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This
tract is excellent and I would like to give parts of
it. I will directly quote some of it, but other parts
I will put in simpler words and easier sentences.
“The
Christian faith is not made up of spectators listening
to professionals.
It is necessarily made up of persons who are
called to serve as representatives of Christ in the
world, and to serve means to minister.”
In
II Cor. 5:18-20 we see the idea taught that we are
representatives of heaven on the earth.
In John 13:4-15, we see Jesus washing his
disciples’ feet.
This was a common courtesy in those days of
sandals and dusty roads. Servants performed this task. Here, he tells them to do the
same to each other.
It may take some imagination to figure out what
this may mean for us, but it is definitely a
don’t-be-too-proud message.
“Our
ordinary distinctions between ministers and lay
Christians (the people in the audience) is wholly
false and misleading.
It may have significance for some religions,
but it has no relevance to the Christian faith. …we
should cease to talk about laymen at all.”
Nearly
everyone believes that any local church is run by the
pastor. He
has plans for his church ~ a choir, a drama team, a
bake sale ~ and the members who are talented in one of
those fields will join him in making this project a
success. There
are cases where such a system can be used, but what we
need is really very different.
The
idea is that the ordinary Christian who realizes that
he is a servant to his fellow man, develops a program
or plan to be more effective in reaching his world for
God. But
he needs help. How is the best way to do this?
No matter how dedicated the Christian is, he
needs all the help he can get.
The pastor is the best one for that job, and
his training should be put to use in this way.
“Illustrations
of such personal ministries are numerous and easy to
find. Perhaps
the Christian is a high school teacher and a loyal
member of the church.
He realizes that the school is his natural area
of ministry.
Here is a mission field if ever one existed.
He would like to bring as much as possible of
the spirit of Christ to bear on his teaching, on his
personal relations among students and teachers, and in
the general life in the school.
How can he do this?
Perhaps he needs the advice of a wise pastor in
order to learn how far he can go and not trespass
constitutional limits.
Should he invite students to his house to form
small groups devoted to study, witness and sharing of
personal problems?
Should he lend books which have reached him,
and thus stir up ideas?
If so, which books are best as starters?
“There
are no easy answers …
He should be able to get some of this from his
pastor and some from his fellow members who have tried
to follow the same road of humble service.
This is why some of the most effective
groupings of Christians in contemporary life are now
based on occupations rather than upon geography.”
The
front lines of Christianity are in factories, schools,
shops, offices and homes. It is in these that the struggle is most fierce.
It is here that opposition to the Christian’s
witness is
felt the most. Committed
Christians are in a minority in any place of business.
A Christian who wants to be a witness needs
courage, for he will likely meet with ridicule.
“And he needs wisdom, for foolish witnessing
is energy that is wasted or is ultimately
self-defeating.”
The
ordinary Christian is the one on the front lines, so
he needs times of renewal to get him ready for his
task. In
the military, the ones in the rear are the ones to
give the front line men their support and help.
These supporters are called pastors and
teachers in the New Testament.
They exist for the great purpose of helping
others in whatever ministry they may be called to
perform, either individually or in groups. The good pastor then is really an “assistant in the
ministry.” Brother
Trueblood says that this is the meaning of Eph. 4:12.
Read
Eph. 4:11-15. There
are five leadership positions named, and then the
purpose of them is listed:
For the perfecting or maturing of the saints/
Christians, for the work of the ministry.
This line means our involvement with people to
get them to the place of being saved and then growing
up themselves. Then,
for the edifying of the body of Christ.
That means building each other up!
In verses 14-15 we see the final result of
the leaders doing their jobs ~ so that the people will
no longer be like children tossed to and fro by
every strange teaching, but become mature like Christ!
The
next section of the tract exposes a conflict which
some may see in the idea of trained pastors and
ordinary Christians.
These people think that they are second class
Christians, while the trained leaders are special and
have access to God and the Word that they could never
hope to attain. This
is not true.
“The
great ideal of the ministry of every Christian is one
which cannot be put into actual effect unless there
are skilful equippers who guide, inspire and teach.”
The
ordinary Christian NEEDS the professional or trained
ministry to become all that he should be in his world.
“The
pastor becomes truly successful, not by attracting
great audiences or by managing large budgets (though
these are not to be despised), but only when the
members whom he is guiding and teaching become
effective witnesses in their daily lives in the world.
The best pastor is the man whose students …
have the courage and wisdom to be representatives of
Christ in common life.”
So
you surely see that the need for adult education is a
tremendous one! The
ordinary person in the work place needs to know how to
best be the representative of Christ in his work
place.
In
Col. 3:22-23 and in Titus 2:9-10 we see clear commands
that we do our work as if we were working for God!
Our
tract concludes by saying that that this idea is a
strong challenge to our practices of selfishness and
personal ease and comfort.
If we realize that we are called to be
servants, we know that our religion is meant to be a
stimulus to service rather than a means of self-
gratification. This
is the most fruitful road known to man, and you will
be on Christ’s Kingdom Way!
Should
we bring the unsaved to church? Where
is this practice taught in the Bible?
In Ezek. 44:6-9, God says He wants a pure
assembly with nobody there that doesn’t have a
covenant with Him!
In Mark 5:40, Jesus drove the mourners away
from a dead girl before he would raise her back to
life! And in Mark 8:23 is a similar one.
Mark 6:5 says unbelief stops God’s power from
working! That’s
most likely why he did that.
We were in a church for a few years that
positioned people at the doors who could hear from God
to guard who came in.
If a person wasn’t saved, he was taken to a
little room to get saved before he could come into the
sanctuary!
(Please read my brochure, Don’t Witness,
and learn how to do it right!) |
