WHO IS A GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT?
Sunday, May 07, 2006 – AM
By Pastor Jim May
James 1:22-25, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
As I read this scripture I was reminded of something that I heard a long time ago. Every church consists of people who are in all stages of spiritual growth and maturity in their walk with the Lord. Today I think that we will look at a few of the types of people that we run across and see where we might fit into this picture.
I might add that not only do we see these folks in the church. If you look closely, you will recognize these same types of people wherever you go because they are always the same whether it is on the job, at home or shopping in the mall.
In times past I have taught some of you about personality differences by explaining to you about the mannerisms and behavior patterns of those who are sanguine, melancholy, phlegmatic and choleric. Those were interesting to me to say the least and knowing those characteristics that are part and parcel of these four basic personality types will often help you in dealing with them on an every day basis. Maybe sometimes it would help us to review them again.
But this morning, I’m not going to go into those types of personalities because what I want to show you incorporates all of them. No one type of personality is better than the other. All of them have strengths and weaknesses.
You can serve the Lord and be a soldier of the cross, no matter what you personality is like, as long as you commit your life to Jesus and obey the Word of the Lord. Of course you personality will have a lot to do with the work that you will do because it is all meshed together.
Today I want to show you 5 types of people who are in the church. There are 5 types, but only one of them will ever hear the Lord say those words that we all want to hear found in Matthew 25:21, "… Well done, thou 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."
Only one of these types will ever accomplish anything great in their work for God. And only one type will ever know what it means to step out in faith and find that God is always waiting when they take that step out of the safety of the boat and into the waters of uncertainty in life, knowing that it’s either go all the way with Jesus or sink into absolute defeat.
The 5 types of people are what we will call - Wishers, Talkers, Dreamers, Dabblers and Doers.
First, lets talk about the DREAMERS AND WISHERS
A wisher is one kind of person that I really see a lot of in the church. They are the kind of people who always seem to have a far away look in their eye and they want things to happen but nothing ever does.
It’s like they are staring off into the vast expanse of the universe on a clear night and you hear them say, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. How I wonder where you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Wish I may, wish I might, just have this wish I wish tonight.”
How many of you said that when you were a kid and you really did want something but knew it seemed impossible? It’s fine to live in a fantasy world when you’re young and immature, but there came a day when you had to grow up and face reality. You had to learn that nothing comes by wishing. Dreaming YES, but wishing NO!
Dreamers are the reason that we have most of the things we have. Dreamers thought of cars, planes, ships and everything else you enjoy in life. Somewhere in the heart and mind of a dreamer everything around us had a beginning, even in the mind of the greatest Dreamer of them all, Almighty God. One day in eternity past God began to dream of having a creature that would serve Him, love Him, and desire to be with Him simply because that creature would realize that God is a loving, caring, merciful and great God. In that moment of thought, our wonderful Lord devised creation of the universe and man to serve Him and finished His plan of salvation so that we could be with Him for eternity to come.
In the unending expanse of eternity, God carved out a space and called it Time. It began with the Creation and ends at the establishment of His eternal kingdom. That’s when God’s dream will be fulfilled. Forever those who choose to meet his criteria for entrance will be with the Lord in a beautiful place called Heaven.
I believe that Time is about to come to its end. That little space that God carved out of eternity will go back into eternity and we will live on forever and ever. What a great God we serve.
So being a Dreamer is the problem. God loves Dreamers and there are numerous times throughout the Bible where God gives dreams and interpretations of dreams to his people.
A Dreamer is someone who not only thinks of something, but then does something to make that dream come true. Those who think of things but never do anything to bring them into reality are called “Wishers”.
Wishers sigh and cry, but they never try. They know there’s more to living the Christian life than they are experiencing, but they will not do anything to change the way they are and they will never experience God’s best.
They wish things would change all but they aren’t willing to change. Do you remember what I have said about this being the height of insanity?
They wish they had a better prayer life, but they will not get up earlier, or go to a church prayer meeting. They refuse to apply enough discipline to their lives to even find their own place and time to pray every day.
They wish that they had a better devotional life but they just never find the time to open their Bibles except during Church.
They wish they could lead a lost soul to Jesus, but they never quite get around to sharing their faith.
They wish the church had more ministries to offer to draw in the people, but they just don’t have the time or desire to be a part of that ministry.
Somehow I believe that these folks are going to just wish their way into Hell too. It doesn’t help to only dream and wish of getting close to God and being an obedient servant. You have to act on that dream and actually get involved in bringing it to pass. You have to do something to make it happen.
The second types of people that we really see a lot of are called TALKERS.
Talking heads are everywhere. People love to talk, especially about themselves. Their only challenge is to get someone who cares enough to listen to what they have to say. After all, they are the authority on everything, no matter what the subject matter is.
Just a day or two ago I was coming out of the Post Office when a reporter from the Morning Advocate stopped me to see if would give him an opinion on something that he though was important. It was a kind of “man on the street” interview. He showed me his column in the paper and I saw the faces of four people who had given their opinions.
All I could think about was that my picture would be on that page and Lord knows what I would say without having time to think about it. There it would be, my picture, Pastor Jim May, with his opinion on taxes or politics or the war in Iraq or the way that FEMA handled the hurricane disasters, or the way the Red Cross gave out millions of dollars to people who didn’t deserve it. I decided very quickly that it would be best to keep my opinion to myself under those circumstances. It wasn’t a good way to allow myself to be seen by the public. Some would think I was right. Some would think I was wrong. Some would think I was an idiot. And the rest wouldn’t care.
