This weekend my son's friend drove in from out of town and now he won't leave... actually, he can't leave. His car is leaking transmission fluid all my driveway and it is shifting rough. He's been told it will cost about $2500 to replace the transmission, but he might want to try a $50 fix first. So, this morning they went to get a new gasket, filter and 12.6 liters (who uses liters in this country?) of transmission fluid and we're all going to pretend we know what we're doing. We're going to replace those items and see if we can get a good seal on the transmission pan and hope that stops the flood of fluid and fixes our problem.
Truth be told, I have no idea what I'm doing. This just isn't something I've spent a lot of time on. I do know how to change the oil, and I've done a few other things, but that was on my 1983 Pontiac Grand Am (with a 400 cubic inch engine, 4 barrel carb. and dual exhaust I might add, wow what a car that was. 0-80 in ... but I digress).
Scripture quotes Jesus as accusing the priests and pharisees as being "blind guides of the blind." He was saying that these so-called "leaders" had no idea where they were leading their followers. When it comes to automotive repairs, I fit that description as well.
Scripture does however offer some very clear direction on where the religious leaders should lead. We call that direction "The Kingdom of God." (Reign of God is another term sometimes used.) The Kingdom of God is where the rule of life is love. It's where justice, righteousness, and mercy are the ordering principals. It is also where people don't sit back and wait for problems to come their way, but they search out those who are lost and draw them into the Kingdom where their lives are transformed by the rule of love.
Unlike my foray into leading a crack team of teen aged auto mechanics into the repair of a transmission, we can all be effective in leading others to the Kingdom, not blind guides, if we choose to allow Christ to be our leader.
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