Alley-oop

by John D Ramsey

Recently, I read a quote from a prominent so-called Christian leader that roughly correlated church programs with the alley-oop. We toss the ball up, and God makes a slam dunk. Without our setup pass God can do nothing, but without God, we’re shooting air balls; together we score. In effect, the church expects God to validate whatever it decides to do.

God does not work that way. In Acts, we are given some illustrations of how God does work, but we evaluate those empirically and decide that because we have never seen it, they are no longer relevant.

Right before Jesus’ ascension into heaven, he told his disciples,

• Do not leave Jerusalem
• Wait for the gift my Father promised.

Jesus promised the disciples that they would be baptized by the Holy Spirit, and that when this occurred, they would become Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. The disciples were expecting God to restore the kingdom to Israel, but Jesus told them that it was not for them to ask about “times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” Acts 1:7 (NIV)

The disciples stayed in Jerusalem, but they did not wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Instead, Peter insisted that they nominate two men to replace Judas Iscariot. After the nomination they tossed them up to see which one was God’s slam dunk. After hearing that the timing of God’s promises were not for them to ask, Peter and the crew decided that the time had come for God to replace Judas. Matthias was chosen by a game of chance, and nothing more was ever heard about Matthias.

No doubt, Matthias was a good man, but he wasn’t God’s man. Peter’s initial logic was sound, but his decisions were all wrong. The Psalmist prophesied of Judas, saying, “May another take his place,” but this was not Peter’s decision, it was God’s. If Peter had followed the pattern of church government that Jesus taught in Matthew 16 and 18, there would have been no need for casting of lots. Jesus prophesied in both of those chapters, “Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

From Matthew 18, it becomes apparent that the binding and loosing that Jesus refers to is the collective decision making of the assembly of believers. Jesus taught his disciples that He reveals His will in the unanimous agreement among the assembly. If only two or three are present, Jesus still makes His will known through their agreement. If you get a whole church to agree together, then that is a miracle, and that is the point Jesus tried to teach his disciples.

Peter and the other disciples apparently could not agree between Barsabbas and Matthias, so they alley-ooped. That is to say, they required God to finish what they had started. Churches today ignore the unanimity requirement for decision making. Decisions are made by approved people behind closed doors. We then expect God to endorse our decisions.

Sometime after Matthias was no longer relevant, the Lord Jesus appeared to Saul of Tarsus (Paul) on the road to Damascus. Such was God’s timing. Paul calls himself the least of the apostles. Yet, as the least of the apostles Paul became the principal writer of the New Testament.

Peter set the criteria that whoever replaced Judas must have been someone who was with Jesus from the beginning. In other words, Peter wanted someone who wanted the job, and someone who had demonstrated to the disciples the necessary commitment. These were not God’s criteria, but rather man’s criteria.

There was nothing on Saul of Tarsus’ résumé that would have appealed to Peter and the gang. Come to think of it there was nothing in Peter’s résumé that qualified him to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, either.

Much of what we call church occurs at the pleasure of men. Leadership is still largely chosen by committee either internal to the local assembly or by leadership of the denomination. Pastors candidate for positions that meet their compensation requirements. People attend the church whose programs please them or whose services entertain them. Congregants, or conscripts, are assigned to roles as it pleases the so-called church leaders. The modern church is entirely designed to please men, and not God. Scripture is distorted every Sunday morning to convince people that they must continue doing what pleases men. We neither wait on God to make His will obvious, nor do we uphold Jesus’ standard of unanimity in our decision making. We operate mostly as an oligarchy doing what pleases the so-called leaders.

We take out church mortgages or sell bonds using the charisma of the pastor as collateral on the loan. Then we ask God to pay off the debt – alley-oop. We justify ourselves by remembering that mortgages and church bonds are about the only way to acquire a building. This should make us ask a rather obvious question!

Churches manage their members in CRM databases grading performance based on growth and retention. Under-performing facilities are upgraded, and under-performing pastors are replaced. We spend our entire church experience trying to please men. We commend the success of an assembly in human terms – how many congregants, how many programs, and how much money.

Once on television, I watched on prominent so-called Christian leader bragging about the church gymnasium that was so grand it persuaded many people to join his church. His bragging was mundane; some churches incorporate sports bars. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ a giant bait-and-switch? Come for the basketball, and while you’re here, let us punch your ticket to heaven.

