institutional church?

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jriccitelli
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Re: institutional church?

Post by jriccitelli » Tue Jun 09, 2015 3:16 pm

Thanks for being so reasonable Dwight, I knew we agreed, yet sometimes the discussion 'sounds' like we are against roles and authority, etc. All we are saying is the these roles and positions are elevated far beyond what was needed or meant to be. If men were pure, there would be no problems, and leaders would all be loving selfless examples of genuine sainthood. Yet the assumed titles and these assumed roles destroyed the whole point of the New Covenant: that, He will live in us, and we are the Temple / The Spirit will guide us and teach / and His Word is alive and with us, always. These assumed roles divided the Church into servants and Lords, laity and 'leaders'. Inappropriate roles and positions divided the body of Christ into two kinds of Christians: the haves, and the have nots / the Priests, and the pews / the anointed ones, and the regular people. The teachings of oneness, equality, brotherhood and sisterhood of believers... was not to be abused, but the church quickly was institutionalized, just like scripture predicted.

Those sent out by Jesus At that time were the Apostles, those who were with Him, and sent out later, maybe after He was resurrected, were also apostles. There was no 'passing along of the position', or necessary, or possible continuation of Apostle, the idea was that the Apostles were eye witnesses also, not simply sent out. Anyone sent out by a body of believers, does so in the manner of an apostle, but the word should not ever be used with the same imprint or magnificence and uniqueness that was originally an eyewitness of Christ. I am sickened when I see literature proclaiming 'So and so is a modern day Apostle, and or a modern day Prophet of God' that is plain absolute ignorance and baloney. To proclaim or make such a claim is completely ignorant of what truly is a biblical Apostle and a Prophet.

We should all strive to be 'like' the apostles, even stand strong and proclaim Gods Word 'like' an Old Testament Prophet. We all should strive to be 'like' Jesus and Paul. But we are not Christ, we are not Paul, and we are not Apostles, and we are not Prophets. We should 'all' desire to speak Gods Word boldly, be filled with all knowledge, be temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, be Holy, be filled with the Spirit, live Holy lives, have but one wife, be not brawlers, adulterers, or given to much wine, we 'all' should strive to heal the sick and raise the dead, proclaim and teach others, especially if we are leading a group, teaching or asked to oversee an activity or meeting with our group.

But do not 'assume' it is a church title or a position that makes you, or the person doing so 'special', there should be plenty of good intelligent wise believers in that body, if not, then the one 'special' person may be only fooling the others. They picked 'from the believers' - capable men - this means they were still believers afterwards, just like they were before. What you were doing 'before' qualifies you, not what you think you've become, or your new 'title'. This did not elevate their status or position with God, and it should not with others, there is no believer that is not an equal. Be warned - leadership only makes us more 'accountable' to God...

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