My original post said, in part:"He commiserated with my plight, but he was torn: The Field Committee was in unanimous agreement on the other side of the issue. I was one person, they were five. How could five men all be walking with the Lord and still be wrong? Wouldn't it be more likely that I, only one person, was out of fellowship?
"What are the chances that one person is not walking with the Lord? Pretty high at any moment in time, since we are all sinners, he reasoned. What are the chances that five men are all not walking with the Lord at the same time? One, maybe two, OK, that could happen. Five at once? The odds are astronomical. That is why God has ordained plurality of leadership, he reminded me."
Note his implicit assumption that walking with the Lord precludes making mistakes. Is this biblical? How would it apply to other arenas of life, say sports? Can a player expect to perform flawlessly on the court or field if he or she is walking with the Lord? In medicine, would it mean that a doctor's diagnosis was always correct when he was in fellowship, and mistakes are evidence that he is carnal? Appliance repairmen? Plumbers? Business people? Let's not even think about the implications for lawyers. . .
I would prefer, on balance, that my doctor, plumber or best friend be walking with the Lord. But, not because I think it would make them perfect. The leap of logic from "God is perfect" to "if I'm walking with God I can't make a mistake" is not only wrong, it is dangerous. In fact, it is a fallacy that has ruined untold lives.
To paraphrase an earlier poster on this thread, "What is the use of being in fellowship if you can still make mistakes?" Please understand that I am not trying to make a case for making mistakes. But, avoidance of mistakes is certainly a poor reason for walking with the Lord. Here are some better ones: Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance.
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