Quote:
Originally Posted by YP0534
Where did hierarchy begin?
Now I'm thinking it was when they decided replace the twelfth "apostle" as if there were a position on a panel or committee.
|
They decided to cast lots. They had a vague OT reference "His bishophric let another take", and they needed to fulfil (for some reason) the letter of the law.
But we christians no longer see the need for a "counsel of 12 overseers", so this arrangement died the death. That doesn't mean they were in error, so much as they didn't have all the light yet. They were comforted with the old arrangement (12), and didn't yet know what to do, so they did something. They chose another.
And it was likewise expedient to choose 7 to "wait on tables", or some such. That seems okay with me. God specializes in differentiation. We have specialized functions, the eye, the ear, the nose and mouth, etc. That there should be specialization arising whenever a clot of us believers gather is neither surprising nor wrong. But to codify that to a one-size-fits-all arrangement henceforth and forever; I balk.
And likewise Paul with the elders. Paul said, "Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?" (1 Cor. 9:1). Likewise, can't we who have the Spirit of God likewise say, "Aren't we free? Are we not [part of] the assembly of Christ's bride in Missoula, Montana (or wherever)?" In other words, Paul did what seemed best for him; can't we do also for us here? Are we not also recipients of the Holy Spirit?
I think the Bible gives us a lot more freedom than we realize. "A new commandment I give to you; that you love one another." That's the extent of our law today. Believe in God, love one another, and don't sin.
I think what those brothers did wasn't so much a creation of hierarchy as mere expediency; what followed immediately afterward was that people began to look to the new "law", not to the Spirit. People were afraid of freedom.
The parallels to what I hear of happening in the lcs, from say '65 to '75, are striking, to me. Same with other moves of the Spirit. We end up looking at the arrangement of chairs in the room, thinking that somehow we can recreate that special feeling. That's were the bureaucrats come in: they specialize in arranging chairs.
Just thinking aloud here.