What is your commitment?
You don’t have to come up with a name for it, but you do need some frame of reference to claim the full benefits of the moral fabric of the universe. The fundamental nature of God’s Justice includes the absolute necessity of incarnating His Laws in your own flesh. You have to live the Laws, have to absorb them on a level that escapes words. As I often say, it’s not enough to think in terms of being and doing, because those miss the point. It’s a question of who you are in God’s eyes.
Having given it some thought, I can tell you my primary function is pastoral counselor. In Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) civilization, that would make me a lawyer in the sense of moral law. While I no longer wear the vestments of prophet, the prophetic nature of what I do will never diminish, because the biblical prophet was first and foremost an adviser representing the agenda of our Creator. Without that fundamental orientation, they would have no way to paint their messages in words. What has changed is that I don’t make it habit to preach, either literally or virtually. You could put me in front of a crowd of any size without warning and I would be comfortable trying to deliver something that might justify their attention. Willingness and ability doesn’t mean you do it all the time; the same underlying talents can be used in many different ways.
It’s not as if Aristotelian analysis of the Bible is evil, only that it won’t get you very far. A teaching to which I subscribe arose long ago from fairly mainstream Western evangelicals, in which the term “gifts of the Spirit” was broken down into categories associated with Greek words that are commonly translated as “gift”. The teaching lists (1) direct manifestations of the power of the Spirit, (2) roles and offices within the church body, (3) human spiritual temperaments and (4) the basic effect of your service in terms of spiritual influence. The flaw in this teaching was a tendency to match each category too precisely with certain specific passages of Scripture in a manner typical of Western Christians. The material lent itself to legalism, rather ironic for something supposedly spiritual. The basic idea was pretty good, though: We need to be careful with labels precisely in that we don’t restrict their meaning too narrowly. God cannot be defined by words, so we should not confine our expectations by them, either.
According to the underlying idea, I would (1) manifest a word of wisdom often, (2) wearing the role of elder mostly, (3) with a prophetic temperament and (4) a broadly pastoral effect. Could we transport me over into a parallel universe where ANE civilization prevailed, I would probably be a court adviser to some king or chieftain. I should not and would not make the final decision, but offer a particular perspective on the problems of daily life. Once the decision is made, count on me to do all I can do to help make it happen, or at least stay out of the way.
Thus, it should surprise no one that, while I say that I address the world primarily as a pastoral counselor, I am actively seeking employment as a personal assistant (no longer). The computer ministry is just a sideline, a way to keep myself busy while God prepares the ideal job opportunity. I’m serving God first and foremost; everything else is just a mission while I’m here on this earth. The paradox of my teaching on Christian Mysticism is how intensely practical it is. Not just some theories and fuzzy thinking, but approaching a system of how to deal with reality in accordance with a particular viewpoint. I had to understand the Law Covenants before I could understand mysticism, so my mysticism has distinct pragmatic implications. I’m always analyzing things from the perspective of pastoral guidance.
So what’s driving you?
