Living in the Spirit
August 3, 2018
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. –Ephesians 4:11-16
The business model with a power Chief Executive Officer who selects his or her staff is often presented as being the answer to all our government woes. There are some excellent CEOs who might make good government officials but that for-profit business experience is not a formula that guarantees government operation success. The CEO is not the employee of his or her staff. Government officials are. Democracy is messy as it strives to bring together divergent people to define and support the Common Good. Most for-profit businesses have one prime directive to make a profit making it easy to cut and burn anything that gets in the way of that goal. Government is often actually the counterbalance to for-profit businesses as it cleans up the messes left by workplace injury, unemployment from sudden and unexpected layoffs or closures, and inadequate salaries. Government also provides necessary upfront supports for businesses such as education.
What is described in our scripture from Ephesians today seems to be a combination of a servant-leader CEO pulling together the masses to work toward a world whose prime directive is loving God and loving one another where everyone has enough of the necessities and all possess talents and skills to contribute.
During this election season, we must consider all the skills and talents candidates bring to the table and prayerfully consider how they complement our prime directive of love while we consider what role we are called to play in making our form of government work.
Prayer: Servant- Leader Christ be a beacon of light to us as we work together toward the full realization of your Kingdom. Amen.