STE:The successful Christian  by Bill Jackson

   Hebrews 2:1--"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to
the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them
slip."

   A study of the context, together with a basic understanding of the
eternal nature of salvation and the reality of rewards, must bring us
to the conclusion that, while as redeemed people, our position in
Christ cannot be altered, there are goals in the Christian life that
can be forfeited.

   If the desire to realize these goals were purely selfish it would be
understandable but unforgivable. Working for Christ for the
satisfaction of the rewards He has promised cannot fit into a Christian
ethic of love. The fact of rewards is plain; the striving toward them
for selfish reasons cannot be condoned.

   What is our reward? Basically, we can relate to them in conjunction
with our Lord's statement to the rewarded servant, "Well done, thou
good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of thy Lord."

   This should be a prime motivation of our Christian lives. We have
been once and for all delivered from a life where the only moral
restraint was fear. We are now living a morality based on love, and our
love for Him - if it is real - can only cause us to obey and desire to
please Him. Having already responded to the gracious Gospel invitation,
"Come unto Me", and rejoicing in the words of finality, "It is
finished", we now look forward with eager anticipation to those last
glorious words, "Well done."

   However, those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ know He will not
tell even a little white lie. If we have not been good and faithful
servants He will not pretend that we were. He must tell the truth about
us (Titus 1:5) and He wants to make it a pleasant truth. That is why He
had so much written in the Word to chastise, encourage and help us to
be what He wants us to be.

   Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed - to what? To the
things which we have heard.

   What things had they heard? It is clear from the context that they
were things about our Blessed Saviour. These things were from the lips
of those who were obedient to the Great Commission of our Lord.

   The Apostolic message was clothed in power, and was responsive to
all that Jesus had said. We can safely conclude that, included in "the
things we have heard" was not only the Gospel message of salvation, but
the truths about Baptism, discipleship and obeying all the commands
that Jesus Himself had given.

   One of the saddest commentaries on teaching ministries today is that
so little time is spent expounding the blessed commands of our Lord.
Ultra-dispensationalists have relegated these commands either to a past
age or a future age, so that many of today's Christians have no reality
of being taught all things He commanded.

   Yet, we must ask, who is the prime teacher of Christian truth if not
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself? It is true that some of His teachings
are hard to follow; some are given in parable form and speak clearly of
a future age. But the basic commands are still valid and must be taught
and obeyed. If not, how can we give earnest heed to the things we
should be being taught?

   Some assume the epistles somehow supersede the commands of Jesus as
the curriculum of Christians. It is true that as local churches are
being established, concrete rules had to be laid down, rules which
could not have been detailed by Jesus. Also, situations arose that had
to be dealt with at the time, and a salvation now complete could be
presented in a more analytical formula than would have been possible
before the Cross. (Of course, Jesus did make general references to the
scope and plan of this salvation, e.g., Mathew 20:28 and John 3:14, to
name two instances.)

   Careful study shows us that the truths governing the moral behavior
patterns and ministry thrusts of local churches found in the epistles
are based solidly on the commands of Jesus. How could we seek a
different foundation?

   In this brief study I will bring to your attention two of Christ's
commands; the first two that are recorded as being given to believers.
They are "Follow Me" in Mathew 4:19 and "Rejoice" in Mathew 5:12.

   Jesus said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." When we
view present day fundamentalism in relation to this command, we find
three unfortunate groupings into which Christians can be placed.

   First, we find those that want to follow Christ, abut whose theology
is so hyper-Calvinistic that they cannot bring themselves to actively
fish for men. They don't mind (in fact they are usually happy) if some
fishes get caught, but they are afraid to use any bait in case the
fish, swallowing the bait, should do a work to contribute to his being
caught. If our Lord said He would make us fishers of men, there must be
some fishing techniques that He would teach us. However, we really
cannot blame the friends who eschew all techniques, as they are often
repulsed by the second group of Christians.

   These are the expert fishers. They have mastered techniques. The
statistics they give for their catches seem to make them very
successful. Some of the gimmicks they employ leave much to be desired,
but to them the bottom line is all important--GET RESULTS. Such are
those who want to be fishers of men, but their motive is not to follow
Christ but to go forth with one aim - get folks to make decisions.
Often they have no conscious thought of real devotion to Christ;
indeed, they are often willing to deliberately keep the message shallow
so more will respond. However, we can even understand this position, as
it is often adopted as a natural turning away from the third group of
Christians.

