FOR ALL ARE THY SERVANTS

"One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." This is the underlying principle of much of our ecclesial life. It is a reason for our having no clergy, no priests, no separate section of each ecclesia with some separate authority reserved unto itself. The ecclesia is a visible body of Christ-part of a greater and more complete body it is true-but in its own way a body of Christ. Thus Christ is the Head and we are fellow-members: Christ is the Master and we are fellow-servants. All authority and power are in his hands.

This should be a cause for great rejoicing, ecclesial life should pulsate with the life and energy of its Head and Heart, and there should be none of the causes for dismay which befall those who put their trust in princes and in the son of man rather than in the Son of man. We have no mortal-and therefore uncertain -leadership, but the Son of God himself who adds to the church daily such as should be saved.

There should be no happier or more closely knit community than a band of brothers in the Lord. Has he not spoken to them through a life in the recorded scriptures of truth ? Is he not the vigilant and all-powerful Son of God who walks among the candlesticks both knowing and desiring to be known ? Can we not cry to him in time of need ? Or offer thanks and prayers in constant praise ? Should it not be noticeable to others with less acquaintance with the ways of God that "these men are the servants of the Most High God" ? An ecclesia aware of its calling and not simply of its tradition or antiquity is a tree of the Lord in the wilderness of the world.
Let us see to it that this unique privilege remains with us and that we do not lose it by abuse or neglect. Occasionally it is possible to mistake human leadership for his and mortal counsel for the divine. It happens in our individual lives and we are equally susceptible to it in our ecclesial existence.

Take three ways in which we can fail our Master.
There is failure by the few. The ecclesial officeholders can mistake their calling by assuming an authority which is not theirs. If for a moment we imagine that there is power in us whereby the ecclesia can be brought to heel or made to respond to our behests, we are missing the mark. We have no personal authority, only personal responsibility. Let us remember that the ecclesia are not our servants but His; that we are not masters, there is but One. As the ecclesia is responsible to Christ, so are we. Should ours be a great task then we should regard it as a great service and take heed that the lurking self-esteem and love of power which reside in most of us do not transform our service into an abuse of office. Furthermore, any mistakenly assumed authority by one or several brethren is a wedge driven between one section of the community and another. Such ways have led to the formation of a clergy and a laity.

Then there is the failure of all. When an ecclesia forgets that the power resides in Christ and that he is the source of all authority, and of itself opens and closes the doors of membership and fellowship without prayerfully seeking guidance and blessing in the ways of the revealed mode of behaviour in the scriptures, then the ecclesia has become a master and not a family of servants. Occasionally an ecclesia assumes the role of adviser and prophet to the whole brotherhood, wagging a warning forefinger or shaking a solemn head. The danger here, of course, lies in an ecclesia assuming that it has some vested authority of itself when it has not. True enough, there are occasions, though they are rare, when an ecclesia may render such a service to the brotherhood: but let it be a service. We have existed for more than a century without bringing into being an inter-ecclesial authority which would rapidly have become an over-ecclesial authority. The ecclesia's authority is its faith and service in the name of Christ. Our common bond is our common faith in him.