Worthy of Double Honor

October is set aside by some people as Pastor Appreciation Month.  But does the Bible teach us to honor our pastors? 

The apostle Paul said in one of his pastoral letters,  Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.   For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” (1 Timothy 5:17-18)

John MacArthur gives excellent explanation and exposition of this text in his sermon Restoring Biblical Eldership.

"He's going to discuss four things...honoring elders, protecting elders, rebuking elders, and selecting elders. And these four things when properly understood and properly implemented will restore to the church a biblical eldership, a very very vital vital portion of Scripture. I wish we could take it, as I said, in the whole, but we must take it as it comes in part and fully understand it because of its tremendous implications.

Number one, the first thing on Paul's mind in verses 17 and 18 is the matter of honoring elders...the matter of honoring elders. And I want to say at this juncture, please, a bit of a disclaimer. I feel a little bit awkward up here telling you that you need to honor elders of which I am one. Obviously I could be accused of a conflict of interests and I could also be accused of having a self-serving motive and I could frankly be accused of trying to get myself a raise because I am going to talk about paying the preacher in a little while. So I want to put in an immediate disclaimer on any of those things. I'm trying to teach you the Word of God. I am not seeking more of anything. I don't want to be elevated in my position. I don't want anybody to buy me a robe or a backward collar or a special hat. I don't want anybody to give me a raise, if they do I'll turn it down. I'm not seeking any of that except to teach the Word of God for all of our instruction and edification that we might better be able to honor those godly pastor/elders that the Lord has put in our life. That is my whole purpose and my heart rests at ease before the Lord because He and I have gone over the matter of my motives several times this morning and if you'll accept that I have worked it out with Him, then you can handle me. All right?

First of all, then, honoring elders. Now I want you to know what he says in verse 17, it's very simple. "Let the elders that rule excellently be considered worthy of double honor, specially the ones who work hard in preaching and teaching." That's a rather literal translation. The key word here is the word "honor." You might just sort of mark that in your mind, or in your text. That's what he's really saying. This verse calls for honor to be given to pastor/elders in the church. Those who serve the church, leading the church, as it were, fathering the church by way of example and leadership, feeding and teaching in the church are to be given honor.

This is not a new concept in the Scripture. It has appeared in other places. A couple of books earlier in the New Testament Canon we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:12, "We beseech you, brethren, to know them who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you." That would be your pastors, your elders. "And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake." Those who are over you in the Lord who minister among you, you should know them, you should love them, you should esteem them for the work which they render. In Hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 it says, "Those who have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the Word of God, you follow their faith." And then in verse 17 it says, "Obey them, submit yourselves to them for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that's unprofitable for you." Love them, esteem them, know them, remember their lives, follow their pattern, obey them, submit to them and do it all with joy so that they may have joy. If they don't, then their ministry will be unprofitable for you.

So the New Testament has enjoined us on several occasions to give proper honor and proper respect to those that are over us in the Lord. And there are other passages with which we will intersect in our discussion this morning, also.

Now I want to just remind you that the term "elder" is a general term referring to those in leadership in the church. They can be called shepherd, pastor, same word. They can be called overseer, as in chapter 3 verse 1, they are referred to, or elder. The term pastor refers primarily to the shepherding function; the term overseer to the authority and the leadership responsibility; and the term elder has to do with their role in maturity as a father or as the senior member of the congregation, senior members I should say since there are many. There's no such thing, by the way, as a senior pastor. There's no such thing as a senior pastor and his staff. There is simply a plurality of godly elders and in that shared leadership there may be varying responsibilities but there's no hierarchy or pecking order taught in the New Testament. So the pastor, overseer, elder as we know is the same person, one in the same. One emphasizes the feeding responsibility, one emphasizes the leading responsibility, one emphasizes the maturity of his position in leadership.

Now, we assume that these elders who are to receive elders are qualified. We don't have to go through that. We're basing that on chapter 3. If an elder is tested against the principles of chapter 3 and is qualified and therefore continues to be an elder, he is to be honored. He is a man, obviously, based upon his qualifications who is blameless, who is a one-woman man, who is temperate, who has his priorities in order, who is good in his behavior, who is committed to the love of strangers, who is skilled in teaching, not given to wine, not a violent man, he's patient, he's not a striker or fighter, he's not covetous, he rules well his own house, has his children in subjection with seriousness, he's not a novice. He has a good reputation among outsiders. It's that kind of man who qualifying to be an elder is worthy of honor. So we're assuming then elder here, or elders, as it's always in the plural except when Peter refers to himself as an elder and when John twice refers to himself as an elder, every other time it's a plurality because the assumption is the church will be led by a plurality of godly elders.

So we see then here that when it says, "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor," it means elders who are qualified. If a man is qualified to be an elder, he is qualified then to receive honor. We could say then generally that underlying this verse is the idea that elders are worthy of honor, okay? Elders are worthy of honor.

Now what do we mean by honor? Well the word is time, basically it means respect or regard. It's so used in chapter 6 verse 1, "But as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor." That doesn't mean a servant is supposed to pay his master, it means he's supposed to give him respect. So the word timecan relate to respect or regard. But also it can relate to remuneration, that is money. Back in chapter 5 we used it that way in verse 3 as Paul had that in mind, "Honor widows that are really widows." And what we saw there inherent in the word honor is the idea of financial support. It includes, along with respect and high regard, the idea of remuneration, salary, whatever. In fact, in our English language we have a word that tells us that, it's the word honorarium. Honorarium is a form of the word honor which relates to giving someone money. When I go out and speak sometimes people will give me an honorarium. When I fill out my Income Tax every year I put down a category called "honoraria," which has to do with people who showed me a certain amount of regard in a financial way. And so the word meaning that originally has come down in the English form to mean that even today in some regard.

So when we read about honoring these elders, we are talking not only about respect, but also talking about remuneration. In fact, the word time is translated in several places in the New Testament by the word price. So it is not a word disassociated from money. You will find it so translated, for example, in Matthew 27:6 and 9, Acts 4:34, 1 Corinthians 6:20. So what Paul is saying is give honor but let that honor have within it remuneration, if need by.

By the way, honor in the Old Testament, I just thought of that, also contains that same idea. For example, in Proverbs 3:9 it says, "Honor the Lord with your substance." What does that mean? That means honor the Lord with your respect and your regard as demonstrated by giving Him your money. And then it further says, "With the firstfruits of all your increase." So there honor carries the idea of giving money to God in an offering. Also in verse 31 of Proverbs 14 it says, "The one who honors the poor by having mercy on him," it refers to one honoring the poor through mercy that has the idea of giving them something to supply their needs.

So, Paul here is saying then that you are to make sure that one who is over you in the Lord, who feeds you and leads you, is honored. An elder is to receive honor, that is respect and remuneration as fitting and necessary. That forms a true estimate of his worth in a tangible way.

You say, "If Paul meant that why didn't he just say money?" Well, because money is such a crass expression he would rather deal with the motive behind the money than just deal with the money. How much nicer is it to say, "Here's your money, fella?" You wouldn't appreciate that. If someone could say to you, "We want to honor you with this gift." There's a big difference in that expression. And Paul was want to do that almost on every occasion. In fact, you're hard pressed to ever find Paul actually talk about money.

Let me give you just a little insight into that. In writing to the Romans and the Corinthians, he referred to money on one occasion as service. In writing to the Corinthians, the Galatians and the Philippians, he referred to money as fellowship. He referred to it again to the Corinthians as grace. In 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 he called it liberality. In 2 Corinthians 8:20 he called it bounty. In 2 Corinthians 9:5 he called it blessing. In 2 Corinthians 9:8 he called it a good work. In Galatians 6:6 he called money good things. In Philippians 4 he called it a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice. In 2 Corinthians 9:10 he called it a seed, in the same verse he called it a harvest of your righteousness. In Philippians 4:17 he called it a gift, and here he calls it honor.

In other words, rather than dealing with the crass nature of the money itself, he wants the money to convey a heart attitude, a motive, a sense of love and intimacy and spiritual significance. So he puts it in terms other than just the crassness of the terminology of money itself.

