I'm back in the office after attending the wonderful "Church Unbound" conference in Montreat, NC. The very notion that the Church is bound in some way is an intriguing one. It says that we are chained, confined, or constricted in some way that keeps us from being the people God calls us to be. It says that we need to be set loose from something in order to answer our calling to be followers of Jesus.
Of course most of us are not all that keen on admitting that we are bound. Addicts resist admitting that their addiction controls them in some way. Micro managers often can't see the abilities of others because they can't let anyone else control anything. And all of us get stuck in ruts without realizing it.
The Church has these problems along with another. We often assume that the things we do are somehow divinely ordained. I've heard people say, "It isn't really worship without a pipe organ." Of course pipe organs didn't exist for much of Church history, and most American congregations didn't have such organs until the early 20th century.
We all have our own preferences when it comes to worship style, mission emphases, fellowship events, and so on. But what happens when our preferences get in the way of being the body of Christ? And if we confuse our preferences with "how it is supposed to be," what then?
In today's reading in Acts, Stephen's trial comes to an end, and he is stoned to death. In that trial he accuses his accusers. "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do." Stephen was a leader in the new movement that sprung up after Jesus' death and resurrection. This movement did not consider itself something separate from Judaism, but an integral part of it. But what they were doing looked and felt different and new. And this offended the religious sensibilities of some. This wasn't "how it was supposed to be." Therefore it was wrong and needed to be stopped before it caused too much trouble.
Any time we resist something new that the Spirit is doing, we are bound by our expectations of how things should be. Our "shoulds" become God, in a sense, become idols which bind us and keep us from following where Jesus calls. What is binding you?
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