Deep Thoughts April 24, 2015

The Warning against Wantoning 

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you. Luke 10:20

As Christian workers, worldliness is not our snare, sin is not our snare, but spiritual wantoning is, viz.: taking the pattern and print of the religious age we live in, making eyes at spiritual success. Never court anything other than the approval of God, go “without the camp, bearing His reproach.” Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have the commercial view—so many souls saved and sanctified, thank God, now it is all right. Our work begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation; we are not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace; our work as His disciples is to disciple lives until they are wholly yielded to God. One life wholly devoted to God is of more value to God than one hundred lives simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and that will be God’s witness to us as workers. God brings us to a standard of life by His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that standard in others.

Unless the worker lives a life hidden with Christ in God, he is apt to become an irritating dictator instead of an indwelling disciple. Many of us are dictators, we dictate to people and to meetings. Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced it with an “IF,” never with an emphatic assertion—“You must.” Discipleship carries an option with it.

Chambers, Oswald (2011-05-01). My Utmost for His Highest, Classic Edition (pp. 82-83). Discovery House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Yet once again, Chambers has caused me to think, ponder, and consider.

"We have the commercial view--so many souls saved and sanctified."  How many times in recent months has the number of baptisms been touted from the pulpit in churches across America?  "Halleluiahs!" shouted.  "Praise the Lord, " uttered from countless pews.  And yes, there should be celebration for souls saved from an eternity of separation from God, an eternity in hell.  But salvation has little to nothing to do with our actions.  The calling of a soul to Christ is the job of the Spirit.  Salvation is through Christ's sacrifice and grace.  As Chambers points out, "we are not to save souls (indeed we cannot) but to disciple them."

Are small group leaders sharing with our church leadership the epiphany moments that take place in small group?  Are teachers and deacons giving thanks for those spiritual ah-ha moments that take place in our members?  Do we even bother to ask about or share our spiritual growth?  I realize that we run the risk of becoming arrogant if our focus is on how much we grow, but we can share the growth of those around us.  Difficult to measure?  Yes.  Encouraging to note.  Definitely. 

How does a Ridgecrest grow disciples?  How can we celebrate Believer growth- not in numbers, but in depth, intensity, and consistency?  Perhaps this is between the individual and God, but for a church to increase the depth and breadth of its influence on the world, each member must grow in Christ as an individual.  God saves.  We grow.