21 October 2024
A biblical covenant community is not hierarchical. There is no one who receives special privileges. There are simply people who have demonstrated sufficient wisdom to be trusted with making decisions for the group in cases where there is no opportunity for deliberation.
It's a major flaw in western thinking that a hierarchy is necessary. It is not organic to human existence. The survival of the gospel message itself demands that each person be capable of taking up leadership at some point. Certainly there are people in any group that will prosper best when there are things they don't have to worry about. However, the biblical psychology of faith presumes that every male is a shepherd in waiting, and every female a mother, natural children or not. The only question is when the Lord will tap them for that role.
When He does that, the anointing will be there. Humans might fail to see it, in the same way we could fail to grasp when it's missing, but when God moves, He equips and supplies -- without fail. This is His family. The whole idea of a covenant community is that we draw together in love, not bring an agenda for changing everything we don't personally like. It shouldn't require leadership to constantly intervene in petty squabbles. There's nothing wrong with deliberations most of the time because there's no hurry to be efficient in any western sense. Taking time to build faith, or restore what Satan has stolen from us, is not a rush job. The church has nothing else on its plate.
Thus, we should avoid the habit of investing any role with special privileges. The western notion of "privilege" is what's wrong here. Everyone should have to butter their own bread. We relieve people of burdens, whenever possible, that hinder their service in pursuit of our own welfare. Scripture is loaded with examples, not least of which is how the early apostles handed off certain tasks to elders chosen by the body. Don't burden leadership with demands that someone else can handle. A shepherd is quick to delegate, if for no other reason than it's a blessing to the delegate who needs encouragement to develop.
We shouldn't have to formulate rules about this in the first place. It's built into the character of covenant people. What will you do when the Lord calls your current elder or priestly figure to another mission? What will you do when He calls them Home? Decentralization of authority is an organic trait of the gospel message. It should be simply impossible to silence the message merely because some leader was removed from the community.
It's imperative that we consider these things before they fall on our shoulders. Do you understand how close we are to the time when sharing over the Internet will be virtually impossible? The situation is already getting tight. Tribulation is rising and we have little time left to instill in each other the kind of faith that changes hearts and habits. Given that the Radix Fidem community is so thinly scattered over the earth, we must consider how we will carry on when (not if) we are all cut off from each other.
Again, this blog assumes collegiality. Let's confer together how we will face the testing to come.
Comments
Dan. D
This is spot on. Always be working to train your replacement to make your part of the Gospel mission resilient.
"The church has nothing else on its plate" is a line I plan to use in the future!
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