After some very nice comments and working this thing out with friends on the phone and onlinethrough email, I think I have figured out my problem. Now my problem could be right or wrong and I guess that would depend on the responses of many who read here and have been a daily challenge. I will say that I have kept most if not all of this away from my local church. That is why I blog honestly. I don’t want to cause a stir or be looked at as divisive so here there is a vast marketplace of ideas and I can work out a lot of issues while not overstepping any boundaries in my local fellowship. I am thankful for you all who have challenged me and allowed me a voice and have responded to many of these posts. I may write like I have the answers but really I am thinking out loud. I told Tyris maybe half the stuff I write should be left unpublished, but it is good to have people interact with your ideas.
Anyway my problem is in the title of the post. I am not saying I am right or wrong, I am telling you what I believe or at least what I think I believe. That is I believe leaders should be equipping themselves our of a position. What I mean is found in these verses that we all know very well.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
As I read the Epistles these letters are addressed to the Church. Not the leaders and not the laymen. They are addressed to all who meet in a particular locale. If this is the case and this imperative is to be practiced plainly then I have no other conclusion but to say, my ultimate goal as a leader/elder/pastor/shepherd is to equip the saints that they may fulfill this command. That means that I too am taught, encouraged, admonished and built up by the saints.
I believe the statement above is where this imperative breaks down. I have rarely and I do mean rarely seen this played out. Maybe I am imagining this wrong or reading a wrong context into this but this is where I lose touch. Most churches are ran like pyramids with the senior pastor the pinnacle or capstone. Rarely do I see saints teaching and definitely not admonishing their “pastors”. I believe this is where the chasm begins and where it is perpetuated. And I believe most of modern church settings contribute greatly to this.
But if I am to take my equipping serious. I am to equip them to something. I believe that something mutuality. That mutuality is defined by maturity and I believe this is much of what Paul refers to in Ephesians 4. This equipping seems to be that of which would allow the saints to be self-sufficient and even allow them to teach you. But for some reason the position of elder/pastor always remains a step ahead of the congregation. Thus the position is entrenched perpetually.
I believe that some have the gift of teaching but all are to teach. I believe that some have the gift of shepherding but all are to Shepherd. I believe some have the gift of evangelism but all are to evangelize. I believe some have the gift of giving, administration, encouragement, mercy but all are to be doing these things. However for some reason some gifts dead end on themselves and again this is where I struggle.
I believe that as a group gathers there will be some mature and some immature. The mature are the elder/shepherds. If you were to walk into this congregation you will see this quite easily. You do a case study. You come back three years later, I think what you should see is the lines much more blurry than the first time. There should be many teachers and many people operating in their gifts so freely and with such ease that it may be difficult to discern who the leaders are. However as we keep pulpits and clergy/laity distinctions this will not and can’t ever happen. Again I could have this wrong but I believe this should be the aim of every ministry.
Craig, if you read this, this is where I struggle brother. My job isn’t to stay one step ahead of the sheep but to usher them into maturity and that maturity should lead to mutuality. I really believe this is impossible in our current system. I have nothing against building per se, or pastors, or elders, or anything else. I struggle (again maybe wrongly) with the perpetual infancy and these chasms that never ever get thinner they stay the same if not get worse. This again produces more of the same type of churches in which another gifted teacher goes to school and plants another church just like the one they came from with the help of that church. So we continue to build these perpetually chasimed churches.
My favorite teachers are all in this setting. However I don’t agree with their ecclisology. I think we can get it right in a lot of places and get it wrong in some. I believe this has been greatly missed in our current churches and it isn’t taught properly in our seminaries. I have not seen a class offered on the Doctrine of the Priesthood of Believers.
This is what has been motivating me to write. I have an opportunity to function as a leader in my local congregation, but if this (what I am arguing against) is the goal of my congregation, I think I am going to have sit this one out. I really love the people and I will stay there into the Lord tells me to leave (I tried to leave twice before and the Lord sat me down) but I can’t function as a leader if the goal is to perpetuate this. I have been praying and praying about seminary but every-time the Lord throws a road block. Maybe this has something to do with it.
