No Civilian Pursuits

2 TIMOTHY 2:3 - Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him

While the above verse is part of the letter he wrote to the young Timothy, his son in faith and mentee, the letter was read to everyone at the church of Ephesus. Hence, what Paul has in mind when he referred to as a soldier was not only a full-time, ordained minister (Timothy wasn't), but everyone one from all walks of life. Today, that includes university students, professionals, business-owners, artists, stay-at-home moms, retirees, etc. That includes you and I. Therefore, soldiers of the cross, the question for us is what type of civilian pursuits distract us from our one and only aim to please our Commander-in-Chief? Indeed since we march under the banner of Jesus Christ, we are bound to win the war against the world, flesh, and the devil, just like Joshua of Nun and his army of the past. No doubt about it. The question is, which of the world's niceties, heart desires, and devil's temptations often take our eyes off our holy ambition to please him?

First thing first

"I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished ...

I saw, that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditating, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord. I began therefore, to meditate on the New Testament, from the beginning, early in the morning."

Source: Autobiography of George Mueller, compiled by Fred Bergen, (London: J. Nisbet Co., 1906) pp. 152-4.

Seek First, then Understand

PROVERBS 2:4-5 - If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

Even a cursory reading of the above verse tells us something rather odd with the sequence. The rigor and intensity with which we seek the knowledge of God is a prerequisite of finding and understanding it. Often people think the other way. They want to understand it first, then assign a value to it in proportion to their understanding. But that's not the case here. Pursue God, then you will be glad to be found by and in him. The Bible uses lots of 'appetite language' (CS Lewis) or emotive words to describe this orientation: Long, thirst, faint, delight, love. The bottom line: Seek him earnestly, then you will be satisfied in him. 

Sharing Lives and the Gospel

1 THESSALONIANS 2:7 - But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. 

What comes across as the maternal side of leadership the Apostle Paul highlights above, as opposed to the authoritative side, is indeed critical for effective Christian leadership at church. Children are like sponges, and they absorb the examples of their parents, primarily mothers while they are still young. Here Paul says that sharing lives that are in line with the Gospel is almost as important as the Gospel itself. What an insight for leaders!

A Tamed Conscience

ROMANS 2:15-16 - They show that the work of the law is ywritten on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, aaccording to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. 

What we call conscience is not a reliable guide. They can both accuse or excuse us depending on what we feed it daily. When someone tells us "just listen what your heart tells you", we are taking a huge risk heading that advice. For as intelligent being, we can slowly but surely tame our conscience to become our defence attorney rather than prosecutor. In longer-term, categories of sin no longer exist in our mind. Sinners become oblivious of sins. Folks, conscience is flaky. Go to Christ, the Incarnate Flesh, instead. Everything will be laid openly before the judgement seat of Christ one day.