Answering The Call (Part II)
Consequences of Complacency
2 Samuel 11:
1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house.
And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.
God anointed David as king many years before God actually made him ruler of Israel. During those years David suffered greatly and his faith was tested. He first had to be patient and wait on God. Added to his patience in waiting for the Lord, he also was tested by the reigning king, Saul. Several times, Saul hunted David like an animal to kill him so his own son could inherit the throne. When David finally became king, the kingdom was divided and he had to wait for God to establish his throne and give the people confidence in his authority. The enemies of Israel were strong, so David's early years as king were in battle as he defeated every enemy that threatened the people.
Once the kingdom was secure and everything was going smoothly, David fell into a trap that many Christians fall into - complacency. When David had a purpose and his goal was in sight, he led the charge into battle. When David got at ease and lost focus on his goal, he no longer lead the charge. He took it for granted that God would give him these victories and he let others do the work while he sat idly. It was during this idle time that temptation crept in the door. When he should have been at the forefront, he was on the backseat without focus or a purpose. When he saw the woman bathing, he did not turn away but allowed temptation to become his new focus.
Anyone can give into temptation, but when we have no focus or direction, we become especially vulnerable to temptation. When I find my purpose in God's plan, a goal to fulfill my calling, and my passion is to fulfill that calling, my focus remains on Jesus Christ and that plan for my life. It is hard for temptation to stop me and change my direction in a way that is contrary to my goal. When I am sitting idle, anything that comes along will be of interest. One of the schemes of the devil is to catch us at the moment when we feel the lag. Many times I get focused on something and I pursue it with all my heart and God blesses my efforts. Once I accomplish my short-term goal, if I don't also have a long-term goal I will have a let down. It is these times that I am especially vulnerable. This is one reason why we see so many people get heavily involved in ministry and suddenly they quit and often drop out of church completely. They were either focused on 'what's in it for me' or they were focused on the immediate goal and have no focus on God's complete plan for their life.
Rest verses complacency
Let me stop for a moment and explain what I mean by complacency. We all need down time. Recreation time is not wasted time. Family time is not wasted time. God calls us to have a balanced life. We all need to stop and rest. It is when rest or recreation becomes our focus and the purpose we live for that we fall into trouble. God does not call us to leave our families behind; He calls us to put Him first and take our families with us. We are called to be leaders by doing so that our families can be directed by our actions and not just our words. One of the greatest ministry opportunities we can have is to disciple our kids. It is just as wrong to neglect your family as it is to make your household the extent of your focus. Look at Psalm 127:
Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
If we work our heart out to build our house and neglect the higher calling of God, it is all in vain. A house is built solid by a godly focus with an eternal perspective. A child built on the foundation of Christ will not be ashamed and even have confidence before their enemies. But we as parents have the responsibility and privilege to shape our kids and launch them toward the Lord. A crooked arrow cannot fly straight. But a child with an eternal perspective will be a disciple of Christ who will go where we cannot go and accomplish what we can't accomplish. That is the whole purpose of discipleship. The greater calling is not what I can do for God, but who can I build up to catch the vision God has given me? Children become the arms and legs of our ministry long after we are gone. They will also accomplish your calling with you and because you are not alone, the works you have been called will increase. Your works are produced in their lives and God produces fruit in both your life and theirs. I have seen many pastors and ministers who have taught their kids that God is not real by the example of their lifestyles. The live a public lifestyle differently than their home life because they view ministry as a work instead of a complete way of life. Compartmentalizing our Christian life is a complete misunderstanding of God and caused disillusionment with those closest to us.
So when I say idleness and complacency are wrong, I am not talking about being driven to use every moment in work. I believe that rest and recreation play a valid role in our life. However, a man or woman with who answers God's call to follow will not compartmentalize their life, but they work toward making every area of their life focused on the eternal goal of fulfilling God's call. We have been created with limitations. God does not want us to be driven, but led. The same God who leads me on the paths of righteousness and through the valleys is the same God who leads me beside the quiet waters and makes me to lie down in green pastures (Psalm 23). When we don't follow God's lead, our life will get out of balance and we will quickly elevate worthless things into the place of God. Going is only good if you are going in the right direction. We need our focus to be on Jesus Christ so we can follow and not just go.
Who does God use?
