Heartily and Orderly
Grady (Doc) Henley
4 Jan. 2002
INTRODUCTION:
Prov. 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him. Have you ever worked with or attempted to work an employee that was a sluggard by nature? Such a soul will indeed set your teeth on edge and cause your eyes to water. The sluggard sees nothing wrong with the way they carry out their tasks. It is first nature for the sluggard:
1. To be late for work,
2. Do less than poorly at any task,
3. Laughs at others for doing a good job,
4. Leaves early while the remainder of the work force labors unceasingly,
5. Seeks to pull the remainder of the work force down to their level.
6. Indifferent as to whether or not the assigned task is completed.
Such is the mindset of the sluggard. You can probably name more attributes that you have observed from the sluggards in your world.
Each of us that labor for the Lord must be careful so that we do not become indifferent or as the sluggard is in our service. Why is this a concern? Because it is easy to say:
"See, Lord, I tried.”
“Well, that is good enough. Ain’t nobody gonna be at church anyway.”
“I can not teach. Furthermore, I refuse to try.”
Have you heard those remarks at church? From your lips?
What we must ask and consider is how much effort have I placed in serving the Lord? Am I only going through the motions? Am I faithful to do my best? God is faithful. Are we, Heb 10:23?
Too many times the average church member thinks one must be called into the pastorate to be a minister. Such is not true. Whether we choose to admit it or not, each born again child of God is a minister. We are either good ministers or we are bad. Let us look at some of the aspects of our ministry and as we do, each of us must grade self, for according to the word of God, He is grading us.
I. WHY IS YOUR MINISTRY IMPORTANT?
This may come as a shock to you, but your ministries in the fields of the Lord are important. What you need to do is determine why and upon making such determination, you need to commence laboring more abundantly. Do you actually think God thought so much of you that He saved you so you could occupy a church pew while others labored feverishly?
Sad it is but the world sometime grasps this idea of doing a better job with each completed task with more zeal than children of God. For example movie stars and entertainers know the importance of each project being greater than their last. Each of their endeavors is designed to bring them top billing! Top billing means more money. Too many times, the saints of God are satisfied with second billing and even less.
It is OK to play the supporting role. What is not OK is to do a sloppy job at it. It is time for saints to stop giving secondary and lame excuses for their labors. The nation of Israel had that attitude. Malachi addressed it very well when he penned: Mal 1:7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. 1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
Simply stated Malachi said if the governor of the state was in town, would you set before him the lame, the crippled, and sick at a banquet in his honor? If not, then why did they offer the King of Creation the vile and detestable things? Have you considered your service unto the Lord? Is it sickly? Lame? Just getting by?
Children of God should tap into the that same concept of doing a great job, not for earthly rewards and fame, but for the simple fact that we ought to take pride in what we do for the Lord. Heartily is how the bible describes our attitude. Heartily mean sincere or cordial, earnest, enthusiastically, abundantly and thoroughly. Orderly means there is a sense of order to our labor. The church has a plan for growth, visitation, Sunday school, etc, and the pastor ensures the plan is adhered to as much as possible. There is room for deviation but the long term plan is orderly.
A. You were saved so that you could minister!
2 Tim 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, Eph. 2:10.
That holy calling from God was for the purpose of manifesting His Son; not according to our perceptions of what we thought God wanted. As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. That holy calling is His holy purpose for our lives. God has selected tasks that He wants each of us to do. Furthermore, these tasks are not to be done carelessly or with a motive that is less than giving our best.
B. You were called into the ministry!
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, Ephesians 4:1, 1 Peter 2:9-10.
As we study the life of Christ, we understand that He made of Himself no reputation, but was a servant to all. However, His role of Servant was such a one that His Master, God the Father, was well pleased in all things that He did. Jesus Christ walked worthy of His vocation. John 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Blood bought born again saints of God must have that same attitude and also walk worthy of the vocation where unto we are called. Not to please men or to give self a pat on the back. Our vocation is to magnify Jesus Christ. We are supposed to be ‘little Christ’ and as such, mediocre service is unbecoming a saint of God. Good enough seldom is.
C. You have been gifted for ministry!
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, 1 Peter 4:10.
God may not have called you to pastor a church. Your vocation may not be that of a missionary. However, you were given the free gift known as the grace of God. You are therefore qualified and gifted to dispense that which was bestowed upon you. Freely you received; freely give. That is, you will use your gift, if you are a good steward.
D. You were authorized to minister.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen, Matthew 28:18-19.
The Power that went into creation authorized you to minister. The Creator said He would never leave you nor forsake you, so why do you not minister heartily unto the Lord? Why do you not give Him your best? He gave His best to you! Do you want the best the Lord has, or will you settle for second-best?
