[Paul Miletus]

Originally Posted by Igzy

Paul,

You didn't answer my question. Let's get practical. Please explain how you can disobey someone while still submitting to them. Sorry but that sounds like hyper-spiritual nonsense talk to me, like the infamous sound of one hand clapping. Very Zen-like.

If you cannot explain it, I'm going to have to conclude you don't really know what you are talking about.

I find the following excerpts from Brother Watchman Nee's "Authority and Submission" and "The Mystery of Christ" very practical for us to consider regarding our submission to the delegated authority especially in the church.

God wants His authority to be upheld in an absolute way. He has to recover this matter. Look again into 1 Samuel 26. A similar thing happened in the wilderness of Ziph. A second temptation came. Saul fell asleep, and David came into the place where he slept. Abishai wanted to kill Saul, but David forbade him. He swore and said, “Who can stretch forth his hand against Jehovah’s anointed and be guiltless?” This is the second time that David spared Saul. He only took Saul’s spear and water jug (vv. 7-12). This was an improvement from the previous time. He did not take anything from Saul’s body. Instead, he only took something from beside his body. He gave up the chance of saving his own life to submit to and uphold God’s authority.

THE JUDGMENT OF TWO OR THREE BROTHERS

Matthew 18:15-16 is not about whether a person is right or wrong. It is not even about whether a person feels that he is right or wrong. It is about the testimony of two or three brothers. If they say that you are wrong, you are wrong. Therefore, when other brothers say that you are wrong, and you do not feel that you are wrong, you should take their judgment and believe in them more than in yourself. If two or three brothers stand in the name of the Lord and say something to you, you should listen to them.

In the church there are four groups of people representing the Body. They are: (1) the apostles, (2) the elders, (3) those whom the Lord has specially chosen, and (4) two or three believers who deny themselves and who have come under the Lord's name. These four groups of people represent the church. If we are wrong, the Lord will send a believer to us to speak to us about it. If we do not listen to the word of one believer, he will tell two or three other believers. If we still do not listen to their word, we should receive help from the elders. We cannot have any independent actions. For problems that cannot be solved, we should consult the apostles. They are designated by the Lord to represent the Body. We cannot overlook the Body, and we cannot overlook the representatives of the Body. May the Lord grant us the revelation of the Body so that we can submit to Christ the Head as well as to the representatives of the Body.