November 05, 2009
Model Behavior
Our church has been established for a little over a year and a half and we have a terrific, yet unpaid, preaching elder. Gary has opted to take Fridays off from his ‘real’ job in order to prepare the sermon and many of us struggle with the fact that the church is not yet in a position to pay him a salary. Gary however is content and dedicated to current situation…and he’s in good company. Paul, Silas and Timothy also had day jobs while they ministered to the Thessalonians. “…we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.” (2 Thess 3:8b–9 NIV)
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Gail;
-----The Thessalonian Christians were convinced the Lord’s return was a bit more immanent than it really was. They almost did what the Seventh Day Adventist predecessors did in 1848. They all dropped everything of their daily lives and waited up one night thinking the Lord would return before morning. It has been a long night. So Paul had to assure the Thessalonians that they needed to continue working and carrying on the activities of their physical lives while they waited. So he gave them his example of hard work to follow. But to Timothy he wrote, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching, for the Scripture says, ’You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain,’ and, ’The laborer deserves his wages.’” (I Tim 5:17-18)
-----Your preaching elder is certainly receiving the double honor of which he is worthy, and maybe a triple honor, because he is not muzzled, and yet he leaves the grain for the work and growth of the church. His heart is exposed as being set on serving the people who are your church. I have always believed elders, preachers, teachers, and evangelists should be the best of the believers in living the principles of the Word. Bible Colleges and Seminaries do well in educating the mind, but it is applying Biblical behavior to the activities of the streets and marketplaces where the heart is trained in wisdom and obedience. Your preacher has obviously been studying in both of these places.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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