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Originally Posted by MacDuff
The only myth I would dispel is the notion that God doesn’t need anyone. It comes, I think, from Calvinistic thinking that God is sovereign and does everything. We can only go with the flow, as it were.
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Yes, I was sort of making a straw man argument there. How well I represented the thinking I don't know. And I also conflated it with the LSM OT exegesis: "man is a sinner and useless before God. Christ is everything". Well, Christ is a man. Duh.
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In the ekklesia, the purpose of the overseer/elder as a leader is to serve, not to rule. In imitation of Jesus prior to the crucifixion. Christianity, with its ruling leaders, miss a significant lesson Jesus was teaching when he washed the disciples feet.
The one with experience is the best person to serve because of experience. And that is what leading is all about in the ekklesia. Who better to lead others in the right direction than one who has already been there and experienced what is there?
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Yes, I am speaking of the ekklesia. Which is seen, as you said, with Jesus washing the disciples' feet. And which is often not seen in organizations in which the leader is elevated above, both literally and figuratively, the "small potatoes". Yes, Jesus occasionally elevated and/or distanced Himself: He got in a boat and spoke to those on shore, and He went upon the mountain to speak (the "sermon on the mount"). But then He left the rock, and He left the boat.
The "rule", or mastery, or dominion, of Jesus was on an entirely different level, as you note. We usually see the organization, striving to present Jesus to the world, inevitably creating a different "rule" entirely.