Anyway this is my struggle and what I have spent a great deal of time praying and studying about. I think this is what I desire. If I were to plant a church my ultimate goal is to see the church function free of me and other leaders. I would want someone to walk in and not know who is who unless something got out of line. I would want the younger brothers and sisters (non-positioned) to be able to bring a word of encouragement and exhort the assembly with something they have been studying and applying in their daily lives. I would want the children to speak freely about what Lord was doing with them on their sports teams and schools and what the Lord has been teaching them throughout the week. I would want a church free of pulpits but saturated with sound biblical, orthodox theology. Christ centered and priesthood heavy. I would want a church that all saints are equipped to minister to one another without fear. I would want a church that if all the elders died tomorrow there are enough mature man and women who could step up and ensure it functions biblically and wouldn’t skip a beat.
Again maybe I am wrong or a hopeless romantic but as I read this is what I see and I think anything short of it robs the saints of their gifts and cripples the doctrine of the priesthood. I hope this clears up anything that sounded to forceful or condescending. God bless. And I would ask that you pray that God would give me wisdom and an ear to hear His voice.
Best post you’ve ever written.
Hands down.
We come from different backgrounds but the struggle/journey you are on is almost identical with mine.
Maybe its something that God is doing?
Thanks D.A and Stephen.
Hutch I don’t know, but I tell you what it keeps me up at night most nights, asking myself am I crazy, rebellious, or something else.
I here you.
Lionel,
Great post.
My only problem is with this last statement:
“I would want a church that all saints are equipped to minister to one another without fear. I would want a church that if all the elders died tomorrow there are enough mature man and women who could step up and ensure it functions biblically and wouldn’t skip a beat.”
The truth is, if you have a church like the one you dream of (and it IS possible), your elders wouldn’t have to “step up” anything beause they’d already be teaching, leading, encouraging, helping, etc. on a regular basis.
We’ve been doing our house church for nearly 3 years now and we are still learning how to effectively “be the Church” in this way, but we’re a lot further along than those who sit quietly each Sunday and listen to only one member of the Body exercise his gifting.
You’re on the right track…and you’re not alone…and you’re only as crazy and rebellious as Jesus was. It depends on the perspective of those who are observing your behavior in light of their own.
Love ya, my friend.
Peace,
Keith
When believers seek God’s truth as inspired by The Holy scriptures through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and not justification by man; or acceptance of man God will illuminate our minds as well as our understanding. As believers we are encouraged to mine the word of God, but there’re methods that must be employed when mining, this can be compared to successfully mining Gold. Most Gold can be found in hard rock, the gold is encased in rock ( dogma ect.)rather then as particles in looses sediment ( the cults), hard rock mining produces most of the worlds gold. Mining Gold from hard rock is a difficult task; it requires time, discipline, commitment and hard work. I wrote this to illustrate the type of tireless effort needed to separate pure Gold (God’s truth) from Rock or fools Gold (Man’s truth), Be encouraged as you have begun to mine for truth, this endeavor can be lonely, stressful, at times contrary to every thing you have been taught, but fear not for our Lord will light your way.
Keep pressing, Keep asking, keep challenging, and keep praying
Lionel,
I will pray for you brother. It is hard to leave Egypt man.
We all need to sit back and reflect on this and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in the right direction.
I just want to say I love all of you who post and this has been some of my best days lately. Iron sharpening Iron. Sisters and brothers this just shows that we are not alone and why we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves. Jesus said, My yoke is easy and My burden is light. We were not created to carry all of the stresses that’s why we need to deny ourselves and take up our crosses.
Love you all….Steven O.
Excellent post once again, and we definately appreciate the honesty you bring. To us, the whole point of blogging is being able to hash out stuff that isn’t fully figured out yet.
This topic has been for us one of both huge relief, as we absorbed the full implications of the priesthood of all believers, and incredible struggle, as we’ve bumped up against many who have firmly embraced the clegy/laity mindset.
And that’s the main thing we’d want to share, that this distinction is found not only when you have a paid pastorate, or official elder board and so on, but is often also in a gathering entirely made of “lay” people. (I don’t even like to use that word…) It’s true, people seem to naturally look to a single leader, and certain people become used to being looked upon as one. Even without pulpits and sermons and church buildings, you can walk into a room or meeting and usually determine who sees themself as the “shepherd”.
One of the most encouraging and freeing things to us has been the discovery that we are all brothers and sisters and Christ. We are all peers. I don’t have to talk to someone in a certain way just because they are a pastor, (or think they’re a pastor…) because pastoring is a gift, and I have gifts too! I spent many, many years being unconsciously conditioned to think that certain people who held positions of leadership were above me, and not beside me. And that is sad.. Now, it’s very easy to tell just by the way someone talks to you, whether they regard you as a brother, or as a “congragent”, a peer or a pupil. Sometimes just our presence seems to bother certain people because we dare to talk to them like they’re people just like us!
