tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post6194162029832483213..comments2023-06-28T11:56:24.073-04:00Comments on The Lamb's War: Freelance Ministry or the Body of Christ?Micah Baleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849915973708989620noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-11640852201987681072011-04-26T11:10:01.019-04:002011-04-26T11:10:01.019-04:00@Lisa Thank you for sharing about your experience ...@Lisa Thank you for sharing about your experience in your home Meeting! I am glad to hear about the organic network of support relationships that develop within Strawberry Creek Meeting and Pacific Yearly Meeting. <br /><br />I could not agree more with your final paragraph. I look forward to working alongside you to usher in God's Reign on earth.<br /><br />@otter Thanks for the affirmation!<br /><br />@Forrest I agree with you that community-orientation can go too far. There is a spectrum of culture from individualism to communitarianism, and the extremes on either side of this spectrum can be troublesome. Above all, we must seek to submit ourselves to Christ Jesus, and I trust that he will order us as is fitting for the purposes he has for us.<br /><br />Of course, sometimes submitting to Christ can mean leaving a community that is obstinantly rebellious against him.<br /><br />@Tom Absolutely. As I mentioned to Forrest, there can be a real danger at either extreme of the spectrum, and extreme conformism to the community can be just as bad as extreme individualism. It is a tricky balance!<br /><br />@briank Thanks for this.<br /><br />@Anonymous I think your insight is keen. Love is what makes selfless giving possible and true community sustainable.<br /><br />@Paula I do think that business flows more easily when we are gathered together in the Spirit of Christ. If we allow ourselves to be guided, difficult decisions can be made with apparent ease. Nevertheless, I think that even the most Spirit-led Meetings often hit snags. Sometimes we have to wait in the tension to discover together what Christ is revealing to us.Micah Baleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06849915973708989620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-84382684702000135892011-04-25T10:20:32.008-04:002011-04-25T10:20:32.008-04:00I'm late coming to this post, Micah, but I am ...I'm late coming to this post, Micah, but I am very much moved by it. I believe that Forrest has also added greatly to the conversation, as have others.<br />I wish to add a further comment, though, because I saw a new vision of my activities in the secular world. I have served as convenor/coordinator/chair of several organizations. The ones in which people are thinking about their own projects are terribly difficult to lead/moderate. Those in which people are united in one goal are wonderful to work with, and my task becomes more like that of clerk. <br />Could those monthly meetings that manage to keep their meetings to an hour or less be those meetings that operate as the Body of Christ?<br />Yours in the Light, Paulapaulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08891195958481806488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-8041598387529076672011-04-20T12:05:01.265-04:002011-04-20T12:05:01.265-04:00A 'gift community' that a few of us have o...A 'gift community' that a few of us have organized here in Portugal is certainly 'freelance ministry', and it has been working, to a degree. My longing, however, is for the Body of Christ. Your blog has helped me to pinpoint what I have felt is lacking in our gift community. The difference seems to be the difference between pragmatism and love.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-40976443660550242022011-04-20T10:05:30.839-04:002011-04-20T10:05:30.839-04:00St. Theresa of Avila's prayer says:
Christ ha...St. Theresa of Avila's prayer says:<br /><br />Christ has no body now but yours<br />No hands, no feet on earth but yours<br />Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world<br />Christ has no body now on earth but yours.<br /><br />John Micheal Talbot has made this prayer into a beautiful song, & I hear it everytime I think of the Body of Christ.<br /><br />I like that you said:<br />"Instead of seeing the community as a resource for its members, those who are living in a Body of Christ worldview see the gifts of the individual members as being given by God for the community."<br /><br />I think too often today people are looking at what the Church does for them instead of what can we as the Body of Christ do for this world (that Jesus loves so much).<br /><br />More like being "a piece of" instead of a "consumer". peace.brianknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-91124078382661662212011-04-19T22:54:26.401-04:002011-04-19T22:54:26.401-04:00I tend to agree with much of the discussion here. ...I tend to agree with much of the discussion here. However, from personal experience in several situations, one of the concerns with "Body"/community as the primary identification is that if some one or some group does not "fit" or, in some cases, seems to be coming from the "outside," there can be an exclusiveness that becomes apparent. I believe that this "exclusiveness" is of concern in some cases.Tom Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12194918323559385371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-80041671705615221402011-04-19T18:26:17.886-04:002011-04-19T18:26:17.886-04:00It is not a question of subordinating individuals ...It is not a question of subordinating individuals to anything-- except God.<br /><br />If you put "The Community" in the place of individual tyrants, the problem remains-- that we are infected by our membership in a larger civilization that has always been basically atheist: <br />Using the name of "God" to underwrite human aims, turning to "tradition" & "practical" means by preference, seeking Guidance only as a last resort.<br /><br />I'm not saying you can't have a community of pious people using their gifts to maintain the community's spiritual life-- but that is not "the Body of Christ;" it's a thumb at best.<br /><br />If each individual is connected to God-- then his connection to a larger body should follow from that. If such a body can't coordinate itself into a motion willed by God... that's a sign that its members themselves are only numbly attached to the Divine nerve...forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13861950371962268402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-22540052634332642022011-04-19T15:45:14.789-04:002011-04-19T15:45:14.789-04:00Yes! Gifts are given to edify the body, not to ed...Yes! Gifts are given to edify the body, not to edify the gifted individual.otterhttp://oddsandotters.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-74698928694004707592011-04-19T15:38:26.688-04:002011-04-19T15:38:26.688-04:00As a member of Strawberry Creek MM (Pacific YM), I...As a member of Strawberry Creek MM (Pacific YM), I am aware of many friends within my monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings who live and breathe in accord with what you call the "Body of Christ" perspective (though I'm sure quite a few would seek different language to describe it). Those of us who do strive to live in this way reach out to each other, feel accountable to each other, are tempered and seasoned in relation to each other's gifts and ministry.<br /><br />This interdependence goes across different monthly meetings. While it often has a strong influence on the culture and relationships of specific monthly meetings, I think it's hard for this to become a pervasive and defining feature of large monthly meetings. (I don't know if this is different in other branches of Quakerism.) So there can be an "inner circle" or "interest group" feeling about this connection, something that others can admire or stumble on as they spend more time in the meeting and deepen their connection. In some cases, small groups work intensively at cultivating such relationships in ways that feel very tender, and may or may not be open to new participants. Some monthly meetings have found ways to open such fellowship to any who are drawn to it.<br /><br />So perhaps what I have seen and experienced is closer to your model of "freelance ministry" than what you are holding up here as "the Body of Christ". But I do see seeds that can grow into that.<br /><br />My own vision for the Society of Friends has been that we would all become so engaged in nurturing each other's ministry and gifts, that we would come to see there is no better work for us to do in the world. Through that practice, we would each develop the habit of responding as channels of God's love to the people we come into contact with, finding opportunities to call each other back to a Center (by whatever names we can each hear) that can nurture and sustain us all. May we all be faithful in sharing these gifts.Lisa Hhttp://rootedandgrounded.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com