorns, causing them to bleed, and are poisoned once they eat of its fruit.

Counterfeit Voices

The Jezebel spirit is a treacherous impostor within the church. It counterfeit’s the true prophetic gift, and it imitates and maligns the proper function of prophetic ministries. Other darker counterfeits to the prophetic -- psychics, clairvoyants, palm-readers who practice witchcraft, divination and sorcery -- have arisen to speak about the supernatural. However, a Jezebel spirit is more deceptive, simply because it is less obvious to the untrained eye, and it parades on scriptural grounds.

Although an individual given over to a Jezebel spirit may not practice the black arts or the deep secrets of Satan, they share the same clandestine, demonic roots with those in the occult. In fact, individuals controlled by a Jezebel spirit often bear greater fruit, because their actions covert and their roots become more entrenched before becoming detected.

Every church that embraces a prophetic ministry will have to contend with the Jezebel spirit because this demonic spirit mimics the prophetic gift and callings of God. This spirit actually comes to destroy the prophetic gift. Consequently, it works covertly and its activities are extremely treacherous.

Individuals given over to the spirit often try to enhance and strengthen the power-base by attracting and controlling others, Acting such like a spiritual magnet. Pastors and leaders will need to recognize the working of this covert spirit because it will seek to divide groups and stir up contention, confusion, and deception in the Church.

Allowances For The Immature

A clear distinction must be made between an immature prophetic person and someone who has a Jezebel spirit. Those who are prophetically immature are merely trying to find their rightful place in the Body. They may lack wisdom and humility, however their intention is not to destroy the church. Overly eager and immature prophetic individuals will do things that seem foolish or unwise. But just as we don’t kill our children for their immaturity, neither should we kill those who are in prophetic infancy. Pastors and leaders must make allowances for a young prophetic individual’s childishness. Pastors and leaders must overcome their weakness of having young prophets who need to be trained.

As we -- in the wisdom and counsel of the Lord -- sharpen and hone the skills of those with prophetic gifts, it will bring forth valor and purity in the prophetic ministry. Eventually, such individuals will bring insight, revelation, and wisdom to the Body of Christ. Thus, all the petty difficulties of this gestation period will seem worth the time and effort expended.

During this developmental season, it’s especially important not to maim or abort the gifts of young prophetic Christians by accusing them of having a Jezebel spirit. Pastors and leaders must learn to discern how to bring correction and how to nurture budding prophetic gifts, without wounding or killing people’s spirits.

Sometimes the difference between an immature prophetic person and someone who operates with an immature Jezebel spirit is very subtle. To discern the difference involves looking at the heart of the matter. A young prophetic person begins with a heart to serve God. Thos operating with a Jezebel spirit may have started out with a heart to serve God, but at some point they have departed from that path into one of self-promotion. Several additional points of departure are described more fully below.

1. Selfish Ambition

As scripture advises us:

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each of you esteem others better than himself -- Philippians 2:3

Individuals with a Jezebel spirit, loving the acclaim of others, will often give themselves a title or seek after a leadership position. Demonstrating elitism, they will regard a certain position as being “the most anointed” and dismiss another as being “less anointed” or as not having a voice in the church or in spiritual matters.

They will become zealous to market their gifts and broaden their sphere of influence. Often such individuals will not consult the Lord about where and when to minister. They will simply yield to the need for greater press. As their success increases, they will run to deliver many words, although God has not sent them. They may even believe that as their reputation increases, God’s Kingdom will also increase. However, they are sadly deceived.

On the other hand, prophetic individuals may gravitate initially toward the distinction thrust on them. But as they mature, most will shun any fanfare or publicity. They will realize that being in the limelight only serves to blind their eyes to God’s high calling and that fame actually detracts from spending time alone with the Lord.

Individuals who are called to prophetic ministry must also desire to be held accountable for their words and actions. They should welcome others pointing out their errors and weaknesses. They must learn to submit to spiritual authority. One of the hallmarks of those with the heart of God is how they respond to correction. Those with a Jezebel spirit chafe when corrected, but those operating under the Holy Spirit will repent.

