re: History/Religion question for those interested

quote:

---

The Pope doesn't walk into my house with a club and tell me what to do. Honestly, he doesn't do much to sway people other than encouraging people to behave in ways that mirror the life of Christ.

---

Take a walk through the Vatican and notice the TENS OF BILLIONS of dollars worth of art and artifacts that have accumulated over time and its hard to ignore the amount of sheer power that the Vatican accrued for 1500 years or so. The Pope didn't get that giant walled palace and all of its artifacts just by "encouraging people to behave in ways that mirror the life of Christ."

It's very difficult to convince people that the pope really doesn't have a whole lot of power or clout when the Vatican sits on all that wealth. You don't accumulate all that on your ability to be an encouragement to others.

quote:

---

You call him a teacher, but he was swaying them in different directions.

---

Was he a "leader" in terms of personality? Yes. Did he hold a "leadership" position? No. There are people in this world who are true "leaders" who never hold an important title or place of power. So yes, in that sense, Paul was a "leader."

But Paul nor any other early church Christian held a title or a place of superiority in terms of their role as a "spiritual advisor", etc. Yes, God used Paul to teach and spread the gospel. But the word is very clear that Jesus Christ is our high priest. No man should hold that title of which belongs to Christ.

The pastor at my church may be a "leader" in terms of his personality, and he may deliver a message about the gospel of Christ on a Sunday. But other than being a "lead elder" in our church, he does not have a hierarchy over me or anyone in the church in terms of his ability to hear from God. God gives his spirit to all of his children. We decipher how the spirit leads us through prayer, the word of God, and listening to his spirit. And yes, God can use a pastor to teach and deliver a word from God. But he can just as often use the person sitting next to me at church to do the same thing.