March 08, 2007
There is a Difference
The pulpit committee for a church in south eastern Colorado had a difficult time finding a qualified Pastor. They finally hired a Teacher with the hope that in time he would develop into a Preacher. According to one member, “The worship service turned into a weekly Bible study and the congregation eventually showed their lack of acceptance by not coming to services.” The Apostle Paul tells us, “And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.” 1 Cor 12:28 (NIV) I believe one of the biggest mistakes made in the church today is thinking leaders are appointed to wear multiple hats.
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Gail;
-----If not the most basic principle of intelligence, then at least one of the most basic, is the ability to distinguish a difference between two things, whether the things be ideas, objects, people, jobs, or whatever. For it is in being able to discern the difference that one is then able to begin evaluating it to know what specifically each thing is, what is each one’s real fit in its context, where it’s applicability begins and ends, etc. Ever since my adolescent years, when this principle grew up and established itself in my mind, I have been amazed at how often people ignore the basic differences around them that are the clues to achieving success or experiencing failure. I have been consternated at how often I fail at the same.
-----Then it began to dawn on me that the principle was not only one of intelligence, but also one of spiritual will. God gave the human a physical capacity for incredible intelligence. And if we simply live our lives according to what naturally works the best (I use a definition of nature that never excludes God and His Word), we are humbly led around multitudes of corners that we actually would not choose in the complex reality of our dodge-and-deny mechanism of self interest. That mechanism is what causes us to make the deep, inner decision to ignore a simple difference and plow on in our own self-determined manner. Of course then, we end up looking really stupid to other people who lack the self hang-up which caused our own blindness.
-----So it continues to be an ongoing practice in my life to search for differences and pay attention to them rather than trying to McDonaldize everything, especially our relationships with each other and the bigger community of believers.
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