House Church Talk - Organization vs. Organism

[Bruce Woodford]

Hi Claire,

You wrote some interesting questions!  "How do you keep an organism from 
becoming an organization? Can an organization reverse engineer into an 
organism? I was thinking about what the difference is between an 
organization and an organism, and all I could come up with was life. There 
are often pockets of organic life within an organization, but they are often 
difficult to find, difficult to join and exist in spite of, rather than 
because of, the organization."

As to the difference between an organism and an organization, you are right, 
the former has life and the latter does not.  But that difference 
demonstrates that the former is a creation of God and the latter is only an 
invention of men!  That is also the reason why organisms never turn into 
organizations nor can organizations ever become organisms!

Members of the body of Christ may and do get involved in organizations and 
thus get side tracked from the body life for which they were created in 
Christ Jesus!  But organizations can NEVER transition into organisms!

Unregenerate people can be members of organizations, but can never be 
members of the body of Christ!

Ecumenical unity is a goal of many religious organizations, but the unity of 
the Spirit is an accomplished fact. Keeping (guarding) that unity, NOT 
organizing it, is the responsibility of every child of God!

People who are created by God, and people who are created in Christ Jesus 
are tripartite beings: -spirit, soul and body. (I Thess.5:23)  Such may be 
KNOWN and RECOGNIZED by God-given features of their spirits, souls and 
bodies and may be INTRODUCED to others.
However, organizations are created by men. But they are also tripartite 
beings! They consist of corporate names, corporate numbers and corporate 
documents!  Organizations (corporations) are not KNOWN, RECOGNIZED nor may 
they be INTRODUCED to others!   Rather, they must be IDENTIFIED by the 
man-made features of their corporate names, corporate numbers or corporate 
documents!

Religious organizations operate on principles by which Israel functioned 
under the old covenant:
-They have holy buildings distinct from common buildings.
-They have a holy priesthood distinct from the common people.
-They have holy fundraisers (tithing and offerings, sales, and a host of 
fundraising projects) to maintain holy buildings and holy priesthoods.
-They observe holy days distinct from common days.
-They have holy clothes distinct from common clothes which are worn on holy 
days or are worn  by holy priests.
-They have holy meals and holy foods distinct from common meals and common 
foods.

But the principles on which new covenant saints are to function in the body 
of Christ are radically different from old covenant principles! The genius 
of the new covenant is that to those who are created in Christ Jesus, THE 
COMMON IS MADE HOLY!
-They have no holy buildings distinct from common buildings! They themselves 
ARE the building in which God dwells!
-They have no holy priesthood distinct from common believers, for every 
believer is a priest!
-Since they have no holy buildings or holy priesthood to be maintained, they 
need no holy fundraisers!  (Not just a tithe of their income belongs to the 
Lord but THE TOTAL!)  They are simply stewards of the property of another 
and must give account for 100% of it!
-They have no holy days distinct from common days. Rather they are called 
"saints" (holy people) and they are called to lives of holiness 24/7!
-They have no holy meals or holy foods distinct from common meals and common 
food. Rather, as often as these holy people eat and drink they demonstrate 
and remember the body and blood of their Lord who died to redeem them, who 
rose again from the dead and now lives His life within them!

You see, organizations and living organisms are so radically different that, 
when one knows the difference between them, one can never again mistake the 
one for the other!

Hope this helps!

Your brother in Christ,
Bruce

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