   They are saved, satisfied and asleep. They can respond very well to
popcorn testimonies and even have some scriptures stored in their heads
to bring forth as a foundation for their claims of being ready to have
a happy eternity. They are regulars Sunday morning, sparse Sunday
evening and missing on Wednesday. They are the strange type of
Christian who never leads a soul to Christ. They "love Jesus", but
often didn't really know that He called His followers to follow Him. If
they are well-to-do, they are generally fairly generous (but seldom
sacrificial) in their missionary giving. They seem to imagine that if
they help a missionary to be a "fisher of men" nothing else will be
required of them. It never occurs to them that Jesus" commands were
directed at them. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of
riches have indeed choked their Christian influence and made them
unfruitful.

   We must hope there is a fourth group--those that seriously consider
that their Lord was talking to them. We come to His basic command,
"Follow Me." Other men have been inspired by the Spirit to write
commands for consecration. In Romans 12:1, Paul penned the immortal
words, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice..." In Colossians 3:1 we are
admonished to "seek those things which are above." But none of these
commands can approach the simplicity and majesty of the beautiful words
of Jesus, "Follow Me."

   In following anyone, going in the right direction is fundamental. If
you are following a friend to his home and he turns right, you turn
right. He may be going slowly, but you do not pass him. You do one of
the simplest acts - you follow him.

   You may have had the experience of trying to follow a car that was
going so fast you had to struggle to keep up. You were not always sure
the way he was going to turn, and you tried to glue your attention upon
something distinctive about the rear of his car so that you could
follow. What a hazardous experience this can be, and how empty you feel
when he loses you and you are lost. Or perhaps you have almost lost the
friend you are following and have seen a car that looks like his - but
it is dark so you aren't sure. So you follow, hoping you are following
the right car!

   What a blessedness to know the faithfulness of our Lord. When He
says, "Follow Me", He determines to make the path so clear that the
only reason not to follow is because we want to go in a different
direction, or we want to pass Him. He will never lead where we cannot
follow, although He may lead where we do not wish to follow. We must
realize that the success of our Christian lives will be determined not
by how many results we get or how large our Sunday School is or how
many people we preach to. Our success, as He counts success, is
determined by how faithfully we follow Him.

   It is always helpful, when following someone, to know the general
direction they will be taking. Therefore we will study two passages of
scripture to see the clear direction the Lord is taking so that we
cannot fail to follow if we want to. We will then know the realization
of His second command, "Rejoice". A life of following Jesus must lead
to a place of rejoicing. It will not be experienced necessarily on
every bend of the road, but it is the only divinely appointed end.

   The passages we will look at are Matthew 4:19 to 5:12 and
Philippians 2:5-11.

   In the Philippians passage, we have the co-relative of "Follow Me"
in the words of verse 5, "Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus." Then we have very clearly spelled out the direction He
is going.

   NOTE:

   (1) He knew His equality with God.

   (2) He made Himself of no reputation. This is a difficult step to
understand, and harder to emulate. He was the world's Creator, Who
fashioned things that are out of that which was not. By any standard of
what is right, His entrance into the world should have been heralded by
Divine proclamation to all His subjects. It is only right that all
should know Who He is, when we really realize Who He is. But He made
Himself of no reputation-unheralded, unsung, unannounced, unknown - so
was His mind.

   The admonition is clearly, "Let this mind be in you", and it is so
easy for us to mouth platitudes that indicate we are willing to be
unknown. But it is not quite that simple, for as soon as we go
unrecognized our human nature stands on its hind legs and demands
recognition. It is so contrary to all that we are for us to be of no
reputation that, when we allow this thought to search our hearts we
must conclude that we are scarcely following Him. Yet this is only the
beginning.

   (3) He took upon Him the form of a servant. To put any human being
in the caste of servanthood is to do that which befits our fallen
nature. He is sovereign Majesty, yet He took upon Him the form of a
servant. It would do well to ask ourselves with as much honesty as our
deceitful hearts will allow - do we ever willingly take the servant's
part? Yet this is what He became.

   (4) He was made in the likeness of men - a step far down for Him Who
made man in His image and then watched while that man fell to
disgusting depravity. Yet this is the direction He has set His face,
like a flint, on.

   (5) He humbled Himself. "Lord", you might cry, "not another step
down. When I said I would follow You I was willing to go as you
directed, but is it not time to take some upward steps? Must I continue
to go down?" the fact is that if we would follow Him, we must take the
same direction He took-down, down, down - even if there is no human
expectation of ever reversing the downward trend and being exalted in
this life.

