Sacrifice

Dear Friends

As previous emails have stated, I (Luke) am teaching a class at a local Bible school on biblical eldership. As I was preparing this week I came across this section concerning the sacrificial nature of the post of elder or leader in the local congregation. While the selection calls leaders to serve sacrificially the message is applicable to each of us no matter what part of the body we represent. The follow was taken from Alexander Strauch’s Biblical Eldership:

“ Some people say, ‘You can’t expect laymen to raise their families work all day, and shepherd a local church.’ But that is simply not true. Many people raise families, work, and give substantial hours of time to community service, clubs, athletics activities, and/or religious institutions. The cults have built up large lay movements that survive primarily because of the volunteer time of their members. We Bible-believing Christians are becoming a lazy, soft, pay-for-it-to-be-done group of Christians. It is positively amazing how much people can accomplish when they are motivated to work for something they love. I’ve seen people build and remodel houses in their spare time. I’ve also seen men discipline themselves to gain a phenomenal knowledge of the Scriptures.

The real problem, then, lies not in men’s limited time and energy but in false ideas about work, Christian living, life’s priorities, and especially—Christian ministry. To the Ephesians elders Paul said, ‘you yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’’ (Act 20:34,35). How do workingmen shepherd the church yet maintain family life and employment? They do it by self-sacrifice, self-discipline, faith, perseverance, hard work, and the power of the Holy Spirit. R. Paul Stevens, author and instructor at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, sets us on the right track when he writes, ‘And for tent makers to survive full-time jobs (work, family, and ministry) they must also adopt a sacrificial lifestyle. Tentmakers must live a pruned life and literally find leisure and rest in the rhythm of serving Christ (Matt. 11:28). They must be willing to forego a measure of career achievements and private leisure for the privilege of gaining the prize (Phil 3:14). Many would like to be tentmakers if they could be wealthy and live a leisurely and cultured lifestyle. But the truth is that a significant ministry in the church and community can only come by sacrifice’”.

Although many of us are not called to be shepherds or overseers of a local flock we are members the body of Christ, and we know that body is made up of many parts and that each part is necessary. Strauch reminds us that the path of a Christian is one of sacrifice, hard work, selflessness as it was for our Lord during His time on this Earth. It is not just a lifestyle demanded of those leading God’s flocks but for all of us as we are all called make disciples of men. As I share these truths with Zambian pastors and leaders tonight I am going to challenge them to evaluate and check if they sacrifice their time for Christ as much as they do for the things of this world. What a good question for us all to ponder. I hope you are encouraged and challenged by Strauch’s thoughts as I have been, and I pray we would be able to live and serve in the manner described above. Thanks for your continue prayers and support. We love each of you dearly and would not be able to touch the lives we are touching without your involvement. You are truly appreciated. God bless and PRESS ON & INTO HIM!!!

His Servants

The Whitfields <><
ps—Continue you to pray for our housing situation as we will need to be moved by no later than Dec. 15th and have still not settled on a new location. We trust He knows and cares about our needs and so we rest in Him.