The great revelation in my life over the last few years has been the apostolic reformation of the church.
I have written about it, preached about it, talked about it.
There is great grace in the restoration of the office and gift of apostle. There is nothing like the love, nurture and encouragement that comes from a spiritual father. This is so different from anything that institutional church can offer. In the institution, nobody cares aobut you, unless you rock the denominational boat.
Apostolic church is more like family than an organisation.
But like any strong leader, apostles need those who will critique them honestly. The stronger the leader, the greater the need for prophets.
What happens then when the apostle questions the validity of the prophet's ministry? What do we do when the relationship turns so toxic that the apostle claims the prophet is motivated by satan and not by God?
This is a terribly dangerous place. If the apostle is right then the prophet is in mortal spiritual danger. If the apostle is wrong, the apostle is in mortal danger.
It is natural for the apostle to push the prophet away and for the prophet to stay away nursing hurt and anger.
But it is precisely the opposite that is needed at this point. The apostle needs the prophet and the prophet needs the apostle. At the place where hurt is threatening to separate, truth requires them to be reconciled.
Without the grace of God this is impossible.
But with God all things are possible.
It IS a dangerous place. It's hard though because on the one hand we should try to stay away from things that appear evil to us, on the other to reconcile as you said.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say an institutional church *can't* offer such good things, just that it continues to exist when it doesn't.Structure isn't content. Structure can facilitate, or hinder, content. It usually does both at the same time to varying degrees.A bigger structure can hold up a facade longer after the content has departed and the remaining people become caretakers of the structure; I think that's what we see with some/much of the existing denominational church. Re the apostle-prophet relationship, I think that's right. Unfortunately people rarely live by what's possible, rather by what they think is likely, and likeliness is considered in terms of the past.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why institutional church structures find it nearly impossible to offer high quality relationships is that the paradigm is wrong.... I'm talking abut denominational structures now, not the relationships within a congregation, although the same principles can apply if a congregation is just made up of "our" people.If the emphasis is on maintaining the machine then relationships are secondary. If I relate to Presbyteries or supervisors on the basis of geography and regulation then that is counter-productive to good relationships.Yes you can have good relationships in the Uniting Church and in the Anglican Church, but the structures are there to perpetuate the organisation and not to develop people. For example I had very little respect and no love for most people in the U.C. hierarchy- and that was reciprocated, I'm sure. The apostolic paradigm is different... men and women relate to each other on the basis of love. There are no regulations, no control, minimal structures. That brings a much higher standard of relationship.Of course it is more devastating when it goes pear-shaped, because we invest more of our hearts into the relationship. But that's not to say we shouldn't keep trying :)
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