Good reading
Sarah, at “Accidental Blog“, wrote a very thought-provoking post last week called “Just who is it?” In this post, Sarah quotes a friend concerning the “ordination of homosexuals in the Anglican church”. Of course, there is a much broader discussion concerning “ordination”: homosexuals, women, divorcees, younger men, etc. Shouldn’t we start by questioning “ordination” itself?
Anyway, here’s the money quote:
It only becomes problematic when God’s own people don’t know Him well enough to recognize that He has or has not ordained someone, & for what.
You mean, we actually have to know God and what He’s doing? (If you want to think more about this, you might like my post called “The Holy Spirit has made you overseers“.)
Also, grace, at “Kingdom Grace“, has written an excellent post called “Practice makes Perfect“. In this post, grace deals with the common practice of “practicing” for a church meeting. grace makes her point with some sarcasm and Scripture re-mixes. Here’s the sarcasm:
“Honey, would you like to go on a date this weekend?”
“Sure.”
“Maybe we could get together for practice on Thursday.”
~
“Mary, do you have time for coffee this afternoon?”
“This afternoon works for me.”
“Great. Could we meet a half hour early to practice our conversation?”
~
“I would love to invite the Smiths over for dinner soon.”
“You should give them a call.”
“I wonder when they would have time for a practice session.”
~
“The family reunion is this coming Sunday afternoon.”
“It will be great to see everyone.”
“We will be getting together Saturday evening to practice first.”
Do we really need to practice for a family reunion? Oh… wait… maybe that’s the point. So, what are we practicing for?
Ha! Ha! Very lovely on the practice motif. I will vist for more!
Man made ordination and rehearsed relationships, with God and man. Both good examples of why the institutional church experience feels so plastic. That is more and more my experience anyway.
Blessings,
Gary
I’ve not actually practiced being with family for a reunion (which is your point, I think), but I’ve definitely practiced for the family reunion talent show. I think I might be the only one, though.
Alan,
I wish older folk, and those entrenched in “the way we have always done it”, would read posts such as yours, and the replies to it.
Sometimes I wish I didn’t read them, because they make my heart ache for the genuine believers who are hungering for what the Scriptures promise. They are being denied the blessedness of BEING the family of God, because of the ambitions and fears of leaders who see themselves as C.E.O’s and managers of the spiritual lives of those who trust them.
When brethren meet, the family reunion, or to quote you,”Sharing the Life”, cannot take place, the joining of hearts and minds and voices are constrained and silenced. What an unhappy gathering!
Lionel,
I liked the thing about “practice” too.
Gary,
We are very good at holding to the traditions of men while rejecting (or ignoring) the commands of God. I think Jesus said something about that too.
Skwirl,
Yes. We put on good talent shows.
Aussie John,
Yes, it is very difficult to have real community when most voices are silenced. However, like I said to Skwirl, it makes for a great talent show.
-Alan
Thanks for the link Alan. I wonder what we would discover if we didn’t rehearse, practice, and program our gatherings with one another. And I wonder why it doesn’t seem odd to most people that we do rehearse this relationship.
grace,
Like you said in your last comment on your blog, I’m not against some planned elements when we meet together. Currently, we have both planned elements (music and teaching), and a time for spontaneity. What happens during those spontaneous times? God speaks through whoever he chooses, and the church is built up – both from hearing what others are saying, and from the realization that each one of us is responsible for helping others mature in Christ.
Thanks for this post.
-Alan