Have you ever been the pastor of a church and been responsible for the spiritual guardianship of a local assembly?
You are worked up because we set rules for our church. You have not been asked to join, nor have you applied to join.
I wonder if it is because you can not discern the Scriptural responsibility of local church elders that you have determined that I make myself “alpha and omega.”
I gave you a couple of passages of Scripture that you have not addressed in response. One was in Acts chapter 20 where the elders were instructed to take the oversight of the local assemblies and guard against both those inside and out who either rise up with or bring in unscriptural doctrines or practices.
2 Peter also speaks of those who would bring in damnable heresies and etceteras (2 Peter). Pastors or elders who guard the flock are not making themselves “alpha and omega.” They are carrying out a duty assigned to them.
In these things, judgments must be made about what people do believe or not believe from the professions of their own mouths.
If you are a member of a Christian church, perhaps you would like to describe how your church receives or does not receive people into the fellowship (or, membership, if you will) of your church. Don’t your pastors or elders discriminate anything at all for the protection of the flock, especially for the protection of those who are very young in the Lord?
Usually people who respond to things as you have come from a very liberal and loose church affiliation where just about anything goes. I don’t know about your church. How do the elders of your church determine what goes and what doesn’t go? Somebody on earth, hopefully guided by the Scriptures and the Spirit of God, makes those kinds of judgments in the church.
Somebody is given “the rule over” the church who “watch for your souls”. (Hebrews 13:17) Church members are commanded by Scripture to obey those who have “the rule” for that specific reason. Read the whole chapter. You will see “Remember them,” “obey them,” and “Sualute them.”
It is all too easy to accuse those, “my friend”, of trying to be “alpha and omega” while they often must agonize in prayer before God over very difficult decisions for the spiritual safety of the flock. This includes decisions about who may enter in, and sometimes who must be put out.
In our church, actually, the church body ultimately decides who enters the flock. The elders of the church must lead the process, however, as they are the ones specifically told to take heed and to take oversight.
And we have heard people for over 30 years accuse watchful, discerning, discriminating pastors of wanting to be “alpha and omega.” But usually those people who accuse this way are pretty loose and worldly, and they really believe nothing except what benefits themselves, not edifying the body of Christ.
In reality, I have served as an elder for the past six years of my life in a Christian church. I have ruled on questions precisely of the nature you describe. I am not going to pretend that I lack understanding of Scripture in the manner you describe— though you clearly seek that.
It is that judgmental sense of things that I detest. I have little doubt that when Jesus ran afoul of Scriptural interpretations among his spiritual elite, they had the same thoughts. Let’s not kid ourselves, the men judging Jesus knew scriptures better than you or I. I do believe in the integrity of scripture. I have little faith in the integrity of powerful individuals “interpreting” it.
The origins of this thread are comments made by President Bush in response to a journalist. IF the journalist is accurately reporting the matter then it is slightly interesting. Nonetheless, it is not President Bush speaking in a church setting.
Honestly, I don’t think the thief hanging on the cross would make it past your interpretation schema.