Epistle To Titus
Just as Timothy was charged by Paul to instruct the church in Ephesus, so Titus was left in Crete to manage the affairs of the church there (Titus 1:5) The epistles to Timothy and Titus are hence often referred to as pastoral epistles.
When we discussed First and Second Timothy in our previous issue, we decided that we would address that part about the different appointments in churches when we come to Titus. That shall be the first point immediately after this introduction and for the rest of the message we shall be reviewing the selection criteria of leaders Paul gave them, as well as the other godly instructions he gave to Titus towards the conclusion of his letter to him.
Just as Timothy was charged by Paul to instruct the church in Ephesus, so Titus was left in Crete to manage the affairs of the church there (Titus 1:5) The epistles to Timothy and Titus are hence often referred to as pastoral epistles.
When we discussed First and Second Timothy in our previous issue, we decided that we would address that part about the different appointments in churches when we come to Titus. That shall be the first point immediately after this introduction and for the rest of the message we shall be reviewing the selection criteria of leaders Paul gave them, as well as the other godly instructions he gave to Titus towards the conclusion of his letter to him.
Different callings
All people are just as precious, and equally dear to God. However, as there are that numerous of us but only that few positions of influence, we have to accept that there would definitely be some people who are chosen to take on superior roles in the church while others serve in the less prominant ones. Of course, because faithfulness in little things are valued and deemed as potential faithfulness in bigger responsibilities, having separate groups of appointments does not mean the kingdom of God’s children are divided according to good, mediocre, or lousy. Like we have stressed before and now again, there is nothing for men to boast or moan because, every position is appointed by God and He gives strength and power to whom He has called. Therefore, it is not the strength or might or men that put them where they are, but the Spirit of God who designates and empowers.
To those whom God appoints for higher purposes, He also gives them a special honour to distinguish their ministry from others. God certainly has His reasons for doing so, though we are not exactly sure as to why. It is more important to know that God being the divine party who’s perfect with no character deficit at all times, He certainly did not command higher honour unto people out of preference for one over another. That we have to be sure.
Being sure of God’s excellence of character, we may then respectfully deduce why He might have commanded so regarding the higher honour He gives to some ministries of the church. We are inclined to think that so that we are able to discern the emphasis each ministry holds and make wise responses, according to the levels of urgency or significance each entails. For example, it was specially mentioned that church elders, particularly those who labour in word and doctrine, should be accorded double honour (1 Tim. 5:17). Thus, we should from God’s intention there, be able to draw the inference that because God places that much significance on the Word ministry, it must be one of the more crucial areas that we should take note of.
Elders and Deacons
Titus was not a spiritual dictator, but Paul’s official apostolic representative who had been given the authority to appoint elders and deacons for the church.
The group of people who look after the spiritual welfare of the church would be the Elders. They set or communicate spiritual essentials to the church, maintain the church’s spiritual awareness, monitor and regulate its spiritual vigilance.
It would appear that there were different groups of elders serving the church, as Paul had said that among the platform of elders, those who serve in the word and doctrine should be given double honour: “Let the elders who rules well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and doctrine”(1 Tim.5:17).
Today, Elders are appointed to oversee the missions of the church, man the organizing and governing of the church, teach, or head other areas of service as God calls.
After them (the Elders), we have the Deacons. While the Elders take charge of the spiritual well-being of the church, the Deacons’ principal responsibility was to look after the social welfare of the members. They serve in ministries incidental to church attendance, like ushering, collection of church funds etc. More importantly, their roles sufficiently absorb the needs of the church so as to allow the Elders to concentrate on building the spiritual fortitude of the church.
The ministries of the Elders and the Deacons, though not necessarily the foremost authority of the church, are by no means negligible. In fact, people may initially be called into these ministries and later be led by God to embark on higher spiritual objectives.