In the process of submission, they learn to die to self-will. This is an incredibly painful process, but all of us must pay the price and crucify our soul, as well as our fleshly desires. Willingness to submit every aspect of life and ministry to the Lord must be evident in those who stand to lead His Church.

2. Personal Gain

While a prophetic person goes through a costly breaking process (Nehemiah 5:14-19), an individual with a Jezebelite rarely makes such sacrifices. For the most part, a Jezebelite will express a persistent drive to demonstrate his or her “prophetic insight.” In doing so, he or she has an ulterior motive and will insist upon some sort of payback -- recognition, fame, money, clothing, or various privileges lavished upon him or her by individuals easily infatuated with supernatural insight.

Quickly, this self-centered individual will notice their prophetic insight can open doors. Consequently, he or she will give into the temptation to use their gift, mixed with human prognostication and personal opinion. Such an individual may read people’s souls and later present their soulish insight as divinely inspired prophecy. When this tainted revelation comes forth, it will lead astray those who are not in tune with the Holy Spirit. So while the Jezebel spirit seeks to tear apart, the prophetic ministry seeks to serve and to encourage others and leave the hearer with a sense of hope.

3. A Lust For Life

Sensual appetites will often run rampant in individuals who operate with a Jezebel spirit. A spirit of lust will eat away at their soul, until it gains control of them. Such lust is not simply sexually oriented. Money, favor, or recognition may feed their ambition and offer desired results. As insatiable thirst for self-indulgent pleasures will grow. Conversely, the work of the Cross will cease to be manifested in this person’s life.

4. Demonic Entanglement

As individuals approach an intermediate level of demonic entanglement, their purposes will become more cunning and deliberate. These individuals will try to control the actions of friends, families, and churches. Whenever false humility, lies, and flattery do not bring about the expected esteem and recognition, these individuals often resort to anger, condemnation, accusation, and domination.

Over time, such individuals will become quite skilled and able to rationalize their brusque behavior with confusing spiritual language. Those who attempt to confront them without being prepared will walk away scratching their heads in confusion and will dismiss the thought that the person had Jezebelite tendencies -- even though their initial discernment was correct.

If their strong will and insubordination are not dealt with, Jezebelites will rebel against any authority that does not agree with them. In addition, they will counsel others to rebel against pastoral authority -- often presenting those who disagree with them as being spiritually blind or naïve. This unchecked rebellion will open the door for other evil spirits to infiltrate them, their followers, or even an entire church. Consequently, a sudden, violent verbal attack may arise and be specifically targeted toward individuals who do not show loyalty or submission to the Jezebelite. Meanwhile, church members who seem indifferent or complacent to this rebellion will end up serving as pawns in a demonic game of win or lose. Tragically, the end result will usually be a church split.

5. A Spirit of Lawlessness

Lawlessness is a term used to describe people who are not restrained or controlled by the law, especially God’s Word. In essence, all rebellion against God is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Those who were responsible for the death of Jesus are characterized as lawless (Acts 2:23). The leader of the end-time rebellion, the Antichrist, is called the man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2).

A spirit of lawlessness unleashes its attack on the Kingdom of God and drives individuals to rebel and oppose God’s appointed leaders. This spirit inspires innuendoes, rumors, lies, slander, manipulation, and control by creating schisms -- or threatening to do so. Thus, whoever covertly challenges and slanders godly pastors and other ministries has violated God’s established rules for His Kingdom. Such thinking is rebellion or sin.

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness -- 1 John 3:4.

Our omniscient God has foreknowledge of each pastor’s theology, gifts, experiences, and personality. With infinite insight, God knows exactly how a pastor will carry out his or her ideas and plans for a church. A pastor’s strengths will probably be evidenced first, followed by their weaknesses -- neither of which surprise God. Thus, a pastor known to hurt people in relationships, whether knowingly or unknowingly, continues to be allowed to lead a church in spite of his or her weaknesses. God is patient, watching faithful pastors mature in character and gifting. Therefore if your pastor offends you, could it be God is using him or her to reveal your heart?