“I don’t gaze at men and glance at Jesus. I gaze at Jesus and glance at men.”
~ E. Stanley Jones
About Frank Viola
Frank Viola is a best-selling author, blogger, speaker, and consultant to authors and writers. His mission is to help serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact. To learn more about Frank and his work, go to 20 Years of Projects. To invite Frank to speak at your event, go to his Speaking Page. Due to a new problem with persistent spam that we haven’t figured out how to control, comments are closed for the present time. To contact Frank, use the “Contact” page in the top menu.
Blogging Through Bonhoeffer: Part IX
Gazing on Christ brings peace… Gazing on men sure doesn’t. My foot doesn’t look to my hand for purpose… It looks to the head. Something I need to remember more and more each day.
Just this weekend traveling the freeways a billboard struck me with this very thought. The billboard had the image of a well-known pastor with only the three-word phrase “Second loves kids.” The mans image is so well known, and the church so massive that it can now go by a nickname…but no mention of how God/Jesus loves. I know it meant no harm but is just a reflection of the very mentality referred to….too much identified with the human leadership
Mindy: Could you provide a link to the article you speak about?
It is driving me crazy when I hear people talk about God showing up at their events. I thought that where two or three are gathered in His name that He was there among them. Doesn’t that constitute the body and His presence in and through each member?
Frank: The “covering/authority” issue is dealt with in detail in “Reimagining Church” http://www.ReimaginingChurch.org – also, the idea that 2 or 3 people make up a church isn’t scriptural, but an idea taken from a verse of Scripture taken out of context. See http://www.ptmin.org/postchurch.pdf
Behold our Lord within, reflect Him without.
Julio: Yes. Also behold Him in the body of Christ and in the Scriptures.
Wow. I just read a riveting article on the difference between biblical submission and accountability through Christ centered relationships in the church and the “doctrine of covering” something very sublte but dangerous. God help us return our focus on Christ and not be dazzled by man. Steve Frodsham, well known biographer of Smith Wigglesworth’s life said in 1963 that christians were going to be so drawn to personalities, to man, that they would be swept into false doctrine.
Scary. It’s everywhere.
Loved your book, Pagan Christianity btw.
Mindy: Thanks. My book REIMAGINING CHURCH dedicates the entire second half to the doctrine of “covering” and the difference between “accountability” (which the NT never teaches occurs on a human level) and mutual submission: http://www.ReimaginingChurch.org – Reimagining is the constructive sequel to Pagan C. The latter title is very incomplete on its own.
It doesn’t hurt to graze on Jesus either.