One was, “Just how are we going to grow this Church?” and the other was “How do I avoid being divisive?”

This scripture came to mind. It deals with wisdom, motherhood and the avoidance of division and death.

There is a time of course, when major issues are at stake, that you have to make a stand and that may lead to division, but mostly we all have to find our way through a host of things that relate to the ongoing life of the Church at its heart.

We all want growth in the Church and to protect what is intrinsically valuable but what kind of growth do we want and do you and I agree upon what is intrinsically valuable?

What will ensure growth do you think? Is it the Refurbishment Project?

Do we need to be more active in reaching out to our neighbours and the community?

Is it slicker organisation or better administration that is the answer; more training or greater knowledge of the scriptures and spiritual intelligence and so on?

Is it money? Does money equate to growth and intrinsic value?

Well, I believe all these things have a part to play but I have always felt that it is the Motherly instincts in a local assembly that holds things together and promotes life, as is so often the case in any family.

These motherly instincts can be found in the body of the brethren, they can be found in the leaders and in both men and women. It is for all of us to develop these instincts.

Paul exhibited strong motherly features. His epistles are full of the thought of travail and labour in the various assemblies where they kept losing sight of what was intrinsically valuable and resorted to worldly principles to build and manage their Church life. He tells us that “The Jerusalem which is above, is our Mother”. Our eternal city is to be our Mother.

The Lord himself, as he wept over Jerusalem said “How often would I have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wing but you would not”

Of course, nothing we might say about motherhood diminishes the idea of fatherhood or the need for authority and leadership in our assemblies but the role of a mother is unique in terms of growth, formation, protection and the embedding of right instincts in her children.

In this scripture we see two women. One lays claim to the child and the other really is its Mother.

What am I doing in this Church? What am I doing and why am I doing what I am doing? What are my motives?

Is it to promote myself? Am I claiming ownership of something that is not mine? Have I really dealt with that competitive spirit that is so characteristic of me and which has brought me success in life but can be so destructive in the spiritual world?

Must I press my point to such an extent it causes division and possibly death? (spiritual death).

Do I claim that I have the Lord's mind, implying that only I and those that agree with me can be trusted? What havoc that has caused in Churches down the ages.

These are things I ask myself constantly as I regularly have to adjust my thinking and curb my natural propensities.

Do I really care? Is my vision, the Lord's vision, and his longings my longings? Do I like to have a prominent position but actually care very little about the work and chores that have to be done in the Church or what is going on in people's lives and deep down in their hearts?

Is my house open to my brethren? Am I hospitable?

Not only did the true Mother become apparent here but Solomon had the wisdom to bring it to light. How did he get that wisdom and where do we find that kind of wisdom in our Church?

The secret lies in what he asked for and (more significantly) in what he didn't ask for. Despite a sense of destiny, he had a genuine feeling of smallness and inadequacy in the presence of such great things. This was not mock modesty.

He respected his Father David (we need to respect what has gone before) and had a real desire that the ark should be recovered and set up again in its rightful place at the centre of the new Temple. For us, that means Christ, in his rightful place in our hearts, our lives and in our Church.

I doubt that any of us have attained what we see in Solomon at such a tender age but as we begin to grasp it we then begin to understand how we fit among Gods people and into his scheme of things. We then begin to recognise true motherhood in our midst and we embrace it.

We begin to strive for the right kind of Church. We begin to promote the right features in ourselves and in one another and learn how to keep in check the wrong and potentially damaging things that creep in and challenge God's interests; and we learn how to do it all without causing division or death.

“Don't' kill the child”, the true mother pleaded. Better to lose the argument than kill the child. Better to be misunderstood than kill the child.

As I often say ….. This is the doctrine. May God help us to learn these lessons so that motherhood becomes a part of us.

                                                                                                                                                                                          The Author