What’s most important to you? If you were to list out the top ten most important things in your life what would be on top? You are probably wondering why I am asking such a penetrating question. The reason is that God is concerned with what we are, not just what we do. So many Christians and leaders are oblivious to the implications of the message they profess. They teach about Christian behavior, attend seminars on fighting moral evils in the community and many times even discuss the need for devotion. The biggest problem is at the same time they fail to realize that the message must be first lived out in their own lives. Let’s face it, we all have inconsistencies. It’s not enough to just look like a Christian or just wear the title of a Christian leader. The most important thing is our personal relationship with God. Leaders, of all people need to recognize this. In fact this issue was recognized by Paul and he considered it of paramount importance. In recognizing the importance of this issue Paul compared himself to an athlete in training for a sporting event. Keeping up ones relationship with God is not easy for anyone, but for a Christian leader it becomes harder yet. The leader is expected by others to be spiritual. Some times this becomes a great pitfall as a leader begins to act more spiritual than they really are. The reason behind this is to be able to keep up appearances. This was the same problem that was evident in the Pharisees. It is hard to find time for daily prayer and Bible Study as well as being difficult to find time to attend church functions besides Sunday morning. The busier you become in “church business” the less time you have available for your own spiritual development. I want to issue a warning this is not going to be an easier teaching for us to accept. In fact it might make us down right uncomfortable but in God’s view effective leadership requires total devotion.
I. We need to have a total devotion to maintaining a growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
A. Regardless of how busy you get, there still needs to be time budgeted to spend alone in God’s Word.
1. Paul’s concern was that after putting all the energy in preaching to others that he might find that he had not grown spiritually.
2. We excuse negligence of spending daily time in God’s word quite easily: “I am really involved in the Bible all the time. I prepare lessons for my class. I am in the worship service and attend Bible Study. So I really hear a lot about the Bible.”
3. Second hand Bible Study can not replace you doing it on your own.
4. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11—NIV)
5. We often live, “I have hidden your Word.” We often find our Bibles hidden under newspapers and magazines.
6. God’s Word is like medicine, it does not help unless it is used.
7. A Chinese man who became a Christian had as his motto, “No Bible, No Breakfast.”
8. Billy Graham stated that he attempts to read five Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs everyday. He says he reads the Psalms to keep right with God and the Proverbs to keep right with men.
B. We need to make our spare moments, prayer moments.
1. An older elder put it this way, “I make it a rule never to speak to a man before I have spoken to God.”
2. You will never find time for daily prayer, you need to make it.
3. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18—NIV)
4. Uninterrupted communication with God keeps temporal and spiritual values in balance.
5. A growing relationship with God was of paramount importance to Paul, our text clues us into the fact that Paul was as concerned about living the Gospel as preaching it.
II. We need to have a total devotion to the Lord’s Church and the message.
A. God has promised that He would bless the church that teaches the truth.
1. Paul was committed to presenting the whole truth to people. (Romans 1:16—NIV)
2. Have been invited to someone’s home for an evening party expecting dinner to be served and you were mistaken? You arrive only to find snacks you try to fill yourself with snacks but they do not satisfy. You leave still feeling hungry.
3. Many people today leave the church feeling that way. They come hungry for the Word of God but leave feeling hungry and frustrated.
4. The Word of God is a precious commodity that needs to the focus of the church.
5. A teacher has the responsibility of building a bridge between the spiritual world of the Bible and everyday life.
6. When we are studying a passage of Scripture we should ask, “How does this apply to me? And does this apply to those that I will be teaching.”
B. Believers need to be actively devoted to the Lord and His church because Satan is always seeking ways to cause us to grow lazy and stumble.
1. Satan seeks to turn the faithful into the faithless through temptation.
2. Sometimes we can resist temptation, but Satan doesn’t give up. He will keep changing the menu until He finds something you can not resist.
3. Many times Satan uses our own busyness to keep us from doing the things we ought to do and being in the place are ought to be.
4. It takes much more than Sunday Morning to be an effective and growing church.
5. The Lord desires that His followers become disciples, not just casual followers.
6. Do you have a passion for God? Are you hungry enough for His word that you desire to take advantage of every opportunity the church offers to become more grounded in His Word?
III. We need to have a total devotion to one another and to helping others grow in Jesus Christ.
A. A Church needs to seek to make disciples grounding each individual deeply in God’s Word.
1. There has always been the temptation to try to water down the message.
2. It is a mark of maturity when we are able to share the truth with our fellow Christians, and do it in love.
3. The nursery should not just baby sit kids: Infants can be taught Bible songs and learn to respectfully pat the Bible because the Bible is true.
4. In preschool: Don’t just play games; kids are sponges picking up everything around them.
5. In the elementary classes use all available resources to teach the Word of God.
6. In youth ministry don’t just rely on entertainment and gimmicks, teach the Word of God.
7. Provide Bible Classes and Studies for all adults and encourage them and help them discover why they need to be involved more than just on Sunday morning.
B. Every Christian should desire to be equipped and to help see that others are equipped to face the challenges of this world with a solid Biblical foundation that does not change.
1. God is not concerned about the size of our budget or our average attendance, His primary concern is faithfulness.
2. Paul saw the local body of believers ministering to each other, growing together, and thereby experiencing spiritual unity.
3. The fundamental concern for the truth is the secret of maturity in the church.
4. Paul had one great goal in life: to glorify the Lord by winning the lost and building up the saints.
5. To reach this goal, he was willing to pay any price. He was willing even to give up his personal rights!
6. He sacrificed immediate gains for eternal rewards, immediate pleasures for eternal joys.
7. Truth unites, but lies divide. Love unites, but selfishness divides. Therefore, “speaking the truth in love,” let us equip one another and edify one another, that all of us may grow up to be more like Christ.
8. Are you devoted to growing people in Jesus Christ?
It is always fascinating to read of wholehearted human endeavor--amazing stories of total dedication. For example, the U.S. Marines conduct a super-secret sniper program in Quantico, Virginia. The school admits 25 men for an eight-week course of 16-hour days. Very few pass. To graduate, each goes on a mock mission into a well-defined area where instructors search for the sniper. If they can find him, they can fail him.
To get in range of the target, a sniper may move forward at a rate of one inch per hour. He may sit for days absolutely still, despite cold, rain, insect bites, and fear. No one gets out without singleness of heart ("School for Snipers," U.S. News and World Report, 21 April 1986, p. 61). We expect that kind of intensity from Olympic champions, concert pianists, doctoral candidates, and everyone else at the highest levels of human achievements. Likewise, God expects it when we come back to Him. God deserves singleness of heart because He is God! Most of us intend to come back to God--sometime. But we fail because our intention never becomes intense.