We are so thankful that God has also brought people into our lives who have demonstrated what loving, servant-centered, non-patronizing leadership looks like, and have encouraged us to do the same!
Daniel you said:
I think this is another huge issue. We show partiality (we accept one persons rebuke and teaching over the other and it is always because of position) and we love to call people Dr., Pastor, Reverend, Elder, Minister…….. I remember Jesus saying “this shall not be so with you”.
Yes Lionel you are right about the post. I’ll tell you again man it’s not going to be easy. When we were told to “surrender” your priesthood from the start. This is no easy task for anyone who is thinking like this. Because of the things we were told not to think, and who are you to say these things.
I like this from Jon Zens:
“The Congregation organizes itself (I Cor. 11:33-34; 14:39-40; 16:2-3) Disciplines fallen members (I Cor. 5:3-5; 6:1-6) Warns the unruly (I Thess. 5:14) Comforts the feeble (I Thess. 5:14) Supports the weak (I Thess. 5:21) Abounds in the work of the Lord (I Cor. 15:5
Admonishes one another (Rom. 15:14) Teaches one another (Col. 3:16) Prophesies to one another (I Cor. 14:31) Serves one another (Gal. 5:13) Bears one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2) Cares for one another (I Cor. 12:25) Washes one another’s feet (John 13:14) Loves one another (John 13:34-35; 15:12,17; Rom. 13:8; 1 Thess. 4:9) Is to be devoted to one another (Rom. 12: 10) Shows kindness and compassion to one another (Eph. 4:32) Edifies one another (Rom. 14:19; 1 Thess. 5: 1 lb) Bears with one another (Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:13) Exhorts one another (Heb. 3:13; 10:25) Incites one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24) Encourages one another (1 Thess. 5: 11 a) Prays for one another (Jas. 5:16) Offers hospitality to one another (1 Pet. 4:9) Fellowships with one another (I John 1:7) Confesses sins to one another (Jas. 5:16)”
“With dramatic clarity, all of these “one another” commands incarnate the decisive reality that every member of the believing community is to bear the responsibility of pastoral care in the assembly. Leadership, therefore, is a corporate rather than a solo affair. The idea that elders exclusively direct and rule the affairs of the church, make decisions for the assembly, deal with all of its problems, and supply all of its teaching is alien to Paul’s thinking and bereft of Biblical support. Stated simply, the New Testament knows nothing of an elder-ruled, elder-governed, or elder-directed church. And it knows even less about a pastor-led church.”
“The ministry of the whole Body is to overshadow the supervisory/exemplary role of the elders, it would make our churches far more healthy and vibrant. The elders, being the more mature brethren, are merely responsible for modeling pastoral care by nurturing their younger brethren in Christ (Acts 20:28-29; Gal. 6: 1; Heb. 13:17b). And their goal, along with the prophets, teachers, and evangelists, is to empower the saints to take responsibility for the flock along with them (Eph. 4:11-12, 1 Thess. 5:12-13). (Elders can simultaneously be prophets, teachers and evangelists; but not all prophets, evangelists, and teachers are elders.)”
“While some believers take the lead more than others due to their peculiar gifting and relative spiritual maturity (i.e., the elders), the emphasis of the NT is upon the responsibility of the entire assembly, Thus, leadership and pastoral responsibility fall upon the shoulders of every member of the church rather than upon the back of one person or a select group. In God’s ecclesiology, brotherhood precedes, exceeds, and overshadows eldership. “
Lionel-
I noticed that the gathering that you attend is disp-pre-mil, have you had to rethink or make any adjustments to your eschatology since going NCT?
Just curious its no big thing.
When we enter into that huddle we call church it is a beast like I have never seen. I am tried to view things like others but I can’t get with the dictator style church either. It does appear that we are the anomoly.
I am reminded of the time when Jesus was in the garden and the soldiers came to seixe him. Judas declared that he would kiss him to show who Jesus was amongst the whole crew. Like you spoke in your post Jesus had blended in from an outside stanspoint with the rest. There were no chasms or position struggles becasue everyone knew there positions.