Philip and Stephen for example, were both deacons as of the introduction in Acts 6:5; but as they were later involved in preaching and teaching of the gospel, we realize that they had progressed from being deacons to the likes of five-fold ministers. They were like the servants who were promoted to take charge of ten cities because they had been faithful in small errands (Lk 19:17). To whatever we have been called, remaining faithful and loyal to God’s appointment is the single most important response. Let us encourage you to serve because you love God and His people, and not because you want out of self-gratification or glorification. Whatever we do, there will be a reward, and the Lord rewards not according to the scale of significance our service rendered, but according to the depth of diligence our dedication delivered.
Individual members
From the deacons, we now arrive at the family of believers in the church who make up the parish. There are considerably more people in this group than in the previous two, so this group can’t be unimportant at all if God left so many of His children here.
Without this group of people, the first two groups of workers would be unnecessary. Though not assigned to any official appointments in the church office, these people are nonetheless a valuable vessel of God, every one of them. Paul, in Rom. 12:4-8 and 1 Pet 4:1-10, encouraged them to use their giftings to edify the Body of Christ. Yes, members exist with spiritual talents too. God deposits a gift in each and every one of us, so that we may use that to minister to one another and to the world to build up the church. While the people in this group may not feature as prominently as the official church workers do, they can however still be very contributive to church health. When the spirit of excellence is exercised in whatever we do, it will result in a healthy growth to the body of Christ: “the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, cause growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love”(Eph.4:16).
Selecting Ministry Workers
What is most pervasive in our church today is the hasty appointment of ministers in the absence of prayerful evaluation or adherence to the provision set out in the Bible. This was however contrary to how leaders and workers were chosen in the early church. Spiritual labour and consideration went into the groundwork before any appointment was made. Saul and Barnabas, for instance, were appointed for God’s work only when the apostles were quickened in their spirits to do so. This happened when the Holy Spirit spoke to them while they were fasting and praying (Acts 13:2).
The greater the authority given, the greater the responsibility that accompanies. Almost everything rises or falls with leadership, be it a family or a local church. In earlier days, to become an elder/bishop was a serious decision to be made, and was not to be treated lightly. When Lucifer (Satan, when he was still one of the archangels in heaven) fell, he did not depart from the presence of God alone. There was an army of rebels that were cast out of heaven with him! It was recorded in the Bible that one third of the angels in heaven fell with him! This was because of the influence the devil had over the heavenly hosts. It must have been a very big number of rebels for heaven that day, but because of the influence Lucifer had over the heavenly hosts, it couldn’t be any smaller.
That sounded serious, but think what happened the day Adam sinned. The Bible recorded that because of the unrighteousness of one man (Adam), the whole human race became sullied with sin (Rom. 5:12-13)!
Now, if such widespread jeopardy happened in heaven, and later again on earth, would it be any less consequential in the church today? Hardly. When a leader is on shaky grounds, a part of the congregation will be affected, and the extent of this will depend on how much authority and acceptance that particular leader commands among the people. That is why God is not more lenient in His prerequisites for a spiritual leader. It is because of His love for every one of His children such that He wants to minimize the danger of any negative leadership.
Qualification of Elders(Titus 1:5-9)
Among the things that should characterize a godly leader, Paul states that one of the foremost ones is that he has a blameless lifestyle to his honour. The word ‘blameless’ literally means ‘nothing to take hold upon’, meaning that there should not be anything in his life that anyone can use to sustain a criticism or attack on his character or conduct.
Paul also wrote in 1 Tim.3:7 “Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil”. An elder in the church should not turn out to be an idler in the office – it is inconsistent and therefore unacceptable. Whoever have been entrusted with spiritual responsibility should also maintain a clear testimony outside of the spiritual environment. Simply put, he should maintain his spiritual identity not just in the church, but everywhere he goes. Actually, this applies to everyone who does not want to be judged a hypocrite.
Though in our time and age, it really is hard to believe that people still get stumbled by each other’s actions when they have lived long enough and seen much enough everywhere of people failing in their values and principles, we do not wish to be the person whom Jesus said would be stricken by woe because his life had caused offense to others. This must especially not be so for a spiritual leader if he is to represent God before other Christians.
