To Disciple or Not to...

Is it possible or even logical for the clergy of today to do the job that has been assigned to them by their congregations? As Paul would say, "May it never Be!" Christ set up a system of discipleship that was meant to allow pastors to do the job God assigned them to do, shephard God's flock. They can't interact with the flock if the demand placed upon them are overwhelming. A wall eventually goes up and isolation begins. So where do these demands come from and who are supoosed to be meeting them? Here is where the story about my nieces comes into play. Christ created us to be relational beings. In Genesis 1:26 God says, "Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness," and then in 2:18, "it is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper corresponding to him." We forget that both Adam and Eve's first relationship experience was with God. They met God before they met each other. We were made to relate and respond and interact with God, yet because God made us in His image but also physically present, He planned Eve to correspond to Adam. She related exactly to him as Adam related to God. The difference was that Eve and Adam were equals but God was never their equal. This didn't interfere in their relationship but was at the core of it.