June 05, 2009
The Source
Before reading a magazine article I usually turn to the end of it and read the snippet about the author. For me, the little tacked-on bio adds weight (or not) to the trustworthiness of the article. I’m sure there are logical and aesthetic reasons for ending an article with a bio, however I prefer the format used in the epistles where the author identifies himself and his qualifications at the beginning of the letter. It’s interesting that we wouldn’t think of accepting a story in print without knowing the source, but give us a piece of hearsay and we accept it as gospel. There’ve been times when someone will tell me some bit of information with the caveat of, “I can’t tell you who told me, but…” Jesus knew the importance of giving the source of His words, “The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” John 14:10b NIV
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Gail;
-----Jesus’ miracles, actions among the people, and the amazing common sense and congruity with Scripture of His teachings and sayings were His bio. They were from the substance of His Father, therefore He could say, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” The unity He asked His Father to give us was to be our bio in Him (John 17:21). For in order to have the kind of unity that truly makes us all one in a world where truth and accurate knowledge come only by great effort and honest humility - and then comes only dimly as through a mirror (the mirrors in those days were polished bronze) - a person must practice well the Scriptural guidelines for love in social interaction and apply them with the all consuming honesty of heart that Jesus demonstrated and talked about.
-----It confused me for many years that His church fell into such deep division so quickly in its history, failing to apply the delicacies of love to its actions, even though His Spirit is presented as being active in the believers and He is identified as its head. But I finally came to realize that He is not the head of His church through its organizational structure, but through the obedience of each of His believers. So the bio of the church is not in what a church may be doing in the community, but in how each of its members are behaving towards one another, the rest of the community, and the Lord.
-----Those who deny the church and refuse to participate in it do not understand that the Lord is personally received and the new life is personally lived. Those who insist upon the doctrines, programs, mission statements, and “directions” of their church join them in failing to realize the same. God hid knowledge and understanding in this twisted life like a treasure is hidden in a field. Only those who search for it honestly will find it so only those who are honest of heart will have it. Our personal bio can not be of the new life unless it is actually of the new life. If it is, we welcome each other as Christ has welcomed us, whether the dim images in our individual mirrors match well or not. Our bio is in our actions, and the only bio the church has is the acceptance its individual members show one another. The rest of its bio is simply that of each of its members.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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