Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
I am glad that you provided a follow-on post because "to do the Father's will" is, at some level, about as vague as we can get.
Seems that "love God and lover your neighbor" is a better definition, although it is still within "do the Father's will."
And what we do together in the setting of a meeting can, at best, only deal with one of those commandments to love. And even that one can be missed in that setting. This is why I have been so strong concerning the practical aspects of righteousness, justice, joy, peace, love, etc., outside of meetings because if we are getting this part wrong, it is likely that we are getting the meeting parts wrong as well.
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"Love your neighbor" is also vague. We can come to the meetings, and declare, "How we love our neighbors!!", while we ignore them, or badmouth them. Funny, now that I think of it, that's the LC, isn't it?
"We love everyone, but since they're not on the proper ground we can't have anything to do with them, except point out all their flaws."
Jesus wasn't a Bible teacher who sat in a corner and taught a few acolytes. He got on the street and radically changed lives. Lives that seemed unchangeable. He not only fed with the bread that perishes, but the bread that comes down out of heaven. He not only healed bodies but healed souls. He mended both flesh and psyche.
He didn't sit in a closet and have an "inner life" that was in continual communion with the Father, but had this communion continue on the street. Yes it drew its source in the quiet time. The record is clear. Yet, the result of this quiet time was seen in the market, and the homes, and the highways and byways of the world.
The real love is to love those who can't love you back. And the real work is to do the Father's will. And both of these are found in the person of Jesus Christ. Our job, as disciples, is to announce this One, preaching and teaching to every man and woman, both small and great. Along the way there are also "works", yes; the works prove the ministry. And obedience proves the relation with the Father, just as with Jesus. "If you don't believe my words, then believe the works that I do. This shows that I came forth from the Father."