   (6) Just when we think He must have reached bottom, He goes down -
and the King of Life becomes obedient to death. "Lord, how can this be?
You promised abundant life to those who followed You, and now the
shadow of Calvary darkens my pathway. Certainly You mean us to go to
the foot of the Cross and then to call upon God's legions for instant
deliverance. No, Lord, You can't be nailed there - You can't die - I
don't want to die."

   (7) ...even the death of the cross. "Lord, I guess I can put up with
dying, but can't you make it instant and honorable, like a firing
squad. As Kevin Barry said, "Shoot me like a soldier, don't hang me
like a dog." A brave soldier goes into the enemy's camp, is captured,
sentenced to death and amid the drum - roll of the military band, falls
before his captor's bullets. That's bad enough, but not the Cross with
all its shame and ignominy. Lord, do you really want me to be willing
for all this?"

   That is what He said - FOLLOW ME. Then He showed which direction He
was going.

   We see the "Rejoice" part of this passage in verses 9-11. For as the
Head is exalted, the whole Body will rejoice, and this is the end He
has determined for us. Our problem is that we want to get to "Rejoice"
by going up instead of going down, and we will never get our
destination if we go in the wrong direction.

   E. (Successful) /i / i / i A___________________B/___C i i i D.
(Christ-like)

   I want to get from point A to point D. I am given plain directions.
I travel to point B, then on to point C. Then comes the crucial
decision. I must turn right to get to point D, but that is going down,
and I don't want to go down. I want to go up. So I turn left and go up
to point E.

   Realizing that I have lost my way, and remembering that point B was
on my route, I travel down to point B. I don't particularly like this,
as it is a down - ward move, but it is not too bad, and I do feel good
when I tell myself I am going in the right direction. Arriving at point
B, I turn left and proceed to point C. Again I am faced with a problem.
Now, I have just finished taking a long trip down from point E to point
B-certainly I am not required to go any lower. It is time to start
going up. So I turn left and arrive back at point E, at which time I
repent and go back to point B again, etc., etc., etc. -- I end up going
around in circles, which is what most of you are experiencing in your
Christian lives. You never really get where God wants you to be,
because you never seriously follow, and continue to follow, Christ.

   We have to face the fact that there is a basic problem in
fundamental Christianity. We recognize talent, ability and success. We
often hear, "He is a great evangelist", "He is a great singer", "He is
a great administrator." How seldom we hear of anyone, "He is so
Christ-like." Which attribute would we rather be known for? All of us,
instantly, would say we would rather be Christ-like than to be talented
and famous, but how many of us are willing to take the only road - the
road He took - the road down?

   Note carefully the steps we are admonished to take. First, Jesus
knew Who He was. A great deal of emphasis is given today to realizing
your "self-worth." I am glad I can say two things about my self-worth
-- first of all, in myself dwelleth no good thing. There is nothing in
my life that could either commend itself to God or be a blessing to my
fellow man. But, second, I know that all the accumulated wealth of the
world would not be sufficient to pay for the redeemed soul of Bill
Jackson. I have been bought with an infinite price, I have been
redeemed by His precious blood. I have been made a partaker of the
divine nature, and there is not one of you who would have enough money
to pay for me. I am a child of God. I know that, and Jesus knew exactly
Who He was - the lily of the valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the
Fairest among ten thousand.

   He made Himself of no reputation. Here I must pause and say that I
am glad I don't have to be a perfect follower before I write these
words. I know that the insidious self that always wants recognition and
that would, if recognition were not given, be proud of its humility and
seek recognition for that. The words, "He made Himself of no
reputation" are words that must remain a challenge to any sincere
follower of Christ who is aware of the reality of his sin nature and
the deceitfulness of his heart.

   HE - MADE HIMSELF - OF NO REPUTATION. Reputation is one of the last
things to be let go. A man may lose his wealth, but if he still has
"his good name" he is not considered a pauper. This strikes deep and
deadly into the core of our being, and it might be considered
inappropriate for the Lord to even suggest that this could be our mind,
yet we are clearly instructed to let this mind be in us as it was in
Him. We can only ask God to make us very conscious of the many times
when we seek to be otherwise, and be willing to make ourselves of no
reputation.

   Can we really continue to allow someone else to get the credit for
that which we did? While others are being acclaimed as being successful
and talented can we be willing to be Christ-like even if no one
recognizes us as such. And even if they did recognize, this is an
attribute that would scarcely get us on the front page of a
fundamentalist magazine. Can we hear of the fame of another without
harboring a jealous spirit and allowing it to consume us so that we
have to resort to some slander of that brother? Are we looking for the
applause of men or are we really content to wait until He says "Well
done"? If in this first step of having the mind of Christ the
fundamentalist world has so dismally failed, can we ever complete the
journey from "Follow Me" to "Rejoice"?

