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A friend of mine, Christiaan Meyer, who has a PH D in Mechanical Engineer, once said: “God’s technology differs from ours”. Whatever we make is perfectly straight or perfectly round or a nice triangle or something.God makes plants, we make cell phones, God makes horses, we make cars, God makes birds we make aeroplanes. Fact is however, that God’s technology is vastly superior to ours and we cannot begin to reproduce what He has made.
It is therefore no surprise that we struggle to understand church.
I was in the army for two years and became an officer, by the grace of God. Army was 50% prison and 50% adventure camp with 4x4 replaced with 6x6 vehicles. I nevertheless liked the army, and my uniform is still the best outfit I ever wore. If I could still wear “Browns” today, “Outfit 9A”, to be precise I would.
My Germanic background and experience in the army made me a very regimental type guy. Having your rank and insignia displayed on your shoulders was great, and it made life simple. Whenever you met someone, you immediately knew who was who in the zoo. You would either clip your heels smartly and salute precisely, or you would watch like a hawk if the “underling” was going to execute the salute and greeting correctly.
As a direct alternative is the Body of Christ. What is very clear form scripture is that neither Jesus, nor Paul had a “captain over ten, captain over hundred, caption over thousand” hierarchical management style for the church.
The church is not an organisation but an organism, and it looks, and works very differently from our typical western organograms.
The church is after all called the “Body of Christ” and that is what it is – a body. Each members reports directly to the head. The finger does not report via the wrist or via the shoulder. The finger is connected to the head for it instruction, feedback and nurture.
The Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ what the nervous system and the blood is to the body. Each member is directly connected to the head.
There is order and authority for sure, there are Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors and Teachers, and there are Elders and Deacons, but there is never hierarchical control. The “rulers” in the Body of Christ are Elders: Family Men, Fathers, and the rules and mechanism are always along family lines.
Mothering (Nurture and control) and Fathering (Equip and release) are both necessary to mature the little ones into strong viable adults, but control is only beneficial for infants. God himself, does not control us. He begets us, teachers us, instructs us, guides us, warns us and if need be punishes us, but He does not control us.
What does this have to do with “organic church”?
Well the sophistication, exemplary order and might of the Roman Empire so impressed the original church fathers that they could not get themselves to accept the “organic nature” of the Body of Christ. Just after Constantine rules and control and titular command structures were introduced, along Roman lines, and so started what we today know as “Institutional Church”. I call it GMO Church (Genetically Modified Organism Church).
The headship of Jesus and the working of the Holy Spirit is massively impaired and near removed from Institutional Church and proxy Christ and spiritual overlord are at the order of the day.
One does not need to “born again” or have a living interactive relation with the Holy Spirit to be a member of GMO church. One only has to run with the program an pay the required fees and voila - heaven awaits!
Guys really, this is nonsense!
The organic nature of the Body of Christ means that without being regenerated (Born Again) and having living relationship with the Holy Spirit one cannot be a member of the Body of Christ and a cruel injustice is done to all who are told otherwise.
Raising your hand during the alter call is only good and powerful IF the Holy Spirit spirit does the miracle and mystery of the regeneration.
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:5-8
Only when this mystery has stared are you a member of the Body of Christ and then a new life starts.
When this new life starts you are “grafted” (Romans 11) in and the rules of membership are organic and spiritual.
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