A Dead Heat

"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ"  (2 Cor. 10:5, ESV).
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace" (Acts 20:24, NIV).

Are you Christ's competition?  In God's economy: greatness is not how many serve you, but how many you serve; the way up is down; humility comes before honor; emptiness comes before fullness--we must confess with John the Baptist:  "He must increase; I must decrease" (cf. John 3:30).   You commence growth in spirituality once you become cognizant that it's not about you!  Christ defeated Satan at the cross and the battle has been won to the chagrin of Satan, who thought he was winning when Christ went to Calvary.

God used the worst atrocity in history to bring about the devil's defeat (cf. Acts 4:28)--he stands defeated and we fight from victory, not for a victory--the battle is the Lord's. We all have individual races to run that comprise God's will for our lives and to gain its prize; however, we must compete according to the rules.  The battle is won! Satan is a defeated foe.  Jesus is the victor and we are in a mop-up effort to proclaim it to the world, notwithstanding Satan's resistance.

When we have completed the will and purpose of God, our time on earth is up and we go to meet our Maker (cf. Acts 13:36, ESV):  "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption." Hebrews 12:1 (ESV) says, "And] let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."  We all have different races and are to find God's will and plan for us.  We are all to compete as an athlete who runs for a perishable crown or wreath, but ours is an imperishable one and it isn't a sprint, but a marathon. Jesus won and we are just members of the winning team.  Our enemy is the world, the flesh, and the devil--not each other! We are our own worst enemy.

We all finish in a dead heat--there is no elite Christian who is above the others, though God is not unjust to withhold due reward for those who win their personal race and find God's will for their lives to do it.  The rule of this world is "winner takes all."  It's not "each man for himself" in a life ruled by the law of the jungle, but each of us looking out for each other's interest.  "One for all and all for one!"  We pray:  "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory..."  We are mere stewards of the riches of God and will be rewarded according to our faithfulness in these blessings.  We are all members one of another of the same body, some being an eye, and some an ear, for example.

In God's economy, all believers are winners and are members of His royal family that will rule with Him in the Millennial Kingdom, and even judge the world and angels.  You have a different race to run than I do, for instance; mine may be only a week long, while God expects you to endure a year to finish His will.  Note that the race is not a sprint, or how fast we go, but how we endure and how faithful we are--God isn't looking for our achievements or success, but our obedience!  As Mother Teresa of Calcutta (recipient of 1979 Nobel Peace Prize and now canonized) said, "God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness."

Christians are in an angelic conflict with the forces and authorities of darkness and the demonic realm, that we can only defeat by wearing the armor of God.  There is plenty of rewards to go around and share with the members of the kingdom of God, and it all belongs to God; we are just stewards of the blessings of God and are here to demonstrate our faithfulness and worthiness of eternal reward. Nothing in this life is permanent--we have spiritual green cards and are only passing through, as our real citizenship is in heaven (per Philippians 3:20).  We are stewards and God has leveled the playing field:  "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof'  (cf. Psalm 24:1).

There is no caste system in the body of Christ, for we are all royalty and equally members one of another--having different gifts, but the same Spirit.  We are all on the same team as a family in Christ!  When one part is honored, the whole body is honored. We must be careful that we are not competing with God; He is on our side and when we join Him we cannot lose the battle--which we fight in the name of the Lord with the full armor of God described in Ephesians 6:12ff.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Teamwork Counts

"As iron sharpens iron" one friend can influence another.  "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil....  And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him--a threefold cord is not quickly broken"  (Eccl. 4:9-12, ESV).   Jesus sent the disciples out two-by-two in Mark 6:7, and in Luke 10 He also sent out the seventy in pairs. It is a fact that "iron sharpens iron," Prov. 27:17. 

We all are part of a team and need each other as the eye needs the ear and the body is incomplete without the foot or the hand.  The body is a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps, it has been wisely put.  1 Cor. 12:12ff makes this clear that all members work together and are dependent on each other--no one has all the gifts and can do it by himself.  

Paul makes mention in 1 Cor. 3:6-9 that one plants or sows, one waters or fertilizes, and one reaps--but it is God who gives the increase!  No one is meant to be a one-man show or lord it over the others in the work. The model in the book of the Acts of the Apostles is teamwork such as Paul and Silas, or Barnabas and Mark, and this book is the paradigm for evangelism technique.

The Great Commission was given to the Church at large and it is to be done cooperatively, though we are each individually commissioned.  This is why the duty is not just to preach the gospel and make converts, but to teach them to do all that Christ commanded and to baptize, and disciple--a task only a body of Christ working jointly can accomplish.  Getting them saved is only part of the marching order.

We are all ambassadors for Christ and have the ministry of reconciliation per 2 Cor. 5:18, 20. There is no elite in the body or partiality with God and no one's work is insignificant, and he will be rewarded according to his faithfulness, not the opportunities, which are given according to ability.  "He who is faithful in little will be faithful in much," Luke 16:10. 

Don't go it alone in evangelizing because there are no spiritual lone rangers in God's service; however, the Great Commission says literally "as you are going" implying that we are to be witnesses in our daily walk and circle of friends and opportunities or open doors that God gives--it doesn't mean you have to "go" somewhere out of your way.   Soli Deo Gloria!