Modern churches seek to please men in all things. Yet Paul tells the Galatians, “For now do I comply with men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if still I please men, I was not then Christ’s bondman.” Galatians 1:10 (AB) Likewise, when you look at the salutations on Paul’s epistles, you find phrases such as:

“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a chosen apostle, being separated for the good news of God . . .” Romans 1:1 (AB)

“Paul, a chosen apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God . . .” 1 Corinthians 1:1 (AB)

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God . . .” 2 Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, Colossians 1:1 (AB)

“Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father . . .” Galatians 1:1 (AB)

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the command of God, the father, and our deliverer Jesus Christ, the one of our hope . . .” 1 Timothy 1:1 (AB)

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, according to the promise of life of the one in Christ Jesus . . .” 2 Timothy 1:1 (AB)

Paul did not seek to please men. In fact, he said that if he tried to please men he could not consider himself a bondman of Jesus Christ. He didn’t kowtow to Peter, James, and John, nor did he detract from the Gospel message just to attract more people.

What would church look like we did not seek to please men, but rather we sought only to please God? Would we have gymnasiums and sports bars? Would we have church buildings at all?

What would a church look like if we all met together in a borrowed upper room, studying and praying until God revealed what He wanted to do? What would church look like if we were all more interested in hearing from God, than doing anything. The truth is that the modern church does not exist to please God, but rather to please men.

Ironically, to the extent that we do church to please men, we demonstrate that we are not bondmen of Jesus Christ. Instead, we’re just playing games.

Ecclesiastical hierarchy

by John D Ramsey

And through covetousness
shall they with feigned words
make merchandise of you.

2 Peter 2:3 (KJV)

Did anyone read the AP headline about the former Indiana pastor and his sons who allegedly scammed 11,000 people by securities fraud? Really? The marks thought they could make money by purchasing bonds for church building. Really? Is anyone truly surprised? Don’t say Peter didn’t warn you.

Peter says that because of them, “the way of truth will be blasphemed.” 2 Peter 2:2 (AB) It is maddening that people use positions of respect to manipulate and devour the naive. Peter spends the rest of the chapter describing the severity of God’s judgment against such men. He calls them “slaves of depravity” (NIV), and compares them to a “dog having returned unto its own excrement.” (AB) Most translations soften the object of the preposition saying, instead, “vomit,” like that’s so much better. The Greek is rather direct, however.

The notion of an ecclesiastical hierarchy exacerbates the problem of frauds within Christendom, whether they be shysters or sexual predators. People implicitly trust so-called Christian leaders. In reading my Bible I can find no basis for such obeisance. Peter warned of false prophets and teachers in 2 Peter 2. Paul warned of “grievous wolves” in Acts 20 who would “draw away disciples after them” (AB). John warned the elder Gaius, in 3 John, about Diotrephes, “the one enjoying being first.” In Revelation 2, the Lord Jesus condemns the practices of the Nicolaitans, or “conquerors of the people.”

The Apostle Paul, did teach an ecclesiastical hierarchy. Nevertheless, the hierarchy Paul taught was consistent with the words of Jesus,

But you are not to be called Rabbi,
for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’
for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’
for you have one Teacher, the Christ.

Matthew 23:8-10 (NIV)

Modern churches mostly ignore the concept of equality among the brethren. In so doing, they ignore Paul who scolded the Corinthians for causing divisions within the body. Most translations, especially the NIV, strain to justify the favoritism the Corinthians practiced, but Paul told them that because of their divisions they did not celebrate the Lord’s Supper, but their own. He went on to say that because their practice did not recognize the body of the Lord, many were weak and sick and others had died. The church, the body of Christ, consists of many members, but only Christ is the head.

The concept that Christians should organize in hierarchies is un-Biblical. Paul taught a ecclesiastical hierarchy, but it is rather shallow. He says,

But I want you to know,
that the Christ is the head of every man;
and the head of the woman is the man;
and the head of Christ is God.