So what he is saying here is to honor. And he's really dealing with the motive which will result in remuneration. So the bottom line here is that an elder is to be cared for, he is to be honored in terms of respect and he is to be honored in terms of remuneration. Every elder is to be so honored, every elder is to be so respected. That's implied in this verse. Now some elders may have greater needs than others, those needs are to be met. Some pastors may earn their own living. There are pastors who do that. There are pastor/elders in this church who choose by God's direction to subsidize themselves, they work outside. They do not need to be paid by the church but they are to be honored by the church. If they are called by God to give their whole life to the service of Christ, then they are to be remunerated as well. A man may make a choice in that regard.

Such a choice, I believe, is expressed in several places in the New Testament. But look back to 1 Corinthians chapter 9 for just a moment, to what is a very helpful insight here. The church has the responsibility to honor all who are elders. Somebody might say, "Well, does that mean we have to pay all the elders at Grace? Should all the elders who are pastoring our church quit their jobs and be paid by the church?" Not necessarily. The question of subsidy has nothing to do with whether you're a pastor or an elder. There are many pastors of small churches around this country and around the world who are subsidized by their own employment and they carry on the ministry beyond that. There are some who are subsidized through their ministry. That's not the issue.

Let me show you. Chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, Paul says, "Am I not an Apostle?" He has some need to establish the right to support here and that's what he's attempting to do. "Am I not an Apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord and are not you my work in the Lord? And if I be not an Apostle to others, yea doubtless I am to you for the seal of my apostleship are you in the Lord." In other words, is there any doubt in your mind that I'm an Apostle? My message, my usefulness, my having seen the risen Christ...you know because of those things and the seal of my apostleship the fact that you were converted to Christ that I am an Apostle. "My answer to them that do examine me in this is, Have we no right to eat and drink?" In other words, if I'm an Apostle, don't I have a right to food and drink? "Don't I have a right to lead about a Christian sister as a wife, as well as the other Apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas or Peter?" Don't I have a right to eat? Don't I have a right to be married? Don't I have a right to have a family? "Or I only and Barnabas, have we no right to forebear working? Don't we have a right to give ourselves to ministry and be supported by that ministry and not have to work?"

"Don't I have a right to stop making tents, or stop doing leather work?" As was his trade. After all, verse 7, he says, "Who goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and eats not its fruit? Who feeds a flock and eats not the milk of the flock?" I mean, there are some things that have in them built in remuneration. You don't go to the war and try to hold a job on the side. You don't raise a crop and not eat the results. You don't have a herd and not enjoy the milk. "Say I these things as a man," these are just human things, "but doesn't the law of God say the same? Doesn't it say in the law of God, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain? Does God take care for oxen?" If God says in Deuteronomy 25 verse 4 you're supposed to let the ox that treads the grain eat, don't you think He cares about the one who provides your spiritual food as the ox provides your physical food? And isn't a man more valuable than an ox? And isn't a preacher more valuable than anyone?
If we have sown, he says in verse 11, verse 10 rather, or saith he it all together for our sakes, for our sakes, no doubt, that it is written that he that plows should plow in hope, and he that threshes in hope should be a partaker of his hope. You work and in your work is built in the hope of your remuneration. "If we have sown to you spiritual things, is it such a big deal if we reap your carnal things?" In other words, if we give you the things of God, is it wrong for us to have back the things of this world so that we might live? "If others be partakers of this right over you, are not we rather who preach to you the Word of God (implied)? Nevertheless we have not used this right." How about that. Twelve verses to have established the right to be paid and then he says, "But we don't want it." He says we have a right to it and I want to lay that down, but I choose not to take it so we don't hinder the gospel of Christ. There was some exigencies in Corinth, there were some reasons why he didn't want to be chargeable to them. He felt it would be better for the ministry so he said we have a right to it, and he establishes the right of every preacher and teacher in the future, every pastor and elder, every apostle and prophet in the future to be supported. But here he defers from that because, he says, we don't want to hinder, and there were some reasons why in his mind that would be a hindrance so he cared for his own living. And as he says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, "He robbed other churches." In other words, he took money from other churches to fund himself to minister to the Corinthians because he didn't want to be chargeable to them. If you know anything about their church, you might understand that. They were a tough bunch to work with and he didn't need anything that might cause more criticism of his ministry. He was being very harsh with them, as it was, he didn't want them accusing him of a money motive.

But verse 13 he picks up the same thought, "Do you not know that they who minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? They who wait on the altar are partakers with the altar? Priests function in their priesthood and are supported by that function itself. Even so....and here's the climax...has the Lord ordained that they who preach the gospel should live of the gospel." That does not mean, as you hear so often, if you preach it you ought to live it, that means if you preach it you ought to be supported in your preaching of it. You ought to be able to earn your living in your preaching.

So, here Paul affirms the idea that those who minister are to be supported in that ministry. However, he says, if you choose, as I choose-implied, that you can defer from that support for whatever reason you might have. For example, in writing to 1 Thessalonians, writing to the Thessalonians in the first letter he says, verse 9 of chapter 2, "You remember, brethren, our labor and travail, laboring night and day because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God." We didn't want to be chargeable so we worked night and day. He had to work his ministry all day, and he had to earn his living all night, but he did that because he chose to do it to make the gospel more palatable to them.

So we can safely say then that while the text of 1 Timothy says that the one who is an elder is to be honored, and that implies both respect and remuneration, there may be those circumstances when by God's design and the prompting of the Spirit and the will of God there is a pastor/elder who chooses to earn his own living and that by God's design certainly has a place in the plan. Should the time ever come when he feels that he would desire to pour himself whole-heartedly, totally and consume his life in the ministry, the church then should take over that remuneration. But as long as he feels it is the direction of God for him to be in employment where he is, the church has no obligation. The point here is we are to honor and give respect and remuneration where remuneration is due and where it is necessitated.

Now let's go back to 1 Timothy chapter 5 and see if we can't follow a little bit further through this thought. And I've just laid really the sort of the implicit underlying truth that elders are to be honored. When a man is an elder, just because he's an elder or a pastor, same thing, he is due respect and whatever remuneration is fitting to supply his needs and expedite his level of service just because he is a pastor/elder. Now that is the underlying point, now mark this, but that is not Paul's point here. That just sort of lies beneath the surface. What Paul is doing here is contrasting, or really comparing that with this, "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, specially the ones who work hard in preaching and teaching." The underlying assumption is that all pastors are to be honored, but Paul's talking about the kind that are worthy of double honor, by contrast to the general category of pastors who are to be honored on a single honor level.

Notice the little phrase "double honor," what does that mean? Well, it basically means generous ample pay, generous ample respect. The intent here is to show a difference between general category of pastors and a unique category of pastors who rule with great excellence and who work very hard in the preaching and the teaching. They are worthy of double honor. Double honor assumes as its comparative honor, so we say honor for elders, double honor for excellent hard-working elders.

That's the idea. The Spirit of God knows that among those who serve the church there will be a great group of faithful men who will serve the Lord with blessing, but there will also be a group of men who will serve the Lord with a greater effort and a greater commitment and a greater excellence and they are worthy of a greater acknowledgement, of honor from the congregations they serve. It's not a mathematical equation here to figure out what the normal elder gets and double it, it's the idea of ample generous support, remuneration and respect. All elders are worthy of it, some are worthy of more.

