December 26, 2006
Pain in the Neck
I detected a slight sigh of relief when the current chairman of the elders told me he would be taking the next year off. In the past as he and I have discussed church issues, we laughingly and lovingly talk of our relationship as being ‘thorns in the flesh’ and ‘body parts that need each other’. Even though we don’t always agree on the church’s political landscape, we are one in Christ and I couldn’t help but tell him, “You’re going to miss me, I know you will!” I’m reminded of the strained relationship between the Apostle Paul and John Mark. One Bible commentator feels that their tiff may have lasted as long as eight years before Paul tells Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” (2 Tim 4:11b NIV). Just goes to show you that even Christian relationships can be built and strengthened with a pain in the neck.
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2 comments:
Gail;
----How many times did Jesus say, "Verily, verily...?" His Sermon on the Mount was about the writing of the law onto the heart, its extension from words into attitudes. "Him who has eyes to see" and "him who has ears to hear" are those who have the spiritual character to lay themselves aside to see and hear what is truly shown and spoken rather than receiving only what one's own personal bias might concoct. Everything Jesus was about was about sincerity.
----Jesus taught that we must humble ourselves and serve one another. Indeed, when His disciples argued over position in the kingdom, Jesus informed them that to be great in the kingdom meant to be a servant to all. Jesus placed love for your fellow man next to love for your God. These loves are so intertwined that Jesus procaimed that if you do not serve your brother, you do not serve Him (Matt 25:34-45), and John stated, "And He has given this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." (I John 3:21)
----So then how can unity become just a word, when actions are not showing the same love the lips arespeaking? Is there not some action or behavior that should evidence unity? Is that action and behavior really just a blind and abiding obedience to the elders? Will that edify the church?
----Of course there is unity in the belief that Jesus is the Christ, and in intellectually accepting that He is Lord and King. But His kingdom extends beyond belief (even the demons believe) and beyond mere mental acceptance of ideas. The tree is certainly known by its fruit.
----God gave us His Word "...for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (II Tim 3:16). Being inspired by the Holy Spirit, unity of the Spirit must involve humility towards the Word of God. The Spirit's breathed Word tells us to agree with one another (I Cor 1:10), look to the interests of others (Phil 2:4), and please each other for good and edification(Rom 15:2). Yet this former chairman of the elders told me that those concepts don't apply to the congregation in its assembly. A number of times he told me and others that the elders do not serve man, but God. In the sense of Acts 4:19 he is certainly right. But the service that many brothers in that church are being denied is not blasphemous, or unscriptural, or immoral, or even unreasonable. It is just not what the elders have determined for the church. And for that reason alone this retiring elder chaired an eldership which refused to make every effort to do what would lead to peace and mutual edification. Yet they insisted that those brothers in need come into compliance with mere philosophies of the eldership and agree with the church leaders. The elders did not demonstrate agreement with one another. Therefore, there was no agreement with the scripture in what these elders demanded. How could there possibly be unity?
----But indeed there is unity with this dear brother and the rest of the church leaders! In as much as I see their footprints all over my beloved brothers, they are as forgiven as I am for my footprints you have seen all over them. Jesus wants us to go beyond that point of unity and actually do what makes for unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. But until all of us humble ourselves to one another, submitting to one another with the Word of God in one hand, the interests of each other in the other hand, and the humility of the Spirit in our hearts bringing everything to a mutual understanding, until then unity will involve rule, but not peace. For peace has to with the truth, and the truth leads to mutual submission, mutual respect, mutual honor, and mutual edification. So now, in the interest of telling one another the truth in love, we can only subscribe to unity in our forgiven states. It is a shame, but it will have do till the Lord grows us later. Then the church will be edified.
Gail;
----I failed to point out that the diference between Paul and Mark was, as far as we know, merely a personal diference. When Mark turned back on that missionary journey, it was not in contradiction to any scriptural imperatives other than fearing God alone (which we are all guilty of). At least I know of nothing else. If the Spirit told Mark to continue with Paul as plainly as it told Paul to go into Macedonia, Luke chose to make no mention of it.
----But all that aside, Mark had the godly character to pen a gospel by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We nowhere see Mark blindly denying multitudes of scriptures in order to push his own ideas upon other people by abusing the authority of a divinely empowered office. But the elders at that church have been doing it for several years. Elswhere in his writings, Paul is adamant about the treatment of those who refuse to obey the teachings as presented by the apostles (ei, the Bible). I have not found proclomations of unity with those who continue to do so.
----The church is Christ's holy bride. Each of us are a member of that holy bride. None of us should allow the church to be degraded by the abuse of its leadership offices. The truth is that unity extends no further than does sincerity and humility. Paul and Mark could not help but become reunited because the Holy Spirit found in each enough sincerity and humility to move the ideas He wanted onto parchment. Will He find in that church enough sincerity and humility to reunite everyone in obedience to those ideas?
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