1 Corinthians 11:3 (AB)

Modern Christianity largely rejects or ignores Paul’s statement that the “head of the woman is the man.” It’s a free country, and they’re welcome to start their own religion. Nevertheless, what I see within this paragraph is simply this, if Christ, being God, and equal to God, can submit to the Father, then a woman, being equal to the man, can submit to her husband without incurring any inferiority. Women are equal to men, according to Galatians 3:28; their submission is only for the purposes of orderliness. It certainly reflects the character of Christ and the natural divine order designed by God. Moreover, in this ecclesiastical hierarchy every woman is only three from the top which is much higher than organized Christianity puts most anybody.

The simple beauty of this passage is that “the Christ is the head of every man.” No Christian leader stands in any position of ecclesiastical authority over any other man. In fact, Paul takes it further and says, “Every man praying or prophesying having anything on his head, disgraces his own head.” 1 Corinthians 11:4 (AB) Many scholars obfuscate this passage to make it sound like a man must not wear his ball cap at the table while saying grace. Yet clearly, Paul is saying, Christ is your head; do not cover yourselves with any other presumed spiritual authority.

If no man can have ecclesiastical authority over you, then you also have no ecclesiastical authority over him. As Jesus said, “You are all brothers.” 

When any so-called Christian leader touts his credentials, beware. He is deceived and likely a deceiver. The only valuable credentials he can possibly have is that Christ is his head. Those credentials are no more valuable than your own, if you belong to Christ. Even Paul called his vast credentials foolishness in 2 Corinthians 11. He sarcastically tells the Corinthians that he knows they will indulge his foolishness because they “put up with anyone who enslaves [them] or exploits [them] or takes advantage of [them] or pushes himself forward or slaps [them] in the face.” 2 Corinthians 11:20 (NIV)

Although no man holds ecclesiastical rank over another, the truth is always authoritative. That is why Paul preach authoritatively and could also compel Titus saying, “These things speak, and encourage, and reprove with all command! Let no one speculate about you.” Titus 2:15 (AB) Titus did not have all authority, yet the message he delivered was authoritative. Similarly Peter proclaimed, “If any speaks, let it be as oracles of God.” 1 Peter 4:11 (AB) As each of us declares the truth, we should do so with authority.

In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul outlined what a church service should look like. Very briefly, the assembly of believers was designed to be interactive. One speaks, others discern. If one stands up to speak, the one speaking sits down. All things were to be orderly. No one leader emerges, yet all lead as the Holy Spirit directs. Each brings something that builds up the body.

In modern Christianity, we idolize the authors, the orators, and the entertainers. We elevate the credentialed and ordained. In so doing, we ignore the truth that only Christ is our head. We open the doors for the ravenous wolves, those who seek a following for themselves. We enable those who by “feigned words make merchandise of” us. By ignoring our lofty position with respect to Christ, through false humility, we deny him.

Knowing that only Christ is our head should compel us to know him better. As brothers we are told to respect and defer to those who are older—this is the natural order. We are also supposed to submit to one another while avoiding those who love being first.

When we begin to see believers as equals and not superiors or inferiors, and when we begin to see only Christ as our head, then it should become easier to spot those who assert themselves or attract fan clubs for themselves. These are certainly not believers, because by elevating themselves, “They have turned from the holy commandment delivered to them.” 2 Peter 2:21 (AB)

God provided

by John D Ramsey

I drove past a church sign on my way to work this morning. It read, “GOD WILL PROVIDE — GENESIS 22:13.” I don’t like church signs because they say so little while inviting the reader to infer so much. I inferred from this sign that its intent abused the passage of Scripture it offered as a proof text. Now certainly I believe that God provides. James 1:17 says, “Every good portion and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the lights, of whom there is no alteration or shaded circuit.” (AB)

All that I have is provided by God. I would not dispute that God provides. Nevertheless, to attest that God will provide seems presumptuous. What will God provide? I wondered to myself. Had the sign read, “GOD PROVIDES,” it probably would not have struck me as dubious. To say that God provides implies God gives me what I need. To say that God will provide, implies that somehow, what I lack, God will remunerate to me. Can I determine what God will provide?