   The next step downward that our Lord took was to take upon Himself
the form of a servant. This is another step that is direct opposition
to all that is human. While it is true that there are those who are
under an obligation to perform as a servant, it is never a state
wherein the human spirit is content. Those in a position of servitude
are always seeking for liberation and, if that is not possible, for
whatever "rights" they can claim for themselves.

   The true servant completes his appointed tasks and expects no
compensation, not even any thanks. (See Luke 17:7-10) Are there any
left in the Church of Christ who would do the most menial task
willingly and not be miffed if the pastor failed to make public
recognition? Yet, said Jesus, the greatest among you must be servant of
all. Is this mark of servanthood the general situation in which we find
men of today? I was talking to a member of the church finance committee
recently who remarked how disappointed he was that all the well - known
evangelists that were invited to the church required all sorts of
special treatment, or else they wouldn't come. Perhaps the reason we
find it so hard to take the second step is that so few have undertaken
to take the first step in following Him. It is no wonder we look for
the superficial joys of success in this life, for we will never get to
the true rejoicing that is the end for all who truly follow.

   The remainder of our Lord's steps - all down - leave us speechless
and without excuse. He - God Himself - was made in the likeness of men,
humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the
Cross. How shallow any following we have done appears when related to
the steps He took. This is a following we can never fully know, so our
cry must always be "that I might know Him, and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made
conformable to His death." The glorious finale to that series of
journeyings down is the resurrection, just as the humiliations of
Philippians 2 end with God giving unsurpassed glory to Christ and the
command to follow in Matthew 4 is crowned with the rejoicing of Matthew
5:12. There is always a promised reward, but it comes at the end of the
road.

   One problem is that we are impatient for our reward, and continually
try to steal bits of glory. We really do believe in rewards in Heaven,
but we don't act very much like it. The praises of men might seen like
fit rewards for a job well done, but if we strive for these as our
reward, even going out of our way to be sure we get them, we will have
already had the only reward we shall ever get. May we jealousy guard
our hearts from seeking lesser rewards and thereby canceling out any
rewards He wants to give us.

   Will we, when looking at the tabulation of Heavenly rewards, see
written boldly across the page, PAID IN FULL? Are we to be counted
among those who love the praise of man more than the praise of God. It
is impossible to seek for both - they are mutually exclusive as goals
of our service. Can we trust Him to keep the books honestly and give
all due rewards in that day?

   When we go back to the text in Matthew, we see that His first
command, Follow Me, is succeeded by His next command, Rejoice. In
between is a list generally called the Beatitudes, for they are
proclamations of blessedness. However, when we look at them we realize
that they are all steps down - steps that rely on a just Judge to
render the fruits and compensations from pursuing these qualities of
life.

   These are the steps that await us if we follow Him; He starts with
being poor in spirit. "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven" is not the
motive - the motive is to follow Him. We can certainly see the obvious
link between this and being of no reputation in Philippians 2. "Poor in
spirit" doesn't sound like a step to success - and it isn't, if we
equate success with that of which we normally think. For success has
one at the top of the ladder; being poor in spirit is the first step
toward the bottom of the totem pole. Yet it is a step of following, for
He went in one direction - down.

   Are the other "beatitudes" any more pleasant? Even the most innocent
ones, being merciful and pure in heart, are steps not normal for we
humans. Being merciful entails not requiting that which we feel we have
a right to; others wrong us and we forgive. What thrill is there in
that? Only to know that He did the same, but on a far grander scale,
when we came as poor bankrupt sinners to His bestowal of Grace.

   Being pure in heart sounds good, but it does mean a lot of
willingness to sacrifice, for even our motives must be pure, and we
have a hard time with that . We say we don't seek reward, but lurking
behind every good deed of man is a wish to be commended for it. Such
was not the emptiness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

   Then we get to the others-mourning, being meek, being persecuted -
how can the sum total ever be REJOICE. Just because God does not
measure as we measure. For us, the path to success goes up; for God,
the path goes down.

   We do not naturally desire, or attain, any of the attributes spoken
of in Matthew 5. They come as He enables us, by His power, to truly
follow Him.

   *********************

   Several years ago, at a preachers' breakfast, the visiting speaker
(whose name I forgot but to whom I am indebted) gave a very simple
outline for having victory and success in the Christian life. His three
points were total surrender, unconditional obedience and implicit faith.

   In thinking about these qualities against the backdrop of following
Jesus, I realized that they are very basic to this concept.

