[aron]

To go back to the "proper local church" and "proper NT ministry" idea, I have not read any books on "Jesus as CEO" or "Jesus leadership seminar" ideas. I'm sure there are many, some good, some not so good.

But my thoughts in passing are this: in warfare one wants to be predictable to one's allies, and unpredictable to one's foes. Jesus as commander of the troops, was surrounded by foes. Often those closest to him were not trustworthy.

So when you see him move in the gospels, he does so with fluidity. He assembled the thousands in companies of hundreds and fifties, and set ones over them. Then he broke the bread and had it passed down in strict hierarchy. And it worked just great. Everybody ate. Then he "fired" the company. He broke it up. It became fluid again.

Now, on earth we typically do the opposite. We become rigid, inflexible, and are easy prey for the enemy. The LSM model is quite rigid, and was easily penetrated and overcome by the enemy influences. It became an organization, successful in replicating itself, but unsuccessful in replicating Jesus' work.

Suppose Jesus had did-assembled the throng, post-meal, and one of those whom he'd set over the fifties or hundreds continued to "lord" it over the rest. "Don't you know that I am the one whom Jesus gave the food to, to feed you? You'd better pay attention to me!" That person's 'ministry' just became bankrupt.

In order to cooperate with the Lord, you have to be willing to sit at the end of the "hundred" or be the one passing out the bread and fish. One day you may be in one place, one day in another. If you set up a rigid structure you'll be easily overcome. It may work for you, or seem to - once, twice, but ultimately you have an empty shell, with no reality. And those who insist on holding the shell become the chief obstacle to the Lord's work. Because it is his 'ekklesia', his work.