Having received a magnanimous gift from the Philippians, Paul blessed them saying, “And my God will fill all your need, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (AB) Likewise Jesus said, “Your father knows of what you have need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:8 (AB)

Had the sign read, “GOD PROVIDES WHAT YOU NEED,” I would not have reacted with displeasure. Because the proclamation was so open-ended, it brought Hosea’s prophecy to mind, specifically the attitude of the people, who declared,

And we shall know,
and shall pursue to know the LORD.
As dawn readied,
we shall find him;
and he shall come to us
as rain early and late to the earth.
Hosea 6:3 (AB)

Of course, Hosea prophesied and Israel endured God’s judgment rather than the blessing they expected Him to provide. Israel believed that God was predicable. They had believed that even though God was harsh sometimes, He would eventually cool off and give them what they wanted.

What disturbed me most about the sign was the Scripture reference, Genesis 22:13. When one contemplates the passage one realizes that God provided, but to use this passage as a proof that God provides, without saying what God provided to Abraham and Isaac, totally misses the glory of the passage.

God provided a sacrifice. Abraham took Isaac, his son, to the top of the mountain to offer him as a sacrifice. God saw Abraham’s faith and provided instead a ram as a substitution for Isaac. The ram, offered in Isaac’s place, becomes a type of the Christ who presented his own blood in atonement for the sins of the whole world.

In both cases, God intervened to save the ones condemned to die. If I were asked to assemble a church sign using Genesis 22:13 as the proof text, I would have it say,

GOD PROVIDED A SACRIFICE
Genesis 22:13 & 1 John 4:10

Hamartia

by John D Ramsey

When Christians contemplate sin we tend to conjure lists of actions such as the seven deadly or the Ten Commandments. Likewise when we think of righteousness we tend to applaud ourselves for refraining from which ever of the seven deadly or Ten Commandments that we have not yet violated. We think we gain or lose God’s favor based upon what we do or do not do.

The Galatians were confronted by men teaching this, and Paul called it a different gospel and a distortion of the gospel. Fast forward nearly two millennia, and the distortion is pervasive. We think that sin is a list of don’t-do-this and righteousness is a list of do-do this.

I recently had to explain to Claire to be cautious when listening to a do-do preacher. When someone asserts that the Christian life can be summarized by a list of do-do or don’t-do, then they are preaching another gospel – even if their list sounds good.

If sin is not a list of don’t-do-this, what is it? It is hamartia. If fact, the English word hamartia is a direct transliteration from the Greek. Moreover, the word “hamartia” still carries the original intent of the word whereas the meaning of the word “sin” has become distorted.

Hamartia is a flaw. In theater, hamartia, is the tragic flaw that undermines the protagonist. Othello’s flaw was not that he murdered his wife, Desdemona. Othello’s flaw is that he lacked the same faith in Desdemona that he also required from her. Hamartia is a condition, not an action. When Othello declares, “My life upon her faith [faithfulness]!” the audience should infer, her life upon his faith [trust].

What Christians tend to call sin is rather the consequences of hamartia, or what Paul calls the fruit of hamartia in Romans 6:21. Behavioral modification may successfully reform the expression of hamartia without healing the underlying cause. When Christians whitewash their lifestyles, the world can smell the hypocrisy. Jesus told the Pharisees, who emphasized external observances, “You are like tombs being whitewashed, one which outside indeed appear beautiful, but inside are full of bones of the dead and all uncleanness.” Matthew 23:27 (AB) Is it ever surprising when a glitzy TV preacher or self-righteous politician is found guilty of hypocrisy?

False religions and false gospels, try to reform the body by declaring rules such as, “touch not, taste not, handle not.” In Colossians 2, Paul tells us that these things seem wise, but do nothing to reform the flesh. The human condition is flawed. Paul says of the first man, Adam, “By the disobedience of the one man, many were established as sinners.” Romans 5:19 (AB) Our bad actions do not make us flawed, rather our bad actions flow from our flawed condition. Consequently, changing behavior cannot make us whole again.

Our best behavioral modification techniques are only fig leaves loosely bound together in such a way as to disguise our shame. In fact, many of the actions Christians consider shameful, are manufactured from rules they feel willing or at least able to keep. The false standards of righteousness are established to please men, but they do not impress God.

Paul began as a Pharisee. He was blameless according to all the external observations of the law. Even as an infant, he was circumcised on the eighth day, according to the law. In Philippians 3, Paul says that all his righteousness, he considers to be excrement. The righteousness that we can obtain by behavioral modification cannot alleviate our hamartia. In fact, the hope that by effort we can reform ourselves may be the most tragic flaw of all.

