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Under Cover: The Promise of Protection Under His Authority (Christian Softcover Originals)

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John Bevere, I believe, is a sincere man of God who intends to encourage God's people with biblical truth; however, on this subject I found his handling of Scripture a bit misplaced in some instances. He tends to rely heavily on the traditional ideals of positional leadership and authority, which are popular among most of those who teach "covering theology." While Bevere's handling of the subject is perhaps a bit more graceful than some, it is still primarily the same ol' traditional view that is backed by scarce biblical support. In fact, one has to rely principly upon Old Testament texts to really push this view of leadership because the New Testament pattern is so different.

The concept of "church covering" is not even found one time in the New Testament and Jesus, in fact, told His disciples NOT to serve His body as "authorities" who were over them, bearing titles and having men address them as such (Luke 22:25-27; Matthew 23:8012).

A study of church history reveals that most of the implications of "official" ministry terminology found in our KJV's come from romanistic influence and do not appear in the original texts and are unheard of in the first couple centuries of Christian writings. For example, many passages in the NT that refer to "offices" of ministry simply refer to "serving", "leading by example", or "being watchful and caring for" the Lord's flock (emphasis on the flock being "the Lord's") not ruling or exercising authority over others.

Jesus' own directive to His disciples was, if you want to be great, serve! Lay your life down! Wash feet! Don't expect to be paid for your service, but give freely and do everything you can to avoid the trap of money (1 Corinthians 9:18-19; 2 Corinthians 2:14-19; Mark 6:8-11; Acts 20:33-35; 1 Timothy 3:3,8; John 10:11-12; etc.). Of course receiving financial aid was not illegal for the minister in every case, but it most certainly was NEVER the rule - rather it was the rare exception! Scripture and early Church history proves this point! The principle service of the "leader" is to serve and build up the body, to cause her to mature in Christ and become dependant upon her Lord and learn to hear and follow Him as the Head. This happens from the "bottom-up" NOT the "top-down."

Today, in many churches, men are viewed as the head of the church body and programs and authority structures are emphasized over personal relationships and the necessity of knowing Christ and submitting to the prompting of the Spirit.

Unfortunately, Bevere misses it also when he encourages believers to submit to church authorities even when they are out of line and err from truth. The Bible NEVER sanctions such requirements on believers! Bevere suggests, in essence, that by obeying leaders (i.e. church leaders) it is the same as obeying God (even when they are wrong and may tell you to do something that you believe is opposite of what you believe the Lord has spoken to you to do) and that by disobeying leaders it is the same as disobeying the Lord. Hence the idea is that if you disobey the Lord's voice because you were submitting to your pastor, God will honor you for this because you honored the man over you, but if you disobey the man over you, God will count that just as severely as disobedience to Him because He (allegedly) set this man over you. Such teaching is also absent from the Word! The apostles encouraged the flock to always obey God rather than men. Thankfully, he does seem to draw the line at some point; when leaders directly disobey Scripture you are not obligated to obey, but this point is less than emphasized with all the other strong urging to obey them even when they may be wrong. The line seems to be there, but it's hard to find amidst the heavy submission emphasis and that submission being equated with submitting to God. And there is so much gloss about the responsibility of the "leader" that the "layperson" (a term I personally can't stand) is implied to be less than able to hear and follow the leading of the Spirit than a leader. This kind of teaching de-emphasizes the biblical reality of the priesthood of all believers and causes people to think positionally instead of relationally. Leaders inevitably become placed on high pedestals in the minds of those in the congregation (whether they desire this or not). All of these problems stem from a faulty perspective of biblical leadership. Sadly, most who teach and support the covering doctrine don't even realize their error or suspect such is possible. In my opinion, these types of perspectives on authority and submission are harmful and serve only to make the body of Christ lame. This is not to say that leaders are not found in the New Testament or that their service is not needed or important. What I am saying is that the right kind of leadership is the key! The biblical kind, NOT the traditional kind!

While the book makes some positive statements about the attributes of good and godly leadership (which I enjoyed), there are a number of other (what I believe to be) unbiblical directives and perspectives shared concerning submission to leadership and the very idea of "being under" men, which is opposite of what Scripture teaches, which is that leadership is not positional, but functional and works "along side of" the body, building her up.

An absolutely excellent book on this subject that I would rather recommend is "Who Is Your Covering" by Frank Viola. Frank's book involves a direct study of the specific passages in the New Testament regarding the subject of leadership in the church, rather than just pages of perspective and traditional teaching. Frank leaves no stone unturned in this book and every question about biblical leadership and the popular concepts of "covering" are dealt with extensively. Another fantastic title is Watchman Nee's book, "The Normal Christian Church Life."

I have enjoyed John Bevere's books in the past. His book THE BAIT OF SATAN is a must read for every Christian who suffers from hard leaders, bitter memories, or bitter members. However, I was disappointed with UNDER COVER.

