Teaching - Comparing & Competing
Luke 9:46 in the Contemporary English Version
[This is the 43rd lesson of this series]
Scriptures is clear on how the first followers of Christ made mistakes, how Jesus called them many times for these and how they fell flat on their faces. The problem with many followers today is that we have read about these embarrassing miscues, yet we fall into the same pitfalls ourselves.
Who's The Greatest
This is a big reason why the whole world has not yet heard of the gospel of Christ, because followers of Christ continue to argue among themselves as who has the best teacher, who has the greatest founder, who has the best church building, who has the most members, who has best bible, who has the greatest worship songs and so on. Now, even those within the same sect and the same congregation are trying to fight among themselves for power, position or influence.
For being saved by grace and having nothing to do with their right standing with God, many sure act like they had a hand in their salvation and whatever ministry position they are currently occupying.
This is a big reason why the whole world has not yet heard of the gospel of Christ, because followers of Christ continue to argue among themselves as who has the best teacher, who has the greatest founder, who has the best church building, who has the most members, who has best bible, who has the greatest worship songs and so on. Now, even those within the same sect and the same congregation are trying to fight among themselves for power, position or influence.
For being saved by grace and having nothing to do with their right standing with God, many sure act like they had a hand in their salvation and whatever ministry position they are currently occupying.
For many, doing the Lord's work or even just belonging to a certain congregation has made them feel so special, and believe they are so much better than most.
Many forget that they are walking, breathing gospels of Christ. People outside the church actually look to them, they read them like a book to find out if the God they believe in is true or not. Yet, we fail the outside world time and again with our pettiness, insecurities, jealousy and pride.
After being washed clean, the work done by the blood of Christ, fills our egos up and we end up having the need to compete with one another, arguing among ourselves to determine who among us is the greatest, acting no differently than we were before Christ found us.
This is a common pitfall. Even the super apostles succumbed to this trap, Peter, James and John included.
Hence Scriptures is clear:
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
Many forget that they are walking, breathing gospels of Christ. People outside the church actually look to them, they read them like a book to find out if the God they believe in is true or not. Yet, we fail the outside world time and again with our pettiness, insecurities, jealousy and pride.
After being washed clean, the work done by the blood of Christ, fills our egos up and we end up having the need to compete with one another, arguing among ourselves to determine who among us is the greatest, acting no differently than we were before Christ found us.
This is a common pitfall. Even the super apostles succumbed to this trap, Peter, James and John included.
Hence Scriptures is clear:
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
1 Corinthians 10:12
Christ called each of us for a specific purpose. Let us not be envious of one another. Let us not compete and compare. We each have our own calling.
Christ called each of us for a specific purpose. Let us not be envious of one another. Let us not compete and compare. We each have our own calling.
Serve Not Be Served
Each one of us has a role to play, as a member of the Body of Christ. Everyone is important. The teacher is no more important than the person serving meals or cleaning up the tables. The prayer warrior or the worship leader is no more important than the person who cleans the church facilities or who changes the church sign. They are all the same in the eyes of God.
Romans 12:3-8
The key is humble service in the Kingdom of God. The more we make Christ greater, the more we should become lesser. This is the only way, or we may fail to notice that we have become modern day Pharisees or their associates and cheerleaders.
Lift up Christ, and no one else, not ourselves, not our pastor, not our church name, not our denomination, not our church founder or church leader. There is one Master, Him who gave it all to bring us back into unity with Him, Our Father and with the Promised Advocate, the Holy Spirit of God.
Each one of us has a role to play, as a member of the Body of Christ. Everyone is important. The teacher is no more important than the person serving meals or cleaning up the tables. The prayer warrior or the worship leader is no more important than the person who cleans the church facilities or who changes the church sign. They are all the same in the eyes of God.
Romans 12:3-8
The key is humble service in the Kingdom of God. The more we make Christ greater, the more we should become lesser. This is the only way, or we may fail to notice that we have become modern day Pharisees or their associates and cheerleaders.
Lift up Christ, and no one else, not ourselves, not our pastor, not our church name, not our denomination, not our church founder or church leader. There is one Master, Him who gave it all to bring us back into unity with Him, Our Father and with the Promised Advocate, the Holy Spirit of God.
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