Some church discussions are exasperating.
I was sitting through one in particular where the brethren were talking about relationships, marriage and appropriate conduct for couples at various stages of their courtship.
What was completely assumed was the definition for the key terms, and the other key concept of what church means. So while various traditional positions were held, and cultural points were used to counter these, there was nothing in the way of clarity in the terms and as a result there was meandering and misinterpretation of scripture and a general lack of some sort of resolution on the issues. At the very best a hackneyed summing up was given at the end of the session, that left me perplexed.
It came back again to at least having a shared understanding of how we define the key terms. For example if your idea of church is a meeting that takes place on a weekly basis with a concept of a special time to do special things, that certainly determines how you consider appropriate behaviour. If however the concept of church goes beyond that and considers church as family, bride and body engaging and interacting on a regular basis and sharing life together, then that brings up different questions. It also delivers different conclusions.
It certainly helps for conversations and for life that we at least have an understanding of the key terms before we can converse and explore what the implications are.
Not only that, but when I define something, you need to feel free to challenge why I define it the way I do. If I do not come up with any decent grounds for how and why I define things, feel free to ignore it. If we both come up with strong bases for defining things, there’s no reason to get all hot under the collar, because the deal of our conversation is just to get to know Jesus better and live life more for Him as a result. If not, then the debate isn’t worth all that.
In the meantime for certain exasperating conversations, I strongly suggest internally reciting the 23rd Psalm and stressing the bit about the Shepherd making you to lie down in green pastures. Serene thoughts, peaceful thoughts, thoughts that enable you to experience equilibrium and not get down with the exasperations.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 
I agree, sir. We need those peaceful and serene thoughts at all times and in every situation, and then we need to act and speak out of the knowledge of who we are in Christ – loved, redeemed, pure and holy.
When we act and speak out of the view the world has of us we will sink deep into the mud and be unable to see ourselves as the Father and the Son see us.
Amen Chris – it is crucial that we use those peaceful truths not to get stuck in a mire. Thanks for those thoughts.