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.