If we could ever get a group that focus like you are saying brother we would make a imprint in society that would blow there mind. As i start the church plant i am reminded of this very thing. That is why it is so important to me to not look at the numbers but focus on the nutrients of the word.
Brother you have really sparked me the more to take this mind set on.
My questions has always been what does church really look like. I am trying to find it out.
Hutch,
LOL!!!!! Yes I have. I am a Charismatic, NCT, Amill with a inclination towards a heavy Apostolic NT Hermenuetic and a 5 point calvinist.
They are pre-trib, dispensational cessasionist which has a historic-grammtical hermeneutic and are 4 pointer.
Oh yeah we are in two different worlds! LOL.
Kieth,
I meant those who are teaching or leading functioning today (if all the elders and leaders died). BTW, my email is lionelwoods@hotmail.com can you send that PDF you were referring to? Thanks.
Brian,
Thanks for you kind words, the great thing is you and your curent crew has a chance to make a difference from the jump. I am saying again that I don’t know if this is right but I don’t think I can function any other way.
Lionel-
I was big time disp-pre-mil, cessasionist ala DTS for almost 20 years. I could teach the eschatology charts backwards and forwards! Grin.
When I went NCT, I did a lot of research on historical pre-mil via Ladd but had to land on A-Mil, Partial Preterist, Idealist: Triumph of the Lamb by Johnson and End times made simple by Waldron helped me make the final transition!
For what its worth you could say I am, Non cessasitionist (but not what is widely held as Charismatic) ask me what that means sometime! Grin. A-mil Partial preterist, Idealist, Pre-3rd Century Ecclesiology, and have always been a 5 point Calvinist although I prefer the term definite atonement to limited atonement and would rather not be identified with Calvin due to his murderous anger and vindictive and hateful ways.
The local body I served in was DTS Bible Church all the way or the highway…I’m out playing on the highway!
Grin.
All of our staff and pasotrs are DTS grads every single one of them. They know for the most part that I am not dispensational. Mostly because some visit here. I usually don’t talk about it much. I never talk about the gifts and I never talk about eschatology. Typically if there is any discussion it is the Dispensations vs. Covenants discussion and I am rarely engaged by anyone and never do I spark such conversations. I will take a jab or two at a sermon on here. Here are a couple
http://blackandreformedministries.com/2008/05/20/when-does-12-only-when-your-using-dispensational-mathematics/
http://blackandreformedministries.com/2008/06/16/the-new-covenant-and-jeremiah-179/
http://blackandreformedministries.com/2008/02/11/law-gospel-or-both-part-ii-of-a-christian-being-under-the-law/
Sort of ironic isn’t it…. All this throwing back and forth of terms and abbreviations and all kinds of hyphenated jargon, when this started out as a discussion on how Christians get divided into two classes of believers. Education is great, but it seems to me that all too often the unfortunate side-effect is the inability to talk about certain things like ordinary people….
Why not just say, “what do you think the bible says about Jesus’ return?”
Maybe then people who aren’t familiar with all the short-hand terminology will be able to follow what you’re talking about… Scholarship and an extensive theological vocabulary are often the quickest credentials to fill the vaccum at the top when positional leadership is abandoned…
Hey Daniel,
LOL!!!! The Jargon is to keep our minds fit so when we engage the upper echalant we can talk on their terms. So in other words if anybody is even remotely interested in what we are talkign about it.
I believe that Jesus’ return can come at anytime and when He returns that is it. I don’t believe in a pretribulation rapture (that we will we be snatched out before a 7 year period known as a tribulation in The Revelation). This prevents me from saying that Israel has some special place in the plans of God. The elect from Israel and the elect from the Gentiles are made into “one new man” as Paul states in Ephesians 2-3. I don’t believe in land promises or any other special Israelite promise. They are all fulfilled in Jesus Christ
Next I believe that all the gifts are for the body of Christ today. Not one has ceased and all can function today as they did then.
Next I believe in what is know to as New Covenant Theology (you can see the page) however in short there are two covenants. One on Mt. Sinai the other in Jesus Christ. I believe that the prophecy of Jeremiah 31 was fulfilled in the church shown by Hebrews 8-9.
Finally I believe what is widely known as Calvinism. Or Monergistic (God alone) salvation. I believe that God elected a few from the foundation of the earth and Jesus covenanted with the Father to redeem them on the cross. I don’t believe in free will as it relates to Salvation.