To those of you who are leaders, we hope we have not just added a ton of pressure on you. What we have expressed above does not mean that leaders need to quit living as normal human beings who struggle with weaknesses and start becoming perfect beings instead. No, because we are all still in the process of perfecting ourselves in the fear of the Lord (2 Cor.7:1), so we do not expect anyone else to be perfect when God doesn’t. What we do mean, however, is this: where it is within his ability and control, the person we appoint as our spiritual leader should be one who will exercise and maintain the spirit of excellence and the stance of righteousness in the way he knows best.
Of course, sensibly speaking, there will always be people who get offended over the slightest thing and then insist that another’s action has stumbled them. Leaders, beware of these people and never let them become the measuring scales of your consciences and beliefs lest you become disheartened by the unrelenting criticisms from them. Why, such people find fault even with someone as perfect as God Himself, so what’s going to stop them from finding fault with you? Therefore, use God’s word and the Holy Spirit’s witness as a standard and live your life.
Sober-minded, Self-controlled, Temperate (Titus 1:7-8, 1 Tim 3:2)
After the outward assessment of someone’s potential for leadership, we now consider the more intrinsic qualities that should characterize a leader. Here, perhaps one of the more particular prerequisites is that he should be sober-minded.
Spiritual vigilance in a leader is especially crucial when the church needs to be watching out for the increasing intensity of attacks by the evil one and confronting them in their budding stages. A leader must adopt a serious attitude towards his ministry and be earnest about his work. He should not cheapen the ministry or the Gospel by foolish behaviour.
Since we are talking about detecting unrighteousness in the church at their early stages, let me recount something that was impress upon my Spirit while praying one afternoon which is to warned of the two forms of unrighteousness – deception and lust – that is now proliferating the church of God during the coming days.
Deception will come in the subtlest way. If we wonder why even mature Christians do not always escape this attack, that is because it is what appeared to be good that caused the deception and not the bad. And we are usually unsuspecting when things appear good and safe, so those are the exact situations that the devil uses to trap us. He certainly will see little point in revealing the ugly side to us, for unless extremely careless, there wouldn’t be anyone who would be led into deception by something blatantly wrong at first sight!
So, in a subtle way, the deception will work at drawing people away from God and His call. It will throw an appearance of good and godliness over its traps so that we might be inclined towards them, thinking that we are subscribing to God. More and more things will be done in the name of God, and if not careful, we might be deceived into labouring for those over the true calling of God.
The attraction and lure will take the attention away from our soberness of spiritual senses and the stress and heightened level of activity will take us from the gentle and quiet leading of the Holy Spirit. Having laboured and invested much time, energy and finances in the areas where God has not called us, we would then be left with little to do that which indeed still remains an outstanding with God.
That would land many people in the same accounting that the Israelites found themselves in when God called them out of Egypt to worship Him. Immediately Pharoah increased the workload of the Israelite slaves, causing them to focus on the burden rather than on the hope of deliverance. This is one area we have repeatedly stressed in our messages: when Satan sees that he may not be able to stop you from wanting to serve God, he will try to draw your attention to other things and cause you to lay your ‘treasure’ there. ‘Treasure’ in this case would be your time, effort – things which once invested or given, cannot be retracted or withdrawn. And “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Soon, even when you begin to realise that you had gone the wrong way, you would be feeling that having invested so much, you don’t want to abandon all your efforts and go starting from scratch on a new mission. And that is how people miss their callings and destinies in life. They do so much, and walk so far, but never close or near to the destiny that God has set for them.
Therefore, take heed, ‘hear and obey’. Read the Word and listen to the Spirit, and follow the unction of the Holy Spirit, so that we may not be deceived concerning the will of God for our lives. The Bible does tell every one of us to wake up and stop being credulous Christians in a deceptive world. It is now for us to consolidate our efforts and re-focus our plans according to the Lord’s unction.
