SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE (part two)
In life there are good examples and there are bad examples. We need to set a good example for the lost to see and be drawn to and for the church to see and want to follow suit. Recap: Jesus was a good example of humility and service. When he washed the disciples' feet he said he was setting an example for them to follow. We need to be willing to serve with humility and do whatever Jesus would require of us.
And Jesus was a good example of suffering with dignity. He committed no sin yet he was accused, insulted, threatened and abused. Yet he did not retaliate but let the Father handle it instead. We need to do the same when we are dealing with persecution or unjust suffering. Then we looked at some ways we can be a good example. Paul told Timothy and Titus to set a good example in the areas of speech, in life (conduct), love, faith, purity, integrity and seriousness. We need to be a good example in all these areas. Today, we'll see how Paul set a good example for us to follow.
Paul was a good example. Paul said in 1st Cor. 11:1, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." How did Paul set a good example?
He was an example of God's grace and the proper response to it.
1st Tim. 1:12-17, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
Here Paul highlights an example of God's unlimited patience, mercy and grace. Paul was once against Christ and did everything in his power to stop his influence; including having Christians thrown into prison and even executed. When Jesus appeared to Paul on the Damascus road he made it clear that what Paul was doing to his followers he was doing to him. Paul came to believe in Jesus and along with that came the true recognition of the wrongs he had committed. This disturbed him greatly and may very well have been the thorn in his flesh that he begged Jesus to deliver him from in 2nd Cor. 12:7.
But Paul wanted people to understand that if God could be gracious and forgiving and patient with someone like him, the chief of sinners, then he can be that way towards anyone. Paul wanted people to not be afraid to come to Christ. He would say, 'no matter what you've done, it's not too big for Jesus to forgive; just look at my example'. God is ready to forgive anyone of anything if they would only come to him.
And we see the example of Paul's response to this matchless grace. The first thing he says is, 'I thank the Lord'. Paul was a thankful person. He recognized the grace shown to him and was grateful. This gratitude caused him to be totally selfless and dedicated to the cause of Christ. Paul suffered greatly for the faith but he never regretted it because he knew the reward.
And he also knew how much he didn't deserve it. He cherished the love of God toward him so he responded with loving others and encouraging the church to be examples of that same love. His life was about bringing glory and honor to God through his diligent work and unwavering devotion.
Do we recognize the grace and mercy that was shown to us? Do we see how undeserving we are? This humility is what it takes to see the magnitude of God's love and patience towards us. This recognition is important if we're going to be sold out for Jesus-like Paul. Paul's story is an example of God's love and patience and his response is an example of how we should react to being forgiven and receiving eternal life.
He was hard working.
2nd Thess. 3:6-9, "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow."
Paul is commanding the Thessalonians to keep their distance from those who are not living according to the instruction they received. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul gave certain instructions regarding not being idle.
1st Thess. 4:11-12, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."
In 5:14, Paul urged the brothers to warn those who were idle. Paul wanted them to lead a quiet life; a life of integrity and morality. A life that doesn't get caught-up in chaos and drama. He wanted them to mind their own business. He wanted them to be busy-not busybodies. And that's one of the things idleness produces. Instead of being productive with my own things, my laziness causes me to get involved with other people's business to where I'm meddling or gossiping and causing problems.
And Paul gave two positive outcomes of this positive ambition-to win the respect of outsiders and to not be dependent on anyone. If we are going to be reaching the lost, we will gain ground by gaining their respect. And one of the ways we gain their respect is by being productive and not being a burden on anyone. And when we show that we're not getting caught up in gossip or sticking our nose in where it doesn't belong we will gain people's respect.
But if we get connected with people who are idle, not leading a quiet life, not being ambitious, then that can start to affect us. We start picking up their traits and next thing you know, we are compromising and not following the right example. Paul set the right example; he didn't just teach it or command it-he lived it. We need to follow Paul's example and live a life of productivity and responsibility.
You know people who are lazy. They could be productive, they could do things for themselves, but they would rather let other people support them and do for them. And if they find such people they get comfortable and lose any incentive to do for themselves. Paul is warning against such behavior; as well as warning us to avoid those who are like that; lest we fall into the trap of becoming like them or fall into the trap of enabling them.
Paul isn't telling us to avoid trying to help them overcome such behavior but we need to quickly determine if they want to get better and protect ourselves from getting taken advantage of. Physical laziness opens the door for many negative results.
Ecc. 10:18, "If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks." If I don't keep up with the repairs my house will fall apart. If I get lazy about the regular maintenance of things they will fall apart and I will find myself in a worse situation. If I'm idle and lazy I myself will fall apart. If there's no physical activity or discipline in my eating habits then I will end up with serious health conditions.
But these verses are not just applicable in a literal sense, but also a spiritual sense. There's physical laziness and then there's spiritual laziness. Spiritual laziness opens up many destructive possibilities too. If I'm lazy in the faith I will see my spiritual house start to crumble. If I am not spiritually disciplined I myself will develop afflictions like habitual sin and apathy and a hard heart. And as the end result of an undisciplined life is not good, neither is the end result of a spiritually undisciplined life.
Heb. 6:7-12, "Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation.
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
If we're not diligent our hope is not sure. Being spiritually lazy will lead to us losing our faith which will cause us to lose our inheritance. We need to be diligent, which is the opposite of lazy. We need to keep up with our spiritual disciplines. We can't rest on our laurels; we can't live in our old accomplishments. We can't say we've put our time in so now we can rest and coast the rest of the way. That won't work. We need to continue to be productive. We might move on from one area of service to another but we need to be active and productive.