Now who are these who are worthy of double honor? Look back at verse 17. First of all, the elders that rule well...the elders that rule well. Now the word "ruling" means oversight, taking charge, giving leadership, having responsibility. Proistemi, the verb, means to stand first. They're first in order in terms of leadership. It is a word used to speak of the father and the husband in the family, he is the leader. He is the one who stands first. He is the protector, the provider. So the elder is the one who leads, who stands first, giving the task of leading the church. It's a tremendous responsibility, beloved, by the way, for all the privilege that is there you're really overwhelmed by the accountability. As Hebrews 13:17 says, "We have to give an account to God for what we've done."
But the emphasis is not on the verb ruling, the emphasis is on the adverb - well. And that adverb means with excellence. The elder, the pastor who leads with excellence. Now what would that be? How would we define excellence? I suppose we could go back to chapter 4 and we had in chapter 4 from verses 6 to 16 at least a pretty good insight into what excellence would be in leadership as Paul instructed Timothy. He said, verse 6, "If you put the brothers in remembrance of these things, you'll be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine, refusing profane and old women's tales, exercising yourself to godliness." And he talks about down in verse 11 teaching and commanding, in verse 12 living out an example, verse 13 giving your attendance to explaining the Word of God, verse 14 using your gift, verse 15 concentrating on all these things and into verse 16 summing it up, taking heed to yourself, your personal life, to your teaching, continuing in them and so forth. If we were to go back through all of that, which we did over several weeks, we would find the excellence of ministry is there. It is bound up in quality leadership. It is bound up in godliness in the life. It is bound up in teaching and explanation of Scripture and exhortation, setting a model and example and pattern that others can follow.

When a man excels in his ruling, in his leading, he is to be given double honor. Now the point here, keep it in mind, is not to make a distinction between two kinds of elders, one kind who rule and one kind who teach and preach, there's no such distinction made in Scripture. It is a contrast between elders worthy of honor and some elders worthy of double honor because of the excellency of their ministry. All serve, all lead, all teach and preach to one degree or another. Some may preach more than teach, some may teach more than preach, some may lead more than preach or teach, but they all do all of those to some degree. The contrast is not between ruling and teaching elders, there's no such dichotomy, the contrast is between the general group of men and those who are a cut above because of the excellence of their ministry. I mean, double honor assumes honor. It's not a contrast between all good elders and bad elders. The New Testament knows nothing of bad elders. As soon as you're a bad elder you're not an elder. As soon as you've sinned, you're disqualified. So he's not comparing holy elders and sinning elders because if holy elders were worthy double honor, then sinning elders would be worth honor. But since sinning elders are worthy nothing, you can't be making comparison between sinning elders and excellent elders because if sinning elders are worthy nothing and good elders get double that, they get double nothing which is nothing. I mean, every way you look at it, and I'm pushing the point, the contrast is not between good and bad, it's not between ruling and teaching, it's between those elders who are faithful, worthy of honor, and those who are excellent, surpassing the others in their ministry. He is comparing the respect and remuneration due to all elders with those due to unusually committed and diligent pastor/elders.

And the verb "let be considered worthy," which is the Greek text, reflects on a mental estimate. You evaluate them and let them be worthy of double honor. Now what he's saying here is this isn't a gift, you're not saying we want to give this as a gift, we want to give you this as a reward, we want to give you this as an act of grace. The idea is they deserve it. Consider that if they do an excellent job, they are worthy of that. It's not something you're giving out of grace as a gift, it is something they have really earned, they are worthy of that because of the excellence of their leadership.

Now please understand me. Again, this sounds so self- serving, even in my own mind. And I don't want you to get the wrong idea. You people pay me too much already, please know that. And I have refused to take raises many many times and I always have a little trouble with the elders. Recently they said they insisted and I told them I didn't want a raise. And so they said, "Why?" And I said, "Because I have more than I need." And they said...I said, "If you give me more than I just have more of more than I need to deal with." And they said, "Well, we want to give you more because we want to see what you do with what you don't need." So, I said that's fair enough. So the same thing happened again this year. And they said no, we insist and they watch me. But it's been a wonderful thing. I guess in a real sense you have to expect that if they trust you they would just as soon trust you with God's money as anyone else, right? If you're the kind of a person that walks with God they would assume that in your life you would be a steward of what God provides. And I pray, God, that that's true. I face my own unfaithfulness day in and day out because money is such a captivating reality, but the task before me is to be faithful in my ministry. And in this particular point in my life at this church to say to you, "Please, you have demonstrated honor above honor, you're into the triple category already, that's enough." I'm not asking for anything. I don't think this is a license for indulgence. I don't think this means you're supposed to set your pastor apart by giving him the biggest house in town and buying him a Rolls Royce and sending him all around the world on vacations or whatever. I don't think that's the idea. The idea is that he is to be provided for amply so that you show generosity, so that you show love and so that you free him up from being constrained in the ministry to have to earn his bread and therefore take himself away from needful things to do things less needful to support himself.

Then he adds a further thought here, just capping it off, "Especially...malista...it means chiefly or particularly when you're considering who is to get double honor, chiefly the ones who work hard in preaching and teaching." Now the assumption here is that there will be some elders who will not work as hard in preaching and teaching. That's a fair assumption from the text. In other words, their role may be less prominent in teaching. They may be more involved in the leading role, although they all teach and we insist, of course, that all elders and pastors at Grace Church be involved in teaching and preaching God's Word, and they are. Many of us do it more than others. For me it is a totally consuming way of life. And for those who teach the most and work the hardest at it, there is to be that double honor.

What does it mean working hard? Well it's that very familiar and almost ubiquitous word in the vocabulary of Paul, that word kopiaowhich means to work to the point of fatigue, to grow weary in work, to work to the point of exhaustion. And what he is saying is, "Look, when there is a godly elder who fits the qualifications and he models a ministry according to the divine standard and he does his ministry with excellence and he works to the point of fatigue and weariness in teaching and preaching the Word of God, that is the man to be identified as worthy of the double honor, the person who works so hard in excellent service to give...as to give a maximum self-sacrificial effort." It's not stressing the amount of work, it's not stressing even the content of work, it's stressing the effort...the effort. A man's reward is designed by God to be in proportion to the excellence of his work and the effort in the toil that he makes. And that's a wonderful parallel. There are a lot of people who can do things that are surpassing and have external excellence and they can do it without much effort. Have you noticed that? There are some people who slave and slug and hack away to get the job done well. There are others who have those innate gifts, those natural gifts and those compelling gifts of the Spirit of God who enable them sometimes to do things with excellence without much effort. But the combination here is so wonderful. On the other hand, there are those people who slug and slave away and not much of what they do would be considered excellent. But here is that wonderful combination of the church recognizing that excellence and that diligence that when they come together mark out a man who is worthy of double honor.

And I have to confess to you that in my own heart the standard is so high that I don't believe that even those of us who have received from you honor upon honor are at the level of honor that Paul is talking about here. This has to be a surpassing kind of quality and character to that which we know, which I know of my own heart.

But when we find people like this, we must honor them. If we are to restore, beloved, if we are to restore to the church a biblical eldership, we must find these kind of faithful diligent excellent godly men and grant them the honor, the remuneration, the respect that is due to that kind of effort. And then we begin to restore to that place that kind of man that God would have there.

On the other hand, and I don't want to belabor the point, do you realize how churches can literally destroy good godly diligent faithful men? It's a sad sad tale. We talk so often about the defection of pastors but we need also to talk about the defection of churches from loving esteeming obeying submitting to following honoring and remunerating their pastors. It's sad some times to see young men coming out of seminaries starry-eyed and ready to go out and conquer the world for Christ and literally be devoured by people who dishonor, discredit, speak evil of them because they don't do precisely what they want done in the way they want it done or because they go against the grain of some would-be diatrophies(??) who has risen to prominence in a self- appointed position in some church. There's a balance here. And the church if it's going to restore a biblical eldership has to give back to that position its honor. You can't expect a pastor who comes in as a whipping boy for a board of laymen who don't have the spiritual knowledge, insight or commitment that he does to function in a way that's going to bring the respect that that kind of office demands from the statement from the Word of God.

So, restoring a biblical eldership, part of that is giving honor to whom honor is due. All elders then teach and preach, all elders lead. But some elders are worthy of double honor. All elders are worthy of honor. Elders are worthy of honor in two ways, respect and remuneration. Hard-working and excellent elders are worthy of the double honor, especially if they major in the teaching and preaching which is the particularly worthy thing. Preaching, by the way, is logo, just means speech, it includes exhortation, admonition, the prophetic kind of proclamation. It has mostly to do with the one who proclaims to the heart and calls for commitment, calls for a response to God. Teaching, didaskaliahas to do not with the content again but with the act of teaching. And it speaks mostly to the mind and whereas the preaching part calls for a response from God, the teaching part bulwarks one against heresy. Both are crucial, both are essential. And where you have men whose hearts are totally given to these things and their ministry is excellent, they are to receive honor.