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” (Rom. 13:11)
And that Word of God in Romans went on to say that we should
”walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and lust… and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rom. 13:13-14), which brings us to other form of unrighteousness that the Lord warned in addition to the earlier one about deception.
Lust is the other evil that the devil will use to bring down the holy community of God’s redeemed people. If anyone thinks that by keeping in touch with the fellowship of believers through weekly attendances at church and by serving actively in the ministries at church will keep him safe from lust, he is very seriously mistaken, and should jolt himself out of that idea before it is too late. Do not be surprised if you come upon the realization one day that one of the most enthusiastic servant you know in the Lord’s church turns out to be also one of the most low-down practitioner of vices you’ve ever known! The church in Thyatira (Rev.2:18-26) was a stark example of faith-professing, ministry-serving people who were at the same time living out the indulgences of sexual immorality.
The spirit of lust is a perpetrating spirit against holiness and has her talons in almost every nation of this earth, which has sunk its talons deep into practically every nation of the earth. It is now more common to see moral standards in the area of sexuality are being compromised and deviant sexual orientations embraced. It is very grave – the consequences of sexual immorality. We therefore cannot fail to ignore the severity of it for in fact, there are only two recorded instances in the Bible where God pronounced severe judgment on entire populations: one was when unnatural sexual relations happened between the sons of God and daughters of men(Gen.6:1-7), and the other was when Sodom and Gomorrah practiced homosexuality(Gen.19). On both occasions where sexual boundaries had been ignored and transgressed, God poured out His judgment.
God might let this evil run its full course until it reaches its fullness before bringing the blanket of judgment over those who participated in it. In Gen 15:16, God told Abraham concerning his future generations that they will destroy and plunder the Amorite race, but not before the iniquities of the Amorites have come to fullness. Sin in fact, paves the way for the anti-Christ, and thereafter prepares the stage for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess 2:3-8). The same passage in 2 Thessalonians warns that as turmoil plagues the last days of this planet, many will fall under the increased influence of sin. Those caught would be without excuse, for we have all been warned. Watch and pray, therefore, and renew vigilance and soberness in your spirit so that you will not fall into temptation.
In the selection of leaders, careful attention should be given to this particular area to ensure that the person we choose is honourable in this area and not otherwise.
Hospitable
The next quality that should be found in the person we want to choose as leader is that of being hospitable. This means he should be someone willing to receive guests to his house and exercise generosity towards them. A spiritual leader should not be a self-centered but gracious. As Peter exhorts, “above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling”(1 Pet.4:8), more so for spiritual leaders.
Not Covetous
An elder should lead an exemplary lifestyle. Not being covetous does not just mean that a person refrain from desiring his neighbour’s possessions, but it also means that we do not seek to live beyond our means just to catch up with society or arrive at a more comfortable life when those would be at the expense of biblical values.
Besides money, there are a few other things one can unconsciously covet: popularity, a large ministry that will make us famous, to be recognize as a great spiritual leader rather than true devotion to God, etc. There can be many things, but always remember that it is the same God who makes them all. In Him, we have everything, so do not be deceived into thinking that you need to reach out for those things on your own, for the Lord gives to His children all good things. However, as our full inheritance is reserved for us in the storehouses of our Father’s home in heaven, and we can have them all only when we get there, we will have to, in the meantime, be content with the portion He has given to us for now. God is good and His ways are perfect. If He gives you a bag of gold and your neighbour two, He has a reason for that, and even when He doesn’t disclose it, He is still the God who loves us. Because of that, we can trust in His control of our lives and have complete peace of heart. “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do” (Prov.4:23 TLT).
The leader of the Lord’s people must be of this steadfastness of heart or he shall be continually disturbed by the things around him and never settled in his heart towards God and His children.
Manage His own Household well
It is correctly said by many that the family should be given priority over ministry, but this is not usually reflected in reality. God desires that a man should guard his household well before He deems him qualified to take charge of His. If a man does not make good management of his personal household, it is naive to believe that he will do a better job with another man’s (God’s) household.