   Even in the natural, when you are following someone, you must
surrender your will to him. You do not tell him that you will gladly
follow him half of the time; even if you were to follow 90% of the
time, you wouldn't get to the destination. Neither do you attach
conditions--I'll turn right if you are leading me down a pleasant,
shady street. You unconditionally follow him; and it is utmost folly to
follow a person who either does not know the way or a person whom you
suspect might not know the way.

   I remember once when I was staying at a home after the Sunday
evening service, the young son volunteered to ride with me and show me
the way. At night every street looked the same to him, and we drove
around in circles for some time before we found home. You always follow
a person who knows how to get there, and you follow him unconditionally
and completely.

   "All to Jesus I surrender" - how many times have you sung it, and
how often you have meant it when you were in the glow of Christian
fellowship. But how real is your surrender when it comes down to the
practical? Can you say you have laid down all rights to yourself, to
your aims and ambitions, to your tastes and desires, to your pleasures
and cares? Should not we, as Christians, begin to realize that the word
"all" is much bigger than the three letters that comprise it? It truly
is one of the biggest words in our vocabulary.

   When you are asked by another Christian, "What are you doing these
days?", is your first response to list the areas in which you have been
successful, or is the primary joy of your life that you are following
Him?

   Have you surrendered your rights? When our rights are surrendered,
do we have any? Do we really yearn after and prize our recognition by
man, and feel deprived when he does not recognize us? If your pastor
were to list all the Christian workers or prayer warriors in your
church and leave you out, would you be stung by the oversight? Can you
stand to have others congratulated and yourself spurned? If He should
lead others into bright avenues of public acclaim and lead you down a
dark alley of loneliness, do you follow? Are you really surrendered to
Him?

   Because we all have an old nature that is constantly trying to
resurrect itself, we will always have temptations to react in the wrong
way to others' success and our seeming failure. It is not sin to be
tempted, but it is a denial of our surrender to bathe in self-pity and
seek for acclaim. Real surrender will be tested, and by His Grace and
Power we can prove the reality of our surrender.

   If others are promoted and you are not even mentioned, what is your
reaction?

   If your advice is not followed, what is your reaction?

   If the good things you did are not noted, and the bad things you did
are broadcast to all, what is your reaction?

   If you are severely wronged and God seems not to notice, what is
your reaction?

   We might sum up these questions and others by asking -- ARE YOU
TOTALLY SURRENDERED? While others are "Superman" and "Captain Marvel",
are you willing to appear like "Ziggy" or "Charlie Brown"? Will you be
anything - if that is what He wants you to be?

   Total surrender can likewise be measured by unconditional obedience.
There may be many who would gladly follow as long as the road is going
up to higher, more exciting ground, and that is their only condition.
"Lord, I will gladly preach the Gospel, if you will make me a great
preacher." "Lord, I will be a fisher of men, if you will give me a lot
of souls." "Lord, I will do anything, just so long as I'm a success."

   Probably the best Biblical example of conditional, rather than
unconditional, obedience is found in Genesis 28:20-22. There Jacob
prefaces his faithfulness to God by four conditions, and displays he
incomplete consecration that God refined during the very difficult
process that finally ended when Jacob became Israel, a prince with God.

   Unconditional surrender is a very rare commodity these days, and
perhaps the primary reason is that much of the public ministry on the
subject calls for what is called "unconditional surrender" by promising
some prize that this will merit. But the fact that our obedience is
based on the hopes of a prize keeps it from being unconditional.

   It has been said, "You don't catch fish with a frying pan", which
means that you don't show the fish the end of their being caught - you
rather use alluring bait to catch them, and then you put them in the
frying pan. The usual way to try to get men to be truly committed
Christians is to lure them with the bait of reward, and then try to get
them to conform themselves to the "frying pan" of true discipleship.
Yet this is the exact opposite of Jesus' methods - He does catch fish
with a frying pan!

   He said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take
up his cross and follow me." You might say, "Lord that is not a very
good way to fish for men-they will never come under those conditions."
He does tell us that the glorious promise is that where He is, there
His servant will be - but we must be willing to follow Him, and the
direction He is taking is not that wonderful to our human nature.

   Our expectation is that we should work for God, really sacrifice
(once in a while) and be ready for the pat on the back which we expect.
He says that after we have done all these things, we should still say,
"We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to
do." (Luke 17:10.) The truth is that if we have been this kind of
servant, He Himself will come and serve us, but as soon as that
marvelous reward becomes our motive for doing anything for Him, we have
lost out on the privilege of unconditional obedience.

