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Jesus' Office as Bishop of Our Souls |
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Many of us emphasize Jesus' role as our endearing Prophet who affords us the ministry of God's Truth. In that role, Christ anoints ministers to preach the everlasting gospel to all creatures and that is the ministry that speaks to me. Other folks, and this includes most Protestants, limit Jesus to His priestly function. In that office, Jesus pleads with the Father to forgive us for our sinfulness. Yet we need to pray to God. But Peter reminds us that indeed Jesus is the Bishop of our souls. He functions as our heavenly overseer who elucidates our tendencies to disobedience. But Jesus is not merely our individual Bishop but He affords us the power to extricate sinfulness in our Christian communities. Although Jesus is our loving savior, He is cognizant of our tendencies to be disobedient. No wonder God ordered our Conservative meetings to establish a body of overseers to assist Jesus in overcoming our potential to be disobedient. One of the tasks that Jesus assigns these ministers is whether to approve applicants for membership in God's holy body. Conservative Friends in true gospel love interview the potential members of the community to discern whether they were faithful and were willing to be Jesus' witnesses. And when the overseers understood that the candidates were indeed desiring to be Friends, they encourage the Meetings to accept the applicants. Yet when members of the meeting exhibited tendencies to become disobedient, Jesus encouraged the overseers to labor with our Friends - reminding them that Jesus expected these souls to listen and obey His small and penetrating voice. Jesus is the true overseer who cleanses His Church when we are not completely faithful. The ministry and oversight committee are His instruments in encouraging faithfulness. In addition, overseers would visit families to encourage them to participate in Bible studies to hear God speaking to all people. This included family worship, not only for a particular family but for their friends also. In the visit, the overseers would emphasize that all members of the body should attend weekly meetings which waited on the Lord for spiritual guidance. God has assigned Jesus many offices to serve the Church. We, in turn, need to be obedient to fulfill Jesus' expectations.
Arthur Berk |