God in a Box

Read John 11

Then they took away the stone form the place where the dead man was lying. 

 And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”

“And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by

 I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes,

 and his face was wrapped with a cloth. 

 Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Then many of the Jews, who had come to Mary, and had seen the things that Jesus did,

 believed in Him.

But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them  the things Jesus did.

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said,

 “What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.

“If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take 

away both our place and nation.”

                                                                                      John 11:41-48
A very intelligent and wise friend, once said to me, regarding business strategies, “it is the short time thinkers, the ones who play politics that ruin a business.  Look and think to the future and not to the past.”
This truth is true, even in Christianity. Take a look at what we can now see, as a very silly statement.
Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the grave.  Something, none of the Pharisees had done.  He had performed miracles, in front of them, and all they did was try to find a reason to kill Him.  Their reasoning stated in John 11:47,48:
"Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.“If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, 
and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
They were truly worried about losing their position of political power and their nation.  Their logic didn’t extend to the fact that Jesus had just raised a man from the dead.  
  That this was not the thing an ordinary man could do. It was one more proof that Jesus was who He said He was the Son of God, the Messiah.
They didn’t clue into the fact that were they to believe and follow Jesus, they had no need to fear because God would be on their side. That the power of Rome could not stand against the power of God.
These men were short term thinkers who played politics.  They were looking out for their own needs. They worried about losing their political power, their prestigious position.
Something to think about
Many church congregations have withered away, because of this kind of thinking.
Within these church congregations and denominations those in a position of power have become to worried about losing that power if change occurs. They have put God in a box of their own making, set a series of rules and rituals by which they hope to keep the status quo.
They fail to hear the voice of God and see what God is doing around them.
Throughout history great movements of God such as were initiated by, Martin Luther, the Wesley’s, Calvin, and other reformers, have been condemned by the church. All because they didn’t conform to what was considered by those in power to be the norm.
The same is true today in the 21st century. There are many within the church that would put God in a very tight box.
We as Christians must be careful to watch that first we don’t put God in a box of our own making and that our leaders don’t keep the status quo simply because they wish to stay in power.
We must constantly pray and study the word of God asking God for his direction for both ourselves and our church leaders.