be avoided by the Christian, as he so desires and as he is able. As a believer, you are in the body and church and have a responsibility to all other believers. Whether or not you work for big business or let them dominate you is, to some extent, up to you. Drop out of the corporate, organizational maze of secular life if you will, that choice is yours. But the unbeliever, whether standing in and for an organization or standing alone is still a person to be dealt with in Christian love. Romans 12:17-21 is not negated simply because unbelievers are organized for profit or control instead of seeking it on an individual plane. Paper corporations affect no one. It is only as corporate policies are given life and power by people that they become effective. And Christians do have the responsibility of acting wisely toward people. Christian Organizations The last group of organizations to be considered are Christian organi zations. Here I am thinking of Christian schools, missions organizations and the host of others that seek to advance the cause of Christ apart from the sole structure of the universal or "local" church that is one with the body of Christ. Of course, many of these organiza tions are made up solely of members of the body—as far as can be determined by man. But that does not make them Cod-ordained organi zations in the same sense that the body or church is of God. Further, we should be careful in speaking of man-made Christian organizations as special organizations that "God led us to establish." Remember, in Romans 13:1, 2, even the rulers of this world are ordained and set in power by God, and they are not thus part of the body. Despite the religious rhetoric that we use to describe Christian organ izations, they are, I believe, man-made and man-controlled. They are decidedly different than the body. True, the individuals within such organizations may seek God's will, but they are also capable of destroy ing the organization through mismanagement. The body-church organ ization of God is beyond human management or destruction. We may through carnal living harm ourselves and other members of the body, but we cannot destroy the church or alter its God-given purposes as the bride of Christ. As to suggestions of support for treating Christian organizations as man-made institutions, consider their origin, nature and membership. For example, Biola did not begin at Pentecost or with the new birth. It began in the mind of Christian men and was established in public in 1908. By nature, it is an educational institution seeking to serve the Lord
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