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Serving Christ Faithfully |
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by Ralph I. Tilley
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To love Christ is to serve Christ; to serve Christ is to love Christ. One assumes the other. One cannot love Christ without serving Christ; one cannot serve Christ without loving Christ. When the Lord Jesus asked Simon Peter three times following his tragic denials, "Do you love me?" and the apostle answered in the affirmative to each question, Jesus called Peter to a lifetime of service: "Feed my lambs . . . Tend my sheep . . . Feed my sheep."1 Those who love Christ the most, serve Christ the best. While in prayer one day, the late A. W. Tozer was talking to God about this matter of love and Christian service. He confessed to God that he did not have the same gifts as the apostle Paul, nor a host of other lesser lights of the Christian faith, but he told the Lord there was something he could do—he could love the same Lord Jesus with his all—just as they did. Self-directed Service One of the tragedies of the modern church is that we have so many who are trying to serve Christ but who don't have a pure love for Christ Their service is self-directed, service with an admixture—contaminated service. They are not serving Christ with sincere motives. I recently received an e-mail advertisement from an agent for a Christian artist and "performer." Because this was a new and therefore, a relatively unknown singer, the agent and recording company were hard at work marketing this "star" product. Among the many superlatives used to describe this wonder boy, was this one: "a HUGELY talented artist." Yes, "HUGELY" was just as it appears here—in uppercase letters. This kind of marketing may attract carnal Christians and churches, but it makes our Lord sick. God is not looking for, nor does He need, "HUGELY talented" men and women. This is the kind of person our thrice-holy God is searching for: "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely his.2 The godless thinking of the corporate world has so encroached upon the church, that we have without thought bought into its language and methods. The church has become the McChurch. If it works for McDonald's, why not for us? Recently when my brother Gordon and I were together, he asked for my opinion regarding a certain TV preacher. Let me stop here to say that with my answer I am not painting all TV preachers with the same brush. There are some biblically sound and faithful media pastors and evangelists. But about the preacher in question—and God alone knows his heart—how can I forget the way I once heard him promote himself in advertising a series of sermons he preached: "These are the greatest sermons," he boasted, "ever preached from this pulpit." Now if he had been the only preacher to ever have preached from his pulpit, maybe one could overlook this lapse of humility. But, on the other hand . . . When will we get back to the basics? When will we repent of our arrogance and self-promotion? When will we go to our knees and beg God's forgiveness for seeking the spotlight? Jesus must weep. Can we not hear the plaintive cry of our humble-hearted Lord when he said, "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies it bears much fruit."? Death—a death to sin and self— must precede a heart filled with the love of Christ. When this occurs, then one has been adequately prepared by the Holy Spirit for a Christ-exalting ministry and service. Peter was thoroughly cleansed and filled with holy love at Pentecost. Thereafter, it was no longer, "I am going fishing"3—self-directed service. Instead, it was, "Simon Peter, a servant . . . of Jesus Christ."4 Some years ago a brother came to Mother Teresa complaining about a superior, whose rules, he felt, were interfering with his ministry. "My vocation is to work for lepers," he told her. "I want to spend myself for the lepers." Mother Teresa stared at the brother for a moment, then smiled, "Brother, your vocation is not to work for lepers, your vocation is to belong to Jesus."5 Serving Jesus by Serving Others A servant of Jesus Christ—that's the key. We belong to Christ; we are not our own. It is Christ who provided the atoning sacrifice for our sins. It is Christ who arose triumphantly over death, sin, and hell. It is Christ who ascended and intercedes for us at the Father's right hand. It is Christ who has gone to prepare a place for us. It is Christ who is coming for His Church. It is with Christ that we will spend all eternity. Is it any wonder that such servants have as their theme song, Let my hands perform His bidding; To say that we are serving Jesus without being actively engaged in serving others is empty mysticism. We cannot serve Christ without serving His Church. We cannot serve Christ and not serve "the least of these." We cannot serve Christ without "receiving a prophet" in Christ's name. We cannot serve Christ and not give a "cup of cold water" in Jesus' name. We never serve Jesus so high as when we stoop low to serve a brother or sister. To serve Jesus is to serve others. But we must always remember that we are serving the Lord Jesus in whatever form the service takes. It's Jesus we serve. And it's our love-service for Jesus that compels us to serve His children. How might we serve Jesus? By keeping our commitments and covenants. Too often God's zealous saints who want to be used by God widely and effectively are guilty of lusting after the BIG place of service, the popular place, the public arena. What they think to be a sincere desire to be used by God is none other than a fleshly lust to parade their gifts and talents. God's call to faithful and loving service is a call to keep our commitments and covenants. After serving for 22 years as president of Columbia International University, Dr. Robertson McQuilken shocked