Friday, October 11, 2013

Ordered By God Or Organized By Man

If you were to rate yourself on your organizational skills what grade would you give yourself out of ten? Being organized takes discipline which is a godly thing. Some people think to live by the Spirit is a wild and crazy thing that has nothing to do with being organized. For them, the Spirit is chaotic but our God is not a God of chaos. Neither is he into a useless religious life.

Discipline brings with it a release to be free in the Spirit. It means that everything in your life is understood, has a purpose and a place. When needed you know exactly how to call upon what you need.This goes for physical, mental and spiritual things.

On the other hand, a religious mind brings a rigidness. It is more about law than purpose. A religious mind can tell you where something is and what it is for but does not always have the understanding to use it. A religious mind knows how to make things look good but is seldom useful or available to God.

These were my thoughts as I read through the organization of the kingdom of Israel under David in 1 Chronicles 23-24. Everyone had a place, a responsibility, well defined and they operated in it. There was order in the kingdom and it prospered under the divinely directed leadership of David, a man after God's own heart. Everything was as God directed it to be, not as man thought it should be.

The Body of Christ, the Church, does not have a man as the head. All of us, apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, evangelists, elders, deacons, worship leaders, administrators, healers, all of us in the Body are parts of the Body, functioning members.These places are assigned to us by Jesus through the Spirit in us. These are not functions according to our ability and talents but according to God's anointing. It is his choosing, not ours, and once realized and understood, we must be faithful to it.

Everyone should be in their place, with understanding and power, ready to respond when called upon by the Spirit. The Spirit is the electron that shoots from the head to the part that needs to respond. According to God's will the Body is well ordered, well organized, even if it makes no sense and looks like madness to this world. The problem comes when we try to bring our own definition of order and organization according to our thinking instead of the mind of Christ. There is nothing religiously minded about the Body of Christ and it is Jesus who keeps the Body in good order.

Do you know your place? If not, speak to the elders and pastors of your church. We need you to take your place.

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