Our staff meets every Wednesday for devotional time and prayer. Every other Wednesday, we follow that time up with staff meeting, where we throw things, argue, fight, cry, laugh, sweat, ruminate and meditate and otherwise engage in activity conducive to the amazing opportunities we have to be part of the church here in Powhatan.Seriously.
It's good, intense time together.
But I have never experienced anything quite like today.
The staff meeting itself was full of conflict, head-butting and some challenging discussions as we worked hard to come to a decision regarding some important future issues. We don't shy away from conflict, because we know we are all on the same team, fighting for the same goal. It's a good thing. The meeting was fine.
It was the devotional time prior to the meeting that still has me reeling. It was probably the most thought-provoking 30 minutes I've experienced in a long while.
The context was community.
The text was Leviticus 15.
It was, surprisingly, inspiring.
Go on. Look it up.
It was Sammy's idea.
2 comments:
Well, I must say "you had to be there" in the meeting that is, because reading Lev:15 as a stand alone without some discussion would certainly cause some confusion for readers who are new to studing the Word.
There are some real spiritual truths about community that could be taught here but again as a reader who follows your blog consistantly I'm prone to say "What am I supposed to get from this in the contents of what Beth has written......plus I must add for all those who do read it....YUK!!!
Would love some insight here!?!
"YUCK!" is right - to be honest, I didn't realize that this sort of instruction was so explicit in the Bible.
Here's what we discussed afterwards: The background lesson that we got from Sammy, who is very well-read and has done a lot of in depth Old Testament study, is that part of the application of these Jewish laws meant that the community was forced to be very transparent about their lives. There was very little hidden, even the minutae of life, because the obedience demanded that all of your life come in line with those commandments.
At that point in history, the Israelites had a very strong sense of community and identity. Undoubtedly their attempts to live according to the law contributed to this. From that, we simply talked about living in community with one another - as families, in relationships, within our church - and whether or not we are able to have a level of honesty that allows us to REALLY come alongside one another in support and help. If you had to be THIS HONEST about the "private" things of life - even hygiene and other "unmentionables" - it made it almost impossible to hide anything. Obedience to the law required living with a great deal of openness about your life.
We just contrasted that with our typical lifestyle, and took it as food for thought.
Hope that helps!
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