And I learned a long time ago, the hard way, that it’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re a fool than to open to open you mouth without thinking and prove them right.
Another thing is that I know I am opinionated. I can’t help it. When I see so much evil in the world and so many people making decisions and passing laws that are diametrically opposed to the Word of God in the Bible, I can help but be opinionated against it. I know that most of what I believe, and most of what I say, will not sit well with the world. People don’t care to hear the truth anymore. The world hates God and those who are God’s. Why give them more ammunition to use against you?
Opinions are like noses, everybody has one. If all the world hears is another voice talking it won’t make a difference. Now if they want me to tell them what the unchanging Word of God says about an issue, then that’s something else because when God speaks all of Creation will hear.
Some folks are Talkers just because they like to dominate the airwaves. You couldn’t get a word in edgewise with a sledgehammer, and even if you did, they wouldn’t hear it, because they are too busy thinking of what they want to say next.
Some folks are Talkers because they can’t seem to help it. It’s like their tongue has a direct drive attachment to their brain and every thought, no matter how often it comes, or what it is about, must be spoken forth or their brain will strip a gear or something.
Some folks just can’t stand “Dead Air Time”. I suppose they think that they are “On The Air” and if no sounds are being heard, perhaps Time will cease to exist, so they fill the air with their own voice just to keep the universe going.
Talkers just like to blab and gab all the time. On the CB radios, when I had one years ago, we referred to them as “Motor Mouths” because they kept the channel tied up and no one else could do anything about it. Talkers are always telling, always telling somebody something; talking about what they’d like to do, or what they have done, or what they’re going to do.
The problem is that Talkers are always going to do something but never seem to really do anything but talk about it. They often get people stirred up, fired up and excited (especially me when they talk about getting involved in ministry) but then they leave you hanging out on the end of a rope somewhere.
Talkers usually end up jumping from church to church because folks usually catch on to them after awhile and stop listening so they have to find a new ear to bend.
If you’re going to talk the talk, then you need to walk the walk.
Talkers are going to still be talking when they stand before God and are cast into Hell. Only Walkers are going make it Heaven. Don’t tell me about it – do something about it! Prove your words through your actions! Actions speak much louder than words!
The next type of person I want to tell you about are called DABBLERS.
Dabblers like to start projects, going from one thing to the next, but they never finish anything they start. Like a person who dabbles in painting, it’s not a commitment, it’s just and interest.
Some of you here are pretty good artists. How many paintings have you begun that you didn’t finish? I’m sure there are some because sometimes the painting just doesn’t work out the way you want it to. But sooner or later you have to finish a picture, or a portrait, or you can never really claim to be a painter at all.
Some of you may be a different kind of painter, or carpenter or some other trade. But I can tell you that you won’t have much work if you never finish a job and pretty soon the Law will be after you for defrauding your customers. A painter isn’t a good painter if he doesn’t finish the house, trim and all. A carpenter isn’t a good carpenter until the house is finished. A gardener isn’t a good gardener until all the plants are healthy, the grass is mowed and all the weeds are gone.
Do you remember those words to the servant that we read in Matthew? The master called him a, “good and faithful servant”. He was good and faithful only because he wasn’t a dabbler. He finished the work set before him. He completed the assigned task. He fulfilled his duties faithfully to very end. Only then was he able to receive a reward for his labor to his master.
Too many people dabble in ministry and dabble in serving God. They start ministries but never see them through. When the going gets tough, they bail out and head for greener pastures. When things don’t go right, they automatically assume that God is telling them to move on and quit their assignment. They never really accomplish anything worthwhile.
They seem too forget very quickly that it is not God’s will that they bail out and destroy ministries that He has begun in them. It isn’t God who tells them to run and leave behind a lot of hurt people in the body of Christ. Satan is the enemy who desires to destroy the church, kill ministries and hurt God’s people. Far too many Christians are just Dabblers.
Dabblers aren’t going to make it into Heaven either, and they will never be called good and faithful servants, because they are serving the wrong master. They are serving self, and by default, they are serving the devil. Who is your master right now?
The last type that I want to talk to you about is the DOERS.
Doers make things happen. Doers don’t just wish about it; Doers don’t just talk about it; and Doers don’t just dream about it; they do something about it. Doers dare to act on their dreams, make their wishes come true and build ministries for the Kingdom of God.
The Doers are the ones who try to help everyone else achieve their dreams and wishes as well. Doers step out and ask to lead a Bible study. Doers don’t just listen to the Word, they obey the Word and they are the ones who are excited about what God is doing. Doers are the ones with the testimonies. Doers are the ones who bring others to church.
We are all called by God to be a Doer!
What benefits are there for being a Doer, and not just a Dreamer, Wisher, Talker or Dabbler?
Doers glorify God just by doing what they do.
1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
Doers are the happiest Christians in the Church and live a very rewarding life.
John 13:17, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."
Doers obey and fulfill God’s will and give Him pleasure.
Philippians 2:13, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
Doers receive the strength and power to accomplish great things from God.
Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
And last but not least, Doers are the most blessed people in the Church.
James 1:25, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
No church has ever grown and no ministry has ever been effective without a lot of Doers. There’s always more than enough of Dreamers, Wishers, Talkers and Dabblers, but there’s always a shortage of real Doers.
I pray that you will consider this Word from the Lord this morning and that those who are not Doers of God’s Word will choose to begin to do God’s will today.
