By Joseph Tkach
In the past few years, we have encouraged lay members to become more involved in ministry, in work God has gifted them for. Pastors and elders are not to be police, but to equip members for works of ministry (Ephesians 4:12).
John Biswas, a member we have mentioned before in the WN, is involved in evangelism in Bangladesh.
John works with National Gospel Workers to train lay people for evangelism. Eighty-six people have been trained, and more than 600 people attended one of their outreach events. Now 56 are ready for baptism.
The price tag for the priesthood of all believers is a trained laity. I am not talking of university degrees or scholarly accreditation. I am talking about spiritual training.
The New Testament qualifications for ministry (Acts 6:3 and 1 Timothy 3:1-13) focus on spiritual maturity, not on intellect or jumping through academic hoops.
What is involved in spiritual training, spiritual maturity, spiritual formation? A large part of it is prayer and Scripture study. We must be in constant communication with our Lord. This takes time, planning, self-discipline and patience.
We admire the great works of faith done by Jesus. We are awed by the decisions he made to serve others, most notably his willingness to sacrifice himself to ransom humanity. And we want to be like Jesus. It has even become popular in some circles to ask, What would Jesus do?
This is good. But, as Dallas Willard points out in The Spirit of the Disciplines, it is a mistake to try to imitate the heroic moments of Jesus without also trying to imitate the life-style that laid the foundations for those moments--a life-style that included much prayer and a willingness to be alone with God.
But, sometimes we are so busy doing things, some of it supposedly for God, that we cut ourselves off from God! We are like Martha, when we should be like Mary, listening to Jesus.
Jesus trained his disciples not so much through formal activities, but by osmosis. They were with him as he ministered, and they saw not just what he did, but also the flavor in which he did it--the flavor of compassion, not compulsion.
We also need to be trained through spending time with the Lord in prayer and study. That will lead us to activity, to be sure, but on God's timetable and not based on our impatient desire to do something.
If our works or lack of them take us away from God, we need to realize we are not working for God, and we need to change our ways. His purpose is to draw us closer to himself, to fulfill the goal of conforming us to the image of Christ.
Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, but we are often reluctant to wait upon the Lord. We race from here to there, thinking that speed or busyness is a measure of success, but we aren't getting anywhere in particular.
Every day, we need to spend time with the Lord and his instruction book, to get our bearings. Let it soak into our lives and habits. No shortcuts are available.
We often sing the ancient hymn "Be Thou My Vision." God is the goal, not a project or activity. No matter how good the activity may be, we must ensure that we don't become so preoccupied with it that we have less time for God himself.
Let us drink deeply of the water of life, Jesus Christ. Let us fellowship with him in prayer and study, not with a focus on what we want, but with a willingness to learn what he wants for us.
If we accept Jesus as Lord, we let him be the Lord of our lives. We let him be the Master of our behavior, the Master of our feelings, the Master of our minds. We commit ourselves to his purpose, his way of life, his teachings.
We need to be about our Master's business. Let's submit ourselves to him. If we have become lax in prayer, let us turn toward the Lord. If we have become lax in study, let us revive the habit of daily study.
As we approach the Pentecost season, we must be attentive to the way the Holy Spirit transforms us day by day through the renewing of our minds--a process we facilitate by daily prayer and study.
I love you all, my friends and family. The trials we face force me again and again to my knees. I beseech our Lord for his direction and help; I wait upon him, I rejoice in him, I trust him to provide all we need.
May WN page 7
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