Of course the institution has problems, but doesn’t every model have its own problems?
I think the presupposition of this question is that I am espousing a practical “model” in the vein of the institution. However, that isn’t the case. The only model I am espousing, the only archetype, the only prototype, is simply Jesus. Advancing the Kingdom will always involve difficult decisions, weighing pros and cons, etc. However, using anything but Jesus as the model introduces unnecessary complications. When we add other models on top of Jesus (which is usually done in a noble attempt to make things simpler), we are forced to make decisions about the model which don’t necessarily have anything to do with what Jesus actually desires. We begin to take for granted that our model is what Jesus desires and we fail to wrestle with the basics of what it means to follow Him. To be sure, I am not pitting Jesus against the rest of the New Testament writers who expound upon and flesh out his ideas. Rather, I wish to highlight that they did (and provided a God-breathed example of) what I am