his beloved institution by resigning. Why? To care for his wife Muriel who had an advanced case of Alzheimer's disease. McQuilken seemed genuinely shocked himself that so many people would think what he did exceptional. "I took marriage vows, didn't I?" he asks. When a key office person abruptly resigned her position a number of years ago, leaving Moody Bible Institute with a real dilemma, she did so by saying to then president Dr. George Sweeting, "Dr. Sweeting, I have real peace about my decision." The president tersely replied, "Yes, you are at peace and we're left with the pieces." Living in a culture that is short on keeping its commitments and covenants and long on indulging its whims and passions, we do well to listen to the apostle's warning lest we too fail in our service to the Lord Jesus: "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. Men will be lovers of self . . ."7 By Seeking to Serve in the Little Place. By this I'm not inferring that God does not call some to serve the Lord Jesus in the "big" place. What I am suggesting is that God's humble-hearted will not seek the big place. As I write this, it has been less than a week since the world learned that Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, went to be with the Lord. Those who knew Bill Bright will attest that he was a man who was thoroughly in love with His Lord while never seeking to be great. And yet, the Lord grew through him an organization that has reached multiplied millions with the gospel. The Jesus film itself, which was produced by Campus Crusade, has been an instrument of God in leading multiplied thousands to Christ in developing nations. Years ago when Bill and his wife heard God's call, they sold everything and gave the money away. God honored that commitment. There are some of God's dear people who are never content with where He has placed them. They are never "fulfilled," living a frustrated life. Why is this? Among other reasons, one is this: they are looking for the prominent place, the more attractive place. These restless saints need to heed the advice of an anonymous poet. Father, where shall I work today? I answered quickly, "Oh, no! Not that! The word He spoke, it was not stern, Nazareth was a little place, By serving Jesus faithfully. The Lord rewards faithfulness—the unswerving loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ as expressed in and by our service to others. I just finished reading Rob Mackenzie's biography of David Livingstone.8 Here was a missionary doctor and explorer, who spent most of his life in the heart of Africa on a mission to preach the gospel and blaze a trail that would make it easier for his successors to reach the continent's interior. And how many heathen did he lead to Christ? Less than five! Plagued with tropical diseases, warring tribes, deserting couriers, a less-than-always sympathetic sending organization— not to mention relatives who failed to see the importance of his mission—Livingstone persevered. But he saw little fruit from his labors during his lifetime. The call of Christ is a call to faithfulness. The apostle Paul strikes this note in his letter to the Colossian Christians. He addresses the letter to "the holy and faithful brothers in Christ." He says that Epaphras and Tychicus were faithful ministers of Christ and that Onesimus was a faithful brother. He admonishes a man by the name of Archippus to be faithful: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord."9 By serving Jesus in all that we do. To serve the Lord Jesus faithfully is to serve Him in everything. We are not only serving Jesus when we are engaged in "church" and "spiritual" work. The fully consecrated mother is serving the Lord when changing her child's dirty diaper, ironing her husband's shirts, preparing a meal. The devoted father is serving the Lord as he earns a livelihood for his family. The college student is serving the Lord as she pursues higher education to the glory of Christ. Every faithful deed done in Jesus' name is an act of love-service and accepted by our Master. Nicholas Herman came to realize this in the seventeenth century and has been pointing the disciples of Jesus in this direction for the past 350 years. Led by God in 1666 to travel to Paris to become a lay brother among the barefooted Carmelites, Nicholas—later known to the world as Brother Lawrence—was assigned to work in the order's kitchen. His publisher said of him: A wholly consecrated man, he lived his life as though he were a singing pilgrim on the march, as happy in serving his fellow monks and brothers from the monastery kitchen as in serving God in the vigil of prayer. . . . He died at eighty years of age, full of love and years and honored by all who knew him, leaving a name which has been "as precious ointment poured forth."10 Amazing, isn't it? Just kitchen work, we say. Never! It's more than just kitchen work— it's working for Jesus in the kitchen. "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord, rather than for men."11 Dear reader, there is no higher calling than this one. What is your vocation—nurse, computer technician or engineer, carpenter, farmer, secretary, teacher, homemaker, groundskeeper, electrician? It makes no difference. As a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, our actual vocation is to serve Him and to serve Him faithfully in all that we do. Are you serving Christ? To love Him is to serve Him. Do you love Christ? Are you serving Christ faithfully? He has sent the Helper to help you do so, you know. Lift up your heart to the Holy Spirit just now. Ask Him to fill your heart with the very love of Jesus. Ask Him to help you be faithful where you are, not where you could be. If you sincerely do so, I assure you that He will fill your heart today to overflowing.● — Soli Deo Gloria — 1. See John 21, ESV |
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