God has entrusted the message of eternal life to mortals here on earth
(2 Corinthians 4:7). He has also charged those
mortals with the responsibility of preaching that message to the world
so that others might be saved (Mark 16:15-16). We would do well to
understand that if anyone is ever saved, it will be the direct result of
the plain unadulterated preaching of the word of God, and the sincere
obedience to it. People are not saved by angelic intervention, the
indwelling of the holy spirit, heavenly visions, or miraculous or
mysterious occurrences. Neither are people saved by anecdotes, yarns,
fables, nor heart-wrenching stories, from some magazine. The Scriptures
teach that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).
While this may not make for exciting or emotional testimony, it is the
infallible promise of God concerning salvation.
From the beginning, God saw a need for capable men to teach His will to
others. God said to Moses: "I will be with your mouth, and teach you
what you shall say" (Exodus 4:12). To Ezekiel God said: "I have made
you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word
from My mouth and warn them for Me"(Ezekiel 33:7). Jonah was sent to
preach repentance to the people of Nineveh (Jonah l:l-2). John the
Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord by preaching (Matthew 3:3). Jesus sent his disciples to preach the Gospel to all people (Matthew 28:20). Phillip was sent to preach the gospel to a single
individual (Acts 8:26-35). There are many other scriptural examples of
the importance God places on preaching His word.
With the tremendous importance God places on the preaching of the
gospel, certainly He would not entrust this task to just anyone.
Surely, if the gospel is God's treasure, He would be very particular
about where He places it. We find upon searching the Scriptures that
God was indeed very selective about whom He entrusted with the awesome
responsibility of telling the world what He has said.
The Bible says that the word of God is to be taught by men who are first
and foremost faithful to it themselves (2 Timothy 2:2). It is not
enough to know the word, quote it, or eloquently expound upon it, but it
is imperative that the preacher live it. His life should show evidence
that the will of God is written on the "fleshly tables of his heart" (2
Corinthians 3:3). He is not only a conveyer of the message, but a
believer of it as well. His primary goal must be to please God, part of
which includes teaching the gospel to others. Jesus told Peter:
"...when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:32).
Certainly, there would not be much credibility in his words until he was
converted. Nothing convicts like conviction! If the hearer sees sin
and error in the life of the messenger, he is not very likely to be
converted by the message. Furthermore, because of such carelessness on
the part of the messenger, the chances of that hearer ever being saved
decrease tremendously. Because of sin in the life of the messenger, the
hearer will logically assume that there is very little substance to the
messenger, the message, and consequently, the organization that promotes
it. When trying to convert someone to Christ, what we are carries more
weight than what we say.
I once knew a person who was struggling with a home business to
supplement the family income. She carried a line of health food
supplements that claimed to offer dramatic weight loss benefits. She
ran advertisements in the local paper, printed and distributed flyers,
and even had a magnetic sign made and attached to her car, which read:
"Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How!" with her phone number. In spite of all
her efforts, she never had much success selling her products. I
remember thinking that it probably had something to do with the fact
that she was herself very obese.
If we can understand this concept in business or other worldly pursuits,
why do we not see, or at least, not act on, such things when they occur
in the church. We can preach the gospel until we lose our voice, we can
utilize radio, television, print media; we can evangelize the whole
world; but all these efforts will be a grand exercise in futility unless
we live the gospel! If people are taught the truth and understand it,
they will quickly see through pretenders. This was what the apostle
Paul was emphasizing when he wrote, "We give no offense in anything,
that our ministry may not be blamed" (2 Corinthians 8:3). The point is,
that if the world we seek to convert finds in us the same evil from
which we seek to deliver them, they will never be converted. After all,
what is the point?
1 Samuel 2:17 gives an account of the sons of Eli who caused the people
to abhor the worship of God because of their hypocrisy. The same thing
can happen today. The first thing a prospective Christian looks for is
some inconsistency in the message and the messenger. They easily see
the things that we may choose not to see. Good salesmen are trained to
overcome possible objections to the presentation of their product. We
overcome objections by practicing what we preach.
Jesus Christ commissioned his disciples, not sinners, to preach his
gospel (Mark 16:15). Paul admonished Timothy to "continue in the things
which you have learned...." (2 Timothy 3:14). Paul wrote to Titus: "In
all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine
showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot
be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed having nothing
evil to say of you" (Titus 2:7-8 NKJV).
Furthermore, the rigid qualifications outlined in the Scripture for
elders and deacons, demand that they be above all else, blameless in
character. It is inconsistent with the will of God to find men who are,
for one reason or another, scripturally excluded from being elders or
deacons approved both locally and by the brotherhood to be "church
leaders." An obvious question arises: If one is not suitable in the
sight of God to be a "church leader" should he be acceptable to us? I
think not! If we lower the standards for church leadership, and also
for preachers of the gospel, can we really suppose that we are pleasing
in the sight of God? Again, the answer is a resounding, "NO!"
Titus was ordered to ordain elders in every city. What does it say
about a congregation of the Lord's church that has been around for many
years and still has no one qualified to be elders and deacons among
them? For one thing, it says that the congregation has not been what it
should be in the development of church leaders over past years. If
developing church leaders had been a priority in the past, we would have
elders and deacons today. If developing leadership is not a priority
today, we will not have elders and deacons in the future either. The
problem, and it is indeed a problem, will not just fix itself. Since it
is the Lord's will, it should be a priority to develop qualified leaders
even if some members neither want them, nor believe we need them.