I wish I could give this message to a lot of congregations who don't seem to understand that. And then they wonder why they have an unhappy church because they have an unhappy pastor whose doing what he does with grief and not with joy because they are an unsubmissive people. We can see then the high point of Christian ministry from the viewpoint of the elder or the pastor is to exhaust oneself in diligent careful constant preparation and preaching/teaching of the Word of God and in excellent leadership by life and example."  

I Am a Church Member

As I listen to pastors and authors around our country, as I read their blogs, and as I have been in pastoral ministry for more than a decade - I hear a recurring theme.  Sadly, we are experiencing a disease spreading through the church - it is the result of several generations now who are used to having people serve them "my way"  in a consumer-oriented culture. 

My mother shared with me a few weeks ago concerns over her church.  She said that the young people (meaning people under 40!) have a very different orientation to church - that they don't have much of a sense of commitment to a place.  If they don't like something, if they get their feelings hurt or experience conflict, they simply leave and go to another church.  This is a symptom of the consumer-driven culture.  If McDonald's doesn't fix my hamburger the way I like it, I can go to Wendy's, Hardees, Burger King, or a dozen other burger joints.

 

Herb Codington said it well last week in our church when he shared what one, I believe it was Korean seminary professor, said in response to the question, "What is the hardest theological concept to teach American Christians?"  His immediate answer was, "The Body of Christ."   Our trained selfishness in the USA spills over into the way we think about church.

 

Today, in many cases across our nation, instead of folks coming to church with the concept of "how can I serve here and help make this place what God intends for it to be?" people come with an attitude of "how can you benefit me and my family?"  In other words, "What can you do for me?" instead of "how can I serve God here?" 

In their book A God-Centered Church, Henry and Melvin Blackaby address this issue:

Jesus never hid the cost of being His disciple.  He made clear that His disciples would have to deny self, take up their cross, and then follow Him.  We must deal with this mark of a true disciple, for it is also the mark of a true church.  Unfortunately, I have found that today there is an intentional effort to avoid the cost of discipleship.  Often there is a deliberate abandoning of the people of God during times of cost in order to go to another church where they can find times of blessing instead.  What a cop-out!  What a tragic misunderstanding of discipleship!  Our generation can be so self-centered, forsaking God's will when the cost of discipleship gets hard.  Church hopping is usually nothing more than a selfish desire to be happy, when the Lord desires that His disciples be holy.  He desires for them to make a difference where He has put them and not simply go to the place where their needs are better met.

 

Too many people look for shortcuts or substitutes for the hard, painful, and weary work of a disciple.  They want instant gratification and pleasure but no cross.  They look for ease and comfort in life, but they are unwilling to count the cost of following Jesus.  If they do not receive honor, position, and recognition, they search out other churches that will grant recognition so they can be "satisfied" in their Christian life.  The thoughts of scars or wounds, like their Master's, does not even enter their heads.  They want all the benefits of God's great salvation with no costs attached.  This is too often characteristic of individual believers.  "Make us successful so my family and I can be happy!"  "I can't afford to give financially!"  "Don't ask me to be a part of starting a mission church; it would cost my family too much!"  On and on I hear "disciples" of Jesus disqualifying themselves as disciples of Jesus.

 

Jesus made clear to all of His disciples that He was going to suffer in order to accomplish the Father's will for His life.  When was the last time you looked at the Savior's hands and side?  If we want to make an impact on sinners in our world, there is a cost.  Are you willing to pick up your cross and follow Jesus?

 

Wow.  Those are great words.  We live in a day where Christians in the West love to focus on personal fulfillment and personal happiness - "what can the church do for me?"  Instead, a disciple takes the attitude, "How can I serve others where God has placed me?"

 

At Tom Wright's funeral I shared that one of the things that impressed me about Tom through the 15 years I knew him was the simple fact that he came to church for two reasons - 1) to get to know God better, 2) and to figure out how he could use his gifts to serve others.  In 15 years I never once heard him complain about his own needs not being met.  Instead, he wanted to know how he could better pray for others, serve others, and listen to the Lord.  Many times through the years he would call me with a Bible question, or arrive at my office asking for a book on how to better pray for people, or come by my house to serve me in some way.

 

For a six-week period during October and early November, I or one of our deacons are going to take a small portion of each service and talk about one aspect each week of what it means to be a healthy church member.

 

I am asking each church member to pick up a copy of the small book by Thom Rainer called I Am a Church Member.  In it Thom addresses what he calls the 6 attitudes that make a difference in a church.  He wrote the book for pastors to give to every one of their church members and ask them to read!  There are six short chapters that can be read in about 7-10 minutes each.

 

Andy Stanley says about I Am a Church Member:

 

Thom delivers a biblical perspective and practical approach to church membership.  This little book is both refreshing and inspirational.  I couldn't put it down.

 

And Ed Stetzer says that it is a rare treasure for a generation deeply in need of a compelling vision for this community called church.

 

 

Evaluating Spiritual Success

Robert Clinton, professor of leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of the well-known book The Making of a Leader, wrote an excellent article about on avoiding discouragement from Haggai's words for Worship Leader magazine years ago.

In it he shares . . .

"Haggai's narrative brings two perspectives that should encourage us greatly wherever we find ourselves.  The first is that no matter what level of influence your spiritual service garners, there is no such thing as a small work of God.  If God is in it, it is important.  And we should be convinced of that simply because He has promised as such: For I am with you . . . .  And my Spirit remains among you.  Do not fear (2:4-5).

The second principle from Haggai is that God is not limited by size.  He can accomplish much more through our small work than we can imagine if we will just commit ourselves to faithfully obey God as we minister.  Haggai's followers must have been astounded when told their work would be "better" than Solomon's. 

Do you believe that God has called you and that He is involved in your ministry?  If so, then be encouraged, dear friend, that God will accomplish whatever He wishes.  Don't let the size of the work be your criterion for discouragement,  neither let it be the standard for your encouragement."

Preaching with Authority: Three Characteristics of Expository Preaching

Authentic expository preaching is marked by three distinct characteristics: authority, reverence, and centrality. Expository preaching is authoritative because it stands upon the very authority of the Bible as the word of God. Such preaching requires and reinforces a sense of reverent expectation on the part of God’s people. Finally, expository preaching demands the central place in Christian worship and is respected as the event through which the living God speaks to his people.

A keen analysis of our contemporary age comes from sociologist Richard Sennett of New York University. Sennett notes that in times past a major anxiety of most persons was loss of governing authority. Now, the tables have been turned, and modern persons are anxious about any authority over them: “We have come to fear the influence of authority as a threat to our liberties, in the family and in society at large.” If previous generations feared the absence of authority, today we see “a fear of authority when it exists.”

Some homileticians suggest that preachers should simply embrace this new worldview and surrender any claim to an authoritative message. Those who have lost confidence in the authority of the Bible as the word of God are left with little to say and no authority for their message. Fred Craddock, among the most influential figures in recent homiletic thought, famously describes today’s preacher “as one without authority.” His portrait of the preacher’s predicament is haunting: “The old thunderbolts rust in the attic while the minister tries to lead his people through the morass of relativities and proximate possibilities.” “No longer can the preacher presuppose the general recognition of his authority as a clergyman, or the authority of his institution, or the authority of Scripture,” Craddock argues. Summarizing the predicament of the postmodern preacher, he relates that the preacher “seriously asks himself whether he should continue to serve up monologue in a dialogical world.”

Read the entire article by Albert Mohler here.

For All Children

This past Sunday, I gave all of our elementary school children a copy of the new resource from Lifeway called I'm a Christian: Now What? 

For years Southern Baptists used The Survival Kit to disciple young believers.  I well remember a man in my home church taking me through TSK when I was in elementary school.  Well, for today's world they have retired TSK and introduced IACNW?


