Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
In any normal Christian church-life, what Gene said was reasonable and logical. What could be offensive to Mel, could not be offensive to another brother or sister. As I understand, if a person or persons were offended by something Gene said, Gene was making himself available for the specifc offense be brought to his attention.
As I see the problem Awareness brought forth, it is the conditional word "if". "If" Gene had done something to offend. Considering the era of the recovery, we took brothers at their word. There was no reason for skepticism. Unfortunately for Gene, the word "if" does not correspond with group think.
In the group think reality there is no conditional "if". The offense is unconditional. In the local church context, the local leadership is the group think. There is no room for contrasting points of view. Maybe it doesn't apply to every locality, but based on awareness' experience, this does seem to be the case.
Back to what I was saying, in this particular point in time what is offending Mel, as the #1 elder can say this offends the local church. A #1 elder can say this knowing the other elders and deacons know nothing about the situation. (Word given in the past "the church is not a democracy".) It can be said knowing a good portion of the local church have not been offended by anything awareness said. Has this scenario happened since? You better believe it has.
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Relevant to the thread on obeying and submitting to an elder they give a definition of the authority of an elder:
"The authority of Church officers is not original, but subordinate and delegated: that is, as they are His servants, and act under His commission, and in His name, they have power only to declare what the Scriptures reveal as His will, and to pronounce sentence accordingly. If they attempt to establish any other terms of communion than those which His Word warrants; or to undertake to exercise authority in a manner which He has not authorized, they incur guilt, and have no right to exact obedience."