If family units are strong in themselves, then when integrated into the Christian fellowship, then they are a strong element being added to the body of Christ. In building a strong church therefore, the fortitude of family units is significant. Likewise in appointing leaders: we cannot ignore the importance of the potential candidates holding a positive position in their respective families. For when the church sees that a man commands his household well, they are more likely to give credence to his leadership and counsel because he has gained their respect and honour. However, if anyone cannot keep his wife and children as happy members of a healthy family, then he is likely to be escaping from reality if he tries to get an entire church to submit to his leadership. He would be seeking confidence with a bigger audience when he has failed with a smaller one; and it would be ridiculous to believe that could be done.
For if he were to take on the responsibilities of a leader in the Church, then wouldn’t his constant congregation (his wife and children) be gaping at the hypocrisy they see in their husband and father? If a man is one way in church and another at home, would not his family members who see him in both places be utterly shocked by what they witness with their own eyes? Indeed, there would be fewer casualties in God’s family if we followed His word.
If you are a leader, always seek God for His grace and wisdom to manage your home affairs well so that that can in turn be a powerful witness for your service in His larger family, the church.
Not a Novice
This verse clearly discourages new believers to the board of leadership. The main reason for it is clearly stated - lest he becomes puffed up. Though a new convert may possess exceptional spiritual gifts that may enable him to minister without much further training, we must however allow character development to take place before sending him out, and that takes time and patience. There can be absolutely no short-cut to character development, and it pays to observe this truth. We don’t want to end up with a stunning character performing signs and wonders and preaching crowd-rocking sermons at the pulpit when through our subsequent interactions with him we find character deficits in him that would certainly be a red-light at the point of leadership appointing had we known.
The biblical principle here is that godly character must take precedence over talents; for otherwise pride will find easy entry into the new convert’s heart. In order to be an effective and responsible minister of God, we need have to experienced a personal encounter with God where He dealt with certain areas of our heart that were never reached before. Godly qualities like patience, endurance, humility, grace, as well as a personal understanding of the ways of God (all of which are fundamentals to being a good leader) are developed most often through the Holy Spirit’s refining fire of trials and testing which usually takes place over a period of time. By appointing someone as leader when he has not gone through the refining process, we are denying him the chance of knowing God in a deep and intimate way before he tries to represent the heart before the people, and that can spell dark consequences .
We believe it is important to give a person sufficient time and opportunity to comprehend their unity with God before asking them to consider a co-partnership in His work. We have seen the tenures of too many leaders end in dejection and disillusionment when the sense of loss envelopes them immediately after they leave the church or ministry only because they had not built a foundational relationship and experienced closeness with God before they were drafted into ministry. They were appointed by virtue of their gifts rather than maturity, so there is nothing to fall back on once the work ceases.
The Lord’s prophet, Rick Joyner, in one of his books ‘The Call’, described his experience and conversation with the Lord over a miraculous visit to heaven. In one scene, he found himself wearing a rather shabby and old cloak, which was called the cloak of humility. Being surrounded by many saints of God who were more gloriously appareled, he removed the coat to display his shining armour beneath. Nevertheless, the moment the cloak was lifted, he realised that he was no longer able to hear what the saints were saying and very soon one by one they faded from his sight. Jesus proceeded to explain to him this is exactly what happens the moment we allow pride to come into our hearts; we simply stop hearing God and the people He uses to speak to us. Even upon repenting, it will take time for us to be restored fully to that position of sensitivity to the voice of God. This is the significance of humility, which will take time to develop in a born again child of God. Therefore, again, until a man has learnt to be humble, it would be dangerous to put him on the leadership roll.
Able to Teach
The appointed elder should also be able to teach for that is rightly one of their main ministries unless directed by the Lord otherwise. Also, they need to be familiar with the truth in God’s Word so that any discrepancies presented by false teachings can be immediately corrected before it becomes doctrine to the church (Titus 1:9,11,13). As much as we believe that it is God who enables the gift of teaching in a man, we must remember that exercising that gift is contingent on one’s effort and discipline in sharpening it. Someone who is not diligent in studying the Word does the church a big wrong and is a liability because people who accept his counsel and teaching as truth would end up with wrong notions about God and His ways. The Lord takes a serious view of this and all who are leaders should take heed what Paul said to Timothy: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim.2:15).
