Thursday, March 09, 2006
The Tension Of Government
Last week I asked how to build a genuine church organization that rightly followed scriptural principle. Seems I am not alone in that struggle. Dan Kimball writing at Out of Ur says
Jollyblogger responded to my post last week, he put it this way
This is a bit of a digression, but an interesting one. I am currently teaching CS Lewis' SciFi books to a Sunday School class. I must confess to being absolutely stuned with Lewis' contention that an unfallen world is very different before and after Christ. I am not stunned that our fall has effects throughout the universe, but the idea that our redemption changes God's idea of perfection is fascinating. I bring it up primarily because of the question of God's ordained government before and after Christ, as I say a bit of a digression.
In the end, the key phrase is "after God's own heart." That's why the source of the tension Kimball describes is the wrong place to look. I have been part of larger organization where, at least for a time, people function close to God's heart and it was a good place. I admit, the bigger the organization the harder that is to achieve, but I have witnessed it.
That's why, in the end, our call is to build disciples, not churches. When we concentrate on building people after God's heart, they will make pretty much any organization structure look good.
Related Tags: church, government, organization, sin, kings, monoarchy, Book of Judges, Jollyblogger, Out of Ur
Leadership in the emerging church is a paradox. I am someone who fully sees the need and value of mission statements, organizational charts, and a strategic approach to leading. I read everything John Maxwell, Bill Hybels and Jim Collins write, and they really do fuel my heart and passion for leadership. The irony however, is that most growing up in our emerging culture are fairly critical of anything that looks like ?organized religion.? So when it comes to developing a leadership culture, there is great suspicion of anything that seems to be ?business? oriented or too structured, since that feels like a reinforcement of the exact thing they are critical of.I understand the tension he describes completely, even if I do not like very much his description of the source of the tension being "emerging culture." The critical attitude towards "organized religion" should arise from it's apparent almost universal corruption, not mere cultrual suspicion.
Jollyblogger responded to my post last week, he put it this way
I agree with Newbigin that the political order is itself a source of profound corruption, but so is the family, so is the rest of the culture, and for that matter the church itself has often been a source of profound corruption throughout history. But this doesn't nullify the fact that the political order, like all these other institutions is divinely ordained.David also has very interesting view of the book of Judges, viewing it as an apologetic for monoarchy. It may be such an apologetic, but I have always viewed it as a vision of how God wishes we could be governed, if we were but sinless -- that our fallen state is that which necessitates monoarchy. David says this
Israel's sin in the book of I Samuel is not in wanting a king, it is in wanting a king like the other nations. Israel's sin is in wanting to be like the other nations. God's plan for them was to give them a king after His own heart.I would contend that a ruler after God's heart would be a judge. David also wonders how this applies to modern times, a question I find most fascinating.
So, we can't say that politics and human government are not a part of God's plan - we can say that corrupt politicians and corrupt governments are not a part of God's plan. The goal is to have rulers after God's own heart. [emphasis added]
This is a bit of a digression, but an interesting one. I am currently teaching CS Lewis' SciFi books to a Sunday School class. I must confess to being absolutely stuned with Lewis' contention that an unfallen world is very different before and after Christ. I am not stunned that our fall has effects throughout the universe, but the idea that our redemption changes God's idea of perfection is fascinating. I bring it up primarily because of the question of God's ordained government before and after Christ, as I say a bit of a digression.
In the end, the key phrase is "after God's own heart." That's why the source of the tension Kimball describes is the wrong place to look. I have been part of larger organization where, at least for a time, people function close to God's heart and it was a good place. I admit, the bigger the organization the harder that is to achieve, but I have witnessed it.
That's why, in the end, our call is to build disciples, not churches. When we concentrate on building people after God's heart, they will make pretty much any organization structure look good.
Related Tags: church, government, organization, sin, kings, monoarchy, Book of Judges, Jollyblogger, Out of Ur
