06/24/24 CHARACTER COUNTS

06/24/24 CHARACTER COUNTS

If you hear someone criticize the parishioners or pastor of a local church, you need to find out what was the Biblical reason they are no longer a part of that church. This requires getting the facts from reliable sources. Malcontents are angry with Biblical authority and the doctrine of a pure heart and a holy life. They refuse to accept Biblical standards and submit to Biblical authority. It is much easier for them to drift around, looking for gullible churches which allow wild goats to ravage the flock for their own glory. 

Humility and submission are essential for Christian living and ministry. Pride and self assertion are expressions of carnality and rebellion, therefore unacceptable in Christian service.

I spoke to our men (teens and older) this past week about the need for men in the church to prepare and to focus on their ministries. This should begin as soon as people are saved, even at a very young age. 

It has always been the exception rather the rule to find churches with on-fire, deeply dedicated, young men, even in Bible preaching churches. In our men's meeting I gave opportunity for each one to share observations from their past and their present views concerning the condition of churches today. We agreed that it is highly unusual to find local churches with even one young man on-fire for the Lord. 

A person can be a deeply dedicated and aggressively active Christian worker, regardless of his age, gifts, training, personality (temperament). Whether an extrovert or an introvert, bold or reserved, confrontational or quiet, all men of God should be totally committed and actively perfecting their skills to fulfill the calling of God on their lives. 

We talked about the "flash-in-th-pan" types that start with great fervor and focus, but then they turn their eyes from God, His word, His glory, His church, His calling, to self centeredness and self promotion. They stop being servants and seek to be served. They stop being kind and become cruel and critical. They are on a mission, but it is a self-serving mission. 

Sometimes God calls, blesses, gifts, enables people in extraordinary ways, but they leave their first love; they fail to produce the fruit of the spirit, they become hard headed and hardhearted. People who were loving, tenderhearted, humble, self denying become cold, callous, crass. 

I pointed out that if there were 100 churches in a region, which preached a sound salvation message, whether Baptistic, or Holiness or Pentecostal or Ritualistic (Liturgical), and therefore differing in the doctrinal specifics, there would only be a small number of those churches with fired-up young men reaching out to the lost and serving the local believers. Far too many have started out in the right direction, but they were sidetracked or drifted away. 

Local churches need men (young and old) to take up Christ's banner and march into the battle against darkness. And many of those, whom God has called, need to repent of self aggrandizement and spend their energies lifting up Christ.