God uses inadequate people. We will grow as we do and we must do as we grow. It is like the rudder on a ship. If it leans only toward the right or the left, you will begin to go in circles. Instead of pressing toward the goal, you will spend your time focusing on the process and doing laps. A church, ministry, or person who neglects the word of God and neglects building a relationship with God and growing in Christ, will be solely focused on the work and nothing else will matter. How many organizations only care about numbers, or who gets credit? If you focus on studying the word and knowing Christ but you never apply it to your life and never obey God's call to follow Him and go into the world, you will begin that circular path. How many people do we know that have been in church their whole life and have no purpose? They have reached a level of growth and are just maintaining the circle. Go to church, get encouraged, go home, struggle through the week, go back to church hoping for encouragement again. How many churches teach and teach but never have an impact on their community? Their philosophy becomes 'God will bring them' even though Jesus clearly commanded to go to those in need. Churches become social Bible study clubs and people lose the concept that even sinners are a reflection of God's image and are of equal value and are in need of a Redeemer. A balance has to be there. Look at Philippians 3:
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
Paul had a passion for Christ. In Paul's life we see that he believed God. The promises of the eternal life to come was so real that Paul was willing to suffer and sacrifice anything that hindered him from obtaining that promise. You cannot have a passion until you believe something with all your heart. He also had a goal. "I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me". Paul saw that God saved him with a purpose. Waiting for the end is not our purpose, but to lay hold of the calling that God has laid before us and then has taken hold of our lives so we can fulfill it. Paul also did not look short-term. He founded many churches, evangelized many regions, wrote 2/3 of the New Testament, and labored until he was killed for His faith. It would have been easy for him to feel accomplished with any one of these works. His focus was not on his works or his ministry. His focus was on the prize that lay ahead. Each accomplishment was not an end to itself, but a step he reached for in route to the prize of standing victorious before Christ. Once he accomplished what God put before him, it became a platform by which he reached higher toward the next step. He never quit reaching for the things that were ahead with the focus of Christ and fulfilling his life-long calling.
He ended this thought by saying, let us walk by the same rule and be of the same mind. God uses our obedience to measure our faithfulness. If I obey and then feel like 'I have done my part', then I have drawn a line between me and what God is trying to do through me. When I worry about my personal ministry or my own works or let them become my sole focus, I will grow weary. I can't hold it all together and I can't produce the end result. I don't know if the results of my labors will ever be produced. God may be using my efforts to produce His work or He may allow me to fail because He is shaping my character for something that will lay ahead. The results are not my concern. Obedience is. Failure slays many people because they are looking at their works instead of the upward call.
How Do We Find Our Call?
What is our call? Jesus said, "Because you were faithful in few things, I will make you ruler over many things". Our faithfulness measures our ability to used. If I neglect my personal relationship with Christ, I am unfaithful in the basics. How can I accomplish big things if I don't have the discipline to have an active prayer life and study time? I am neglecting the basics. Jeremiah 12:5 says, "if you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you, how can you contend with the horse?" If the little things are a struggle, I am not going to the bigger things and if I can't abide, I have shown I can't run. 1 Corinthians 4:2 says, "it is required in stewards that one be found faithful". It is easy to get involved, but hard to be faithful. Faithfulness goes back to the beginning of our study. Not everyone is a teacher, in fact, James warns us not to seek to be teachers because we will receive the greater judgement. Unless God calls us to teach, we should not seek this position. It is a serious matter to teach the word because if our doctrine is flawed - even if unintentional - many others are affected by our error.
We need to find our gifts and use them. To put this into perspective, think of a Billy Graham crusade. Whose job is the most critical, the one who wires the sound equipment or the one who preaches the word? The one called to give his or her time and technical skills would not be effective preaching the message and Billy would not be effective wiring the stadium for sound. Think about all the jobs that are essential and can't go undone. Transportation, prayer teams, singing and music, wiring, planning, organizing, lodging, financing, cleaning, setting up, breaking down, cooking, serving, etc. Which one of these is expendable? If someone doesn't step up, others must fill in. Which will God honor the most, the preacher or the sweeper? It depends on their faithfulness. A faithful janitor who works from their heart will get a greater reward than an uncommitted preacher. Always keep in mind, God does not honor and reward based on our abilities, but our faithfulness. I believe it is harder to be faithful behind the scenes because people often feel insignificant. To grumble and work is not faithfulness, but to work as to the Lord is a great honor and will be rewarded. Luke 12 says,
37 "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
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42 And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
43 "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
44 "Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
45 "But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,
46 "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47 "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
It is amazing to think that Jesus promised that He would honor the faithful by serving them and rewarding them with His possessions. When it is all boiled down, the choices become clear. Do we really believe God? Do we want our reward here or in eternity? Do we want the blessing of God or the curse?
Deuteronomy 11:
26 " Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
27 "the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today;
28 "and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
Anything that holds a higher position than God is our god.
