You Probably Just Didn't Know: Consistency Is The Key To Spiritual Strength

Through the years I've known a number of minor league professional hockey players. Some of them were more skilled than others. Some were smarter than others. A few were even stars in minor league circles. But none of them made it to the National Hockey League, the major league of professional hockey.

What's the difference between minor league and major league? Each said the same thing, "Consistency." The guys who play at the major league level are able to play at very high levels every single day. The minor leaguers confess that they're able to play at major league levels only on occasion. They simply lack the ability to play at a high enough level every day. The result is they play for hundreds of dollars while their major league counterparts play for millions. They ride in buses while their major league counterparts fly in private or chartered jets. They get a few bucks to eat on each day while the major leaguers get hundreds. It's an enormous difference.

Did you know that the same thing is true in the church? Maybe you never stopped to consider the difference between being strong and devoted - to being weak and indifferent.

Generalizations are often incorrect, but allow me a few of them for the sake of provoking thoughtful consideration of living a more righteous life - a more consistently righteous life.

Not all weak Christians are weak all the time. They're just weak most of the time. They neglect to do what they should much of the time. Sometimes they're strong. Sometimes they're devoted. They simply are unable to make up their mind (yes, it's a choice they make - it is not God's fault, it's not the Church's fault) to be strong every single day. Spiritual strength is only momentary for them.

Certainly some weak Christians are weak all the time. They're barely hanging on to any connection to the Lord's Church. They attend worship only on Lord's Day mornings, and think nothing of forsaking that every now and then. We can only assume their private lives are just as inconsistent. Their devotion is lackluster. They never experience spiritual strength.

Unlike hockey, which relies on physical skills and a brain trained to play the game at a high level, living the Christian life is really about choice. Typically, weak Christians have simply not yet made up their mind that they'll live for the Lord every single day. Some days they will, but just not every day. They're like the minor league hockey players who just can't seem to perform at a high enough level consistently. Except, their failure is by choice!

Every accountable person can live faithfully for the Lord. There are no exceptions. That means, there is no excuse! It requires choice and determination. The Bible calls it repentance - changing your mind, and changing your life. Luke 13:3 gives us two distinct options: repent or perish. We get to decide which one it will be.

Examine any congregation of the Lord's Church and you'll see a core group who are determined to faithfully serve. They're present at every worship service. They do all the visiting. They conduct all the worship services. They take care of the things that are vital for the ongoing work of the local church. They serve week in, week out. They are dependable. The congregation could not function properly without them. In that 80/20 rule, they're the 20% providing the 80% of the work done.

What makes them special? Why are they the ones who do most of the work? Is there something special about them? Do they possess some superhuman qualities unavailable to the rest of us?

No. They are people who have made up their minds that righteousness is going to be the rule of their life. They are determined to put God first in everything. It's a choice every person can make. Every accountable person is capable of being a major league Christian, performing obedient service toward God consistently. Some simply choose to remain in the minor leagues, rising only occasionally to major league levels. For whatever reason they find it more conducive to live the way they want. Major league Christianity (is there really any other kind?) demands too much sacrifice for them. The price is too high in this life. Sadly, eternity demands an even higher price.

You Probably Just Didn't Know: YOU Need The Church More Than The Church Needs You

Every congregation rightfully urges all the members to faithfully attend the services. We often talk of how needed people are at the services, and in the Lord's work. And that's right. But it's not the most urgent reason why people should attend all the services of the church, or be a working part of a local congregation.

The fact is, the Church will always do more for us than we can ever do for the Church. Did Noah do more for the ark, or did the ark do more for Noah? Well, without Noah the ark wouldn't have been built, right? Are you sure about that? Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord Jehovah, but if not Noah somebody else may have obeyed and built the ark. God architected the ark. Noah was merely God's instrument. God rewarded Noah and his family for being His instruments.

And so it is with the Church. God engineered it. Christ died to establish it. You and I make it up. We're God's instruments in the Church. If we leave it, others will fill our place. The church will continue until God sends Christ to claim the faithful - who, like the passengers of the ark, will all be found faithfully serving INSIDE the Church. The truth is, there will be faithful people serving inside the Church whether we do or not.

Certainly, the Church could use the talents we all bring. Certainly, the body of Christ in your local congregation is made better if every member is properly in place and hard at work. However, the Church goes on, but spiritual lives cannot survive without the Church.

The fact is, YOU need the Church much more than the Church needs you. That's not to minimize the value or benefits we each provide the body of Christ. We are indeed many members yet we make up one body. And we certainly are more powerful together when we all stand in our place. But if we fail to take up our place, somebody else will fill the gap.

Sure, the workload on others may be increased because of our neglect, but the work must go on. Sure, the work may grow more discouraging because of our unreliability, but people will overcome that and press on. Sure, other men may have to fulfill multiple roles during the public service because of our failure to show up, but the worship will still go on. Week after week the Lord's work is getting done because of the faithful few who have made up their minds to join themselves to the work. Like all areas of human endeavor, the few seem to do the work of the many.

The hard fact is, the Church can move forward without us - perhaps not as efficiently, but it will move on. However, none of us can move toward Heaven without the Church. If we fail to join ourselves faithfully to a local congregation - a congregation where we can be counted on to attend the services, a congregation where we're held accountable, a congregation interested in us and concerned about us, a congregation where we're concerned with helping others - then we risk Heaven.

