Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
Then, and here's an interesting point, you realize how much the Shepherd loved His sheep. The hireling flees from the wolf, but the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. Jesus knew that one of them would betray Him, but He stuck with His own, nevertheless, literally to the death.
Contrast that to our experience in the LC where we received a "vision" of the optimal organizational structure, and were willing to follow that to the end, but the saints themselves were quite expendable.
In reality, I am beginning to suspect that the "ekklesia" is that poor, pathetic guy next to me, who is seeking Christ, but hardly knows where to turn, and which way is up or down. The "ekklesia-building" occurs when I receive my neighbor in Christ Jesus and it is reciprocated, and we begin to sense the depth of the Shepherd's care for His sheep.
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I just recently saw clearly that 1 Cor. 13 comes between chapters 12 and 14.
The "Love Chapter" is all about how we
meet.
Marriage is nowhere mentioned in that chapter and teaching it as if it expresses a romantic notion Paul had about marriage while ignoring the actual context is a subtle twisting that may be a bad idea. (Chapter 14 indicates Paul had other ideas about marriage, actually.)
Paul says to stop being childish and to start meeting in love.