Paul told the Galatians, who had put their hope in the Law, that they were “rendered useless from the Christ” and that they “fell from favor [grace].” Galatians 5:4 (AB) There is nothing we can do to remediate our hamartia. Trying to is hopeless and finds disfavor from God.

The consequences of our hamartia is separation from God. It is death. Yet Hebrews 9 tells us that we can receive an eternal inheritance by the death of the Christ. Christ was offered once as a sacrifice for all our hamartia. By his death, we can inherit his life through the resurrection of the dead.

True righteousness is not a set of actions. It is a condition. The condition of righteousness is having received God’s favor. Paul longed for the righteousness that is “through belief of Christ, the righteousness of God unto the belief; to know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformable to his death; if by any means I should arrive at the resurrection of the dead.” Philippians 3:9-11 (AB)

We cannot make ourselves whole again. But we can receive the wholeness that comes through Christ. This is nothing we can earn; rather, it comes only by faith to the favor that God has displayed toward us.

The result of Christ’s life and righteousness being attributed to us, is our sanctification. We grow to become more like him. The fruit of our hamartia becomes less appealing and more appalling. We don’t learn to live by rules, we begin to live through the Spirit.

When a preacher teaches that as a Christian you must do this or do that. Remember that Paul considered such do-do to be excrement. Christ’s righteousness in us will not even look the same as the do-do lists we create. It won't look the same, and it won't smell the same. In fact, through faith we become the aroma of Christ to the world despite our human weaknesses (2 Corinthians 2:12-17). Remember human righteousness is like whitewashed tombs. It looks good, but smells bad. Christ’s life through us is freedom; however, His freedom does not gratify the hamartia that still resides within our mortal bodies.

As we grow in Christ, then our mortal lives begin to reflect the reality of His righteousness. Just as hamartia results in behavioral choices; so Christ’s life in us will alter our lifestyles. Yet even so, this is Christ’s work through us, and not our own.

Simplicity of fellowship

by John D Ramsey

I tried to call Dad a few times yesterday from the office, but he did not answer. When I finally reached him in the evening, he recounted his busy day. In addition to yard work, Dad drove Ezra, his Amish neighbor, to the auction where Ezra sells his tomatoes. Ezra has hundreds of 8-foot tall tomato plants in the greenhouse behind his home. Dad has been integral to this enterprise from the beginning. Earlier this year, Dad removed the backseat from his van and drove Ezra to pick up the tomato sets. It did not surprise me that Dad did not answer the telephone. I imagined that he was either doing yard work, or driving Ezra someplace.

Ezra does much to help Dad around the yard. It would be easy to describe their relationship as an arrangement, but that would not be fair. On Dad’s birthday, Ezra, with his wife and baby, brought Dad his dinner. In brief, Dad and Ezra do what is within their abilities to supply each other’s needs. Neither would presume to take advantage of the other. Their relationship displays the simplicity of Christian fellowship. Ezra is a young Amish man; Dad is an elderly Baptist preacher. Regardless of their differences they experience the fellowship of equality.

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A few weeks ago, I was reading Hebrews 3 in my Apostolic Bible. The writer implores us to “contemplate the apostle and chief priest of our acknowledgment offering, Christ Jesus.” Most English translations use the word “confession” instead of “acknowledgment offering” and this provoked my curiosity. The first occurrence of the phrase “acknowledgment offering” occurs in Leviticus 22:18. In other English version of Scripture this is often translated “votive,” meaning an offering presented as fulfillment of a vow.

Associating Hebrews 3:1 with Leviticus 22:18 was like peering out into the ocean at night. I knew I was looking at something grand, but I could not make it out. I searched in the lexical concordance for other occurrences of the Greek word translated “acknowledgment offering.” In all Old Testament instances the Apostolic Bible uses “acknowledgment offering.” In a couple instances in the New Testament, the translator instead translated the word to read “confession.” This made me more curious, so I emailed him. He immediately responded saying that he did not remember his specific reasoning, but said he would add it to his list of things to study for his next edition. Yesterday, he replied again saying, “I just went and changed every ‘confession’ to ‘acknowledgment offering.’ Thanks!”