This devotional gives children something to do for 90 days.  I field-tested it on my two youngest children this summer.  It was a joy to see the youngest one putting the book and his Bible by his bed many nights and not getting out of bed in the morning until he had completed his work.

Topics include What is a Quiet Time?, How Do I Know the Bible is True?, How Do I Hear God Speak to Me?, How to Prepare Your Child for Worship, and many others.

I have challenged the children to go through the workbook this fall, and we will follow-up with a party in December.

Remember, disciples are made one person at a time.  Dads and moms, this is a great tool for you to use with your children.  If you are not in the habit of leading family worship, this is a great tool to help you start!

The Glance Back

Sonny Holmes wrote this great word after attending our home church's 50th anniversary celebration on Sunday.  It was so good I wanted to share it too . . .

Yesterday was a satisfying glance back, but only that, a glance. Harriet, The Chester, my brother Mike, his wife Sally, and a crowd of  like-minded seekers worshiped with our fast- forward on pause so we could look back. It was the fiftieth anniversary of Edwards Rd. Baptist Church, Greenville, SC. Hundreds of us relished the sight. But, it was a glance, no more. Mature people know we can't go back.

Scripture leans us distinctly forward. When angels with flaming swords were assigned to guard the gates of the Garden of Eden the message was clear: one, perfection is no longer possible; and two, there's no going back. During the Exodus, the children of Israel often wished to return to the relative comforts of Egypt but were consistently moved forward by the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. The prophets moved the nation to covenant renewal with the promise of redemption. Jesus would not be detoured away from the finishing business of the cross. And, the Apostle Paul wrote to forget the past and press on toward the prize of the high calling of Christ. As much and as often as we'd like, there's no going back.

But, there is the glance back, the quick reference point of the rear-view mirror to see where we've been. That's what the fiftieth homecoming of ERBC was for me, a momentary cessation of motion to permit moments with important touch-stones of the past. So, Sunday, Pastor Aaron Rayburn, the wise leader of ERBC now, invited people from the past to speak, challenge, and inspire those in attendance with the Word of God, and remembrances from the epochs of the church. We laughed and cried, reflected on valued friends and events, and thanked God for a precious past. The anecdote's and stories previous pastors Bill Palmer and Earl Crumpler told were a blessing. H.S. Yarborough and Jerry Brown, both previous music ministers at ERBC, both sang, surprising everyone with the strength and beauty of voices given to Him many years ago. Alistair Walker, a previous interim pastor, brought a great Bible message. The ERBC Choir sang, as did Turning Point, led by previous music minister Danny Whipple. It was a blessing in every way.

Read the entire article here.

Edwards Road - 50 Years!

This weekend I am remembering with joy the church of my youth – Edwards Road Baptist Church in Greenville, SC. Tomorrow ERBC celebrates her 50th anniversary!

My parents joined ERBC in the 1960’s when the church was young and met in the old chapel. Mom and Dad were members there for 25 years (spanning 35 years – with about ten years in North Carolina!). For years I heard the old stories of that small group of charter members, including Jake and Frances Matthews, Billie Burns, and Chester and Esther Holmes. They had a vision for an evangelical church on that side of Greenville. While visiting Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary once and staying in the guest house, I opened a book of photographs by the bed and found pictures of the early years of ERBC! The guest room was named after Bill Palmer, who I believe was the church’s first pastor.

When we moved back to Greenville in 1980, we soon joined ERBC. I spent many happy days in the fellowship of that church, including several milestones of my life – all the way from my baptism in 1982 to my ordination in 1998. I expect that most if not all of the foundational lessons and shaping that I needed for life were first given to me by my family and then reinforced by the people of ERBC in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

The church was our family’s primary social outlet, and Mom and Dad both served for years in a number of capacities. Dad stood at the front door and greeted almost every Sunday for more than a decade with his friend Jerry Fowler. Mom served in numerous areas, teaching the Bible and serving through prayer ministry. She still hears occasionally from young ladies that she taught in Sunday School in late high school, as she hoped to instill in them qualities to help them walk with God long-term.

Many people, more numerous to name, impacted our lives from ERBC. So many wonderful people, some in the grandstands of heaven now, intersected our lives: Earl and Louise Crumpler, H. S. and Linda Yarborough, David Bennett, Allie and Ann McNider, Bob and Kay Gray, Steve and Gloria Taylor, Danny and Freida Cole, Ben and Billie Burns, Mickey and Barbara Massey, Janice and Marty Clark, and countless others. I recall listening to Henry Kluizenar (not sure of that spelling!) singing songs to God with his beautiful voice. And H. S. sharing Sweet Little Jesus Boy close to Christmas.

Memories abound: Christmas parties, Easter musicals, Royal Ambassadors with Tony Brown, Children’s Bible Drill, children’s choirs, youth trips to Williamsburg, Virginia, choir and mission trips to New York, Kentucky, and Myrtle Beach, Bible studies and Sunday School. And lots and lots of fun with the youth group! I can’t remember my youth without recalling Edwards Road and her people. Numerous members of that youth group from the late ‘80’s and ‘90’s are now serving the Lord vocationally and in their churches scattered many places.


To this day I enjoy remembering gathering with the church to worship, most often led by Earl and H. S., and being together as God’s family. Those were blessed days, and I am thankful to have been a part of the church’s life.

For many years ERBC was for our family what a church should be – a place to be trained in the Word of God, a place to worship God, a people with whom to share love and life, and a place to use our gifts for God’s glory and for His kingdom. ERBC was a huge part of my “sovereign foundations” which taught me a love for the Lord, His Word, His church, the Great Commission and Great Commandment, and the sanctity of human life.

Life contains difficult choices. When my parents left ERBC in 2000, it was the most difficult decision of their entire life. In 40 years, I have never seen my parents grieve like they did during that time. That was a testimony to the love they had enjoyed with ERBC for 35 years.

Though I can’t attend the celebration tomorrow, I thank God for the church. I do remember attending the 25th anniversary celebration!

Wishing Edwards Road well on her 50th anniversary, and may the Lord use them for His glory until He comes! Thank God for that small group of people who stepped out in faith 50 years ago and started a small church!

 

Quotation of the Day

"The therapeutic concerns of the culture too often set the agenda for evangelical preaching." —Albert Mohler

The Blessings of the Bed

The following is a journal entry from 2004 . . .

This past weekend we got Hendrix a “big boy bed.”  Dad and I had taken Mom-ee and Pa-Pa’s first bedroom suit and saved it; Dad had marked it with some tape - “Hendrix Wilson.”  Hendrix and I borrowed a truck and went to get it last Friday.  He had talked about wanting a big boy bed for weeks.  “Daddy, I don’t want to sleep in a crib anymore; I want a big boy bed.”

He spent the night at Mom and Dad’s Friday night and Tracey and I put the bed together on Saturday.  We were sad taking the crib down.  That room held so many wonderful memories.  What a precious, fun three years.  We stood in his bedroom remembering bringing him home the first time into that room.  The placement of the room had not changed much in those three years.  How many nights I would sneak into his room after he was asleep, leaving the hall light on so that I could see him.  Standing by his crib, making sure he was covered (later he started putting his pillow over his head when he slept), stroking his hair and sometimes bending down and kissing his cheek.  Then, many times kneeling beside his crib and praying for him.  I would ask God to pour His Spirit out on my son, to fill His room, but mainly his life, with His presence.  Asking God to have His way in that boy’s life.  Asking God for grace and wisdom to be the daddy he needs.  I remember at times rocking him before putting him to bed.  Then we went through a stage this past year where first he wanted songs.  I would get face to face crib level with him, me on the floor, him laying down.  We would sing and sing – Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, Jesus is a Rock, Jesus Loves Me, Amazing Grace, and Marvelous Grace.  I have tried to start teaching him that last hymn.  Sometimes he would say, “Sing grace, grace, Daddy.”  Then he tired of the songs and wanted stories.  We went through different phases.  For a while he loved Jonah and little boy Samuel.  Later Goldilocks and then Red Riding Hood.  Then he liked the story of the woman who was healed by touching Jesus’ cloak.  How I pray the life of these stories, the living presence of Jesus, will manifest Himself in his life.