   Unconditional obedience is not a fruit of the flesh, or of the old
nature. So often we come to the Word of God, see what He wants us to
do, then read the promise and say that on the condition that He will
give us the promise, we will do His Will. We should do His will even if
what we will receive falls short of what we expect.

   We might bear the burden and heat of the day in sacrificial service
to Him. Then, on pay day, we will grumble if we are not rewarded more
than those who, we feel, have not merited nearly as much reward as we
(Matthew 20:1-16) However, most of us who read that parable think those
earlier laborers were justified in their complaint. They had worked
harder. They had done more than the others. It seems so unfair - yet
unfair is not a word that can be used when there is unconditional
obedience.

   Unconditional - what a hard word! Certainly having done certain
things I now have certain rights, but that is denying the obedience
being unconditional. If I obey Him, am I not entitled to the headlines,
the praise, the glory? Am I not entitled to see some success? Many of
us are hard workers as long as success is on the horizon, but we faint
in the way when we cannot see any reward for our sacrificial labor. It
has been said that sacrifice for someone else is relatively easy when
there is reciprocated love and gratitude, but God wants us to be
willing to sacrifice for Him and others when there is no promise of
immediate payment. We do what we are bidden to do. If he blesses and
rewards, so be it. But if He does not bless, it is still our duty to
unconditionally obey. All that is within us as human beings rebel
against this; that is why a true disciple must die to himself to follow
Christ.

   Implicit faith is not natural to our fallen nature, but it is an
absolute requisite for following Him. How can we pretend to follow if
we do not completely trust the One we are following? Implicit faith has
two antagonists: (1) our desire to see where we are going and (2) our
desire to have other options available just in case He fails.

   It is relatively easy to follow Him when the way is through well -
lighted and pleasant scenes, when the wild beasts that would assail us
are obviously chained, and when we have sufficient resources to feel we
can make the goal. It is just human nature to feel better about a trip
if the roads are well - marked and well - lighted, if the rocks have
all been cleared off the road and if we have a spare tire and
sufficient money to pay for gas enroute. It is a tragedy that we so
often transfer these normal and justified human feelings to a walk that
is now supposed to be on entirely different premises. We would not
think of driving our car blindfolded, yet we often try to walk by faith
with our eyes wide opened. As long as we can see the goal, we will
follow - IF that goal is consistent with what others are doing. There
are circumstances in which we would not find it hard to have faith and
follow Him.

   We must learn to say, with the hymn-writer: "No matter if the way be
sometimes dark No matter though the cost be offtimes great He knoweth
best how I shall reach the mark."

   It is a fact of life that the extent of our arrival at the goal will
equal the extent of our following, and if we do not implicity trust Him
Whom we are following, how can we ever hope to arrive at the right
destination?

   "We walk by faith, not by sight", and while this should not entice
us to embark upon mad schemes that we could not possibly expect to
complete, or do foolish things and excuse them by saying we are walking
by faith. Trusting Him should have more scriptural foundations, and if
we learn to truly trust Him in these, He will guide us in any leading
that is unusual.

   The problem is that we often do not trust Him in areas in which He
has clearly spoken, and in some of the affairs of life we have provided
secondary means of achieving our goals just in case He should fail.

   He plainly said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth" and
yet it is normal for a Christian to have a savings account, sometimes
quite large, that he can call upon should his normal income fail. We do
not "Consider the lilies of the field" and we often succumb to the
brains of business men and have our churches so solvent that we are
ridiculous even to think we are doing His work by faith.

   On the other hand, we often hear of needs, imagined or real, accrued
by those "in the Lord's service" and since, we are told, these
folks/projects are being carried on "by faith", we should respond to
the stated need. One reads with wonder and nostalgia at the practices
of those who were first used by God to found faith missions . One of
their primary stands as faith missions was to tell their needs only to
God and expect an answer from God. Now we tell our needs to our prayer
partners and expect an answer from them. Christians (prayer partners)
have told me they like to have it so, because they can then evaluate
the needs that they can be used to meet. Therefore the missionaries who
refuse to walk by faith not only disobey the Lord, they rob other
Christians of the joy of being led by the Spirit in their giving and
make them lazy Christians. The Christian giver should learn to walk by
faith in his giving, even as the "givee" should learn to trust the Lord
in his asking.

