Because much of my life happens inside an "organized" church I am often presented with people's opinions about "organized" religion. My sarcastic response is if you think organized religion is bad you should see disorganized religion, but my response is probably too organized to be of much value. The other day my disorganized mind made one of those leaps that are only possible in the freedom of free association. It seems to me that much of what we learn is somewhat accidental. Nobody said class began, nobody handed out an outline, there was no textbook and no final exam. But by the sheer power of presence, the influence of conversation and observation, we end up "knowing" some things. So at the risk of sounding self serving, how much do we learn when we simply choose to show up regularly where righteous people regularly show up? How important is it to include influence in our personal development plan?
We are often deliberate and determined when it comes to pursuing things we want to know. We spend hours on the Internet, we actually pay to go to a class we actually go to, and we ask questions. But are we deliberately including the power of influence in our lives? And what about deliberately avoiding the power of influence when the case can be made that certain influences are negative?
The Apostle Paul felt the issue was important enough to remind the Corinthians "Do you not know, 'bad company corrupts good morals'." We are not sure who he was quoting or maybe he was quoting himself, but he seemed to be concerned about the power of influence.
This leads to another concern. What is the result of our influence? How are we affecting others? I like the idea of being a person who is being positively influenced and a person that is passing that influence on to others. I am thinking that maybe I should get organized about the issue of influence in and through my life.
But I have never had much appreciation for organized influence; I get all the influence I need just spending time alone in the woods . . .
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ReplyDeleteSeems like the New Testament positively requires sincere believers to voluntarily participate in organized meetings and collaboration, under proper authority, with regard for other followers.
ReplyDeleteSearching the word "beware" reveals there will be trouble even in church . . . I agree with the bible; to "beware" what Jesus said beware of.
Brother, I encourage you. I still think you are one of the most compelling, balanced and rational voices among pastors of your kind.
ReplyDeleteOver many years others have benefited from wisdom the Lord spoke to me through you.
Years ago, I was put off by what seemed like "winds of doctrine" around 1AOG (later aka Parkway) until it dawned on me how such a high-profile location also attracted many with ulterior motives; must be a tough place to keep the peace of God. I marvel at Joshua (the bible one) how he could lead so many people and still hear clearly from the Lord.