Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
Isaiah 5:1‭-‬2 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/isa.5.1-2.NRSV

Knowing Jesus, tasting and seeing the fruits of his planting, is a joy. If it tastes bitter then it probably is.

Jesus has called us to discern, let our yes be yes and no be no and pledge only allegiance to him. Any church government that does not embody the hierarchy of the Spirit and how the Spirit is, as the wind and the voice that speaks in the heart, the vineyard of the beloved, is not Christian, is corrupt.

This prophecy was for then and is for now, especially if we believe our selves to be the heirs of Israel.

Levels of authority and models that look more like a corporation, demanding oaths and pledges to doctrines, persons or systems, are not Christian. Though Christ may choose to use them as he would a donkey, churches need to remember that they are as clanging cymbals without love. The gifts are not for status, and the building is the people.

If this sounds a bit reactionary, we’ll it’s what Jesus taught.

Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life and nobody comes to the Father except through him. Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Word that enlightens all and divides Luke 12:49-56.

There is that of God in every person, as George Fox learnt; this I believe is the light that reveals Jesus and brings life not by the power of man but of God. Read the Bible and let God speak. Be still, rest in the peace that is the gift of Jesus, and let God speak. Trust in the faithfulness of God in the promise of Jesus, to yield fruitfulness.

Recognise that what the Bible says of Jesus helps us discern the voice of God in the scriptures, tradition and nature. What Jesus speaks in our hearts will not demand that we hate or do less than love even our enemies. If it doesn’t sound like Jesus, even in the scriptures, then let Jesus speak, the Jesus you know, who says to you,

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
(Matthew 5:33‭-‬37 NRSV)

https://bible.com/bible/2016/mat.5.33-37.NRSV

We know good fruit when we see it. A good tree bears good fruit. Discern the tree and reject man made hierarchies for Christ’s sake. There is only one hierarchy, one sacred rule in the church, love.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1‭-‬2 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/heb.12.1-2.NRSV