Hi there,
The Kitchen Sink, seems like a good place to put this: I really don't think it fits anywhere, to be addressed to the Church in General, but not some or others, depending on how its interpreted. The question is simple: "Am I addicted to the approval of the Church?" I suppose if it came down to a scripture, it would be John 13:34 "a new commandment I give unto, that you love one another - by this all the world will know you are my disciples, if you love one another" There is a caveat there, I don't actually want the approval as some sort of sign to the world - if anything, it was a sign to me, personally, that I was walking with the Lord, just as others were. What do you think?
On the one hand, approval from the Church, strengthens my walk with Christ - or at least my perception of my walk. It builds on interactions I had with the Church and causes my faith to grow, in the way that the Church's faith also had grown. There is an aspect of chance here, because my faith may differ from the Church, on specific interpretations of scripture or on works that are needed in the world, which I can only take part in to an extent. On the other hand, approval from the Church, depends on the strength of the Church being at least as advanced in learning, as my own - not everyone has studied the scriptures for decades, I can't say they are less believers, because of that, but it does affect the Church's ability to pass comment - simply on things that it doesn't understand. There is less chance taking on this second hand, because I simply need to stay close to the scriptures as I understood them; it is not as encouraging as it could be, but the promise is that with time, the encouragment if not the approval will come.
So I don't know, it feels like love "wanting approval" but on the other hand, I can see that the Church as a whole, needs to grow together, some taking up the slack early, others coming after - I think that is what Jesus experienced, as well, actually. Now if you ask me "does Jesus need approval?" I'm not necessarily going to know what to say apart from the Holy Spirit; simply knowing that Jesus endures, is something, I suppose from that you can also say that Jesus not only endured, He endured to the end - the idea of Salvation, is His idea after all, if He wants to finish it, He has no choice but to persevere. But I suppose that is the foundation I have been getting at, if anyone wants to see Salvation to the end, He will have to persevere as Jesus did and if he perseveres, surely approval will help.
Jesus specifically said "pray to the Lord of the Harvest" so maybe what can be said is that we need the Lord of the Harvest to approve, both of us and Jesus together. Would that make sense? As you can see, it is an open question. I may get to the end, with almost no approval from Church or I may get to the end, with scores and scores of people seeing the work that I have done and the point that was behind it - which do I need? What is the most appropriate? I even want to go so far as saying, that the Church's approval will change, over time - because let's face it, we approve more, when we understand what has taken place and why. Perhaps it will be something, I have to wait for, once I reach Heaven!
So anyway, approve if you want to approve or not if you don't - I won't force myself to get hung up on it (even more hung up on it than I already have been, truth be told). Let me know, if you have the same feeling, that would be ace!
The Kitchen Sink, seems like a good place to put this: I really don't think it fits anywhere, to be addressed to the Church in General, but not some or others, depending on how its interpreted. The question is simple: "Am I addicted to the approval of the Church?" I suppose if it came down to a scripture, it would be John 13:34 "a new commandment I give unto, that you love one another - by this all the world will know you are my disciples, if you love one another" There is a caveat there, I don't actually want the approval as some sort of sign to the world - if anything, it was a sign to me, personally, that I was walking with the Lord, just as others were. What do you think?
On the one hand, approval from the Church, strengthens my walk with Christ - or at least my perception of my walk. It builds on interactions I had with the Church and causes my faith to grow, in the way that the Church's faith also had grown. There is an aspect of chance here, because my faith may differ from the Church, on specific interpretations of scripture or on works that are needed in the world, which I can only take part in to an extent. On the other hand, approval from the Church, depends on the strength of the Church being at least as advanced in learning, as my own - not everyone has studied the scriptures for decades, I can't say they are less believers, because of that, but it does affect the Church's ability to pass comment - simply on things that it doesn't understand. There is less chance taking on this second hand, because I simply need to stay close to the scriptures as I understood them; it is not as encouraging as it could be, but the promise is that with time, the encouragment if not the approval will come.
So I don't know, it feels like love "wanting approval" but on the other hand, I can see that the Church as a whole, needs to grow together, some taking up the slack early, others coming after - I think that is what Jesus experienced, as well, actually. Now if you ask me "does Jesus need approval?" I'm not necessarily going to know what to say apart from the Holy Spirit; simply knowing that Jesus endures, is something, I suppose from that you can also say that Jesus not only endured, He endured to the end - the idea of Salvation, is His idea after all, if He wants to finish it, He has no choice but to persevere. But I suppose that is the foundation I have been getting at, if anyone wants to see Salvation to the end, He will have to persevere as Jesus did and if he perseveres, surely approval will help.
Jesus specifically said "pray to the Lord of the Harvest" so maybe what can be said is that we need the Lord of the Harvest to approve, both of us and Jesus together. Would that make sense? As you can see, it is an open question. I may get to the end, with almost no approval from Church or I may get to the end, with scores and scores of people seeing the work that I have done and the point that was behind it - which do I need? What is the most appropriate? I even want to go so far as saying, that the Church's approval will change, over time - because let's face it, we approve more, when we understand what has taken place and why. Perhaps it will be something, I have to wait for, once I reach Heaven!
So anyway, approve if you want to approve or not if you don't - I won't force myself to get hung up on it (even more hung up on it than I already have been, truth be told). Let me know, if you have the same feeling, that would be ace!