   I just received a very attractive "prayer folder" from a couple
going overseas with a reputable mission. On the first page it said this
mission is a faith mission, and on page 9 the needs were listed so that
this couple's missionary project would be possible. Without reference
to monthly support, the needs totalled over $7,000. Can you imagine the
Apostle Paul, responding to the man of Macedonia and teling him that he
will be in Macedonia as soon as the churches in Asia Minor provided him
with a means of transportation, rent for a meeting room, audio-visual
equipment, 15,000 tracts and pledges for his monthly support? What is
the difference?

   Modern missionaries are following a prescribed plan (which has
ALWAYS worked???) of how to be a missionary and what one needs to be a
missionary. ("I couldn't possibly be a missionary without a car,
Lord.") Then they are trained to solicit funds for these things from
Christians who are too lazy to pray how their money should be used, too
stingy to really sacrifice, and too business - like to invest "their
money" in anything that does not guarantee results.

   We have sadly inherited a hundred years of degenerating missionaries
thinking and have produced a brand of missions that neither exalts or
follows Christ, and we have resigned to oblivion or nostalgia that
missionay that has a heart for faith missions that once fired men of
God of the past to venture on God alone.

   Hudson Taylor insisted on a pure "faith missions" concept for all in
the old C.I.M. When speaking at a church, he would often refuse gifts
lest they had been given purely out of an emotional feeling. He would
instruct the giver to go home and pray and then send the money if the
Lord told him to. (Was he crazy? How would he ever hope to get to the
field like that?) In areas where taylor had every right to remind folks
of financial obligations, he chose rather to let the Lord remind them
and receive from His hand.

   C.T. Studd gave many thousands of pounds away (a tremendous fortune
in those days) so that he would be able to live by faith - and he
endured "as seeing Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27). Rees Howells,
called by God to go overseas but without the train fare to get to his
port of embarkation, so implicity trusted God that he stood in line at
the ticket window in the railway station because that is where he would
have stood if he had the money, and he might as well have had it in his
hand, for God had promised to send him overseas. And God did provide.

   Such wonderful, exciting stories are these. How we read them and
ooze with a warmth that tells us God did such great exploits through
these men. How we admire their faith! Then we are somehow content to
slip back into the old paths of our present - day, highly mechanized,
faithless "exploits" for God, trusting everything but the raw Hand of
God to meet our need.

   There is nothing wrong with a missionary honestly answering
questions directed to him about his financial needs. We don't want to
produce a super - spiritual cult that has its head so in the clouds
that our humanity is forfeited. But we certainly want to come apart
from the face of modern faith missions and learn to trust Him. We also
have to be careful that the needs we mention are not desires, but
needs. Do we need a car to be a missionary, or do we desire a car. Paul
minded to go afoot from Troas to Assos, but it would be too much to ask
me to cover all those miles without a car. Maybe covering all those
miles is not God's will - you might be in the center of His Will if you
were to walk a mile rather than drive one hundred.

   This comes close to home, too. If a present - day pastor came out of
his home in the morning to find his car destroyed, would he spend the
day in prayer, study and witnessing to his neighbors; or would he
frantically run around trying to compensate for his loss of wheels and
imagine that he must keep to his busy schedule to be in the perfect
Will of God?

   But can we heap blame on missionaries who are only doing what they
have been told is the norm for missions. The lack of trusting God is
not only present in full - time workers; it is in almost every believer
and church.

   Today is a great day to have insurance of every kind. One could not
fault the concept of life insurance, for that is a provision for
dependents left behind, who would have otherwise been supported by our
labor. It is not selfishly motivated, it is not the result of being
unable to trust God to meet our needs, nor does it profit the owner of
the insurance policy. One could as well speak against having a job to
make an honest living.

   But what of other types of insurance? Can we scripturally justify
these? Can we make a decision between health insurance and trusting
God? Must we put ourselves in the position that whatever happens to
ourselves or our property, we are covered? Does not this rob God of His
position as being the One who safeguards His people and rob us of
learning to trust Him? Is our life on this earth geared around the
protection of the few paltry possessions we have accumulated, or is our
life taken up with knowing, trusting and following Him? Is "a piece of
the rock" better able to take care of me than the "Rock of Ages"? Do we
maintain, for our cars, the minimum insurance required by law, or do we
make sure that if our car is destroyed, stolen or wrecked we have an
insurance company into whose good hands we place ourselves - and
thereby never knowing the security of the Everlasting Arms? What of our
old age? We may never have an old age and if we do, I trust by then we
will have learned the lessons of faith that will keep us constantly in
His care.

   As we apply these practical truths to every day living, should not
this concept of total surrender, unconditional obedience and implicit
faith govern all we do? How about the speed limit? "Well, Lord, I know
the law says 55 and I know I should obey the law, but I have a lot I
want to do for you today, so I will just go 60 - or 65 - or 70; anyway,
I'll just keep up to the stream of traffic."