The scriptures don't teach us to be members-at-large, but too many Christians want to roam from congregation to congregation so they can avoid responsibility. They don't want to be accountable. They don't want to be part of the work. So they neglect it, and avoid it. The Church isn't improved by that, but worse yet - their lives aren't either. Sadly, they think that by "going to Church" somewhere - they're working for the Lord.

Brethren, it's not about numbers or any other man-made barometer of strength. It's about OUR NEED for what the Church provides - namely, salvation! The objective is ever before us, Heaven! The goal of every local congregation should be to do everything possible to help each member of that congregation reach Heaven. That work is made increasingly difficult when members neglect and avoid their individual responsibilities to the Church.*

*And I must point out here - our neglect is sometimes aimed at men. Somebody preaches something we don't like, somebody says something we disagree with, somebody doesn't speak to us, somebody does something that makes us angry and we begin to shrink back, but it's the Lord's Church - not those people - who suffer. It's our soul that suffers, not those people.

Maybe you didn't know how important the local congregation is to your future destiny. Maybe you didn't know the burden you put on others when you're not where you should be. Maybe you failed to realize that being in place, and doing your part, helps the Lord's Church be everything she should be. Maybe you neglected to consider how important you are to the Church, but maybe you failed even more to realize how important the Church is to YOU.

The Lord died for the Church. He "gave Himself" for the Church. It's fitting and proper that we give ourselves to the Church, too. In Christ is where all spiritual blessings are found. To be in Christ is to be in His Church. You cannot faithfully serve God unless you are faithfully serving Him inside a local congregation.

You Probably Just Didn't Know: By Words (How Mickey Mouse Teaches Our Kids To Cuss)

This begins a series entitled, "You Probably Didn't Know." These will be short, concise snippets of things you may have not considered before - and things you may have not known before.

Many Christians ignorantly use by-words (slang words used in the place of the actual words) without understanding what they're saying. This was brought home to me recently when my daughter commented how she couldn't let her boys watch Mickey Mouse because Mickey uses LOTS of by words that she didn't want her boys to hear (and possibly mimic). I told her that we never allowed her to watch it when she was a child. Mickey has always been a potty mouth.

Gee

Origin: 1890–95, Americanism; euphemism for JESUS

Gosh

Origin: 1750–60; euphemistic alternative of GOD

Golly

Origin: 1840–50; euphemistic alternative of GOD

Darn
Origin: 1775-85; –verb (used with object)- to curse; damn

Doggone

Origin: 1850–55, Americanism; perh. from dog on it! euphemistic alternative of God damned

Jeez
Origin: 1920–25, Americanism; euphemistic shortening of Jesus

This isn't an exhaustive list, but it should suffice to get you to think about the words you use.

Christians should have speech that more pure than Mickey Mouse.

*All information is from dictionary.com, but the origins are without controversy. Most terms are equal to using the Lord's name in vain. Serious infractions against the Creator. Certainly something no Christian should ever do.

The Pangs of Guilt

We don't use the word "pang" today. It's an old 15th century term that means "a brief piercing spasm of pain or a sharp attack of mental anguish."

2Cor. 7:10 "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

Godly sorrow is the pain we feel when the Gospel convicts us, shows us our sin and compels us to decide to change. Without it, we'll never make it to heaven. Every person needs godly sorrow in their life. Every person needs correction sometimes.

Sadly, most sorrow isn't "godly." It's the sorrow of the world. It's regret that we've been found out. It's regret that the Gospel convicts us and condemns us. It's sadness that we can live like we want, be left alone and avoid God's Word. The result of that sorrow is death. That's eternal death.

Judas was such a man. He felt the pangs of guilt and killed himself, making matters worse.

We all feel pangs of guilt. The question is, "What are we going to do about them? How will we handle them?"

The sinner ignores them until they go away. In time, they disappear entirely.

1 Timothy and other places speak of seared consciences and hard hearts - hearts that are no longer touched by the pangs of guilt, or by the urges of the Gospel.

Ignore the pangs long enough and they go away. But that's not a place where you want to be IF you seek heaven. You want the Gospel to make you feel guilty...guilty enough to do something positive about it. Unlike Judas, the Gospel Truth should compel you to devote yourself more fully to God by finding the remedy for your sin in God's Word.

Measure the pangs of guilt in your life?

Has it been a long, long time since you felt the pangs of guilt? Then you need to take emergency action. You need to spend as much time with God's Word as possible. You need to pray often. I'd strongly encourage you to fast for a few days as you consider spiritual things. You need to repair your heart (your mind). God's Word can do that, but it's going to take work on your part.

What do you do with the pangs of guilt?

Many people get angry. They despise instruction, even from God's Word.

Prov. 13:18 "Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured."

The irony is that those guilty of a thing are the first offended. Which makes sense really. Their guilt is a pang - it's a sharp pain. Unfortunately, some people respond by making a decision to get mad. They avoid looking in the mirror of the Gospel to make the changes in their life that God seeks. They'd rather be mad than go to heaven.

Our best response is to heed the Truth of the Gospel, repent of our sinful behavior, confess it to God, be forgiven and work hard to improve.

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."

Will you be blessed in your deed? Or will you be resentful in your anger?

How will you deal with your pangs of guilt?

NOTE: We've neglected this blog for too long. Lord willing, with our updated website design (coming soon), we'll incorporate a new blog that will be regularly updated. Forgive us for our neglect.