Lin

” I understand what Cheryl and Paula are saying but it is naive to believe that such a utopian commune can exist in a fallen world. ”

I can relate to your frustration because I have been there. Seeing what I have seen I had to come to the place to ask what does a real Christian look like and what would a true Body of Christ look like?

I have come to the conclusion that few of us have seen a real Body of Christ operating. I know I will get rocks thrown at me for that. The problem is that we really do believe that a human has to be in charge. We bring our worldly thinking into the Body. We have been trained that way (even in church) to follow men instead of Christ.

What if the Body was made up of the truly regenerate who only sought after the Holy Spirit? Seeking unity ONLY in truth? Seeking true gifts with which to edify the Body. Everyone making others more important than themselves as scrpture teaches. What would that look like?

We tend to think this is unrealistic. A ‘utopi’ as you call it. I say this is exactly what the Body is to be. And when the church was first being built, God sent a strong message with Ananias and Sapphira that the Bride was to be pure. And then the Epistles give us examples of that not happening. That does not mean we throw in the towel. We have plenty of warnings in Revelation of this.

I have had so many pastors on blogs talking about Paul commanding this or that to prove he was a ‘ruler’. Funny how I read him begging, persuading, exhorting, encouraging, etc. Standing for truth. His power was truth. His authority was truth. Not him.

There are ‘elders’ in my life who are not official elders. But they ARE elders according to scripture. One is even a woman. These are folks who live out Matthew 5. Their fruit is obvious and they do not need a title conferred upon them by mere men. They do not have authority over me. They ‘stand before me’ as examples of Christ. As Image Bearers.