3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. 5 For each one will bear his own load.
Christians are called to be spiritually effective – that is, we must make a gospel centered impact among our church, family, and friends. Throughout history, many saints have been spiritually effective. John Bunyan, for example, became a prolific author and pastor in his days despite his poor educational upbringing. His effectiveness as a worker of God moved even John Owen, who many believe is the greatest theologian in existence. John Owen once said that he’d “gladly trade all of his learning” if it meant that he’d gain Bunyan’s “ability to touch hearts”.
Like the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, we must also be effective spiritually. Ministry work and spiritual effectiveness is not reserved for the pastors, leaders, and those with special titles in the church. Every Christian is spiritual, because the Holy Spirit is in their hearts. If we are spiritual, we should be effective. Are you effective in the church and the ministry? If not, examine your heart for these four attitudes that causes you to be ineffective in ministry.
Pride renders us ineffective spiritually. Although every sin is despicable in the eyes of God, pride is among the sins that God hates most. While every other sin leads to guilt and shame, pride will face God and fight against Him. This is why Proverbs 16:18a reads, “Pride goes before destruction.” What causes pride in the hearts of believers? Pride swells up when we overestimate ourselves, mistakenly believing that the favor of God is merited by our good actions. Take King Uzziah, for example. In 2 Chronicles 26:16-18, we see his successes give room for arrogance, which causes Uzziah performs priestly duties himself, despite not being a priest. This causes him to lose favor with God. Uzziah’s pride caused him to try to circumvent God’s law. We also sin in this away against God when we forget ourselves before God. Unless we see ourselves as the sinners that we are, we will never be effective. In Luke 18:10-14, we see that it is not the religious elite but the penitent sinner who receives the grace of God. The apostle John writes against Diotrephes, who thinks too highly of himself, in 3 John 9-10. Pride swells up because we have a lack of awareness of self. Like Diotrephes, we think too highly of ourselves without considering who we were before Jesus saved us. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 states that God has chosen the foolish and the weak for His use – we are the ones that God chose. Pride swells up because there is a lack of understanding regarding salvation. Salvation is not given for our merits; instead, it is given by God according to his will. What we did or who we are does not matter to God. Knowing this, we must look to the best interests of our brothers and sisters, regarding each other more important than our own selves. (Phil 2:3-4)
A lack of self-examination renders us ineffective spiritually. There is a difference between self-introspection and self-examination. While self-introspection relies on nothing but one’s own self, self-examination is done according to the Word of God. This is the difference between Judas and Peter. Judas betrayed Jesus and felt guilt upon self-introspection, but the way he attempted to resolve this issue was to give the money back and take his own life. Peter had also betrayed Jesus, but he saw Jesus and remembered His words. (Matt 26:75) What are some criteria for self-examination? We examine ourselves through the Word of God. We must be effectual doers of God’s Word. (Jas 1:25) We examine ourselves by comparing ourselves with Jesus. We must strive to mimic His life – His life, conduct, teaching, fellowship, and service.(1 Cor. 11:1) We examine ourselves in prayer. In doing so, we appeal to the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts. (Ps 139:23) We examine ourselves by the esteem of our brothers and sisters in the church. We must be humble in correction and look to encourage holiness in others as well. (2 Tim 2:23-26) After properly examining ourselves, we gain new blessings of humility and spiritual growth.
Comparison to others renders us ineffective spiritually. Comparing ourselves to others ignites jealousy in our hearts. Saul’s jealousy for David raged after he heard some girls sing a song comparing Saul and David.(1 Sam 18:6-9) Jealousy devastates ministry work because it fuels the desire to overshadow others. It kills the desire to care for the minute details of our service, which Jesus values and cares for. (Mt 25:23) Jealousy rages against the sovereignty of God. We must combat this desire by serving and loving through faith, knowing that no one has anything to boast in the Lord. (Eph 2:9-10). It would do well for us to remember that we are running the race against Christ, not others.
Not being responsible about our duty renders us ineffective spiritually. Not being an effective worker physically also influences our spiritual effectiveness. We must work knowing that we have to give an account of our work to God. (Gal 6:5) What are our duties as Christians? We must strive to be effective in prayer. If our prayers are unanswered, we should not be discouraged, but work on our prayer so that it is a more effective way of communicating with God. We must strive to be fervent in worship. This is the work that we start on this earth and continue for eternity. We do it joyously, but we must also worship with a sober understanding of our purpose. The Old Testament worship, while it was very different from our worship today, was prepared meticulously for two days prior to the commencement of the worship service. We must prepare our hearts with the same gravity towards our Lord. We must meditate on Scripture. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” laments Hosea in Hosea 4:6, because they could have been spared from destruction if they only read and kept the commandments of God in it. We should take heed and carefully read and meditate on the Scriptures. Remember, the way that we treat the Word of God is the way we treat God. We must continue to share the Gospel. An effective evangelism begins with the work of sanctifying Christ in our hearts as Lord. (1 Pe 3:15) This means that we strive to make the lordship of Christ clearer in our hearts and minds every day. Deliberate and perpetual preparation is important in preparing to sharing the gospel. We need to practice these Christian duties purposefully.
BIBLE COMMUNITY CHURCH 
Leave a comment