Spiritual Co-dendency in the churches?
 

Are you Co-dependent to your Pastor and Church?
:dunno

I have had probelms with co-dependency in the past but more as a Pastor's wife...I think Apostolic circles tend to unknowingly promote co-dependency...

Oh, Thank you so much for your honesty.:ty

Admin: Would you please correct my mis-spelling of Spiritual in the thread header?:praying
Please and thank you.

I used to have real issues with co-dependency. I was the quintessential "yes man".

I am in the midst of a long process of "finding my own" in the word and in the body of Christ.

What I believe now I believe from fervent study and prayer. I do my best to show honor to those who don't agree with what I have seen and I also work hard to hear what they have to say because I certainly don't know everything and I try to be fully open in weighing again any doctrine I hold if someone comes to me with a differing opinion that is based on the word of God.

There are great advantages to being where I am now. There are great costs to being where I am now.

The advantages.
I have never been so in love with my God as I am now.
I have never felt so alive in my life of living for Him.
I have never had the word fill me with such excitement and awe.
I have never felt so strong.
I have never felt so free.
I have never had such a deep level of relationship with God as I have now.
I have never felt such hope that I can really reach this world.

The costs
I have never felt so alienated by the people of the church.
I have never felt like such an outsider.
I have lost the identity I used to have and am having to form a new one and this process is scary beyond explanation.


But... as I find my new place in this world I am confident of 2 things.

The rewards will far outweigh the costs.
I am going to reach more people with this message of salvation, grace, mercy & hope than I could have ever imagined.

But I will state... I am wildly co-dependent on my God and His Word and I have no desire to seek a cure. :)

no

Diggin, I really like this last bit. God bless you richly as you in your search for truth.

:highfive .....:ty

Coop, been a while since you started an anti-church rant.

Some of us were considering if you were converted at last.

Rhoni's and Digging for truth comments are far from Anti-church ranting.
I toss the white flag, :surrender this in not an anti-church thread.
This thread clearly ask; ARE YOU....co-dependent.

Not anymore...I am now co=dependent on God....

Maybe you should put in there 'WERE YOU' co-dependent as well! :largehalo

I think that each of us were "co-dependent" at one time or another in our walk with God. I think it is more prevalent in new converts who have a desire to measure up to more seasoned saints in the church.

:whome

Kinda like; they want be like others including dress?

Can you define co-dependency and what's wrong with it?

Co-Dependency is an unhealthy reliance on another person for every thought, action, and feeling. It consists of people who seem to be defined by another other person. One person relies so much on another person’s opinion -- that the daily functions they once had as an individual are lost. That individual is no longer capable of making his or her own choices.

A person who is co-dependant is constantly striving to please another person and have made them selves so self-less that they begin to lose who they are. Their life becomes a sacrifice for another person.

A person who is co-dependant ceases to be them self and becomes part of two. A person’s want for someone else in their life is overcome with the need to have someone else in their life in order to function. The person feels the need to spend every waking moment thinking about that other person, being with them, talking to them, or thinking of ways to make that person happier.

OK, so then it's an unhealthy reliance...but that implies you can have a healthy dependence on others.

I wonder just how self-less Jesus was. Personally I think if the whole world was co-dependent, there's be no wars :-)....

With Co-decency there is always an abusive dominant.
I guess the world could become co-dependent for the anti-christ and end wars?
Hitler would have loved for the world be Co-dependent.
Some Churches are becoming more communistic in leadership and membership.

How dependent are the members of a body on one another?

We are members of the Body of Christ.

This hyper-independent spirit some espouse is not of God, nor is it supportable Scripturally.

There are no Lone Rangers for Jesus, as much as the idea appeals to the flesh, with its hatred of accountability and submission.

Coonskinner, then allow your church to be run as an Democracy.
I am sure you are as an emperor with the final say and with out fair vote; would never govern your church this way.

Ok so what is it called when there is not an abusive dominant one? I didn't see that part in your definition

Show me even one Scripture where this concept is supported.