   Are we not thus saying, "I know I should obey, because obeying the
law is obeying Jesus, but I probably won't get caught (Romans 13:5) and
my time is so important." Is my time as important as I think? Is not
obeying Him more important?

   Suppose some Bible characters had walked so little by faith? Paul,
with the viper on his hand, would summon the doctor with whom he had
insurance rather than shake the viper into the fire to demonstrate
God's Power. Epaphroditus would be thankful for his hospitalization
policy rather than God's mercy. Believers would take the spoiling of
their goods joyfully because they had a good insurance policy. Yet we
claim to be New Testament Christians! What frauds we are.

   **************************

   When the Christian who was later martyred in Ecuador by the savage
Auca Indians said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain
what he cannot lose" he captured much of the genius of true Christian
discipleship.

   Many Christian homes have this motto displayed prominently, but in
how many of us does our life - style just as plainly say, "I don't
believe it." You do not become a spiritual follower of Christ by
displaying Jim Elliott's motto, or even by agreeing with it. You can
only be a true follower by following Him, and living out that fact by
proving by your actions and motives that things which are eternal are
more important than anything temporal. This includes your possessions,
your popularity, your family, your very life - and it is only when we
get all these in heavenly perspective that we can really begin to
understand what He meant when He said, "Follow Me." He then pointed the
way we are to follow, which is down instead of up, and gave us His Word
that, in His good time, the result would be glorious.

   "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in
Heaven."

   God does give earthly blessings, but these are never the goal of the
truly spiritual person.

   God gives us things to enjoy, but the loss of these things which
could not last anyway should not cause us any undue grief. I have a car
that the Lord gave me, and which I appreciate. One day that car (if the
Lord tarries) will end up in the junk yard and become scrap metal to
make new cars. When that happens, if I need a car, it will be God's
responsibility to provide. If it happens pre - maturely and I come out
one day to find my car destroyed by fire or stolen - and I am convinced
that it is absolutely essential for me to be 500 miles away that night,
it is God's responsibility to work out some way for me to get there. He
got Philip from the Ethiopian desert to Azotus without an automobile.
So many times we have alternate achemes ready in case something
terrible should happen, because we feel "successful" people are never
the victim of circumstances, but always figure out some way to rise
above circumstances. Such a thought indicates a "going up" syndrome and
not being willing to follow Jesus because that doesn't seem successful.

   It is nice to be popular, but how many of us preachers would be
quite willing to preach the message He gives us, leave the results
entirely with Him, and then have to face a hundred glum faces as the
folks who objected to our sermon left the church without even a
handshake. We don't preach to be popular, but it sure helps sometimes.
And it should - human encouragement is often used by God for our
benefit. But we still must not feel defeated if only One Person in the
Universe approves of our message.

   Even our families, as essential as it is for us to have them on a
high scale of priority, must never stand between us and our walk with
God. Gianovello, the great Waldensian leader, when faced with the
venomous wrath of the Duke of Savoy, once faced a difficult decision.
The Duke had captured his wife and children and threatened to burn them
alive unless Gianovello capitulated. His reply was that, while he
dearly love his family, he must commit them to the Lord. If the Duke
caused them to go through the fire, it would but destroy their bodies,
and their souls would be safe with God. His faith was rewarded, and
they were released - but if not, said noble Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego, be it known to you we will not surrender our faith to you.

   They loved not their lives. Because of the God - given inbuilt
instinct of self-preservation, this is the ultimate. We all look
forward to Heaven, but no one wants to go today. It is extraordinary
faith that captures the reality of being with Christ as far better. We
should desire to live as long as He gives us breath, but we must not be
so in love with our life on earth that we go to any extreme to
safeguard it and leave little energy for the work of the Kingdom.

   However, we must be willing to use whatever safeguards to our lives
that God provides and not go to silly extremes like some cultists that
refuse some valid medical means of healing that was provided by God.

   What do we read as the bottom line? We are human, human, HUMAN. Such
living is beyond my scope as a person, and the very walk of faith is
impossible. My flesh will always seek to impose conditions on Him, and
total surrender is so final. As frail people (and He knoweth our frame)
we always fall short. Yet that persistent but still Voice of our
Beloved continually comes to our hearts. "Follow Me."

   Copyright to this article is held by Christians Evangelizing
Catholics. You are allowed to reproduce this article only in its
entirety and without any additions or deletions. This article
originated on S.O.N.