The bed was a hit.  I picked him up Saturday and we talked about the bed coming home.  He was excited.  He was overjoyed when he saw it.  Saturday night I got in bed with him and you would have that the rapture had occurred.  Sunday morning he didn’t want to leave his room – he was sitting at the end of the bed all dressed up holding on to the post and just looking at the bed.  Sunday night when I got in bed with him he grabbed onto one arm and kept asking for stories.  When I tried to get up, he grabbed me with both arms and said, “Don’t go Daddy.  You stay in my bed with me.” 

Last night we got in bed and I told one story.  Then he looked at me and said dramatically, “We didn’t kneel in the den Daddy.  We have to go kneel in the den.”  So we got up and he went to find Tracey, who was in the bathroom.  He busted in and shouted, “We have to go to the den and kneel, Mommie.  We have to pray!”  After prayer (actually as I was closing) he was done and he got up and hurried off.  I asked him where he was going – he said, “To my room.”  He was ready for bed.

What a wonderful kid.

The Sheer Weightlessness of So Many Sermons—Why Expository Preaching Matters

If preaching is central to Christian worship, what kind of preaching are we talking about? The sheer weightlessness of much contemporary preaching is a severe indictment of our superficial Christianity. When the pulpit ministry lacks substance, the church is severed from the word of God, and its health and faithfulness are immediately diminished.

Many evangelicals are seduced by the proponents of topical and narrative preaching. The declarative force of Scripture is blunted by a demand for story, and the textual shape of the Bible is supplanted by topical considerations. In many pulpits, the Bible, if referenced at all, becomes merely a source for pithy aphorisms or convenient narratives.

The therapeutic concerns of the culture too often set the agenda for evangelical preaching. Issues of the self predominate, and the congregation expects to hear simple answers to complex problems. Furthermore, postmodernism claims intellectual primacy in the culture, and even if they do not surrender entirely to doctrinal relativism, the average congregant expects to make his or her own final decisions about all important issues of life, from worldview to lifestyle.

Read the entire excellent article by Albert Mohler here.

Pastor, Bring Your Bible to Church

I enjoy using an iPad. It is, in my opinion, one of the most impressive devices yet invented. In one light-weight, travel-sized tablet the user has everything at his fingertips. That includes not only the typical social media apps that every user has on his smartphone, but also countless tools that have characterized the laptop or even the home television.

And yet I am finding that cutting-edge, 21st-century technology is subtly but quickly changing important, even indispensable aspects of Christianity. Consider just one example: the ever-growing tendency to substitute a physical, visible Bible (remember . . . the ones where you lick your finger and turn the pages) with a tablet in the pulpit.

To clarify, I am not against pastors using a tablet in the pulpit for, say, sermon notes. Rather, I'm concerned about replacing the physical Bible with a tablet in the pulpit. As the pastor enters the pulpit to bring the Word of God to the people of God, no hard copy of the Bible is to be found in his hand, gracing the top of the podium, visible to the entire congregation as the book at the center of attention. Instead, the congregation sees a tablet. While this may seem harmless enough, I believe there are several potential dangers this subtle shift generates.

This is a great article by Matthew Barrett, Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at California Baptist University.  Read the entire article here.

Honoring God - The Implications of Covenant

1 Samuel 2:29-30

Life Lesson:    Living in God’s covenant means that we seek to honor Him.

 

A man of God brings a word in a setting for an amazing revelation of the heart of God and His ways among His people.  He sent a man to warn his people of the faithless Eli but also to pronounce a significant transition.  God in his love would seek to lead his faithless

 

Those who honor God, God will honor, and those who do not honor God, He will lightly esteem.

This message would ring down through the rest of time for God’s people.  Over and over he warns and encourages His people to walk faithfully with Him in His covenant.  This is His invitation to His people of every generation to this very day.

Gen. 12:3; Ex. 19:5; Matt. 13:11-12

God’s people had to decide . . .

1.         Did they believe God?

2.         Would they remain faithful to the covenant God made with them?

3.         Would they bring their lives into the covenant relationship that they had entered with God?

4.         Would they listen to God, hear His voice, and obey Him?

5.         Did they expect God to do His works through them? 

 

God sends messengers and messages to His people –

The Lord is always challenging us to hear, to listenMatt. 11:15; 13:9; Rev. 2:7,11,17,29;

Sometimes people reject God’s messages/messengers   Matt. 23:31,37; Acts 7:51-53

 

God will honor those who honor Him – the Covenant relationship

            Exodus 19-20; Deut. 28

            The covenant says, If you will . . .  then I will.  If you do not . . . then I will not do.

 

God emphasizes fear in the covenant relationship (Jer. 5:22; Ex. 20:18-21)

It is no minor significance that when God first gave His people the privilege of entering a covenant relationship with Him, He deliberately gave it in a way as to create fear in Him.

 The loss of the fear of Holy God – is nearly always at the root of all sin, even in our own day.  When God’s people lose their fear of God, they lose their fear of sin.  When they lose their fear of sin, they depart from God and become of little use to God.  Then God sets out, in mercy, to discipline them so they will return to their covenant with Him.  Once Israel agreed to this covenant, God held them accountable to their promise.  Theirs now was a life of faith.  This has always been God’s way.  – Henry Blackaby

 

What happens when our hearts turn away?  (Deut. 30:17; Is. 29:13; Matt. 15:8-9)

* We no longer hear Him.                  
* We no longer experience His manifest presence.
* We no longer obey Him.                 
* We listen to other voices and follow them.
* We become hardened.
* We may still continue our outward allegiance to God through religious activity.

God’s people may try to continue an outward allegiance to God in spite of their hearts 

            Is. 29:13; Matt. 15:8-9; Mk. 7:6-7; Rev. 2:4

When we no longer obey, we have departed from our love relationship with God.  (Jn. 14:15,23-24)

God’s antidote for a departing heart is one word: “Repent”  (Ez. 18:31-32; Matt. 4:17)

            Repent is one of the most important words in the whole Bible.

             The Bible never talks of "rededication."  It speaks of repentance.  The basic message of Jesus, John the Baptizer, and the early apostles was "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand."

Repentance brings us back to the covenant relationship where we can once again honor God and be    honored by Him, minister to God and receive His manifest presence, bless od and be blessed.

Repent is a positive - not a negative - word.

Honor Him or be lightly esteemed

For God to honor a person is incredible.  But for God to lightly esteem is a fearful statement.  It carries with it the withdrawal of the affirming presence of God.  It means His blessings are now withheld, including protection, provision, and victory. 

John Piper wrote, “God’s own glory is uppermost in His own affections. In everything He does, His purpose is to preserve and display that glory. To say His glory is uppermost in His own affections means that He puts a greater value on it than on anything else. He delights in His glory above all things… God’s overwhelming passion is to exalt the value of His glory. To that end He seeks to display it, to oppose those who belittle it, and to vindicate it from all contempt” (Desiring God, p. 43).

Sources Used: Chosen to Be God's Prophet by Henry Blackaby

New Pastors, Don't Become Obsessed with Passing Fads

Be careful about getting too concerned about being cutting edge instead of trusting in God's Word.  Bob Russell gives a good word to pastors at the NACC 2012.  View the clip here.  "He who marries today's fad will soon be a widow."  - Charles Spurgeon

Ouch! Pitfalls that will Keep us from the Promise - Part Two

. . . continued from Ouch!  Pitfalls that will Keep us from the Promise - Part One.

Pitfall Number Three – They did not trust God nor walk in habitual gratitude (1 Cor. 10:9).

As they traveled, the Bible says that the people grew impatient on the way  (Numbers 21:4).  OUCH!!!  Is that talking about me?  They got tired of their journeying.  They wearied from wandering when they could not see clearly where they were going.  They were tired of not seeing enough happen to satisfy them.  And they got impatient. 

