Leoncio, Froilan

Reflection Paper on Under Cover

24 March 2015
Prof ______________

UNDER COVER AND THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP

Published in 2001, Under Cover,1 written by John Bevere, is a book brave in its efforts to
discuss the very delicate issue of authority. It talks about Christians being submissive and
obedient to God and the authorities He established including government, familial, social and
ecclesiastical2 and with this comes the protection of God. More than the utter response of
submission and obedience with the promise of Divine protection tackled from this book, the
weight of roles and responsibility associated with leadership and authority became the focal
point of these ponderings.
As a pastoral leader, I put my paradigm of leadership in the test as I read the book.
Leadership has been a buzzword in todays society that the gravity of the word seems to lighten.
There exists a tall order in leadership; the question would be if leaders will keep up with itespecially pastoral leaders.
Lessons from a song of trust
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.3

1Bevere,John.UnderCover.Nashville:ThomasNelsonInc.,2001.
2Ibid.,8788.
3AllScripturereferencesinthispaperistakenfromtheEnglishStandardVersionunless
otherwiseindicated.

Psalm 91:1-2 is the biblical foundation of the thesis of Bevere4. We see protection for
those under His coverthe one who is under cover is the one who is under Gods authority5.
More than anything else, the main theme of Psalm 91 is the idea of being secured in life on the
basis of trust on a caring God. Reading every line of the song is like listening to the exhortation
of someone to a doubtful audience, a testimony of someone who has been in the trenches and
experienced security, deliverance and assurance.
The psalmists faith and trust in God and His leadership is founded in love- not fear
(91:14). We experience protection because of who He is and not because of what we do. His
mercies are not and never dependent neither in who we are nor in what we do lest no good thing
will ever befall to sinners like us. We do not seek refuge to Him out of the fear of being
vulnerable from evil, pain and suffering; in fact, the psalmist felt these that he learned trusting
God in spite of these. We seek Him because of His very nature- His inherent goodness,
graciousness and compassion- which make Him worthy of trust.
Acts 14:23 tells of how Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in every church.
The leaders were committed to the Lord in whom they had believed. The New International
Version renders it as beautifully saying they committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put
their trust. There is such a big trust given in the Lord especially in appointing the leaders of the
church. As leaders, we must be able to introduce and maintain that God is a God of grace worthy
of the trust of the people. As leaders of the church of the Lord we are not to misrepresent Him
and dishonor Him in anyway. In the language of 1Timothy 2:15, we are to do [our] best to
present [ourselves] to God as approved, worker[s] who [have] no need to be ashamed

4Ibid..4.
5Ibid.,4.

Authority and their Abuse

In the second chapter, it is said that the Kingdom is not being ruled through democracy
but, as Bevere said, by monarchy. the kingdom of God is just that- a Kingdom. It is ruled by
King, and there are rank, order and authority6.
God is the God of order. He is not against organization or authority. To quote Dr.
Agustin Vencer, Jr.:
The very word church (ekklesia) in the Greek world and right down to the New
Testament times was the designation of the regular assembly of the whole body
of citizens in a free city-state, called out by the herald for the discussion and
decision of public business. In the Old Testament, the equivalent word qahal
denotes the congregation or community of Israel. To the Greek, ekklesia
would suggest a self-governing democratic society; to the Jew a theocratic
society shoes members were the subjects of the Heavenly King. The preChristian history of the word had a direct link with its Christian meaning, for
ekklesial in the New Testament is a theocratic democracy, a society of those who
are free, but are always conscious that their freedom springs from obedience to
their king.

The freedom and the joy in obedience were often disregarded by some. There are cases
when those in the position abuse the authority they have. We cannot separate our submission to
Gods inherent authority from our submission to His delegated authority7. This statement by
Bevere is abused by some to instill the absolute power of the office of the pastor.
Spiritual abuse was present even in the Old Testament. It is said in Jeremiah 5:30-31 that,
An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and
the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end
comes?" Instead of serving the people, the leaders used their authorities to abuse the people.
6Ibid.,910.
7Ibid.,11.

They parade that obedience to them is obedience to God and disobedience to them is a direct
disobedience to God. This is a good excuse for the leaders incapacity to lead and direct the
people. First, in the premise of Psalm 91, leadership must be on the basis of trust. Second,
leaders must never operate based on their authority. In Jeremiah, the leaders conditioned the
people that their rule is from the Divine but the truth was they claimed to represent God for
personal gains.
This is again discussed in Jeremiah 6:13-14 which says For from the least to the
greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals
falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is
no peace. The leaders served their own selves and ignored the needs of the people. Their focus
is self above service. To the present times, this is still evident. In the Philippines alone, there
were reports of members being abused by their leaders8. The people were hurt; the Body stained
with issues.
Our People: Our Portion, Our Glory, Our Joy9
Dr. Agustin Vencer, Jr. said in his work Towards a Functional Church in Society:
[Accountability] demands that the church leaders be accountable to God and to
their constituency. The recent scandal in the Roman Catholic Church in the USA
especially regarding sexual misconducts of priests have resulted in damages
estimated at US$6 billion dollars in settlement payment to victims. The
Protestants are not spared either. Other religious groups have not escape the
snare of abuse of position and privilege. Power corrupts and absolute power
corrupts. Christian leadership without accountability is dangerous to the health
of the church and dishonors the Lord of the Church. This would require that the
leaders be not above the law. It is for their own good and that of the ministry that
8AnextremeexampleofabusewhereinsexualabusewascommittedwasthatofPastorThomas
Randall,Perfecto"Toto"LuchavezandMark"Jake"Luchavez.Accessedat
http://www.christianpost.com/news/uspastorandmissionarytomrandalljailedinphilippines
overmolestationsextraffickingclaims112982/on21March2015.
9ThisisthebattlecryoftheCouncilofLeadersofJesusReignsMinistriesGuiguinto.

every leader has an accountability group with whom he meets regularly for
prayer and for mutual encouragement and support.
There is a huge deviation from the way God values on people into how other
ecclesiastical leaders use authority and power to abuse. In Deuteronomy 32:9, we can see that
the Lord's portion is his people. We rally that the people, the members of the flock entrusted to
us, are our portion from the Lord. Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, stated that the leaders hope,
joy, or the crown in which they will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes are
the people entrusted unto them- their glory and joy. If so, isnt it right to develop, utilize and
treasure those entrusted by God and not subject them to abusive use of authority and power10?
Those who do not care for the flock are mere hirelings, not worthy of the trust and honor for
leaders (John 10:13).
Leaders are accountable to their people. In Colossians 1:28-29, Paul says, Him we
proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present
everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works
within me. We are to present everyone entrusted unto us before God. God entrusted the people
to us and that we have the capacity and the accountability to build them up. We work relentlessly
for them to be presented complete, mature, perfect. We labor and strive in proclaiming Him:
patiently guiding, earnestly teaching them with everything, with all wisdom. We desire that
theyre not merely capable intellectually, instead they are ready in all facets of their being to
worship God. Theyre saved to serve God and others.
What joy would equal when we stand in front of God presenting to Him the fruit of our
labor- our people mature in Christ. Our people: our portion, our glory, our joy.
10AgoodarticleforspiritualabuseorpowerpositioningisMikeFehlauersWarningSignsof
SpiritualAbuse.Accessedat
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/spiritual_abuse2.aspxon21March2015.