Peace and Orderliness

By Jeff Curtis

When men who are respected for their knowledge and their godly lives take on the burden of leadership in a congregation, experience has demonstrated that peace and order follow. When able men refuse to hold the office, experience suggests that one of two results is to be expected. (1) The church may turn into a charismatic leader who will rule with an iron fist. Some Christians prefer to keep church affairs at arm’s length. Someone else can make the decisions. The community life for the church is, for their money and to come into the church building for a joyful and entertaining experience. (2) When effective leaders fail to step forward, the second possibility for the church is that it may descend into bickering. When chaos envelops such a church, it doesn’t mean that members have abandoned the teachings of Christ. Rather, it means the church has no direction.

Without access to the economic incentive of a paycheck or to the sword the governments can wield, chaos in human affairs is the expected outcome. Elders in a church have nothing remotely resembling a paycheck or a sword to ensure good order. They don’t want either of them. Individual Christians will inevitably have different ideas about priorities the church ought to adopt. Overseers in the church are charged with listening. They sort through ideas and preferences that Christians bring to the table, combine them with their own observations, and set the church on a course that invites everyone’s participation.

How can churches live at peace? We have already referred to Paul’s solution: “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another” (1Thessalonians 5:12-13).

The apostle Paul went on to explain that affairs turn out for good when someone is in charge. He continued, “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1Thessalonians 5:14). Such things are essential for a strong community of faith. They require careful consideration, and the kind of judgment good men gain from experience. Paul suggested that they will be forthcoming only when responsible leaders step forward to use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given them.

Meditate on this:

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.

“Does This Mean Me?”

By Jeff Curtis

The most significant part of Romans 3:23 may be the little word “all”: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Someone may have heard, “Surely, Paul doesn’t mean me!” “All” includes every man, woman, boy, and girl who is accountable before God. If you can read what is written in here, then it includes you.

Remember the terms used for “sin?” One speaks of falling short; another emphasizes going too far. Can any of us say that we have never failed to do what we should do? All of us must admit that we are sinners. Some are sinners saved by the blood of Jesus, while others are unsaved sinners. But all are sinners.

Sometimes we protest, “But I’m a lot better than some people I know. Surely, that proves I’m not a sinner.” Compare our “target” (the glory of God), which is a faraway continent. If you and I stood on the shore of some ocean and jumped toward that continent, you would probably farther I would. But neither of us would splash water into that distant continent with just a single leap. Instead, we would both splash into the water, pitifully short of our goal. No matter how good we may think we are, we are still an immeasurable distance from God.

There is one common denominator of mankind. It’s not nationality, race, or similar cultures. The one thing we have in common it our unworthiness before God. We are all sinners.

A church had a bulletin board in its foyer. Each week, the preacher put thoughts on the board to make people who looked at it think. One week he posted this thought, “This church is for sinners only.” A few days later, he got a letter in the mail that said, “I was shocked to learn that this is for sinners only. I have been a member of this church for 25 years, and I never realized that I was out of place and not welcome.” The next week the preacher put another message on the board, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

A well-known preacher had a practice of writing the mayor of the next city he planned to visit. He would ask the mayor for a list of people with spiritual problems, any who needed help and prayer. On one such trip, he was surprised to receive a copy of the city’s entire phone book. The mayor who sent it understood what some people don’t. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Meditate on this:

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. ⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.