October 23, 2022
Greetings and blessings to all of you. What is expected of the congregation and or church members? In the LB it says, “remember your leaders who have taught you the Word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and try to trust the Lord as they do.” Today’s church is in a severe state of confusion. That is no surprise. Paraphrase in 2 Tim. 3:1-5 “in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, ungrateful, conceited, irreconcilable, etc.” Today’s church is filled with people who are unable to distinguish perverse teachings from biblical teachings and as a result many people in the churches have abandoned biblical ethics, doctrine, a deep reverence for the things God loves, humility toward God and fellow believers, and a profound understanding of God’s character and His work. All of this has been ignored or simply replaced with deception from the world lowering commitment to holy living. God’s people seem to have brought into the church from the culture the idea of autonomy. The people come into the church with their own agenda feeling like the directors of their own lives and live according to their own interest and values. That attitude or agenda does not fit with Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Submission is a “dirty word “to those who have their own agenda. But God wants us as believers to learn that submission is not tested when you agree, or when you are eventually convinced the other person is right. Submission is like in a marriage. When the husband is wrong, the wife submits (why) because it is the right thing to do and it’s good, its healthy and it’s God honoring. *(Ladies marry a smart God-fearing man) The marriage represents Christ and the Church and Christ gave His life for her. And the same principles applies when you or I are in conflict with the leaders of the church. Church leaders have to make the final decisions and sometimes it is without the congregation’s input. Unity, trusting and respecting your leaders, is what God expects of us. This attitude and the resulting JOY and UNITY is more important than catering to a specific person’s agenda. Our leaders are not lords they are leaders.; therefore submit joyfully and willingly.
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC