Amen. Christ never established a religion. Paul did. If you follow him, that's your business. But it doesn't grant you any sort of authority above anyone... In fact, following Christ doesn't grant anyone authority either.
Jesus is the ultimate authority. And what He decides for me, might different from what He decides for you or anyone. We can argue specifics and ideas, but ultimately it's His place to judge. Not ours.
If you can't respect other people's right to worship how they choose, or not to worship, then you're part of the problem and need to change. If you can't respect others, why should anyone respect you? This is a long and hard pill to swallow (yeah yeah phrasing) but I'm glad I did... The day I stopped judging others and focused on living my own life was the day I became free...
Good post Camaro, but I will disagree one point, authority. Jesus did give us the authority to do his goodness by our fellowman. Jesus told his disciples (those keeping his sayings) to preach the Kingdom of God that is within each of us, heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out devils. We all have the authority in Jesus’ name to protect ourselves and others from natural destructive forces like tornadoes, lightning, wind, etc. These acts of goodness are not done by us, the spiritual world does the work. We can just tell it to work as long as it is based on Jesus’ goodness and does not interfere with a person’s free will.
Authority carried out through service leadership, I would say is different than the current day understanding of "authority". We almost need a new word to distinguish the two. The type of authority you describe is one that comes naturally. People start to respect you and trust you when they see you lead by example.
When I speak against authority, I mean the toxic totalitarian brand. The "I have Jesus and am therefore better than you and know what's best for everyone" brand I will always stand against. But I see where you're coming from. We could call what you describe as a "humble authority" or something along those lines. Humble authority is one that doesn't involve attempting to exert dominion on other people. I think I can get on board with that.
Amen. Christ never established a religion. Paul did. If you follow him, that's your business. But it doesn't grant you any sort of authority above anyone... In fact, following Christ doesn't grant anyone authority either.
Jesus is the ultimate authority. And what He decides for me, might different from what He decides for you or anyone. We can argue specifics and ideas, but ultimately it's His place to judge. Not ours.
If you can't respect other people's right to worship how they choose, or not to worship, then you're part of the problem and need to change. If you can't respect others, why should anyone respect you? This is a long and hard pill to swallow (yeah yeah phrasing) but I'm glad I did... The day I stopped judging others and focused on living my own life was the day I became free...
Good post Camaro, but I will disagree one point, authority. Jesus did give us the authority to do his goodness by our fellowman. Jesus told his disciples (those keeping his sayings) to preach the Kingdom of God that is within each of us, heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out devils. We all have the authority in Jesus’ name to protect ourselves and others from natural destructive forces like tornadoes, lightning, wind, etc. These acts of goodness are not done by us, the spiritual world does the work. We can just tell it to work as long as it is based on Jesus’ goodness and does not interfere with a person’s free will.
Authority carried out through service leadership, I would say is different than the current day understanding of "authority". We almost need a new word to distinguish the two. The type of authority you describe is one that comes naturally. People start to respect you and trust you when they see you lead by example.
When I speak against authority, I mean the toxic totalitarian brand. The "I have Jesus and am therefore better than you and know what's best for everyone" brand I will always stand against. But I see where you're coming from. We could call what you describe as a "humble authority" or something along those lines. Humble authority is one that doesn't involve attempting to exert dominion on other people. I think I can get on board with that.