Now the meaning of Scripture does not hinge upon what a translator thinks, but this confirmation encouraged me. I did not need a secret decoder ring to grasp the meaning of the word, nor was there anything contextual that I was missing that would favor one translation above another.

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In my research of “acknowledgment offering,” Paul’s use of the word in 2 Corinthians 9:13 surprised me. Speaking of the gift that the Corinthians were setting aside for the saints in Jerusalem, he says,

For the service of this ministration, not only is filling up in addition the deficiencies of the holy ones [saints], but also abounding through many thanksgivings to God; through the proof of this service glorifying God upon the submission of your acknowledgment offering to the good news [gospel] of the Christ, and simplicity of the fellowship to them and to all.

The Corinthians’ gift was given of their free will. It was in response to what they had purposed (vowed) to do (2 Corinthians 9:7). Their gift was a “submission of their acknowledgment offering,” which glorified God and resulted in a simplicity of fellowship among the believers in Jerusalem and beyond. The fellowship of the offering extended to all givers and receivers.

The word “submission” here is used a little differently than elsewhere in the New Testament. However, from its usage we can determine that it is a strong word. In 1 Timothy Paul uses it in the prepositional phrase “in submission.” In Galatians 2:5, Paul says that he would not submit to false brethren. The connotation of the word submission in the context of 2 Corinthians 9 is obeisance. In other words, this is not like clicking a “Submit” button. Rather, the submission of the acknowledgment offering was an act of worship.

Elsewhere, in 2 Corinthians 8:14, Paul explained that the purpose of the gift was to establish equality. The Corinthians’ abundance supplied the Jerusalem saints’ deficiency, and the abundance of the Jerusalem saints’ also supplied the Corinthians’ deficiency. The Corinthians’ part of the equation was a monetary contribution. The Jerusalem saints’ portion was “their supplication for [the Corinthians] longing after [them] through the exceeding favor of God unto [them].”

The gift results in thanksgiving to God and prayers for the blessing of God. God is integral to the acknowledgment offering. God’s graciousness is the motivation for the gift. The giver is not superior to the receiver; rather, the gift is an confirmation of the equality among believers. In 1 Corinthians 4:7, Paul asks, “What do you have which you have not received?”

Is an acknowledgment offering always a monetary gift? It need not be; the distance between Corinth and Jerusalem required that the gift take the form of currency. Likewise, in the Old Testament celebration of the tithe, someone could sell his produce for silver, and carry his silver to the Tabernacle or Temple and then buy “whatever [his] soul should desire, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for liquor, or for anything of which [his] soul should desire.” (Deuteronomy 14:26 AB) In the tithe, the giver both consumed and shared his gift in celebration of how God had prospered him.

Likewise, the simplicity of fellowship to which Paul was encouraging the Corinthians was the fellowship of supplying the needs of other believers in celebration of the inexpressible gift of God. Our acknowledgment offerings need not take a specific form; however, they will express themselves through our interaction with fellow believers.

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God not only participates in the gift, it is His gift we give. Hebrews 3:1 explains that Jesus Christ is the apostle and chief priest of our acknowledgment offering. In other words, Jesus Christ is both the originator and the intermediary of our acknowledgment offering. He has given his life as our redemption. He has supplied each a measure of faith by which he builds the body of Christ. What one lacks another supplies as an acknowledgment of the grace of God.

The result is the simplicity of fellowship wherein we all glorify God in thanksgiving and grow in love each other.

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Sometimes I wonder whether modern Christianity understands simplicity of fellowship. We divide each Sunday morning according to the false doctrines which each sect treasures above Christ. We institutionalize our faith and manage it through hierarchies that remove Christ as the chief priest and replace Him with men and their self-propagating business practices.

Nevertheless, the simplicity of fellowship begins with the Gift that God has already given, and it continues with our acknowledgment offerings offered to Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ that meet the needs of others. These gifts may be material, even monetary. They may be simply providing what another needs.

The simplicity of fellowship transcends our differences and establishes equality. The differences between believers in Corinth and believers in Jerusalem must have been extreme. However, because Jesus Christ is the apostle and high priest of our acknowledgment offerings these differences can dissolve into the simplicity of the fellowship of knowing Christ.

Gratitude be to God over his inexpressible gift.
1 Corinthians 9:15 (AB)

Copyright © 2008, John D Ramsey
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