Measuring A Strong Christian

MEASURING A STRONG CHRISTIAN

1. INTRODUCTION

When Samuel was sent to anoint David as the new king of Israel, he learned that God’s measure of a person was different than man’s:

1 Sam 16:6,7 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the LORD.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

The same is still true ... God’s measure of a Christian is very much different than that applied by many people today.

In this message:

* We will review the measure often used by Christian Believers to evaluate one another

* And then consider what is God’s measure - which ought to be ours as well!

2. THE MEASURE OFTEN USED BY ‘THE CHURCH’

We begin with the measure often used by the church in general.

a. WE OFTEN MEASURE CHRISTIANS BY:

The amount, the volume, of activities they are involved in, within the church

* If they are involved in every activity in the church, then they must be ‘faithful brethren’

* If they are only involved in certain areas, even though these are specific to their spiritual Gifting/calling, then

they must be ‘weak brethren’

Their leadership abilities

Men are considered strong Christians if they:

* Lead worship, lead prayer, help serve at the Lord’s Supper, teach groups, particularly adult groups, preach

sermons

Women are considered strong Christians if they:

* Sing in the worship group (not to lead), teach Sunday School, organise and run women’s ministries, prepare

communion, clean the building

b. THE PROBLEM WITH THIS MEASURE

It measures the outside of people

* People can do all these things and still be spiritually dead on the inside

* ‘Hypocrites’ can exist very comfortably with such a measurement!

* Christians can remain in ‘spiritual immaturity’ if this is the only measure given to them

It tends to neglect the very nature of the body of Christ – one Body, many members (1 Cor 12:20). One danger is when the emphasis is placed on the public, up-front, functions of the church, see 1 Cor 12:22-26:

1 Cor 12:22-26 “On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.”

* A further risk happens if the emphasis is placed on one function over another, e.g. ‘teaching’ over ‘serving’ ... the ‘big’ over the ‘small;’ it is surely great to have anointed teaching, but how would you like to sit in a dirty smelly church building? ... is the ‘teacher,’ here, more important than the ‘cleaner’ – ask a visitor?) – c.f. Rom 12:3-8; 25:

Rom 12:3-8 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Also; 1 Cor 12:25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

3. THE REAL MEASURE OF A STRONG CHRISTIAN

Because of the above problems with using such measurements, there is the potential for misjudging and condemning one another. This is something we want to avoid (Jas 4:11,12). What, then, ought to be the measure of a strong Christian?

a. IT IS FOUND IN SCRIPTURES SUCH AS: