Romans 14
H,
That is a point worth
looking at. We belong to each other but none is lord over the other. There is
love and there is service but there is also manipulation and unhealthy forms of
control. There is no lordship but Christ and that is following His life and
words not His ‘disciples’. Why would one disciple follow another? There is no
place for the removal of human dignity to serve the cause of one who is human
but slightly deluded in thinking he is more ‘gifted’ and called to ‘lead’. For
to lead in God is to serve others in love. All gifts are temporary and will
pass on when that time comes where love is complete and God is again near His
creation. Gifts are to serve. It is better to give than to receive. We must not
make despots of mere men. We must not allow idiocy reign as pastoring. There is
no example in scripture of the sort of nonsense that passes for ‘pastoral care’
and ‘prophetic offering’ in our day. We have taken loose passages from the
Bible and not tied them in with the whole message. That is always a mistake.
We all have to be careful
not to think that one opinion holds water over the other. Everything in the
light is of value. The dark merely obscures, it does not create anything. Christ
Himself allowed people He did not know and did not disciple work in His name.
His opinion was that no one could proclaim His lordship except inspired by God.
No one else would. There is more than one way on this narrow road. This does
not mean that anything goes. It means that, first, none of us is qualified
enough to judge the other on their personal walk with God and, second, we are
called to the same table not to be uniform in ideas or looks or paths or pathos
or manner but in submission to the lordship of Christ over all our lives. This means
that when we believe He is leading us somewhere we should walk that road
regardless of the chorus of even reasonable voices around us. And also when
someone else feels led in that way, even when we do not understand it, we
should say what is encouraging and uplifting and hold our serpent tongue in
check. Does this all sound too free and loose? This is the real gospel that ate
and drank and healed on the Sabbath. That gave grace and love above law and did
not respect religion but came to show love and give hope and establish faith. If
there is a correction to be made it has to be said in love. If we are led to
correct we have to pray for the grace to do it well. Yet, this is not a cult
and we are not the figure in it. Freedom is the thing. God is in charge of His
people. We all serve Him in absolute humility and equality with each other.
It is hard to not want
control. It is hard to yield to the control of others. How about we do neither?
How about serving each other in love and worshipping God? This is the raw and
real honesty that will always lead us back to truth.
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