Now I think I see the benefit in the influence of the Church.
None of us Protestants have been under it. There were lingering Church influences on the way churches did things — as I’m learning, I see them more and more — and it is rather amazing how much truth held on over the centuries. Probably the remnants of worship of the true Messiah that had been handed down from his first disciples were kept by individuals and gatherings that, compared to their rulers, were powerless to stop the sunderings from the living Tradition, and yet they understood enough to maintain all that they were able. They had received grace, and in their flawed ways they passed it on. But cultural changes always seep into our souls and affect our practices. We Protestants had lost much of the means toward spiritual healing, beginning back when we became Roman Catholics, and of course long before that people were rebellious, unrepentant. They were that way during the days of Peter and Paul.
The Holy Spirit’s work may indeed look as organic as spring rain and soil, the paradigm into which seeds try to grow. Like Jesus’s parable and any peek at the garden will show, there are various scenarios possible; there are no guarantees of fruitfulness in any one instance. There is, however, always good soil, because the sower made things that way. There is always belief in right doctrine, belief in the Creator. There is always “all truth” that the Spirit was sent to lead us into.
The Church’s tradition covers everything, addresses everything, that we Protestants have brought up over the millennia as we sundered ones tried to rewrite things from scratch. We simply need to see the actual history and to repent of our screw-ups. We need to submit to the Spirit and, receiving grace, begin to receive the healing.
None of us Protestants have been under it. There were lingering Church influences on the way churches did things — as I’m learning, I see them more and more — and it is rather amazing how much truth held on over the centuries. Probably the remnants of worship of the true Messiah that had been handed down from his first disciples were kept by individuals and gatherings that, compared to their rulers, were powerless to stop the sunderings from the living Tradition, and yet they understood enough to maintain all that they were able. They had received grace, and in their flawed ways they passed it on. But cultural changes always seep into our souls and affect our practices. We Protestants had lost much of the means toward spiritual healing, beginning back when we became Roman Catholics, and of course long before that people were rebellious, unrepentant. They were that way during the days of Peter and Paul.
The Holy Spirit’s work may indeed look as organic as spring rain and soil, the paradigm into which seeds try to grow. Like Jesus’s parable and any peek at the garden will show, there are various scenarios possible; there are no guarantees of fruitfulness in any one instance. There is, however, always good soil, because the sower made things that way. There is always belief in right doctrine, belief in the Creator. There is always “all truth” that the Spirit was sent to lead us into.
The Church’s tradition covers everything, addresses everything, that we Protestants have brought up over the millennia as we sundered ones tried to rewrite things from scratch. We simply need to see the actual history and to repent of our screw-ups. We need to submit to the Spirit and, receiving grace, begin to receive the healing.
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