Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
That it is more than "our heart being more aligned with God's", is indicated by this verse:
1 Cor 6:17 "But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him".
It does not say, "he who is joined to the Lord remains two spirits that look like each other", or "two spirits that are aligned".
I am not saying you are wrong about Lee's emphasis, just that the Bible does imply a reliance upon God.
I think that no one including Lee has a right to tell others how they should use their gifts. If they want to seek guidance and counsel from others that is fine, but it is a personal matter between them and the Lord. And who are we to deny someone to use their gifts in God's service, regardless of whether we think they are capable or not?
How does one know if their giftings are natural or spiritual? I would say spiritual giftings are those not naturally acquired. The spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible (healing, prophesy, etc) have little to do with things that humans are normally capable of doing (playing musical instruments, arranging chairs, preparing food).
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I said hearts, not spirits. The Spirit/spirit are one. That's a given. What God is doing beyond that is changing our mind, emotion, will, i.e. heart to be like him.
The Bible talks about growth, but the only clarification it gives of growth is that we will be "like" Christ. What does that mean? Most teachers interpret it that we will be like him in what we love, what we hate and the actions we take because of those. We will be like Jesus was.
Yes, there is likely more to our growth than just our heart being aligned to God. The problem is we really don't know what that is. The Holy Spirit is doing
something in us that we really can't define. But the net result is just what I said, or implied. We become like Jesus in disposition. Our hearts become in sync with God's.
Lee tried to define it in terms of our metabolic makeup--life, nature, mingling, etc. His natural vs. spiritual doctrines were part of this. But most of that stuff was speculation. He jumped to a lot of conclusions.
The idea that God can't or doesn't want to use people with great natural abilities just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. God made us and he wants to use every one of us. The problem is people who are quite gifted tend to be self-reliant and proud. So the problem isn't their gift, but their attitude. Yes, spiritual people are reliant on God, but that doesn't mean they don't use their natural gifts.
Focusing on dealing with natural abilities is to me a misaiming. God's dealing with us is always a matter of dealing with our hearts. If our hearts our right we need not worry about whether our abilities are natural or not. We just use what God gave us in obedience. Why make it more complicated than that?
You think Lee ever really doubted his natural ability? Naturally he was a strong, stubborn, demanding and persuasive leader. He used that to the end, to the hilt.