E. Commanded to take heed to your ministry!
And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it, Colossians 4:17.
Ominous warnings are found in God’s word. These warning are there to remind us that our vocation is a holy calling and that we best take heed to the ministry wherein God has placed us. Under the Law of Moses, a lamb with spot and blemish was rejected. Under grace, throw-down service will not be accepted either. Everyone must take heed to his or her ministry. We must fill it so that we inherit a full reward.
F. Are You Prepared To Minister?
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:11-12.
Every member of the church has role wherein they must fill. Are you prepared to fill your role? Do you know what your role is? Have you thought about perfecting your role?
Teacher-Preacher-Pastor-Speaker:
1. If you are a teacher-preacher-pastor, etc. do you prepare your Sunday morning lesson the Saturday night before? If so, you started preparing six days too late. You should have started a week ago.
2. If you are a teacher-preacher-pastor, have you listened to yourself? Have you taped yourself via audio or video and then played it back and critiqued your delivery? Have you asked someone else to critique you speaking ability? How do you ever expect to improve (y)our speaking ability unless you gauge self to someone that is truly a gifted speaker? In the corporate world, this is known as benchmarking. That is, one company struggling to do better will compare themselves to the best in their fields. Upon finding where they are lacking, plans are made so that the product or output is upgraded.
3. Do you follow the three rules for public speaking: stand up, speak up, and shut up? Do you use vain repetitions? Do you drag the lessons out just to kill time? Do you speak in a monotone that puts people to sleep. Do you speak with a nasal twang that irritates those that listen? If you know you do some of these things, then what are you doing to improve your delivery?
4. Have you thought about taking some writing classes at the local college? Writing classes will assist you in keeping your train of thought flowing within context and keep you off the rabbit trails and war stories.
Usher:
1. If your ministry in the local body is that of usher, do you show the visitors around, getting them acquainted with other members?
2. If visitors have infants, do you show them where the nursery is located and acquaint them with the workers to relieve their apprehensions of leaving their child with strangers?
3. If your church has children’s church, do you show the visitors where the children are supposed to go?
4. Do you show visitors where the restrooms are located?
Singer:
1. If you sing in the choir, are you prompt at making practice?
2. Are you in the assembly area before it is time to ascend to the choir loft?
3. When you sit in the choir, are you yawning, talking, and looking bored, sleeping, tapping a book, etc?
4. Should you sing a special, do you look at the words or do you look at the audience?
5. When you sing a special do you sing a song that you like, even though it is not within your voice range?
6. Are you comfortable with the song?
7. Have you thought of taking voice or music lessons for the perfecting of the saints…
Song Director:
1. If your ministry is that of song director, are you prompt in getting the service started?
2. Do you have list of what songs to sing and in what order?
3. Do you have a plan for calling the congregation to worship? Israel had one, Num. 10:2-3.
1 Cor. 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order. When things are done as such, it is pleasing unto the Lord. Aaron was given specific instruction before he entered the Most Holy Place. Would God have been pleased if Aaron forgot to put on his priestly robes before he entered the Most Holy Place? What did God do to Uzziah for failing to follow proper order and décor? He struck him with leprosy, 2 Chr. 26:18-23. What happened to Nadab and Abihu, Lev 10 when they offered strange fire? Has God changed? Are we at the point in our service that we make a mockery of the grace of God?
G. The body of Christ needs your ministry!
You ministry plays a vital role in the context of the church family. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular, 1 Corinthians 12:27.
Every member of our physical body plays a role. We may not know 100% of its role, but it is there for a purpose. I want my heart to beat consistently and without any problems. I want my lungs to take in their full quota of oxygen. If one part of my body fails to function 100%, the remainder of the body suffers.
Even so, every member of the church body has a role and the church body needs each member to carry out their role 100% of the time or if they are unable to do their duty, they should get someone to cover for them. When one member of the local body fails to ministry at 100% of their ability, the entire body suffers.
II. A LIFE CHANGING TRUTH.
Your ministry has the potential to be a life changing truth for those that are lost. Enthusiasm can be contagious. The way we go about doing our ministry can also exhort another to do more for the Lord or to do a better job as well.
A. My Primary Identity:
2 Tim 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. I am a minister of Jesus Christ. There is no higher calling. That alone should inspire us to do the best we can at whatever tasks we are called upon to do. Full proof means just what it says. It would be a shame to make a half proof. If a person has no pride in their ministry, you cannot shame such a one into doing better.
If we have the attitude that no one special will be at church so it is OK for us to be lazy in our duty, we must remember that the third person of the Holy Trinity will be in the services. He will either be glorified or He will be ashamed.
