There's nothing wrong in rejoicing in our exalted position as the
New Temple of the Holy Spirit; I want to make that abundantly clear
from the get-go! We should be full of exultation every day because we
are in His Eternal Presence, having become One with the Divine
Essence! This is not to say that we become omnipotent or omniscient,
for there can be only One, but we have, in a sense, become gods, or
'elohim', ourselves! The problem results from exalting
ourselves more highly than we aught, rather than exulting in the One
who made us what we are, the One who breathed into us the Breath of
Life!
Let us first clarify as well, that when we speak of
'us', or 'we', even 'the New Temple of the Holy Spirit', we are
speaking in a corporate, rather than individual sense! It is the (
whole ) Body of Christ, that our Heavenly Father now calls Home &
although that Body is made up of many ( individual ) members &
each member, in that sense, is a Temple, it is in corporation that we
best represent Him!
The Institutional Church of today has, for
the most part, departed from 'the way it outta be'! The pastor, which
is a fairly modern invention, usually receives a weekly paycheck ( or
monthly ) from the corporation known as the 'church' ( not to be
confused with, 'the Church' ). There is nothing wrong with this, in &
of itself, for Scripture instructs us in several different places
that we should share our physical ( material ) blessings with one who
blesses us in a spiritual way. The problem is that there are quite a
few pastors out there who are fleecing their flock rather than
feeding it! The pastorate has become a livelihood to many &
depending on the area, the membership & message, more & more
pastors have become professional entertainers who lead Sunday morning
'worship' services like ringleaders at a circus!
The Organic
Church, on the other hand, was pagan at its roots! It emerged from a
people much like any other & became a nation of priests to God!
The Church from its infancy was never a financial giant, One to
bolster any certain denomination or provide a way for some poor
schlub to get a job when he can't get one elsewhere! The Church is a
living, breathing organism, One that, yes, takes care of its own, but
One, more importantly that exists to further the Kingdom of God! We
are here to spread the Good News of the Kingdom, not to make any
certain group of people rich while others starve!
How many
pastors out there have you come in contact with that rule over their
individual congregation like a king? Do not ask too many hard
questions, much less challenge their authority, or you may find
yourself cast into outer darkness! There is a certain order ( not
that there's anything inherently wrong with order ) to things &
if that order is disrupted at all, watch out! When a congregation
functions this way, you know that something's not right; this is not
what our Heavenly Father pictured, we can be assured, when He birthed
the Church!
Organization, generally speaking, is a good thing!
When we have some semblance, to whatever degree, of organization,
things tend to run more smoothly. However, we as human beings, when
we start to organize, tend often to over-organize, to try to make
things run even more smoothly, but more often than not, our
over-organization becomes detrimental to the individual & thus to
the corporate organism!
As above, there's nothing wrong, in &
of itself, with any given congregation supporting, as they can, one
who feeds their spirit, but when that becomes the pastor's focus, or
even that of the individual congregation, then we have a problem!
This is not to say that all congregations are wrong in supporting a
pastor, or that one is wrong to be supported by a particular
congregation, but when a pastor or congregation focuses on exalting a
particular doctrine of man, rather than the Kingdom of Heaven, then
that pastor & congregation has left their First Love & has a
bigger problem than a mere financial one!
We, as the Body of
Christ, are in this sense, our Heavenly Father's 'Mini-Me'; we are
creators in our own right, fashioning ( 'forming' ) our world
according to His Will! If we remember always to exalt His Purpose &
His Kingdom rather than our own, individually or corporately, then
our problems disappear & the organism to which we belong is free
to operate in an organized way without the shackles of
institutionalization! To this End we work, eat, rest &
recreate!
Charles Haddon Shank
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