“I think the most basic practical division among evangelical pastors today may be between those who pursue faithfulness and assume relevance and those who pursue relevance and assume faithfulness.”
Mark Dever, “The Pastor and the Community”
October 12, 2009
But, I Thought My Opinion Mattered….
“The form of government instituted by Christ for his churches, is, as we have seen, a Christocracy. By this term I mean that form of government of which Christ is the head, and under which he requires his people to receive all their principles of actions from, and to frame all their doings according to, his laws and precepts contained in the Bible. He is their prophet and their king, and his dominion over them is absolute, for they are not their own, but belong unconditionally to him. They are, therefore, gathered together in the church relation by his sole authority… That they are the subjects of one Master to be governed not by their own opinions, or by the opinions of others, but by the laws of Christ. In all their enquiries, their judgments, their acts, the question must not be, how feelest thou? how thinkest thou? but, how readest thou? They must bring their feelings, their thoughts ‘to the law and the testimony;’ ‘to the scripture which is given by inspiration of God, and which is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’”
(W.B. Johnson, “The Gospel Developed Through the Government and Order of the Churches of Jesus Christ,” 1846)
Heavenly Father…. I confess that I am often driven by how i feel and what i think. My attention is given to my …. my ….. my everything.
And so often, Lord, I do not submit myself to what I read….
And so often, Lord, I do not submit myself to what I read …. because I do not read. I sit at the feet of music… I sit at the feed of TV…. I sit at the feet of man, of authors, of media personalities….. but i don’t sit at the feet of my Sovereign Creator. I don’t sit at the feet of my Sovereign Savior.
Heavenly Father… I repent and recall again… that YOU and YOUR “Opinion” is what truly matters in this life and the next.
Create in me a heart that delights in your Word… your voice… your feet… your sovereignty…. your Church.
I praise you that it is not my truth, or my love, or my faithfulness that binds.
I have NO hope without your undeserved favor…..
We have NO hope without your unfathomable kindness….
amen.
