How to Develop a Critical Spirit

"Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Tell her then to help me."
In this question, we can sense the empty way in which ministry is being done.  Martha is tired and her focus has switched from joyful service to drudgery.  When we are empty, or burned-out in ministry, we do damage to the relationships around us.  Watch what happens:

• From Emptiness to Burden- Any other day, Martha loved hospitality.  Today, ministry has gone south.  Joy has been replaced by drudgery.
• From Burden to Loneliness- As Martha looks around, she feels alienated and lonely.  Only she is doing the work.  Others enjoy the fellowship with Christ and she would love to be sitting there too.  Her circumstances are different.  She's scrubbing pots.  Is she the only one who can see the essential nature of her work?
• From Loneliness to the Criticism of Others-  Joyless service has caused her to resent her sister.  Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet listening.  She too is hosting.  There is work to be done and time is short.  Why isn't she helping? 
• From Criticism of Others to the Criticism of Christ- The emptiness, the loneliness, the overwhelming nature of ministry, the lack of help in the task, lead Martha to question the care of her Savior.  Surely, if he knows all things, he can see her distress.  He knows the work she is doing alone.  Doesn't He care?  If He cared, He would DO something.  Right?

When she issues the invitation, she had no intention to become critical.  She wanted to serve, it was her joy to serve.  It was how she viewed ministry when she felt empty and burdened that was the issue.  It was time to examine motives and refocus, time to sit at Jesus' feet again.  Dinner can wait.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

"Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Tell her then to help me."

Martha and her family played a significant role in the ministry of Christ.  When Christ said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head," it was quite literally true.  He and his disciples depended on the generosity of others to support their itinerant ministry.  It was Martha who extended the invitation and it is no small task to feed a group of hungry men.
To extend such hospitality meant a willingness to sacrifice both time and resources.  It would have been an amazing opportunity to be one of those believers who supported Christ's work.  Imagine:  Providing dinner tonight meant you had an investment in the parable spoken tomorrow.  Providing a place to sleep could lead to an investment in healing tomorrow.  Who knew what eternal profit would await?
Martha was the one who saw the possibilities.  She does not serve to be seen and acknowledged by others.  We see nothing of self-promotion in her invitation or her service.  She wishes to render hospitality to Christ because she and her family have come to love Him.
Like Martha, on my best days I count it a privilege to share in the ministry of Christ.  To serve Him and to serve His people is an unmistakeable privilege.  It is an eternal investment.  If I can keep my eye on the ball, if I can keep my focus on my real priorities, then I will do them with joy.  It is when I am weary, when I am empty, that the trouble begins.  It is emptiness that prompts her question to Jesus.  You can hear it in her voice. Whenever I hear this voice in my head, it's time to re-evaluate.  I must recapture the wonder of serving Christ or I will do damage to His cause.

The Biggest Obstacle to Pilgrim Success

       The Pilgrim congregation began the process of deciding who would go and who would stay.  John Robinson, their pastor, would stay for now with the group in Leyden.  The others sailed for England, then waited in Southampton in anticipation of the longer leg of their journey.  A letter arrived from their pastor with final words of encouragement.  The topic was community.  The biggest threat to the success of their venture would be unresolved conflicts between them.  Here was his advice:

1. "First, as we ought daily to renew our repentance with our God, especially for our sins known, and generally for our unknown trespasses."  Keeping short accounts with God and experiencing His forgiveness ought to make it easier to overlook the infirmities of others.
2. "We must be watchful that we ourselves neither give, nor easily take, offense."  This small group would depend on each other for survival.  Dissension could spell their doom.  The answer would come in "brotherly forbearance."
3. When choosing leaders, choose the ones who will entirely love and promote the common good.  Then, yield to them with all due honor and obedience.

Robinson closes his letter with a benediction:  "He who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rivers of waters, and Whose providence is over all His works, especially over all His dear children for good, would so guide and guard you in all your ways, as inwardly by His spirit, so outwardly by the hand of His power, that both you and we also may praise His name all the days of our lives.  Fare you well in Him in whom you trust, and in whom I trust.  An unfeigned well-willer of your happy success in this hopeful voyage.  John Robinson."

