Is there (should there be) a hierarchy in the church? Are some people the special, the called, the elite, the chosen, the leaders…. more spiritual, more connected to God, more in tune, than the majority of “regular people”? Isn’t that more reminiscent of an Old Covenant shadow instead of a New Covenant reality? Isn’t God’s Spirit shed abroad in the hearts of all of us, who are now all belonging to that special class – a royal priesthood – no more dividing walls or veils…?
Is division in the body of Christ really chiefly about doctrinal divides, or can doctrinal divisions actually be traced back to a different kind of division…. a division of superior vs inferior, leader vs follower, lesser vs greater, layperson vs minister…?
Did not Jesus our Lord teach about humility, servanthood, equality among his disciples as though we are all brothers? Yet we see the people of God desperately desiring human leaders and institutions, systems, programs, seminars, meetings and strategies to hold our religion together. Instead of being bound together by hearts of sincere love for one another, and learning to move and operate as one body consisting of many equal parts connected to Jesus our head, and motivated from WITHIN by the Spirit, we seek figures of authority and we need external motivation (programs and weekly schedules and all the accoutrements of modern day church activity) to keep us going through the motions.
greenpaddock 