In the New Testament, 'proclamation' signifies the role of a messenger conveying God's will, carrying spiritual authority that leads to the submission of demons, souls, and environments.
However, modern churches often prioritize the authority of church leaders and doctrines, leading to the careless use of 'transmission' and 'proclamation' without direct commands from God.
Therefore, the church must discern God's voice, live a life of obedience to the Lord's will as true Christians, and be wary of false prophets and church leaders.
In the New Testament, the Greek word translated as ‘proclaim’ (to make widely known to the world) is ‘aphangelelo.’
In English Bibles, ‘aphangelelo’ is translated as proclaim, declare, announce.
The Greek word for “proclaim” is . signifies acting as a messenger with divine authority, conveying God’s will. The message of this proclamation means that the devil submits, and souls, environments, and situations obey.
The ‘purpose of proclamation’ is to reveal the living Jesus Christ.
[Source] https://my-jc.tistory.com/2704, Joseph Lee Pastor, 2019. 11. 9
Commonly, ‘to convey’ and ‘to proclaim’ can be used when sharing one’s thoughts with others. However, in the case of biblical passages, depending on the context, God (the Divine Being) must be the subject who instructs whom to convey that word.
And when instructing someone to convey or proclaim that word, God will have a specific purpose and reason,and will clearly emphasize this. Then the person who receives that command must convey only the received word, completely excluding their own opinions.
Let's briefly examine the background of Christianity's emergence. While Christianity became the state religion in Rome, leading to its spread throughout Europe and Western Asia, the process reveals that it was used as a means to uphold the emperor's rule. (Constantine the Great's assimilation of Christianity led to the Milan Edict in 313, granting freedom of religion to Christians, and in 380, Emperor Theodosius, upon recovering from an illness, declared Christianity the state religion in 392.)
Since then, the Church leadership and ruling powers have grown closer to gain mutual benefits. Consequently, wealth, prestige, and power began to take root within the Church. While it’s said that ‘Jesus is the head of the Church,’ in reality, a strict hierarchical system exists, where individuals follow the commands of their respective denominations' leaders. Furthermore, each denomination has established doctrines, rituals, and specific passages for sermons or lectures during Mass or sermons.
In such circumstances, how can priests or pastors readily claim that what they say from the church altar is ‘the given word,’ ‘the conveyed word,’ or ‘the proclaimed word’? Even long-time church leaders have come to accept this as the norm.
Who is a true Christian?
Dictionaries define it as ‘one who confesses faith in Jesus Christ (the Savior, the Redeemer), or one who believes in the religion based on the teachings of Jesus.’ A true Christian is someone who has received new life (life) in Jesus Christ.
It refers to a gathering of individuals specifically called by God, who have resolved to live a distinct life from before, and a community of salvation based on God's promises.
One must be able to discern the words that the Lord has directly commanded to be conveyed or proclaimed.
Modern churches and their leaders should take heed of Jesus' warnings to the Jewish leaders.
Therefore, unless there is a direct command from the Lord to convey or proclaim, one should not casually use such language.Church leaders, and especially priests or pastors, should keep this in mind and avoid foolish acts of disobedience without realizing it. (Mt 12: 32-34, 36, Mt 23: 27, 33, 34, Deut 18: 20-22)
Matthew 12
32. ‘And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.’
33. ‘A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A tree is recognized by its fruit.’
34. ‘You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.’
36. ‘I tell you that the people will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.’
Deuteronomy 18
20. ‘A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.’
21. ‘But you may be thinking in your hearts, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?”’
22. ‘If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be afraid of him.’
The Lord intensely dislikes such false servants or prophets, and can even express His great wrath (anger) leading to death. Therefore, if the Church lacks this discernment, that is, the ability to hear the words or voice personally given by God, it will only have the appearance of piety, and having lost its holiness, the Lord's power will no longer be manifested.
The Lord rebukes church leaders, especially pastors, saying, ‘The blind lead the blind.’
Matthew 15
14. ‘Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.’
Matthew 7
21. ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.’