Bevere promotes an unbiblical view of authority that will only feed the present day error of the clergy/laity system. The church I attend recently suffered from this perspective when half the membership wanted a "do it all" pastor while the others wanted a servant among the people to teach and equip (Eph. 4:11-16) but not be a CEO type leader. The CEO members left.

In UNDER COVER Bevere tries to promote the idea that God has placed spiritual leaders in authority to help the saints and therefore the saints must submit to their leaders (Hebrews 13:17). However, the Greek word for "submit" is a word that means "to be persuaded by." Biblical leaders don't lord it over those in the Church (1 Peter 5:1-4) but they lead by example (John 13:1-13; 1 Cor. 11:1; Hebrews 13:7,17). Further, all members are equal (Gal. 3:26-29) and all have equal access into the King's prescence (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1-2). We no longer need a priest for Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 7:25). We are all priests (1 Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6). God raises up leaders (Acts 20:28) but these leaders are Spirit-led servants and not harsh task masters (Matthew 20:20-28).

A good read is Frank Viola's book WHO IS YOUR COVERING? or Gordon Ferguson's GOLDEN RULE LEADERSHIP.

My advice to eager readers of this new book is: "Proceed with caution." I have some theological and hermeneutical concerns, not the least of which is submission to evil leaders.

Paul's writings and the Book of Acts offer a far more balanced approach. Paul said: "If I please men I would not be the servant of Christ." The Apostles clearly stated: "We must obey God and not men."

Paul did not "submit" to the Judaizers for one minute and withstood Senior Apostle Peter to his face. A clear study of Galatians, Romans and Acts will bring a balance to this "submission" teaching.

I think the material written about submission and obedience is not okay.

This book was misused by several pastors around town, one of whom went so far as to say that people should have obeyed Adolf Hitler because God allowed Hitler to be in power and that was, according to the pastor, God's will per written word and circumstance. This was done while holding up and quoting Mr. Bevere's book.

Reading carefully through the book, it is easy to see how some people might come to such false, dangerous conclusions, though Mr. Bevere did include a disclaimer. Telling readers to submit to someone who says to do something wrong, and that the reader will be blessed and the weight will all fall on the person demanding submission is another serious misuse. Hopefully readers will get their understanding from reading and studying the Bible which tells us the letter of the law kills, the spirit of the law brings life.

At the point a leader or pastor says to do something against God's will, it's not okay. Sad that this book has been so misused.

The church I used to be a part of pushed this book on me. I read a little of it and threw it in the trash. The doctrine in this book has no scriptural basis to exist. This covering doctrine is used by pastors to control people. To quote Frank Viola in his book,"Whos your covering" which I highly recommend, "When someone ask you, "Who is your covering"? In essence what they are asking is who controls you. I am reminded of Colossians 2:8: Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition and not based on Christ." And Matthew 15:9: "They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men".
Dont buy this book and further more run from any ministry who pushes this doctrine. It will only put you in bondage. Take the 10 bucks instead and give it to someone in need.

If your church leaders have a spirit of control then this book will feed that spirit and give them even more positional power over church members.

I think that books like this is exactly what church leadership is looking for to make the church members servants and make church leaders their masters or lords.

On top of page 101 in "Under Cover" Bevere quotes scripture as saying:

Servants [employees, church members, civilians, etc.] respectfully obey your earthly masters [employers, church leaders, civil authorities, etc.].... (Eph. 6:5-8)

I was floored when I read that. I had to double check to make sure scripture didn't include what was in the brackets like Bevere did. So church members are servants and church leaders are their masters. I think that the above verse says it all about the direction of this book. That word master is the same word for Lord. I'm sorry but I serve only one Lord.

There are so many things wrong and unbiblical about this book as noted by the other posts that I wouldn't recommend it.

After bringing up my concerns about this book to the pastor I was told that I couldn't come back to church.

Tons of scriptures wrongly applied is a ton of error. Divide the word of God correctly and life will come.

Christian doctrine consists of the fact that we are sinners who break God's Law (diagnosis) in need of a remedy (prescription). For a book to be truly Christian both of these 2 facets need to be clearly distinguished.

While Bevere's diagnosis is correct (that we are rebellious) his prescription is not any different than most other religions of the world (stop doing what you should not do and God will bless you). This revolves around self-interest as the underlying motivation for his treatment.

On the other hand Christianity proclaims that God's kindness has been shown to sinners already. He has already taken care of our self-interests. He has already blessed the ungodly to the highest degree by covering us with the righteousness of His dear Son who took our rebellion to the cross. He no longer deals with us according to our sins. We are not to worry and fret to appease Him. Christianity relies on this great kindness of God to bring about repentance and to ignite a faith in God from the heart.

