February 28, 2008
Exodus
I just read Exodus, a non-fiction book by Dave Shiflett. Through interviews Dave introduces readers to a variety of people in the US who are fleeing liberal churches and finding refuge in conservative Christianity – Catholic, Orthodox Church and Southern Baptists. Two interviewees, former Episcopal priest Gary and his wife Frederica believed they’d been called to the Episcopal Church. They felt that even if their church was lost to apostasy, there might still be a role for them to play. Frederica’s thought process was, “Didn’t God need chaplains on the Titanic? Hadn’t we better stay where he planted us? I found myself understanding Frederica’s planted theory until a few paragraphs later in the same chapter Gary said, “You know what God needed on the Titanic? Lifeboats.” Gary too has a point. So, do you chaplain a sinking ship or take the lifeboat? For some of us it would be easier if God would just put a paddle in our hand.
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Gail;
-----We make the mistake of thinking God uses the same cookie cutter to make all His Christians. Granted, the same Christ bridged the same gap for us all, and the same Spirit indwells each one of us. But that is where the differences begin, not end. Being a loving God, He does not require all of the relating to be done by us to Him. That is the attitude of tyranny. He relates to us far more than we even begin to relate to Him. Therefore, Paul speaks of the different functions that each of us have within the body. Some may serve the function of being lifeboats on the Titanic, but others may serve the function of chaplains. The great distance between where the two services lead does not evidence disunity. It evidences diversity of need. And God, being as loving as He is, has both lifeboats and chaplains prepared for the Titanic situations we make of His temple.
Accept one another,
Love
Steve Corey
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