The burrito is $1.20. Taco is $0.49. And don’t forget the sales tax. I got this!
It was my first job working for a fast-food restaurant specializing in Mexican food. In the summer of 1979, there were no computers or digital monitors. The prices of all of the items had to be memorized and entered into the analog cash register. Since there were over twenty menu items, it was challenging, and we were tested on these prices before we were allowed to work the cash register and take an actual order.
As thousands of young men and women, graduating from college and high school, enter the workforce, the ritual of learning the ropes of their first job begins. ID badges, security passes, payroll issues, a contract. These are standard for any job. However, each job has nuances that are unique to that position. For my first job, memorizing the prices of all items and being able to calculate the sales tax was critical if I were to succeed. All of the details were clearly outlined in a manual which I was also expected to memorize. What would have happened if my first job did not clearly state what my responsibilities were to be? What if there was no manual of operations? I would have to rely upon my supervisors and hope that the instructions were consistent. In the first days of the Church, the leaders faced a similar dilemma.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit entered and empowered all believers in Jesus Christ. It was the beginning of the Church, the Body of Jesus Christ. There are several passages in the New Testament that outline Church organization and establishing responsibilities and expectations for the new leaders. However, when the Church began, these books of the New Testament had not been written. How would they know what to do? There was no manual. The Church had something better, something the present Church still has.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
Galatians 1:8-9 (NASB)
The first Church had the eyewitness account of the apostles who were chosen by our Lord Jesus Christ. While there was great credibility with their witness and testimony, the Apostle Paul made it clear that if he, the other apostles, or even an angel from heaven ever preached a gospel that is contrary to the Truth of Jesus Christ, they were to be accursed. In other words, all teaching must be held to the testimony and witness of Jesus Christ, whom they were all witnesses. He is God’s Word, the absolute Truth. Today, we still do this. The Bible is our instruction manual. It is our tutor that leads us to Jesus Christ.
God never abandons His people. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells within us, instructing and guiding us to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. We are witnesses to the risen Jesus Christ. We are the Church of Jesus Christ.
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
The Bereans Blog 