Hello all!
Well, I wanted my first post to be an article that I have been working on about the acceptability of women serving in the civil sphere (I would prefer to open with a less controversial subject but that just happens to be what I have been working on) but the "editing process" is taking longer than I would prefer, unfortunately. But, the good news is, once the process is completed it will no doubt be better reading. ;-) For the time being I have a couple of questions I would like to ask along with a few scattered thoughts to throw out. I don't necessarily expect answers since I know all of you are busy, so few or no responses won't bother me, but there's no harm in asking them so why not?
Anyway, here are the questions.
First: Do you believe that parental ever ceases to exist? Or, rephrasing the question, does there come a time in a parent/child relationship when there is a total break in the authority structure?
If you have time to answer the question, what I am looking for as a response is mostly just yes or no, a few verses to consider and maybe an article you have read that provides insight.
Second: Do you believe we as a culture fundamentally misunderstand the biblical concept of earthly spiritual authority?
If you have time to answer this I am looking for basically the same things as I am for the first question. Nothing complicated or time consuming, just some ideas and leads.
Why am I asking these questions? Because, as I speak to more young people about matters having to do with authority it seems to be pretty evident that even within the conservative church there is something about our understanding of authority that doesn't rectify complete authority, practically speaking (as in a parent's authority over a five year old) and shepherding (as in a parent discipling and shepherding an older teenage child who is of the age that it needs to be taking more direct responsibility for the specific direction of their lives). For some reason, we seem to only think of authority in terms of "ruling" and even oppression. That causes tremendous tension between parents, who are afraid of losing their mode of influence in their childs life (their authoritative rule, if you will) and the child who doesn't want to be "ruled," who instead desires some amount of freedom.
When I look at biblical earthly authority, more than "ruling" (ultimate authority) I see nurturing and discipleship that is relative to the needs of those being discipled. Ultimately the the aim of non secular God ordained authority is to lead in obedience and teach. For parents they are to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and for church leaders to see to the more specific needs of their flock. Because of all our thoughts of authority meaning to rule we lose the focus on relaying and teaching. But, I am now rambling.
Anyway, if you would like to tune in with some thoughts and some answers to the above questions I would be most appreciative. I think this is an incredibly important issue that is not always dealt with to the extent that it bears dealing with. Headship (authority) is meant to be a beautiful thing and effective in it's task (surprise!), but if our understanding is faulty it loses it's beauty and effectiveness. So, I have been studying the issue. Hopefully when I am done I will have all the answers I need to have. It's a more difficult study then I was anticipating though, and I am having to process and organize a lot of new information. :-)
Btw, if you do have some thoughts you would like to share then it would be great for you to post them here as a comment (they will of course have to be approved, not that I don't trust you of course) but email is also great so choose your method. My email for those who don't know is texancellist@hotmail.com.
Veritas Supra Omnis!
-Mark
P.S. Sorry for getting off on a less than stellar foot here on the blog. Some things just don't start the way you wish they would. :-)
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