The responsibility of promoting Christianity by living a blameless life
does not rest solely at the feet of preachers and church leaders. In
his sermon on the mount, Jesus told all of the multitude to be perfect
even as their Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Too often
this passage has been dismissed by the reasoning that we are all human
and therefore can never be perfect. But the fact is that Jesus told us
to be, and furthermore, gave us the means to be (1 John 1:5-7; Ephesians
5:1; Colossians l:28; 4:12). The doctrine of perfection does not mean
that we are expected to make no mistakes or errors in judgment, after
all, we have the second law of pardon. Instead, it forbids willful
sinning. To sin willfully, even with the intention of making a
confession for it after the fact, is a mockery of God, his mercy, and
the second law of pardon. Hebrews 10:26-27 means exactly what it says.
The scriptural exhortations to live a pure, godly, Christian life apply
to all believers, and all believers serve as representatives of
Christianity and the church to a degree. The Scriptures place more
emphasis on the lives of church leaders and preachers because they are
under so much more scrutiny.
Christians should also understand that sins have consequences and
repercussions that will be felt by future generations. The church that
we read of in the New Testament went into apostasy. Why? Why are there
no congregations today in the cities where they existed in the first
century? We do not know the exact details of the things that happened
to these congregations, but whatever happened, it did not happen
overnight. When the strict form of the Scriptures is relaxed and
unscriptural things are tolerated, spiritual decline begins. The end
result is the total loss of a congregation. Let us never think it
cannot happen to us (1 Corinthians 10:12). Revelation chapters two and
three relate how the Lord feels when we let our guard down spiritually
and allow unscriptural practices to creep in.
When we lose our first love, or the zeal with which we once served the
Lord, when we allow unscriptural things, or fellowship those who do
them, when we are weak in our Christian responsibilities, the Lord is
not satisfied. When we stop demanding separation from the world (1
John 2:15), we give silent consent to worldliness. When we enjoy and
thereby encourage involvement in worldly things, pleasures, appetites,
even fashions and hairstyles, it cannot surprise us when our younger
generations turn to worldly pursuits and choose them over their duty to
the church. It cannot be a surprise when young people raised in the
church grow up and leave it or when they never obey the gospel at all.
After all, what is the point if we are just like the world? When we
praise the things that are the world's goals - money, power, prestige -
how can it surprise us when a church member takes a job, working or
traveling on the Lord's Day instead of assembling with the saints to
worship as commanded in the Scriptures?
When the importance and seriousness of the sacred institution of
marriage is not taught, there can be little wonder why too many
Christian couples divorce. Furthermore, it can be no surprise when
younger generations view marriage so frivolously and sometimes enter
into it almost whimsically instead of looking long and hard for the
right mate. Nor can it be a surprise when young people marry out of the
Lord. Certainly there is more to finding the right marriage partner
than just finding a member of the church, but it should still be a top
priority. No wonder there are so many broken hearts and broken homes
among the Lord's people.
Sexuality and morality need to be taught from the pulpits and in the
homes. We dare not bury our heads in the sand on this issue for fear of
embarrassment, but we must teach what is right in order to avoid what is
wrong. Silence on such issues results in "Christians" committing
fornication and adultery, having babies out of marriage, and contracting
deadly diseases. Such terrible and painful things as these are not
surprising. The surprise is that we don't seem to know where they came
from or what to do about them. We should never assume that people know
the things that we do not teach. The Bible is not silent on these
issues, how can our pulpits afford to be?
Too many preachers today do not address the tough issues. Too many
gospel meetings are conducted in which no sin is ever mentioned for fear
of offending someone. Maybe there is someone in the crowd who is guilty
of that sin. How ambiguous would our religion be if Christ and his
apostles were as vague as we sometimes are? Too many sermons today do
not address the real issues that confront the church. There will
probably be few church members lost for failing to believe baptism is
essential for salvation, we preach that every sermon. But many could be
lost for worldliness and sin which we fail to address. There have been
instances when brethren did not appreciate the preaching of a certain
issue. They argue that such preaching will "run off" the guilty brother
rather than draw him in. But I have never known even one case of a
person repenting, and correcting his error without the truth being
taught. It is strange that some believe the preaching of the gospel
will cause souls to be lost, when the Bible says it will save them (1
Corinthians 1:21).
The sad fact is that we live in a world of sin. Many times it seems that
dishonesty, immorality, and just plain meanness rule the day. But even
more sad is the fact that just about any sin the world can invent can be
found in the church, from the light weights like lying, cheating on
taxes, or general dishonesty, to the heavy-hitters like adultery, drug
abuse, spouse and child abuse, homosexuality, and just about any other.
Certainly such deviant behaviors are not the norm, but such things
should never be numbered among the saints, not even once. God punished
David because his sin gave great occasion for the enemies of God to
blaspheme. Can we suppose He views sin more favorably today than He did
then? It is not just the soul of the sinner that is at stake here, but
the future of the church and the souls of all who depend on her for
salvation.
It may well be that since the Lord has his treasure in earthen vessels
it cannot help but be tainted by the dust of the vessel, but if we are
ever to succeed in our endeavors to save ourselves and the world, we had
better take that responsibility seriously. We must live the gospel, all
of us, and draw a line of demarcation between ourselves and those who
don't. We must preach sound doctrine and the things that become it
(Titus 2:1). That is, we must promote and support the things that, when
practiced by Christians, cause unbelievers to take us seriously. Until
we preach and practice these things, our spiritual survival, and much
more, our efforts to save others are in grave jeopardy.
-4443 County Rd 30
Roanoke, AL 36274