These are all theological issues that many Christians over centuries have debated so I don’t engage much in them and unless someone asks or some post is relevant to it I usually don’t discuss it much.
Daniel-
My post that precipitated Lionel and my exchange indicated that I did not think of whatever his answer would be of any huge consequence. I asked because I was curious as stated.
I asked him the question as he and I seem to be on a doctrinal journey that is very similar.
I do not divide over any of those abbreviations and if you want to know what I think about Bible knowledge just for the sake of Bible Knowledge, you can look that up on couple of Lionel’s posts back.
The issues we briefly discussed are issues that as believers we lay to rest in our hearts and then we move forward in serving Christ.
You will not find me attempting to usurp a fellow believer’s priesthood and ministry.
It is not wrong to discuss those issues.
If you just took exception to the Abbreviations, I used them because it is easier than typing out all those long words.
Peace.
Yea, what Lionel said.
Okay, so I wasn’t saying that those kinds of topics shouldn’t be discussed, on the contrary, I’d say they don’t get discussed enough…
My point was really just about the theological jargon. I understand that there may be benefits to understanding what the “elites” are talking about, but really, who cares.
I understand that the abbreviations are used because it’s a lot of work to type out all those long, multi-syllabic words. All I’m saying is that you can discuss that stuff without using them at all (thanks Lionel for doing just that…) I realize that it may seem easier to use that kind of doctrinal “short-hand”, but the fact is if a new believer comes in and reads that kind of language, or hears it in a meaning, then the unintended effect is that person is made to feel stupid. It’s easy for those who’ve been a christian a long time, or even more so those who’ve had “Christian higher education” to forget that allowing ourselves to use a lot of any kind of that special terminology actually serves to create that invisible divide that was being discussed to begin with.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5……
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
That’s all I was saying…. I wasn’t trying to jump on you guys at all, I’ve been so blessed by what I’ve read here, really. Thanks to everyone for your grace and the willingness to let God correct us, mold us, guide us and change us. I’ve met some cool brothers and sisters here….
Daniel-
Good points. Thanks for clarifying.
I would not even engage in those debates in a church meeting/gathering but only in private conversation.
You are right, we need to bring a word from scripture that will build up and edify.
So, I will say, we need to live our lives in light of the soon return of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, our redemption is drawing neigh, lets keep working while it is still today-the fields are ripe unto harvest.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
I feel like we have been having somewhat of a church meeting here over the past few days.
I have been blessed by the conversations.
Do all yall (that’s a Texas term) live in Houston? Grin. We could revisit that big Kitchen idea with the round table. We could post a sign at the door that says, The building that you are entering is not a church, it is just a building. The people gathered inside are the Church.
BTW: Isn’t my home a building? So meeting in buildings is okay? Grin.
Lionel,
I’m late responding to this, but as has been stated already, that was definitely the best post you’ve ever written!!!…It was beautifully illustrated and graciously communicated…This is one of the reasons why I’m glad to have come in contact with you…I read it, I get it, and I’ll ask God to help me apply it as soon as He puts my heart back together after being broken over it…I’m speechless my friend…what an amazing Christlike understanding that God has given you to share with His people by the Holy Spirit…
Solus Christus,
Craig
daniel, i am so feeling you, lol. it’s quite refreshing to hear someone share the same perspective you have on specific issues. while i’m certain we will divide at some point, right now, you’re talking my language.
btw, i left a comment on your blog. angela
Great discussion. This too is admonshing and teaching at its finest. Good work on expressing and keeping the faith. I too believe in the things brother Lionel posted in, ie calvanism, and the others. Also, my understanding that has been recieved is also leading me to see that this pre, post, and mid tribulation is unbiblical and unsound. We should keep it simple and simply biblical. Thanks again.
Amen - Lionel, amen. I come to this Blog and am continually fed, thanks brother.
Larry,
How did you find the blog brother, if you don’t mind me asking. You got some good stuff going on over there. We have way too many smart people (99% smarter than me the 1% is Tyris LOL).
Mark,
Thanks brother for the kind words.
lionel, no comment, just trying to correct my url. i think i’ve got it fixed. but it doesn’t correct my previous entries.
Usher: Consider a missionary leader without a title, who goes to a foreign land and refuses to commune with the expatriots of the land i.e., he spends all of his time with the people he has been sent to minister to, not hanging out with the western church nestled in the middle of the foreign land. His ministry is small, but people are committed and he is committed to bringing them along as true disciples.