B. Ambassador.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…2 Cor. 5:20. Webster defines an ambassador as: A diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as representative in residence by one government to another. When the ambassador of the United States is in office in a foreign country, he is the official representative of the USA. When he speaks or acts, he therefore, speaks and acts for the American people from which he received his power. If he makes a fool of himself, or does his job half-heartily, it is a direct reflection on America. What a shame for the ambassador(s) of the USA to conduct themselves in such a manner that their actions would cause a blight to pass across our nation.
As we are ambassadors for Christ, each born again child of God ministers as an ambassador for Christ. We represent a foreign country, heaven, whose builder and ruler is God Almighty. This is the highest calling we could ever hope to obtain. Shame on us for doing the job as a sluggard would.
III. MINISTRY DEMANDS DISCIPLINE.
Of all the greatest skills and assets needed for the ministry, the one that is needed more than all the others is personal discipline. Furthermore, this is one of the traits of the ministry that is the more difficult to master. Without personal discipline your labor for the Lord will become tiring and mundane very quickly. Without discipline, you will lose your zeal to be a disciple.
Discipline is a word that comes from the word disciple. Disciple means a student of or a follower of a teacher or a doctrine and helps disseminate the teachings. Whereas, discipline is the systematic and rigorous training of the mental, moral, and physical powers by instruction and exercise designed to produce an improved specific behaviors.
Did you note that the definition of discipline relates to the trinity of man: (1) mental--the spirit; (2) moral--the soul, (3) physical powers--the body. Also, the definition requires that the one who masters discipline must use exercise and effort in body, soul, and spirit. To master one and not master the other two will cause your ministry to become unbalanced.
Let us use time as an example. Everyone is allotted the same amount of time in a day. We mark off our day in segments of hours. If church begins at 10:00 AM and it takes you 15 minutes to get to church and you leave home at 9:50 AM, you are already late. Do not speed, for if you do, you violate the laws of the land. The facts are you did not use or plan your time wisely. Admit it. Now correct it!
Furthermore, being slack with your time will cause you to be slack in other areas as well such as eating, sleeping, bible study, etc. How do we know this? The bible says a little leaven will contaminate the whole loaf. Using your time unwisely in one area of your life, getting to church in an untimely manner, will affect other areas of your life as well. Prov. 18:9 He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. Discipline therefore, is a must for the ministry.
IV. ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES.
Exercising discipline in all areas of (y)our ministry will save us some heartache later. One that uses discipline will not be sluggardly in their business, Rom 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
A. You are accountable for your ministry in the fields of the Lord.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God, Romans 14:12. Have you thought of the areas wherein you already know you are lacking and made steps to improve? If not, then you ought to be preparing to give an account as to why you failed to do better.
B. You will be rewarded for ministry, Mat. 25:14-30!
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Col. 3:23-24.
The companies we labor for in our daily workday worlds, promised to give us X amount of pay for Y amount of labor hours. When we receive that paycheck, we do the math, and immediately determine whether or not we were shorted on our income, for it is one of our expectations that we get every dollar coming to us.
Do you reckon the Lord is doing the math as well? Reckon He is tallying the years we live and dividing it by hours, weeks, months, and attitude and quality of service given back unto Him? Have you ever thought that He is expecting His Blood’s worth as well from us? Are we really expecting a full reward from Him? If so, then we ought to work that way as well.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord, Matthew 25:23.
Mat 25:26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strowed:
Jesus Christ is not bodily on the earth today. He has not personally sown seed since His ascension. However, He gave the command for His disciples to commit what they learned to others, 2 Tim 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Note that Paul told Timothy to commit the same to faithful men. Men that would do what they were instructed to do. Paul said I finished my course. I kept the faith. I am ready to be offered. Thus the warning found in Mat 25:26. God expects a harvest from our labors. He did not personally sow seed in our lives. However, His living words have commanded us to be good stewards in our ministry.
Conclusion:
As we begin this new year, each of us must examine our ministry and upon examining, we must make the necessary changes. These changes must be lasting and not be as the natural man that looked into the mirror (the word of God) and saw himself as God sees him. However, instead of making changes, the natural man walked away and forgot what manner of man he was, James 1:23-24.
Illustration:
Many people purchase home exercising machines with the intent of using them to tone the body and lose weight. However, in a matter of days the exercise machine becomes a clothes rack or something that is consistently in the way. Why? No discipline. Forget about losing weight and toning the body…
We must look at our ministry and service and endeavor to make perfect that, which is lacking. In reality, it is not our ministry. It is the Lord’s. We should not be sluggardly in carrying out His command, nor should we be one that sets His teeth on edge or one that makes His eyes water as if smoke got in His eyes. Lukewarm service makes Him sick, Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
The choice is our. We can do it heartily and orderly or we can pay the consequences.
