gospel

A Minister’s Calling

On Wednesday evening, November 19 at Mud Creek Baptist Church , we will ordain two men into the gospel ministry—Nathan Byrd and Brian Gordner. I have had the privilege of serving with them on multiple occasions. Most notably, we were in Kenya together earlier this year building homes, sharing the gospel, and experiencing God in powerful ways. I’m nearly as convinced of God’s call on their lives as I am of his call on my life.

In thinking about their ordination service, I was reminded of my own. My uncle, James Hefner preached and Todd Edmiston gave the charge. I’ll never forget being admonished by them both to take my calling seriously and to fulfill it faithfully. I’ve never forgotten the encouragement, challenge, and benefit of my ordination experience.

In some ways, being ordained, called, and set apart for the gospel ministry can be boiled down to Paul’s demand of Timothy in his first letter to the young pastor: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). In this clarified command Paul warns that ministry failing occurs with regard to one’s character or his doctrine. In the final part of the verse, Paul is not talking about spiritual salvation in the sense that good ministry will save ourselves or others, but rather he is making the point that preaching the saving gospel message is intricately connected to the minister’s life and message. A failure in character can result in a diminished gospel influence in our ministry. A serious flaw in our doctrine can dilute or distract from the message of the gospel.

Paul’s admonition is important. Character counts. Doctrine is vital. The basis for both is found in the Bible. As ministers, we should dissect our doctrine by the Word of God, but not just allow the Bible to be an academic or theological text. God also intended (and maybe more importantly), the Bible to reform and correct us. God’s Word is our guidebook, our manual for living that shows us our sin and the gospel solution to our sin.

Idolatry, Covetousness, and the Gospel Solution

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I recently completed a study in my Sunday School class on the 10 Commandments titled “Rules for the Rescued.” God rescued his people from the land of Egypt and gave them the commandments to distinguish them from the pagan nations of Canaan. Both the first and last commands address the heart or the attitude of the redeemed child of God. The commands are found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. The first command, “Have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3; Deut. 5:7) highlights the importance of recognizing the unique nature of God himself. He is the only God, and therefore no other god (idol) should ever exist in his place. The final command, “Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21) highlights covetousness as the foundational attitude that forms the basis for many other sins.

These two attitude commands are the basis for the rest of the commandments as we relate to God and to others. Rejecting the attitude of idolatry by worshiping God alone is of primary importance. Obeying command #1 protects us from disobeying God in making idols, taking his name in vain, and breaking the Sabbath day (commands 2-4). Rejecting the attitude of covetousness is central to treating others respectfully. Obeying command #10 protects us in relation to honoring our parents, not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, and not being dishonest (commands 5-9). Addressing these attitude rules by focusing the heart on correct worship and redeemed desires is the first way in which we deal with sinful actions.

Interestingly, Paul in his letter to the Colossians identifies covetousness with idolatry (3:5). I believe his point is that covetousness is the attitude that forms the basis for idolatry. Examples follow. When we desire something with so much passion that we steal it, we have made it an idol replacing God’s promise of provision. When we obsess over some condition, quality, or possession such that it controls our thoughts we engage in covetousness that is really idolatry (wanting or worshiping something more than God). The attitude of covetousness is actually replacing God as the central figure and focus in our lives. Modern day idolatry is generally not exhibited in bowing down to some graven statue, but rather replacing God (who alone is worthy of our total attention, love, devotion, obsession, and worship) with something, someone, or some dream.

And how in the world do we hope to address our failure to obey these rules (primarily the two that deal with the attitudes of our heart—coveting and idolatry)? Do we focus ourselves more severely to obey the commands? Do we set up more rules for ourselves as fences to make sure we are not breaking these commands? No, I believe our flaws in keeping the rules have been tried and have consistently fallen short throughout the history of God’s people. How we learn to keep these rules is actually not ultimately through our own efforts. We learn to keep them by applying our rescue and redemption (the gospel) to our lives on a daily basis.

God did not give Israel these rules nor does he give them to us as prerequisites to becoming his people. He gave the rules because we ARE his people. Redemption preceded these commands. Rescue came before the rules. The rules are not meant to MAKE us God’s people; rather they are meant to REFLECT us as God’s people. So when you come face to face with your own covetousness and idolatry (as I have done during this study), apply the gospel to yourself.

  1. Recognize that God is your holy Creator and Redeemer and that he has every right to expect perfect holiness from you.
  2. Repent of your sinful attitudes and actions as you view them in light of God’s holiness (which are displayed in the commands).
  3. Receive God’s gracious forgiveness by means of the cross of Christ.
  4. Renew your commitment to live in obedience as a reflection of your salvation not a means to it.

Sounds a lot like when you received Christ for the very first time, doesn’t it? It should. Our growth process, especially when identifying and dealing with our sin, flows from applying the gospel to our daily lives.