God’s Endorsement, the Final Authority
Having gone through the above conditions, we now would like to conclude by drawing our attention back to God’s approval of the candidate we have in mind to do His work. After all, the leader is going to serve God and His business, not us and ours. It is therefore only right that God gets to choose who He wants to represent Him in His works. Like the great leaders Moses and Elijah who merely obeyed the Lord’s choice for a successor, we should follow likewise and seek God’s guidance in choosing ministry workers and church leaders to do His work.
Women Ministry in Church (Titus 2:3-5)
“… that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” (Titus 2:4)
This section in Titus highlights the role of women in church. A vital link that is today missing in the Body of Christ is the lack of teaching by older women to the younger women on godly principles on relating to their husband and children and how to conduct themselves in a manner that is chaste and discreet. Man, understandably, are unable to take the place of women in imparting such values since clearly, there are some things, only which another woman can teach. Examples of this would be in the area of sexual relationships, the way to show love to a husband, etc. Unfortunately, such matters are more often than not, swept under the carpet, either because they are deemed insignificant or simply because the church, as a whole, is too embarrassed to touch on these. The consequences of this is that lacking godly instruction from the church in this area, the only other alternative would be for young Christian women to turn instead to the world for guiding principles.
In reflecting on the quality of Christian couples, we find that many are only surviving instead of thriving. If, as the Bible promises, we have abundant lives as individuals, then all the more, as a couple we should be enjoying an abundance that is multiplied many times over through the synergy of their oneness.
Women often fail to recognise the great role they play in supporting their husbands towards God’s calling and destiny. That is essentially the meaning of a helpmate, as what God originally created Eve to be to Adam. Sadly, many wives are often a hindrance, influencing their husbands to settle for a stable and comfortable family life; rather than one, which requires a life lived by faith in His perfect will. It is hence crucial for a woman to be strong in her own spirit so that she can overcome the temptation to control her husband, and to submit to the plans of the Holy Spirit for his life.
A woman also needs to be aware that she is equipped with an in-built ability to establish great emotional security for her husband by her continual affirmation and trust in her husband. Where there is a lack in this, insecurity manifests itself in the husband in the need to prove himself. Unfortunately, many wives fail in this aspect of esteeming their husbands; and this is all the more difficult when they are the more spiritually mature and more successful of the two. It is therefore, an area which wives need to exercise particular wisdom and sensitivity.
Those who are interested to learn more on this subject can make a purchase order of our book “God’s Intended Intimacy” by filling up and sending us the back page of this newsletter.
Good works
“…in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility.” (Titus 2:7)
While we are not saved by virtue of good works, the Bible tells us, nevertheless “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (Eph 2:10).
A great deception on the nature of good works is creeping into the church. The word of God warns us on the kind of works, which though taking on an appearance of goodness; yet do not find acceptance with God.
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now it anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear, for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.” (1 Cor 3:11-13)
This is very clear. Work that is not done out of a genuine love for God and His people will not be able to withstand the fire. (1 Cor 3:1-3) Already, the circumstances that are arising in the churches these days are testing the works in their midst. It is indeed sad that it had to take depletion of efforts before we re-examine our way of working and realise that we need a radical change before anything can work.
“They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient and disqualified for every good work.” (Tit 1:16)
The Bible does not attempt to be diplomatic about believers who while professing to be Christians live their lives no differently from the people of the world. While we don’t want to sound like judgmental critics, we must be true and convey the message in God’s word which says that a man’s unrighteous walk will disqualify him from anything good. This means that we can be running across the plains and back in serving God, but if our walk is not pure, then our efforts are of zero worthiness.