So I cannot recommend this book or any other writings from this author since he has confused Christianity with other self help religions of the world.

An obvious way to see the error in his presciption is in how he sees the "law of sin and death" and "the law of the spirit of life" (page 53). He describes it in the following manner: Sinners are under the law of having to sin but when true faith comes a new law takes over (which is his presciption) and you will not sin as much if at all. He uses the illustration of the law of gravity being overcome by the law of lift to make an airplane fly.

With this view it is clear that anytime anyone sins he must question whether he is really joined to Christ. Any sin, no matter if intentional or not, whether it be a sin of omission or commission, whether it be thought or deed, proves that one is not truly yet joined to Christ. We must be clear on what this view really means: One sin, even speeding or pausing at a stop sign instead of stopping, means you are not fully joined to Christ, have not overcome the law of sin and death, and are in danger of damnation. Salvation is measured by looking at oneself. A never ending cycle occurs. This is false teaching.

However the Gospel view would be to understand that the "law of sin and death" means that "if you then sin you will die". It is clear from the passages in Romans 8:1-4 that "the law of the spirit of life" means that Christ was sent to get rid of the power of the "law of if you sin you will die" by forgiving our sins and removing the condemnation that comes from them. It is not a promise or command that all of our sinning ways will be done away with. Rather it is a promise that He no longer counts them against us. What a relief for those that truly fear God. This leads to a willingness to be soft toward God instead of self protecting behavior modification.

The truth that rebellion is a problem is not what I question. It is how this "preacher" presents God's presciption for our rebellion that makes this an errant book. It is a deadly deception if one does not truly understand the Gospel. It is false teaching.

Another problem is that there is a misunderstanding of Isreal and the Church. Old Testament Isreal was both a civil and spiritual authority in the lives of people. The Church today only is to be a spiritual authority. Civil authority rests in whatever nation you reside in (Romans 13) (the Reformers call this 2 Kingdom Theology). Leaders in the church today are not "Little Moses'" with autohority to speak in all issues of the believer like the laws of the Old Testament did. They are given charge to present the moral Law and Gospel to the people in the ministry of reconciliation and let the Word of God do its work in the heart of people as God sees fit.

Bevere does not clarify in what areas a pastor should be obeyed. He leaves it very open to the possiblity that they can tell you what type of employment you should have, etc. This is very dangerous. A leader should be obeyed in the "form of teaching" that he presents, in his doctrine and then only if he is preaching the faith properly. I belonged to a church that a rule was "no R rated movies". Kind of silly and really is overstepping God's boundries for leaders in the church.

I have always enjoyed John Beveres books, but this one gets a thumbs down. This book encourages the 'layman' to give up his or her ability to listen to God, and encourages 'pastors' to control and manipulate the laymen according to his own interpretation of God's will. Too many times now, I have found Pastors who have diviated from the truth. Even the Apostle Paul said 'follow me AS I FOLLOW CHRIST'.

All Christians are to submit to one another. This includes pastors submitting to the heart of God in those in thier flock. When you put a pastor on a pedestal, you have lost Jesus as the head. John wants all layment to bow to the pastor as the head of the church. Sorry, but that title belongs to Christ alone.

I found this book to be Old Testament based, and the New Testament ideas practically nonexistant. We are all one body with Christ as the head, but John seems to be teaching us to follow the heirchial system of the Old Testament. He forgets that instead of the one-man-show (i.e. a pastor), we are all part of the One man Jesus the Christ. And instead of the one man (the pastor) running everything, Paul told us every joint is to supply the body with their God-given part. We are all priests when we become believers, and no longer need one to 'lord it over' us. Though I will continue to walk in love towards pastors, and honor thier gift chose them to give to the Church, the King of Kings is the only head I will bow to.

The message of this book is a very dangerous message for Christians. It promotes a very unhealthy view of how a beliver is to submit to authority in the church. Very little actual Biblical support is used to support this message. Instead, John Bevere uses many personal experiences to build his support for the message of Under Cover. These examples have an emotional pull to them and can be very convincing to individuals. However, there is a great danger in this message. As believers, our covering is the Lord Jesus Christ. In his book, Mr. Bevere points people to look at their pastor as their covering. This is serious error and has the potential to shipwreck people's faith. My recommendation would be to not read this book, or, if you are compelled to read it, be sure to balance the message of the book with what the scripture says.

John Bevere teaches that one should submit to authority of all kinds and that by doing so one is protected by God, even IF/WHEN the authority has made a mistake. This is not true, at least not true most of the time. This can actually lead to spiritual or marriage abuse and the person being abused will believe they are the ones in error! So I would have to say that this teaching is dangerous, especially if taken alone without any sort of balance. If you insist on reading this book, then read others on spiritual abuse and how it can happen.

I pray that Bevere repents of his teaching.