Worthy of His Calling

The first request Paul mentions in his prayer for the Thessalonians is that God might count them worthy of His calling. This idea of worthiness is used several times in Paul's writings to indicate a transformed character. The believer has given equal weight to both calling and conduct. For example:
*In Ephesians 4:1, Paul exhorts the church to live a life worthy of the calling they had received. Then, he tells them to be completely humble, gentle, patient, forbearing, and to keep in step with the Holy Spirit's direction.
*In Philippians 1:27, our manner of life- how we conduct ourselves should be, Paul says, worthy of the gospel of Christ.
*In Colossians 1:10, Paul exhorts us to live a life worthy of the Lord so that we may please him in every way and bear fruit in every good work. Such fruitfulness is evidence that someone is a genuine believer.
*In I Thessalonians (2:12), Paul shares the urgency of developing true Christian character: Encouraging, comforting, urging us to live lives worthy of God. Why? Because He has a kingdom and glory planned for us.
*Earlier in II Thessalonians, Paul says that the perseverance and love that the church showed during times of persecution and trial proved that God's universal rule was just and that He counted them worthy of His kingdom (1:4-5)
So what does it mean to be worthy? There are three possibilities:
1. Merit- our efforts make us worthy. The problem with this position is we all fall short of the glory of God. Our efforts at righteousness in and of ourselves are as filthy rags.
2. Position- Paul may mean that we are only worthy when we have received the forgiveness of Christ and are brought into a position of peace and friendship with god. The question here is why Paul would speak in a positional way concerning worthiness to the Church.
3. Fitting or Appropriate- Here the idea is that our character and conduct are becoming what is fitting for the gospel, for Christ, and for His kingdom. John Piper illustrates by describing a newly-remodeled kitchen: Shiny faucets, new flooring, expensive cabinetry, and custom refrigerator. However, the stove is an olive green seventy's era appliance. It is totally out of sync with the rest of the kitchen. It's place in this kitchen is inappropriate. God's Spirit is working in us and through us now to prepare us for a new world where there is neither sickness or crying or death. No one wants to stick out like a sore thumb there. May God count us worthy of His calling.

Paul's Last Words to Timothy

Sitting in a cold dark cell awaiting execution, Paul could have been considering recantation to avoid death. He could have been nursing his own wounds, feeling abandoned by men and God. But He wasn't. He was making sure his young disciple, Timothy, had some last words of encouragement before Paul was beheaded. Timothy, make God's Word the central focus of your ministry because "the time has come for my departure..."
*Rely on the simple faith you have known since infancy. God's Word has been valued by your mother and grandmother and you know their example of faith.
*Make God's Word your focus, no matter how you feel or what your audience wants to hear. Preach the Word.
*Preach the Word because time is short. Time is short because Christ is coming back. Time is short because error and apostasy are creeping in.
Faithfulness to God's Word in ministry was Timothy's only guarantee of effectiveness.

6 Dangerous Contemporay Attitudes toward God's Word

Ralph Turk, in his class on Contemporary Theology, outlined 6 dangerous trends in Christianity:
*Don't make love more important than doctrine. A permissive love that neglects the truth is never truly love. Better the wounds of truth than the kisses of error.
*Examine the motives of those who re-investigate or re-examine major doctrines to make them more relevant in our world. Truth is always relevant. Why do I want to question it?
*Question those who preach different messages to different groups. Acceptance, support, or even self-preservation are not suitable motives for changing the truth.
*Beware of those who substitute religious phrases for the Word of God. The Bible is large, rich, and robust. Trite sounding phrases that tickle our ears are no replacement for God's Word. Develop a mindset that everything must be examined in light of scripture.
*Be suspicious of those who do not trust God's Word as their sole authority. They want the Bible to share authority with church leaders, additional writings, or theological traditions. The Bible stands alone as God has put His own integrity in His Word.
*Be careful not to cooperate with just anybody for the sake of the gospel. They must know the gospel as truth and claim it as their own. On theological differences, we can agree to disagree, but we must both use scripture as our source. One or both of us may be wrong, but denying the authority and dependability of scripture is not the way to agree.

The Second Commission

"Then the Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time." -Jonah 3:1

The hardest group of people to minister to in the local church are those who have felt a call to ministry but for one reason or another rebelled. They are frustrated at work and at home. They long to be doing something else, something more. Sometimes the fire begins to die and they become cynical, skeptical, belligerent.
For those who find themselves tossed on the beach, wrapped in seaweed, and staring up into the hot, blazing sun, there is hope. Ask forgiveness of God. Go to the elders of your church. Explain the passion of your past and the frustration of your present. Trust them, show honor to them and follow their advice. The Lord is gracious and the elders can help you find a place to serve again. Don't miss it this time around!