John Bevere's "Under Cover"

Whether you understand it or not, you will live your entire life under a God-appointed authority. It’s true that we all grow and eventually leave the home of our parents, making a life of our own; but that will never alleviate your responsibility to authority. For those who may be skeptical to the thought, Under Cover by John Bevere will open your eyes to authority and its workings in our lives. If you think you already understand the concept of authority, Under Cover will challenge you to live by that understanding.

This is not the first book I’ve read regarding the spiritual implications of authority. I highly recommend Watchman Nee’s Spiritual Authority as a primer for the lessons in Under Cover. Still, Bevere’s teaching is straight to the heart, and at times it cuts deeply.

For us, the presence of authority is unending. Be it parents, teachers, management, church elders and pastors, or mayors, congressman and presidents, we find ourselves under some authority. The key to the concept of our relation to authority is found in Romans 13:1-2: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves” (NKJV).

Bevere’s intent is not to make us robots who obey without question or without regard to the Word of God. However, Scripture makes it quite clear that unless we are directly to act against God’s direction, we are to willfully submit and obey. Why?

“Every soul is to be subject to authorities because God has appointed all governing authorities. The origin of all authority goes back to God. . . . Since God has appointed all authorities, we refuse the authority behind them if we dishonor or refuse to submit to them. Whether we know it or not, we resist the ordinance or rule of God. When we oppose God’s delegated authority, we oppose God Himself” (page 88).

In his introduction, Bevere notes, “My heartfelt desire is to see you learn from my hardships and avoid the same mistakes” (page 7). If I had learned these lessons at the onset of my own ministry, I am convinced that my first position would have turned out differently. Bevere is at times painfully transparent in relating his own experience. Seeing some of my own experiences through the combined lenses of hindsight and Under Cover, I became aware of the same attitudes and ignorance that may have placed my own ministry in jeopardy.

Because of my own relation to the material and the overwhelming sense that I should have read it sooner, I have made this book mandatory reading for any staff I take on in my ministry, and we are currently looking at providing the video version to our entire leadership and ministry team.

Chris MacKinnon
Website: Touch the Skye
E-mail: pchrismac@aol.com