Quote:
Originally Posted by Toledo
Just as a general sort of rambling response (to a general sort of rambling thread...), it occurs to me that we as believers share a number of general characteristics.
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YP:
When I said "I think our traditional notions of church are normal manifestations of what I Lord wishes to lead us into," I meant pretty much what
Toledo is saying here. Gathering with other believes is a natural consequence of following the Lord.
My general point is this: we often get the cart
before the horse, or try to carrying the cart
beside the horse...
That is, we make "church" or the "group thing" its own independant "mission" from "following the Lord" (at least in practice, if not in teaching) or we think of "church" as a corrollary to the "following Christ as individuals" thing.
Instead, my view is that if one has a healthy individual relationship with the Lord, there will be a very natural desire to meet with other believers. Which I why I find it funny when folks respond to an "just follow the Lord individually" with "well, what about the church?!?!" My response is: what do you think the Lord is after? He desires to build His church, no? So, if I give myself to follow His will, caring for others and enjoying other believers will/should be a natural outflow of that. That is, genuinely following the Lord entails "doing church" - but in an organic way. On the other hand, a focus on the "group" as such could and has lead folks to forget to do the whole follow the Lord's leading thing and usurping His place in building His church.
When the natural desire to be with other believers - as Toledo describes - is missing, that is simply a red flag that I am not being honest in my following of the Lord. Its a barometer of sorts, I think.
Peter