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The Body

           For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5) 

          In today’s reading from Hearing God, Professor Willard discusses other issues within the whole idea of God talking to us. There are people fear God speaking to individuals – to them specifically – because they don’t want to have to respond. But there are also people who fear that God might speak to someone else or say something else to someone else.  We are to be one body. There must be rules that govern that body, and someone in charge.

          I can commiserate. I have attended a meeting to discuss what ministries we should have in or through our church – and cringed when the pastors made it known that these weren’t ministries that they would lead or guide. We were nearly on our own. I have also worked as part of a leadership team in which three women came with things for me to include in the AV for a meeting. There was no problem if we took 5 minutes for what they wanted to do, except for the problem that each ate away at the time for the main focus of the morning, and they had assumed that wouldn’t be a problem without consulting with the rest of the team.

The professor described the difference between shepherds, who traditionally depended on the sheep following of their own free will, and sheepdogs, trained by the shepherd to make the flock obey. That might be more efficient. The whole flock goes in the same direction and does what it’s supposed to – within very narrow bounds. After all, we don’t want to be accused of heresy, or have anyone come to harm. There are both eternal and legal considerations. If I am part of you, and I do something horrible…

Joshua comes to mind. “As for me and my house…” Gideon comes to mind. Too many soldiers…too many soldiers still. Peter and the disciples come to mind. “Shall we obey God or man?” And the conclusion I reach between today’s passage, and these examples is that God works from both direction: macro and micro, Body and member.

And we’re at that time of year. I have the opportunity to have an international ministry – to Americans and Canadians, assuredly, and maybe to Hispanics. What does God want me to do? What does He want you to do? What does He want us to do?

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