Not only that, but in their impatience the Bible says they spoke against God and against Moses (5).  God nor Moses met their expectations.  They failed to trust God.  They questioned the goodness and faithfulness of the One leading them through the wilderness.  They failed to respect and trust Him as their Shepherd, Provider, Protector, and Source.  I heard Jack Hayford say that when "difficult days come, the natural temptation is to question the trustworthiness, the goodness, and the faithfulness of God, and to just want to return to Egypt."

The tangible problem in Numbers 21 was the lack of water and the lack of preferred food.  They were tired of the manna!  Domino's did not deliver in the desert.  Before we get too critical of the Israelites, we are often tempted to do the same.  We have legitimate needs and wants in our lives that seem to go unmet.  We never seem to meet "Mr." or "Mrs." Right and stay single.  We see our friends blessed in areas where we feel dry.  We wonder why some of the dreams of youth never materialized.  Our parents are sick instead of well.  Or our parents are dead and we wish they were alive.  Your children live far away but your neighbor's children live in the same town.  The air conditioner breaks in my van - again.  We see more bills than income.  Maybe you longed for a house-full of children and the house has none.  Whatever the need or want, we all have them that go unfulfilled.  And, like the Israelites, we can either stop trusting God - or we can lean in and trust Him more through our lack and disappointment.

I've been through dry and difficult days in different seasons of life.  And so have you.  I remember how dry and lonely was my first year of seminary.  Alone in a state where initially I knew no one, leaving the comfort of home and the familiarity of a lot of friends from college, it was a hard first year.  I remember many times that year being tempted to question whether God was good and faithful.  And many times wanting to quit the journey.

In the paths of discipleship, God at times takes us through the valley, when our needs are getting met in ways different than what we prefer and when many of our wants may not be met.  When those needs arise, we can doubt God and run to Egypt (getting our needs met in illegitimate ways) - or we can stick through the difficulty and trust God.  Instead of trusting and thanking God, they turned to doubting and complaining.

The punishment from the Lord this time was an invasion of venomous snakes that killed a number of people.  The remaining people, afraid of their own deaths, run to Moses pleading, We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you.  Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us (7).  The ongoing ingratitude to God and criticism of their leaders were foundational issues to the Lord.

Pitfall Number Four – They tolerated sour spirits and ceaseless complaining (1 Cor. 10:10).

Pitfalls one and two have to do with outward actions involving our bodies.  Pitfalls three and four have to do with attitudes and words that reflect our spirits.  Pitfall four specifically has to do with their grumbling spirits.

The reference is most likely Number 16, when an organized opposition to Moses and Aaron arises.  Korah, a man with tabernacle duties, was not satisfied with his part and he wanted more.  He spearheads a group who complain that they are just as important as Moses: Why then do you set yourselves [Moses and Aaron] above the Lord's assembly? (3).  It is a clear challenge to the authority of the God-appointed leadership.  The other men want recognition and authority as well. 

It is a long account in chapter 16 that ends with Korah's family dramatically being killed by the Lord as the earth opens up and swallows them whole.  An amazing note that highlights how quick the flesh often is to rise up in complaining is found in verse 41.  The very next morning, it says that the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying "you have killed the Lord's people."

Amazing!  Had I been one of the Jews who the previous day witnessed the earth open up and absorb an entire group of people who had opposed God's leaders, I think I would have kept my mouth shut!  But the stubbornness of the flesh prevailed and the entire group is still complaining.  Again, God sends a plague through the midst of the assembly.  The Bible says that 14,700 die on that die before God uses Aaron to stop the punishment.

God takes a sourness of soul and ceaseless complaining very seriously.  So seriously that when referring to them in 1 Corinthians 10, the Bible says that these sins kept the people from entering their Land of Promise.  It is so easy to do because of our flesh.  God provided manna, and the people didn't quite like the taste, so they complained.  They tolerated a sourness in their soul.  The sourness grew and manifested itself in ceaseless complaining.  First, they complained about God.  Why has he left us here?  Why has he not provided more?  Is he still aware of us?  And then their sourness manifested itself in a ceaseless complaining against their leaders.

What a contrast to the type of spirit Paul exhorts us to have: Let your gentleness [or your sweet reasonableness] be evident to all.  The Lord is near (Phil. 4:5).  The apostle goes on to say that in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (6).  How different would these accounts be had the people traded their sinful indulgences for worship - if they had replaced their sour spirits with prayer and thanksgiving - if their complaining were replaced with praise and trust?  The cure for a sour spirit is a life of prayer and thanksgiving.

They forgot in the wilderness that life was not mainly about them.  It was about God forming a people who would worship and follow  Him.  That formation included hard times when they learned to trust Him in new ways.  Sadly, they failed the test.  They missed God's best because they tolerated the wrong things during the in-between.

A tremendous beginning ended miserably.  An incredible deliverance through the Red Sea, perhaps the greatest moment in Old Testament history, led to a refusal to trust God and enter Canaan.  Their children stepped over their bleached bones in the desert – a memorial to unbelief.  Their massive failures warn us to not follow their example.



 

Dads and Moms, Are You Ready for the Fall?

I hear the lazy days of summer coming quickly to a close!  No, technically fall does not begin until September 22, but who really feels like any of September is summer?  For me, summer draws to a close as the school bells begin ringing.  There is something nice and needed about a slower pace in summer.  I always enjoy knowing that my wife and children have extra time to rest and play.  We all love getting away on vacations.

However, there is also something nice and needed about the structure of the fall - of getting back into a routine that helps us be productive and timely.  One thing on my mind as I look to the fall is how am I going to disciple my family this fall?  From September through December is four months - that is 1/3 of a year!  How will I capitalize on that time to help lead my family closer to the Lord?

Spontaneity is great, and some great moments of teaching our children come unexpectedly.  However, most things worth building are worth planning to build.  I have learned, as with preaching, that the better prepared I am, the more likely I will be ready for those spontaneous moments when they do come.

Dad (or Mom if Dad is not around or won't), sit down the next week for an hour or so and ask the Holy Spirit to help you map out a plan for how you will lead your family in the coming months in family worship.  You might take them through a book of the Bible.  Or a character study of a Bible hero.  Or a topical study of some character traits.  I have heard of several families before taking one character trait a month and studying passages that speak to that quality.  One year we took a few months and went through the eleventh chapter of Hebrews verse by verse.  We had many discussions about the Bible characters in the great "Hall of Faith" and the lessons God was teaching each one.

I have found much help using the Family Night Toolchests from Focus on the Family.  They provide simple, interactive family devotions and games around certain topics: the 10 commandments, basic Christian beliefs, the Proverbs, etc.  I have purchased all of mine used from Amazon.  One example is the 10 Commandments Family Night Tool Chest.

I know how easy it is to let our schedules get full and let too many opportunities slip by when I had nothing planned to share with my family.  Prepare now, dads!  It doesn't have to be perfect.  Just start somewhere and do something.

Shaping their spirit, mind, and character from God's Word is one of our most important tasks.  The Bible says to take God's commandments and teach them diligently to our children (Deut. 6:7).  Let's give it our best this fall.

The Deadly Consequences of Sin

1 Samuel 2:12-17, 27-36

Life-Lesson:         A heart that pleases God fears Him and fears sin.

 

Certain things, if not seen as lovely or detestable, are not being correctly seen at all.   – C. S. Lewis

Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth.  – John Wesley

Character is in part formed by what we hate, because we move to be different from whatever that is.  – Henry Cloud, 9 Things You Simply Must Do

How seriously does God take sin?   Num. 32:23; Ezek. 18:20; Gal. 6:7; Rom. 12:9

Sin does not serve well as a gardener of the soul.  It landscapes the contour of the soul until all that is beautiful has been made ugly; until all that is high is made low; until all that is promising is wasted.  Then life is like the desert – parched and barren.  It is drained of purpose.  It is bleached of happiness.  Sin, then, is not wise, but wasteful.  It is not a gate, but only a grave.  – C. Neil Strait

 

 

Things Sin Will Damage:

·         It will affect my thinking negatively.

·         It will change my behavior significantly.

·         It will affect my feelings irrationally.

·         It will sour my testimony indefinitely.

·         It will tarnish my closest relationships painfully.