Of course, we are not suggesting that you can serve God only when you are perfect. Rather, we mean that in serving God, look out for your personal integrity as a Christian too. Do not focus so much on achieving success in our work or ministry that we start minimizing our own mistakes and end up with a character full of deficits. By then, whatever we do would become an abomination to God because it is as good as disregarding the holiness of God and absolutely having no fear of His presence.
“I know your works, your labour, your patience…and you have persevered and have patience, and have laboured for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Rev 2:2-4)
Labour, patience, perseverance, endurance…. these qualities indeed would at first instance, convey an appearance of maturity and godliness. Yet, the word given to the church in Ephesus was far from a commendation; for it was a command to repent from having left their first love for God. Let’s be honest: few of us would be impressed by service without sincerity from people who matter. Indeed, if the sincerity were clear enough, then even if the service were not forthcoming, that would have been forgiven. So, if we have that natural inclination towards service short of sincerity, what more God? Do you really think that He would cherish something that even we generally despise? This should serve as a warning to many of us, that our acts of service can never be an excuse for not having a close and personal walk with the Lord. If anything, the Lord desires us more than He even regards what we can do for Him.
“I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” (Rev 3:1)
The word of God tells us that it is only those who abide in Christ who will bear much fruit and that apart from Him, we can do nothing. It is possible to be exceedingly busy with ministry and acts of service; when in fact these are done entirely through our own efforts instead as an overflow of the life of God in us. Work that is done independently of God is unacceptable to Him and that which is done out of pure routine will certainly perish as wood, hay and straw when they are passed through the fire.
Acceptable Good Works
Good works come by sound doctrine and a continual practice of abiding in Christ.
“ Then they asked Him, `what shall we do that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, `This is the work of God, that you believe Him whom He sent.’” (John 6:28-29)
Believing in the Lord is a pre-requisite to doing the work of God. Astonishing though it may sound, many are performing works without true faith in Jesus. It is only when we truly believe in God that we will learn to abide in Him and become fruitful.
Having laid this foundation, we then need to thoroughly know the word of God in order to be equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). When words of scripture dwell richly in us, we shall be well-equipped to function according to the wisdom and principles of God under the unction of the Holy Spirit.
Good works originate from God, not the intentions of man. Eph 2:10 tells us that God has prepared good works before hand for us to walk in them. At the same time, Titus tells us to be diligent to meet the urgent need. How do we do both when we are neither omnipresent nor omnipotent? But if God says we are to do it, then there must be a formula.
We would think that a balance needs to be achieved between doing, on the one hand, only the good work that is assigned by God, and on the other, the call to meet pressing needs. To illustrate, let us look at the teaching of Jesus in the account of the ministry that took place at the pool of Bethesda and the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Did we note how, out of the many who were lame and paralysed at the pool of Bethesda, there was only one whom Jesus healed? Naturally, His disciples who noticed were puzzled as to why, so they asked Him about it. In response to their query, Jesus maintained that He does only what He sees the Father doing. In other words, Jesus performed His miracle only upon the prompting of His Father in heaven. He is not like a salaried miracle worker who goes around working miracles whenever the opportunity presents itself. Rather, He ministers only upon God’s calling, which means to say that if God had not called, He would not even budge at the pool.
Then, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus praised the Samaritan for being attentive to another’s needs. There is no contradiction to our earlier point, only the call for a balance between the two principles. Functionally as a person, there are human responsibilities that should not need to be spoken which we should undertake nevertheless. These are usually basic consideration for one and another or general responsibilities. Those we still have to continue, spiritual ministry absent or present.
So, a need is not always a call. It merely provides an opportunity to exercise the call. In serving God, however, we have to be sensitive and discerning of the situations around us. This means that there will be times when we have to ignore demands and in order to fulfill our call. Men may misunderstand us, but our ultimate goal when we approach the end of our lives should be to echo with Jesus in John 17:4: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do”. Thus, may the God of all mercy “fill us with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that we may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work…”(Col.1:9-10).