March 08, 2017

Super-Apostles

Our current city administration has systematically dismantled and combined community organizations (Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Development Authority, the Area Merchants Association, etc.) These entities, made up mostly of volunteers, are being replaced by paid employees of the city. This same scenario plays out in churches. When leadership wants to shape the church they eliminate ministries, volunteers and servant-leaders and replace them with staff who are in agreement with their vision. Even mature believers are not immune from the attempt to disenfranchise us from ministry. I like Paul’s way of handling such situations, “But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super–apostles.” I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. (2 Cor 11:5-6 NIV).

1 comment:

Steve Corey said...

Gail;

-----Thank-you for that useful comparison. One of the tricks of big government control is in the shear volume of its employees. Volunteers’ livelihoods are not dependent upon their volunteering. Volunteer organizations are not so governmentally controllable. But when a gaggle of volunteers have become a gaggle of employees, their loyalties become a little more attached to their employers in accord with their necessity of maintaining a livelihood. They might go about criticizing the boss, but they will act in support of him, for from him comes their daily bread, as they incorrectly suppose. President Trump is currently bogging down in the hip deep muck of the Washington swamp -the myriads of left-wing hack employees embedded deeply in countless agencies and bureaus- which is acting against him from loyalty to the former Marxist-in-Chief.
-----So, why would all these government employees not be loyal to the Governmental Chief, President Trump, for the sake of their livelihoods? Their livelihoods are not in Mr. Trump’s hands. This hip deep muck bed of hack employees are members of various federal employee unions. Union employees are more loyal to their unions than to their employers. Many years ago I tried to pay for a bag of chips at Safeway’s deli counter. Couldn’t do it. The deli employees belonged to a different union than the check-out employees, I was told, and they weren’t to take any work away from the others by checking my chips, good grief. Evidently, since then, the unions have reflected upon Safeway’s need for good customer relations in order to have enough customers to employee their union employees, so I can now check my chips at the deli.
-----But these big government unions yet believe they have the government by the tail. Service Employees International Union, the biggest of government unions, the biggest union campaign donor, has donated $233 million to federal campaigns since 1990, 98% going to Democrats, of course. Everywhere Obama went SEIU has been at the head of the mule team pulling the hardest. The National Education Association is the second highest political donor union, contributing $94 million to Democrats of their total $97 million contributions. And before you suppose how much of the paltry 3% might have gone to Republicans, remember that the Communist Party USA is far more aligned in political values with unions than are Republicans.
-----Loyalties are driven by livelihood to follow whoever’s got the controlling stick. Unions have the controlling stick. When contemplating local volunteers being replaced by government employees, say “Hello, SEIU, what will I be doing for you today?” Maybe as taxpaying citizen’s we can press enough to get the neighborhood pothole filled. But if you think we can press enough to even change the swamp, let alone drain it, then you need to reconsider the power of unions.
-----Fortunately the presence of unions in the church is minimal. But that is no relief from the fact that the organization of the church merely steps into the union’s place of control. Like government employees’ loyalties are first to the unions instead of the employer, church employees’ loyalties are first to the church organization rather than to the Church Head. If you think me wrong, count the number of church organizations, ie denominations, and compare that number to the “one” Jesus asked of His Father (John 17:20-21.)

Love you all,
Steve Corey