 

THE SINS OF ELI’S SONS (12-17, 22)

The words “wicked” or “worthless” (belial)  men are meant to shock us 

They were guilty of the sins of stealing, contempt for the Lord, sexual immorality, greed, disrespect for their father, and exploitation of their office.  The bottom line is that they had no respect for God or other people – only an absorption with themselves.  Note that the sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord (1 Sam. 2:17).

ELI’S RECOGNITION OF THEIR SINS (22-25)

While Eli’s words were true and right, there is something pathetic about them.  There was not a direct rebuke and demand for repentance, but a  pleading “Why?”  He did not address them directly as sons of worthlessness (12) that they were, but appealed to them as “my sons” (24).  We sense a certain helplessness in Eli’s imploring speech.

God had given them up to their contempt for Him and His ways (Ro. 1:24,26,28; He. 6:4-6)

Their hardness was both their own choice and God’s judgment on them for that choice. 

Eli’s failure to provide discipline for his sons - The writer implies that Eli neglected his parental responsibilities earlier in life (Dt. 6:7; 21:18-21).

 

The Paths of Discipline –

There is formative discipline (involves teaching and training) and corrective discipline (involves rebuke and correction)

See 2 Timothy 3:16 - the Word can be used to teach, train, rebuke (or convict), and correct

Psalm 94:12; Proverbs 3:11-12; 5:12,23; 12:1; 13:24; 15:5,10; 19:18, 20; Hebrews 12:6

The wise person loves discipline!  He chooses it when things are good (formative), and he receives it humbly when things are bad (corrective).

 

THE CONFRONTATION FROM THE MAN OF GOD (27-34)

When a holy man or people allow sin to reign, God will often send a warning through another of God’s servants. 

 

Conviction of Eli’s sin:           Reminder of clear revelation (27).  Contrast of dishonor and honor (29-30).  Severe consequences to come (31-34).

 

The greater the man, the dearer price he pays for a short season of sinful pleasure.  – F. B. Meyer

 

A similar, chilling confrontation: 2 Samuel 12:7-14

Once David crawled into bed with Uriah’s wife on that moonlit spring night, never again did he know all the former joys of close family ties, public trust, or military achievement.

This wasn’t his family’s fault or the public’s fault or the Philistine’s fault or the prophet Nathan’s fault.  It was David’s fault, full-on.  – Charles Swindoll

 

When sin needs to be confronted: 

When it is outward – it affects other people. 

When it is serious – it has devastating consequences.

Also, sin should be addressed according to the level of knowledge and influence.

 

One cannot be kinder than God.  Menninger has noted in his book Whatever Became of Sin? all sorts of people carry loads of guilt around because modern constructs of human problems do not allow for the concept of sin and thus do not allow for forgiveness.  The cruelest thing a counselor can do is to consign a guilty person to a state of nonforgiveness by eliminating the biblical constructs of lawbreaking and sin.  The modern tendency is to shift blame onto others or one’s circumstances, the data you receive from counselees will often be shaped by a victim theme.  – Jay Adams, How to Help People Change

Remember:   Those who honor Me, I will honor!

Warnings for 40-Somethings

A great fear has been at work in my mind and God has used it to arouse me to prayer.  I came across a man whom I knew years ago, a mighty man of God, and now ten years have gone and I meet him again - garrulous and unenlivened [shallow and superficial].  How many men seem to become like that after forty years of age!  The fear of sloth and indulgence has come home with a huge fear and fairly driven me to God to keep me from ever forgetting what I owe him.  - Oswald Chambers

We have observed that most people cease learning by the age of forty. By that we mean they no longer actively pursue knowledge, understanding, and experience that will enhance their capacity to grow and contribute to others. Most simply rest on what they already know. But those who finish well maintain a positive learning attitude all their lives.  - Bobby Clinton, Connecting, p. 222

Perspective

Oh for a child's perspective. My eight-year old announces to me (most of this based on Wilson house rules), "Daddy, I want to tell you about the five exciting years of childhood I have left! At age eight I got a BB gun. At age nine, I can get a pocket knife. At ten, an air-soft gun. When I am eleven, I get to learn how to drive the riding lawn mower. And when I turn twelve, I can get an ipod! I have still got four exciting years of childhood left!" Wow. That makes me feel good.

Taking Care of Your Pastor

"The elders who are good leaders should be considered worthy of an ample honorarium (Literally of double honor, or possibly of respect and remuneration), especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says: ‘You must not muzzle an ox that is threshing grain,’ and, ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages.’" 1 Tim 5:17-18 (HCSB)

 

As a deacon, elder, or other church leader, you have an opportunity to encourage your pastor to get regular rest, refreshment, and spiritual renewal. A practical way to do this is to make certain your pastor takes regular time off and ensure that he has a way to do it.

 

As a personal mission, ensure that your pastor takes time-off in the following three areas:

 

1. Make sure he takes at least one day off a week

 The biblical command to take a weekly Sabbath applies to your pastor and staff. Knowing that Sunday is a very full and draining day, encourage your pastor to find a day when he can enjoy his family and get needed rest.

Read the entire article by Henry Webb and Craig Webb here.   

Burn the Boats

In 1519, Hernán Cortés landed on the vast inland of Mexico along with 600 Spaniards, approximately 16 horses, and 11 boats. The Span­ish con­quis­ta­dor and his men were about to embark on a con­quest of an empire that hoarded some of the world’s great­est trea­sure.

 

This dar­ing under­tak­ing seemed insur­mount­able because for more than 600 years, con­querors had never suc­ceeded.  For this rea­son, Cortés did something daring when he arrived at the land of the Mayans.

 

Instead of charg­ing through cities and forc­ing his men into imme­di­ate bat­tle, Cortés stayed on the beach and awoke the souls of his men with embla­zoned speeches.  However, it was just three words he murmured that changed the his­tory of the New World.  As they marched inland to face their ene­mies, Cortés ordered, “Burn the boats.”

 

Read the entire article by Hal White here.

Preventing Burnout

Here is part two of a great article from Focus on the Family's Thriving Pastor to pastors about preventing burnout . . .

In Part 1 of this article we talked about the reality of “burnout” – its prevalence among ministers, its symptoms, and some of its more harmful practical effects.  We discussed how this psychological phenomenon impacts pastors in the office, in the pulpit, and at home with spouse and kids.  I closed with a promise to give you some specific advice for avoiding “burnout.”  Here are some of the syndrome’s most common symptoms and a few suggestions for dealing with them.

Lack of rest: To avoid burnout you have to be spiritually, mentally, physically, and relationally healthy. This isn’t easy to achieve, of course—sometimes the ministry can be so consuming that rest seems impossible. That’s why Jesus’ words to His disciples are so important: “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” (Mark 6:11)

If you don’t intentionally schedule rest, it will not happen.  Here is the rule that I try to live by: Whatever is on the calendar first wins. I don’t change the calendar unless it is an emergency by my definition. I recommend that you sit down with your spouse and schedule time for recreation, study, a day off, and your vacation. Then, when you get a request to do this or that, you can honestly say, “I am sorry but I have an appointment.” It’s important to maintain this boundary and protect your time off.

Read the entire article here.

Talking to Children About the Marriage Debate

With the Supreme Court's gay marriage decisions all over the news, some Christian parents wonder how they ought to explain all of this to their small children. I've faced the same question as my children have asked, "What is the Supreme Court doing that's keeping you so busy?" So how does one teach the controversy, without exposing one's children to more than they can handle?

First of all, you should, I think, talk to your children about this. No matter how you shelter your family, keeping your children from knowing about the contested questions about marriage would take a "Truman Show"-level choreography of their lives. That's not realistic, nor is it particularly Christian.

The Bible isn't nearly as antiseptic as Christians sometimes pretend to be, and it certainly doesn't shrink back from addressing all the complexities of human life. If we are discipling our children, let's apply the Scriptures to all of life. If we refuse to talk to our children about some issue that is clearly before them, our children will assume we are unequipped to speak to it, and they'll eventually search out a worldview that will.

Read the entire article by Russ Moore here.