Appointed To Bear Fruit: A 90 Day Journeyنموونە

Pursuing the Father’s Interests 

The biggest enemy to your ministry is your pride. You cannot serve the Lord if you are not humble. Your pride will keep you from being formed into the image of Christ, because you won’t listen to advice from others or correction from God’s Word. The proud heart doesn’t want to be told what to do but, instead, wants to be the one telling everyone else what to do. Proud people think they know better than everyone else. Sadly, your God-given strengths for service often become an obstacle to growing in spiritual maturity.

Without humility, no one can be a disciple. I believe this is key. I am a member of The Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia. The word “reformed” reminds us that God’s Word defines our faith. The word “evangelical” refers to the commitment to proclaim the gospel. These two words are put together to show that we need to have not just the right content of our faith, but also the right passion. Yet I have always felt that there was a word missing in the denomination’s name. Not only is it important to focus on content and passion, but there must also be an emphasis on character. In my opinion, the name should be: The Reformed Evangelical Church of Humble Servants.

Many intelligent people understand the Bible but in their hearts, they still idolize themselves. A person can have great enthusiasm for the Lord, but without humility they can destroy the faith of many. That’s why we can’t be of service to God’s kingdom without humility. I know of many young people who leave their villages to attend Bible college. But something happens once they receive their diploma: they become boastful. They proudly announce, “Now I am a servant of God.” A servant of who? They haven’t done anything except receive a piece of paper and already they are making demands or refusing ministry assignments, because the assignments are not to their liking. Some demand that a church provides them with certain benefits. After all, they surmise, they deserve it. It’s better not to receive a diploma if it leads to pride and instead to be used by God in the place He wants you than to serve Him with fleshy, sinful motives.

We can start out well, but fail along the way. We have to complete the course that God wants us to run. The Apostle Paul spoke about running the race that God had set out before him. Paul had amazing spiritual experiences. He had met Jesus personally on the Road to Damascus and received his revelation directly from Jesus (Gal. 1:12-17). Throughout his ministry, Paul did miraculous works like raising the dead. He brought the gospel to lands and peoples who had never heard about Christ. To top it all off, Paul experienced being caught up to the third heaven and witnessed incredible things (II Cor. 12:2-4). Yet, despite all the amazing spiritual experiences, Paul was afraid that he would disqualify himself from receiving the reward of his service. Paul knew the danger of pride that might prevent him from reaching the finish line. 

Your humility will determine how God uses you in the future. Nearly every problem that disqualifies us for service has its roots in pride. Judas disqualified himself because of pride. He didn’t want to submit to the Father’s plan. And because the Father would not follow Judas’ plan, Judas betrayed Jesus. But Jesus is humble. He boldly submitted to the Father’s plan even though He knew that the Father had given all things to Jesus. Humility led Jesus to put aside His own interests so that the will of the Father would be accomplished. We too must do likewise. Every day we must live humbly before God so that His plans will be manifested in us. 

Application: Will you pursue the Father’s interests?