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Originally Posted by Ohio
... practically speaking a church is going to look a lot like its leader(s), especially the gifted or dynamic ones. That's just the way it is. Kind of like the children in a family resembling their parents..
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This speaks to my point that there is variation in the assembly. We are not a bland, faceless proletariat of "small potatos". Everyone has gifts, disposition, and personality. The one-church-one-city paradigm allowed certain personalities (WL, TC, DYL, BP) to dominate not only their respective assemblies, but even all "affiliated" (their word) assemblies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
It's rare, however, to meet a believer who has problems with all established church authority, only when that authority is taken advantage of.
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I like the word "authority". Jesus had authority to heal, to raise the dead. And by extension He had authority to forgive, to comfort. He certainly had authority to teach. What He refused, however, was authority over temporal affairs. "Who made me judge over your affairs?" ~Luke 12:14 He refused even to acknowledge Herod.
So the "authority" to tell people what to wear, what to sing, what to read, what to think, where to "migrate", or what is the "feeling of the Body", should be seen as counterfeit; as manipulations of human control. Such machinations, to me, testify rather to a lack of power and authority.
Jesus had the power to lay His life down, and to raise it up again. I respect that power, as it manifests itself in the assembly. We can rejoice when we see people being released from Satan's bondage. The meeting should be, I think, a celebration of release from captivity, by God sending His Only Begotten Son on our behalf. If we get stuck on "Who is first" discussions I think we miss the point of the exercise. The name of Jesus is a name of freedom.
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore and do not be entangled again with the yoke of slavery."