This goes for our personal walk too. We should change it up; lest we become stagnant. Do a new study on a new topic. Perhaps you study a book you haven't looked at before. Whatever will help you to keep it fresh and exciting. These are the things that will help us to stay diligent.
And as Paul warned us to avoid those who are physically lazy, he would also warn us to keep our distance from spiritually lazy people. And for the same reason. As I could get negatively influenced by someone who is physically lazy, I can get negatively influenced by a spiritually lazy person too. So much can be determined by the company we keep. If we surround ourselves with people who are lazy it's that much easier to follow suit. But if we surround ourselves with people who aren't lazy, we'll be challenged and encouraged to do likewise.
The same goes for the spiritual company we keep. If we surround ourselves with people who don't go to church, read their bible or are spiritually undisciplined then we will be tempted to compromise. But if we surround ourselves with spiritually minded and disciplined people then we will be encouraged and challenged to be more productive in the faith.
Paul said in 1st Cor. 15:33, "Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” We need to keep our distance from those who are a threat to our well being. If they're open to change we can try to minister to them but it's a dangerous situation otherwise. Regardless, let's follow Paul's example and be productive physically and spiritually so that we can better ourselves and set a good example for others to follow.
He pressed on.
Phil. 3:12-17, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you."
Paul had not yet finished the race; he had not yet achieved his own resurrection, as the previous verses describe. Paul understood the need to persevere. He also understood the things that were working against his faith. He often correlated the Christian's walk with an Olympian's quest. Paul used physical training to illustrate spiritual training.
1st Cor. 9:24-27, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
The Christian's life is a training ground. We're striving for the prize; we are straining toward what is ahead. Paul said that in order to do these things we need to forget what is behind us. Our focus needs to be on what's ahead of us; not behind us. Satan wants to keep us stuck in the past; he wants us to go back to old behaviors, old beliefs and old ways. He wants to keep reminding us of our old failures and shortcomings.
And if we allow it to, our past hurts, failures and fears will keep us trapped in the past and unable to make any real progress. Paul knew that if he kept focusing on his past life as a persecutor of Christians then he wouldn't be able to continue to be an effective minister.
He also knew he needed to let go of his past achievements as a religious leader. That's why he said earlier in Phil. 3 that he considered all that was to his profit a loss because it didn't bring him to Christ; it didn't accomplish righteousness. That's what he now wanted most-that which held eternal value. This focus is what drove Paul-this is what he contended for and strived for. Paul also knew that his entrance into heaven was not yet taken hold of; he needed to persevere.
We need to have the same attitude and behavior. Our lives have a purpose; God has goals he wants us to accomplish. And it's going to take strict training to get there. When an athlete goes into strict training he pushes himself. It's demanding; it's exasperating. It's no easy road; there's no coasting. Even in their down time they don't get foolish. They eat right, they get enough sleep. They don't eat a lot of junk food; they don't go out partying all night. Because they know if they do they're going to suffer for it.
It's no different for us. If we want to accomplish the goals God has for us we need to be disciplined; we need to put forth the effort necessary to reach those levels of success. Because we have an enemy who doesn't rest; we have an enemy who is striving to take us down and keep us from getting to the finish line. We have the power to not allow that to happen but it isn't going to be an easy task. There will be regular battles; sometimes on a daily basis.
When a fighter loses a bout, he focuses on what went wrong and he works to correct his mistakes. Maybe he didn't take his opponent seriously enough so he didn't train too hard and he paid for it. That can happen to us. We don't feel we need to train so we become lazy. And then the enemy gives us a pounding because we weren't prepared. We can't let our guard down; we need to stay armored up. We can't take this fight too lightly. And If we lose a battle we look at where we went wrong and strive to correct our mistakes. We could give up; but that would be a big mistake.
Roberto Duran had a famous trilogy with Sugar Ray Leonard. In the first fight, Roberto won and he became a hero in his homeland of Panama. But in their rematch, Leonard threw Duran a curveball and fought him differently. He didn't fight him toe-to-toe like the first fight. He changed his strategy and used his maneuvering skills to move around and tag Duran with his jabs. Duran was angry because he wasn't able to catch him and pummel him. His frustration caused him to quit toward the end of the eighth round, telling the referee, "No Mas" which means, "no more".
Although some people still supported him back home, many of his countrymen despised him for quitting. He went from hero to zero overnight. To this day, Roberto Duran is probably best known not for his accomplishments but for the infamous 'No Mas' fight. Right or wrong, that moment of giving up had long-lasting negative consequences for Roberto.
Giving up will have eternal consequences for us too; we'll be disqualified for the prize as Paul said. If a runner quits half-way through a race he's disqualified. Even though he went into training and ran part of the race, everything changed once he got out. Roberto Duran trained for the fight with Leonard and he started the fight but because he gave up in the eighth round he was disqualified.
Paul knew the importance of strict training; he knew the importance of pressing on and straining towards what is ahead. Not that the Christian life is a struggle all the time or a constant uphill battle. But it's not an easy road either. We have to take our walk seriously because we have a serious adversary who wants to take us out. And we have a serious God who wants us to be all we can be and do all we were meant to do for him. So, when things get rough we don't throw in the towel; instead we press on.
