Book 4 of Musings Perfecting the Messenger
The Christian Church throughout its history has placed much emphasis on the work of the ministry.
I wouldn't be surprised if we learn some day that God is more interested in the maturing of His ministers, His witnesses, than He is in the work they accomplish.
I suppose it is only natural that we place more emphasis on what a Christian should be accomplishing than on what he himself is becoming. I think this attitude has been true throughout Church history, to a certain extent. It is easy for American believers to adopt this viewpoint, because as a nation we probably look at great accomplishments as justifying a lack of virtue in the doer of the deeds.
Since denominations usually want to grow in the number of their adherents, it is possible that the character of the workers, as well as the character of the proselytes they gain, is not viewed with the same interest as that of how many join the institution.
"Work! work! work!" Babylon cries.
You know, I don't think God looks at things this way.
As a so-called teacher of the deeper life, I sometimes have been criticized for not encouraging the people to "get out and do something."
Do you ever hear preachers rant about how the people are sitting in their pews, growing fat, and not going from door to door; or not taking to the street to protest abortions; or not becoming more active politically?
It can make us feel guilty, can't it? I have had to weather these storms.
When I go to the Lord, He reminds me that I am to be feeding His sheep. He doesn't say anything about commanding them to go forth and grow wool, or pull wagons, or rent themselves out as saddle horses.
Personally I think God is interested in His people, His witnesses, coming to maturity in Christ. It certainly is true that if they don't come to spiritual maturity they are going to lose part or all of their inheritance, no matter what they accomplish in religious work.
Religious work cannot take the place of growing to maturity in Jesus Christ.
The fact of the matter is this: We have a few brief years to do religious work. But after we die we will spend eternity in a role suited to our development in Christ.
I think God gives us these tasks of ministry to provide for us a chance to grow in Christ.
I have noticed in studying how God works, particularly in revivals, that God often will reach down and intervene. Suddenly multitudes of people are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now if God can do this once He can do it all the time. In other words, He is able to work apart from us.
The lesson we learn from this is to concentrate on finding God's will for our life. If God can save anyone He wants to at any time that pleases Him, then our attention should be given to finding out what He wants us to do rather than focusing on how many people we are going to save.
When we go to God concerning what He wants us to do, He sometimes directs us toward the needs in our own life. Or He tells us to rest in Him. He just doesn't seem to be that anxious for us to start figuring out how we are supposed to be building the Kingdom of God.
My wife, Audrey, and I have been Christians since we were nineteen. We always have desired to work full-time in the ministry. But God did not lead us out of secular employment into full-time ministry until I was fifty years of age.
We have been in full-time ministry for over twenty-five years now. As I look back I can see how necessary it was for me to work in the public schools as preparation for the work of pastoring a church.
God knows what He is doing. And He is more interested in perfecting His messengers than He is in our rushing forth to try to build the Kingdom of God.
If God can bring us to spiritual maturity in this life, then He has a servant whom He can use for eternity. But if we preach to thousands of people, and then disqualify ourselves because of our spiritual immaturity, we leave a faulty testimony and are of no use to God during the ages to come.
I know of two incidents, one in our own extended family, where young couples were encouraged to go into full-time ministry. In both instances the Lord had mercy on them and they had to withdraw. I say the Lord had mercy on them because He knew they would have been harmed in some manner had they continued on the path they were following.
God is far, far more interested in what we are becoming than He is in what we are accomplishing?
We often hear Christians speak of "witnessing." It is my point of view that God's creates His witnesses. He makes His own fishers of men. When the believer lives a life of solid dedication to the Lord, he or she becomes a witness; he or she becomes a fisher of men. The ability comes as a natural outgrowth of maturing in the Lord.
The point is to get people to press into Jesus! Then He will do the work of the Kingdom through them.
It is a good thing for the believer to seek the Lord for gifts and a ministry. It is profitable also for the believer to be available for work in his or her local assembly. Whatever he does he should do with all his heart. The Lord rewards diligence. When we are faithful in small matters, the Lord increases our responsibilities.
So I am not advocating laziness. I merely am pointing out that God is desirous that each one of us come to maturity as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ. We have been predestined to be in the moral image of Christ that we might be one of His brothers. This moral transformation is always paramount in importance, whether or not God sees fit to use us in some corner of His Kingdom.
The forty-third chapter of the Book of Isaiah is a passage that I think shows God's point of view toward His witnesses, His eternal servants. The following verses give us insight into what it means to be a witness of Christ.
But now, this is what the LORD says-he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (Isaiah 43:1-2 First we need to understand God has chosen His witnesses from the beginning of the world. He creates them. He forms them. He redeems them. He calls them by name. They belong to Him in a manner not true of the remainder of the people in the world.
We need to cherish this sense of being chosen. I think both the Jews and the Christians are not always pleased with the idea of being a chosen people. The fact that we have been chosen should not make us proud. If it does, God will take care of that problem. Rather, it should make us desirous of pleasing Him who has chosen us.
God's elect are a firstfruits of mankind. God accepts the remainder of mankind when His elect are offered to Him as a holy sacrifice. Our role is to lift holy hands in adoration to God at all times. Then God can accept the nations of the earth. This is the principle of the firstfruits.
God's witnesses always pass through the waters and the fires. But God always is with us and delivers us. When we note that God always is with us and delivers us, then we are able to bear witness of the faithfulness and power of God. We cannot be a witness until we have seen and heard something. Isn't that true?
For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. (Isaiah 43:3,4)
The above seems undemocratic, doesn't it? Whether we like it or not, God chooses whom He will. God shows His love to His elect by destroying their enemies.
The idea of God choosing one person over another is repugnant to us. This is because we do not understand God or His Kingdom. How can the American believers of today bear witness of God when they do not understand Him or His ways? This is ridiculous.
We need to get used to the idea that God is a great King and He always does what pleases Him. He does not have to answer to us as to the righteousness of His behavior. He has given His Son on the cross. That deed alone is enough to demonstrate God's righteousness.
Before we can be a witness of God we must understand God has chosen us from the beginning of the world to be His witnesses. When we seek Him diligently He causes us to bear witness-whether or not we realize we are bearing witness.
Bearing witness is not preaching. It is the act of revealing in ourselves the Person, will, way, and eternal purpose of God in Christ.
Recently a minister of the Gospel slandered the character of Mohammed, the founder of the religion of Islam. Did he suppose he was bearing witness of Jesus Christ? He certainly was not! We bear witness by good deeds. When we feed the hungry and clothe the naked of the Muslims, then we are bearing a true witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our light, our witness, is that of good works, not religious talk.
There assuredly is a time and place for preaching and teaching the Gospel. Some of us have been gifted so we are able to feed the Lord's sheep. But this is not bearing witness. Bearing witness is showing by word and deed what we have learned as we have walked with the Lord. And we learn to be kind to people, not to scorn them because we think they are following false gods.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, "Give them up!" and to the south, "Do not hold them back." Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth-(Isaiah 43:5-6)
Notice the sovereignty expressed here. God is going to bring His children home. Of course, this is speaking of physical Israel. But it reveals that we do not have to take it upon ourselves do God's work for Him.
God speaks to people and they play the role that God has chosen for them in bringing the Jews home. And so it is true in all Kingdom work. Christ is building His own Church. We are not building it. Our job is to follow the Lord closely and to obey Him. When we do this we grow spiritually and we also are profitable in the work of the Kingdom.
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. (Isaiah 43:7-8)
There are people whom the Lord has called, whom He has created for His glory, whom He has formed and made. They have eyes to see the Lord but are blind to the ways of the flesh. They have ear to hear the Lord but are not influenced by the media. What they see Jesus do, that is what they do.
All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so others may hear and say, "It is true." "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so you may know and believe me and understand I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. (Isaiah 43:9,10)
There have been numerous philosophers and educators, scientists and sociologists, psychiatrists and psychologists, who have endeavored to lead us in the ways of peace and prosperity. But the Lord Jesus stated two thousand years ago that wars and rumors of wars would persist. Jesus has been correct. The professional people seem never to be able to come to the truth. Isn't it so?
Notice carefully the following:
"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so you may know and believe me and understand I am he."
We are God's chosen witnesses so we may know and believe God. The emphasis is not on knowing the needs of mankind but on knowing and believing God. It seems to me that when we get our eyes on the needs of mankind we lose sight of God. The point is to know and believe God. Then we will most effectively meets the needs of people.
In other words, the act of witnessing is the act of knowing God and believing God. When we do this, God can reveal through us Himself, His way, His will, and His eternal purpose in Christ.
The better we know God the better witness we are.
How different this is from doing religious work, or trying to go out and witness.
God will spend years perfecting His messenger. After the messenger has been tried in the fires of life on earth he then is ready to serve God for eternity.
When we present the Christian religion as an organized effort to persuade people to join our institution, and press upon people the need to go out and get busy convincing others that they ought to accept our beliefs, we may find ourselves losing the touch of the Lord. We have become just another group seeking members.
It appears American believers are either spiritually slothful, somewhat indifferent to the demands of discipleship, content with a casual church membership, or else they are busy in some religious activity.
I think what the Lord is asking of us in America is that we might pay more attention to coming to know Him personally, to finding out what He wants done at the present hour.
As nearly as I can tell, the Lord Jesus wants far more attention than we are giving Him. We can do religious work and still not give the Lord the attention He desires.
We should continue to work diligently at whatever is before us to do, but at the same time keep inviting the Lord into our life. From the moment we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night (and sometimes throughout the night) we should be asking the Lord about everything we are doing, seeking His guidance in the smallest detail.
We need to return to an emphasis on righteous, holy behavior. We must press upon ourselves and all who will listen to us the need for obeying Christ strictly. Ours is a day of renewal in the Kingdom of God, and we have to be following Christ closely to take advantage of it.
Do you not know in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)