PODCAST
The Proper Measure
May 28th, 2013
Colossians 1:9-14
Paul’s prayer envisions the church in Colossae through the promises and the resources available in Christ. He sees a church filled with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding by the Holy Spirit: a church worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in every way. He sees a church qualified “to share in the inheritance of [God’s] holy people in the kingdom of light” (v. 12).
People use a lot of different measures when evaluating success in the church, everything from attendance to professions of faith–even total money raised. We count what we see, hold in our hands, or chart on a graph. It is not that these measures are bad, they are just limited. God uses less tangible things to measure spiritual success. He told the prophet Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Let’s pray that our churches, our families, and our lives will, above everything else, be found worthy of the Lord who “rescued us from the kingdom of darkness.”
Author: Duane C. Brush
May 29th, 2013 at 8:41 pm
“People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7)”.
If people look at the outward appearance, maybe the church ought to evaluate their success by the actions and words of their members. Since we are to bear fruit, let the members evaluate theirselves as to whether they are a babe in Christ, a sprout, a seedling, a spaudling, a Bonsai tree, a fully-leaved tree, a blossoming tree, or tree with unripen fruit, or a fruit tree ready for the harvest.
Then, the leadership can facilitate the Holy Spirit (knudging them on to the next stage).