Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
Igzy,
Everything you have said I agree with. But in the case of this thread, we have been wandering farther and farther from the question, and what do/did we think "exercised in my spirit" meant. (or "exercise my spirit" or "exercise of the spirit" etc.) In other words, what did we think the term meant that then allowed men to come along with additional rules about other things and convince us that if we were "exercised in our spirit" we would understand and follow (whatever you want to fill in here).
Yes, it was a tool for those who abused authority. And the meaning is at least somewhat subjective.
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Well, I didn't want to turn the subject to deputy authority. The question what "exercise the spirit" means is a worthy one for discussion. But I just don't think such phrases are themselves the problem. I think the problem was who was using them and what for.
"Exercise the spirit" is one of those things whose meaning can only be obtained by interpretation and assumption. You hear the words and say to yourself, "What's he talking about? I guess he's talking about
that." To me "exercise the spirit" meant become aware of your spiritual senses. It meant focus on the Lord's/Spirit's presence and any leading that might come from that. Now, probably to others it meant something different. But what I tried to do when I heard spiritual descriptions was I tried to put them in context with what I experienced in ways that made the most sense, because they didn't do me any good if they weren't applicable.
An example is that my pastor talks about the Lord's "nudges." Well, what does he mean by that? People can come up with all kinds of ideas, but for me all I can do is ask "what do I experience that might be considered a "nudge" from the Lord?" and try to apply the idea as best I can. I could dissect the phrase and find all kinds of problems with it, or I could go off some deep end with it. There are lots of things I could do.
But a domineering leader could probably use "nudge" as insidiously as "exercise the spirit." So my point is I don't really think there is anything that bad about the phrase "exercise the spirit." "Nudge" ostensibly could be used to mean a sense of the Spirit, but could easily come to include the way you feel when experiencing disapproving peer pressure.
You can investigate a lot of the "tools" the LC used and try to find fault with them and say we were misled because they used this term instead of that one. I'm not saying that's never the case. I'm just saying many times the problem wasn't the tool, it was how and why it was being used.
Even "be faithful" meant something very different in the LC. It meant don't leave "the Vision." Is there a problem with the phrase "be faithful?" If "be faithful" can be used to deceive then anything can. And so the onus falls on the hearer to not be such a sap.