One man led Israel out of Egypt; a committee of 12 men sentenced them to a 40 year long death march.

Democracy?

The Church is a theocracy.

Some of your ideas are beyond silly.

Do you ever read your Bible, Coop?

Where do you get some of this stuff?

Yes and it was like going thru hell to be with Moses too.
I bet none of us would have lasted thru that mess.
Some things about Gods ways are hard to understand.
UPC Pastors often think of them selves as Moses and think the saints are the people complaining.

Also I see you are quick to compare democracy as a bad thing.

I don't think that Co-dependent people know that they are Co-dependent.

You have weighed in with your opinion on Moses; let's look to the Word and see what God's opinion of him was.




Hbr 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;


Hbr 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;


Hbr 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.


Hbr 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Sounds pretty good.

Let's move on...



Exd 33:9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood [at] the door of the tabernacle, and [the LORD] talked with Moses.


Exd 33:10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand [at] the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man [in] his tent door.


Exd 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Again, it sounds like the Lord thought highly of him.

Moses was the man God used to get them out of bondage.

Moses was the man who led them out of slavery in Egypt.

Moses prayed the prayer that parted the Red Sea for them.

Moses prayed and the wind brought the quail.

Under his leadership, manna from heaven fell daily.

Moses prayed and interceeded with God when God was going to kill them all for their stubbornness. This man you say was hell to follow loved them enough that he said, "If you are going to blot them out, go ahead and blot me out along with them."

You have said a lot of very foolish things before, Coop, but maybe never anything quite as assinine as this.

This is illustrative of just how far from godly your thinking is.

It's a decent way to run a secular government, but it isn't the way God established His church, and you know that very well.

Hmmmmm, submission, surely it's not part of the Modern Church, is it?

Choose your leaders wisely then submit to their authority, for there are far too many unqualified mickey mouse leaders and far too many that are in it for the prestige and power...so many want to be leaders, but not all are fit to lead.

This is good advice.

AND...as can be seen by our secular government...it don't always work out quite well.

God wanted a theocracy...the people wanted a human king to be over them like the heathens.

Personally I think we can do a better job of finding a more common ground than two "extremes"

Careful......THEY may be listening.....go peek out the window; there may be a black helicopter hovering right now......sssshhhhhh :heeheehee

We need brother Essias....I wonder why he only starts those conspiracy threads at GNC? lol

Im not even against the idea that there are or could be conspiracies, but it seems to me that some folks assume there has to be a conspiracy and thus see conspiracy in everthing they call evidence.

I realized this a long time ago. I used to really be into that stuff then I realized that a lot of so called "evidence" was circumstantial and manipulated or at least the results or meaning of the evidence was manipulated. Micheal Moores "movie" was a great example of biased polemics.

Are you saying God's way to rule a church is Communistic?

I have very clearly stated that it is a theocracy, which is a far cry from communism.

You said that following Moses was hell.

I clearly demonstrated from the Word how God's view was completely different from yours.

Would you care to comment on that?

Coon, I would never set under a Pastor that would not want me to question his leadership and just blindly obey his every wim.
My wife and your wife would not put up with us if we just used the Scripture as a Trump card and say "The bible says; wifes are to obey the husband and what I says goes !"
And Pastors use the "obey those that rule and what over yours souls" verse as a trump card too.
It just does'nt fly.

What I mean by hell is; what the Children of Israel went through with Moses was a hell of a time for them. It was ruff and tuff, no one today would do it.
Stop twisting my words, Please. :ty

Twisting?

LOL!

You are the one who accused me of supporting a communistic leadership model.

I simply quoted you.

You have no soap here, Bub.

Your argument is bankrupt and once again you come up short, and clearly outside the bounds of the Word.

I am not that kind of a pastor.

What do you think obey and submit mean, just out of curiousity?

Why would the Lord have put those verses in His Word if He didn't mean it?