Anything that lives is a combination of feedback systems. Even a one called amoeba operates according to stimulus response mechanisms. The more complex an animal is, the more sophisticated its feedback systems.
Most animals have auditory or visual systems. But take away sound (underwater, in the case of dolphins) or sight (in dark places, in the case of bats) and a feedback system based on tiny vibrations take its place.
Leprosy is a disease that removes the feedback system of pain. Without it, humans eventually die. Thus in especially complex organisms like a family or a church, the feedback systems must be especially sophisticated. How else can a group of autonomous creatures coordinate its activities?
The more effective a church is in realizing its purpose, the more clearly defined the roles of its members and the interrelationships between them must be.
Jesus begins his public ministry by talking about people whose feedback systems need a tune-up, often because a lack of use (Luke 6:24-26). Rich people are soaking in comfort, not having felt deprivation for a while. People who are well fed aren’t experiencing the feedback of hunger pangs. People who only receive the compliments of others aren’t experiencing the blessings of corrective feedback.
God himself gives us feedback through the Holy Spirit. The spiritual gift of prophecy is not intended for individuals per se, but for the body of Christ. As we press into prayer, we fine tune our divine feedback mechanisms.
Churches that are vital and growing tend to have more sensitive feedback mechanisms. Those that fail to impact the world around them don’t.
If your church doesn’t have spiritual feedback systems, then it may have the trappings of a spiritual body, yet not experience the reality of divine guidance. Similarly, we may call ourselves Christians, but without listening for God’s still, small voice, we may lack the feedback that causes us to make the course corrections we need.
Sometimes we feel becalmed in our spiritual lives, not having felt the wind of the Spirit in our sails for a while. Perhaps that describes you now. God doesn’t intend for us to live that way – he repeatedly tells us to pray for one another. Perhaps we need to get around others who hear from him and ask them to pray for us. He has designed spiritual feedback systems to help us.
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Seth Barnes
I'm motivated to join God in his global reclamation project. He's on the move, setting his sons and daughters free from their places of captivity. And he's partnering with those of us who have been freed to go and free others.
I’m really glad that I found your blog and I really enjoy reading them. I marvel at how you put words to how I have been feeling in regards to that spiritual feedback. I find that when my soul is in despair it is imperative I find someone to encourage and/or tell them about Jesus. The spiritual feedback I receive is almost immediately! I do this for several reasons to include: 1. It removes “me, myself, and I” out of the equation and allow me to focus on the word of God, 2. It builds the kingdom of heaven in which I liken to drawing virtue out of Jesus just like the woman with the issue of blood who reached out and touched the hem of his garment. Regardless of how depressed my flesh wants to divulge in the storms surrounding me my spiritual feedback from heaven is definitely a sure cure for my blues and keeps me prepared for the good fight of faith!
Thanks Ms. T. Appreciate the encouragement!