“You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia, I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of the Jews. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus… I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:18-24).
Have we ever pondered over the quality of life of Paul, the servant of God, the preacher, teacher, of the Word and gospel, and the faithful evangelist and missionary, and ambassador of God’s gospel and grace? We might say that we are not like Paul, but realise that the standards and quality set in his life are truly what true Christianity offers to the servants of the Lord – the implications of a life of humility, compassion and sufferings for the sake of the gospel, and a faithfulness, endurance and perseverance to the end (whether it be persecution, imprisonment, hardship) in fulfilling the task and calling of God in one’s life.
In the OT, we see another individual, Nehemiah who felt himself under compulsion, once God’s call to him was clear – he tackled the task of restoring Jerusalem with single-minded, wholehearted enthusiasm. He focused his goals, planned thoroughly for their accomplishment, worked hard for long hours, dealt patiently and wisely with each problem as it arose, resisted distractions, and refused to be discouraged at any stage. He took his calling seriously and fulfilled it gloriously, and in this he is a model to all who serve in God’s church.
As we look at the life of these two men, we need to ask: Do we start where they started, with the same passion for God’s glory, the same burden of concern and distress when we contemplate the broken-down state of God’s church? Are wwe willing to learn to pray for the struggling communities of God’s people and to accept any change of circumstances and any risk involved in rendering the needed service as these two servants of God?
Are we proceeding as they proceeded, putting God first, others second, and ourselves last as we seek to fulfill our call to ministry? Do we act in a disinterested way, not seeking ease or personal advantage but simply making it our business to love and serve our Lord by loving and serving our neighbours, leaving it to the Lord to look after us as we concentrate on the tasks He has given us? And when God is pleased to use us as a means of good for His people, shall we give Him the glory and the praise for what has happened and decline to take the credit for ourselves? Shall we humbly acknowledge the gracious hand of our God upon us, and the gracious kindness of our God in using us, rather than conceitedly supposing that the result is due to our own skills, talents, wisdom, gifts and experience?
Measure these qualities and standards of the true servants of God against the leaders and so-called servants of God today, and we would know why the church of God is in a broken-down state today. Let us prayerfully look to God to raise such servants of God today to fulfill God’s desires for His people today.