"A bishop then must be...." (1 Timothy 3:2)
The reading of our text today reminded me of a classic statement of Oswald Chambers. In speaking of the missionary call, He said it is "first a call to 'be' and second a call to 'do.'" There are many in Christendom who are good doers, but place little emphasis on being. Yet the qualification of leadership, or any "call" for that matter, is not preaching, singing, charming personality, or organizational skill. It is, "first a call to 'be.'" Being and doing, by the way, are not necessarily synonymous. Someone once said of a prominent pastor, "He's a great preacher, but the toll collectors on the turnpike have another opinion of him."
This "be" and "do" theology is not just New Testament. A "Spirit led" reading of the Old Testament reveals the same. I read in Psalm 95 today, "For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know (are not "endued with) My ways.'" The purpose of the New Birth is, "in their hearts," and, "know (to endue with) My ways," to bring me into the Kingdom of God, to begin a life of conversion, a conversion from my old ways, life style, thinking, to, "the mind of Christ," the life of Jesus Christ within.
This call "to be" is for our good. When a person has an operation to remove some destructive tissue, the question we all ask is, "Did they get all of it." This is the question for ourselves and pastoral care for others. I will not be content with any operation of the Holy Spirit until he "gets all of it," all which keeps me from being that which the Godhead created me to be. This is what our Lord Jesus speaks of when He says, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." The, "more abundantly," does not mean feel good religion. It is the "religion" of the whole man. The, "more abundantly," of which Jesus speaks is the work of the Holy Spirit to "get all of it," all which comes, "to steal, and to kill, and to destroy."
The thief has triumphed in American society. What a person achieves which appears to benefit the people has nothing to do with that person's character; a person's personal life does not matter. The Word of God is quite clear---------------------------- "A bishop must be...."
Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You that You "get all of it." Amen.
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* I will preaching in the CCE Meetings this coming weekend
* New Articles on Jerusalem Watch Blog: www.apfjw.blogspot.com
* See Israeli Memorial Day, History of the Fallen and testimony of POW
When an 18 year old Norwegian "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