Deacon: How does he get fed?
Usher: He gets fed from the Holy Spirit and by the fact that the people have embraced him because he is the first westerner that has made this type of full commitment to them. This goes on for about four years. His wife then is diagnosed with cancer and he begins the struggle of ministering to the people while he raised three young children and spends numerous visits to the hospital with his wife.
Deacon: Doesn’t he fulfill the minister role in their church?
Usher: No, he simply hangs out with them and ministers in their homes with the sole intent of raising them up as disciples to minister in their circles.
Deacon: So what happens?
Usher: Well. his wife is sick for 5 years and exhausts all of the resources of the local university hospital. Though they are on the cutting edge of oncology, they do not have any more treatments for his wife as she has run the cycle on all the chomotherapy and there is simply no option left. The University oncologist calls back to the US and is instructed to tell the family that if they leave (with only 3 days notice), they will be able to get to the US in time for an experimental treatment at the top hospital back in the US. They leave everything and go back to the US.
Deacon: What then?
Usher: 4 more years go by, numerous treatments of chemo and radiology - she battled for 9 years and eventually passes from a brain aneurism.
Deacon: And?
Usher: He is involved in more discipling all through his time in the US. He works primarily with young people who hang out with his children. Two are college age now and a third is high school. They travel back to this foreign land (he has kept up communications all this time, but left the ministry up to God), because they still dearly love the people and because he raised his children in this country, they are partial to the people and the culture of their formative years. He returns with a young team to minister to college-age people as an overseer. Though he tells no one of his intent to return, word gets out. One of his old friends invites him to a prayer meeting upon his arrival.
Deacon: Nice story, but what does this have to do with this blog posting?
Usher: 3,000 people show up at the prayer meeting to welcome this discipler back! Three thousand people! He has been humbled and amazed at the work God has done and is doing. Much of it came from things he did not even consider important. His wife’s cancer and the hardships brought on the family actually gave God more glory than anything he could have ever preached.
Note: He never took a title, he never chose to become their “leader”, he was their friend. His wife wouldn’t let him stop ministering even though she was sick. He refused to treat his ministry as a 9-5 occupation and embraced the people. He ate with them, he washed clothes with them, he helped them through their everyday ordeals, he lived among them in their neighborhood and he went to meetings with them as one of them, not as their “leader”. He considered himself not as one better or more accomplished than them, just one of them. He operated in the gifts mentioned in Ephesians, he didn’t adorn his mantle with the giftings. He evangelized, he doesn’t consider himself an evangelist. He taught, though he doesn’t consider himself a teacher. He is an elder of the highest regard by his peers, he just doesn’t need the title to operate in it. And most of all, he equipped the people he discipled and now the movement he began has feet, legs and power not from him, but from Christ. Christ used him in powerful ways even after he was long gone.
Deacon: Is this all true?
Usher: All true. He longs for the day when he can return. The day is soon approaching.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another ….
Interesting post, Lionel. We’re into this idea here. At least we’re trying (www.ChristFellowshipKC.org).
Most of these letters of Paul should be seen more corporately. For instance, in the passage above, which you quote, the words “letting the word of Christ dwell richly, teaching and admonishing” is often taken to be a command to the individual. But Paul actually means that we should, as a BODY, see to it that the word dwells richly among us.
The verse before this (Col. 3:15) illustrates this so well. It says, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” If you read that individualistically, you will be seeking personal peace as an indicator of God’s will. “I have peace ruling in my heart.” But Paul is speaking corporately, yielding a very different meaning: “Let peace be the referee among you, the peace you were called to share as a body.” There is a huge difference.
So, as you eloquently showed us, we are to think of ourselves as a body functioning together with what every part supplies. We are to think of the whole by each contributing our part.
The pastors are to make room for these contributions to the body, making sure that people are equipped to contribute their lives and special gifts to each other. Without this dynamic, the church is weakened. The body atrophes and becomes sickly.
Just a restatement of what you are saying. God’s best to you. JimElliff
Thanks Pastor Jim,
I was just asking Ty about you a couple days back. I thought you were raptured.
The is my first time reading your blog, and I’m very impressed. Kudos to you and everyone who thinks like you!
Thanks Skwirl,
I have seen your blog and your comments on The Assembling I am grateful for your kind words brother.