Charlie was not well groomed

Charlie opened the letter and immediately realized that there had been a mistake. It was an invitation to preach at a famous London church with a view to becoming their pastor. Obviously, this was an error for several reasons. No one in the cultured city of London would have considered him to be a pastor in the real sense of the word. Pastors in London were highly educated, socially sophisticated, culturally sensitive, well-dressed, well-groomed, and well-mannered.

Charlie was relatively uneducated, had no theological background, had neither formal nor informal training as a preacher, and on top of all this, he was only 19 years old. So, he wrote to his would-be hosts to clarify the probably mistaken identity.

But remarkably the reply came back that no mistake had been made.

He caught the train to London. The night before his sermon he met some young men at his hotel who told him of the mighty eloquence of the famous London preachers, which intimidated young Charlie even more.

His first sermon was attended by only 80 people in an auditorium of 1200 seats. One young lady called him unimpressive in speech, poorly dressed and comical in appearance. A journalist described his preparation for the job this way:

“One could scarcely imagine a more unpromising list of qualifications, or rather disqualifications for public favour.”

Charlie was obviously way out of his league preaching in London. But to his great surprise, he was offered a call to be the pastor of that church.  He was so sure he would be a disappointment to them, he insisted that the arrangement be considered three-month-long probation—to give the church a way out of their blunder. Three months later the auditorium of 1,200 seats would have standing room only, and regular attendance of 3,000 people each Sunday come to hear the young Charles Spurgeon preach the word of God. The church added 14,000 new members in 38 years, and in 1865 his published sermons sold 25,000 copies per week.

The lady who had deemed him unimpressive and comical in appearance would become his wife.

What on earth enabled the uneducated, untrained, and inexperienced teenager to be used so mightily for the Lord? It was this attitude: (And I quote from one of his sermons):

When God’s warrior marches forth to battle with plumed helmet, and with mail about his loins, strong in his own majesty— when he says, ‘I know that I shall conquer, my own right arm and my mighty sword shall get unto me the victory,’ defeat is not far distant. They that go forth to fight, boasting that they can do it, shall return with their banners trailed in the dust, and with their armour stained with defeat; for God will not go forth with the man who goes forth in his own strength.”

Charles Spurgeon’s whole ministry was carried out in the strength of the Lord. And do you know where he learned to do that? In Colossians 1:29

Do you ever feel like Spurgeon felt that first sermon: under-qualified and overwhelmed by what God is calling you to do? What you need is to hook up to…

THE SPIRITUAL POWER SOURCE SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE THE ENERGY YOU NEED TO GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR MINISTRY

Every battery needs two terminals to generate power…and in this case the terminals are our responsibility and God’s energy.

1. ACCEPT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

Colossians 1:29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Notice that Paul is not suggesting we ‘let go and let God.’ He admits that whatever your ministry is, it is hard work. He describes it as toil, i.e. sweaty labor. And struggling.

Whether it is flower arranging or hospital visitation or teaching kids, serving the saints is like an endurance race. There are ups and downs and long lonely stretches with little respite or encouragement.

Few run an ultra-marathon without losing a toenail or two. And fewer minister in the church for any length of time without sustaining an injury of some sort.

Now, if you look at your role in your local church, or the Universal church body, and you realize, “I’m not agonizing for the saints, I’m not laboring for the Lord.” Then you need to consider why not.

1 Peter 4: 10-11 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace…in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

Serving is not just for elders and deacons, it’s for all Christians. We are all in the fulltime ministry. We are all ministers. We all have the job description of giving God glory through our gifts.

Now you might be thinking, ‘But I don’t know what my gift is.’

It’s interesting that in the New Testament there is no instruction or method given for a person to discover what their spiritual gift is.

So how do we know our gift? By doing it.

There are gifts of teaching, helps, administration, evangelism, compassion, giving, faith, prayer, serving, to name a few.

Start helping by offering transport to those who can’t afford a car. Ask for sound-desk training, maybe you have a knack for mixing and can serve the saints that way. Go to one hospital service or prison service and you might find that you are actually compassionate, and you feel fulfilled and happy after serving others. Offer to teach a lesson to the young kids or teens. Maybe you have a gift of teaching. And sometimes you just need to do what needs to be done and it really doesn’t matter whether you enjoy it or not.

Don’t get caught up in the categorizing or naming of your gift, just serve God. Some people treat their gift like a brand name: “I have the gift of helps.” And then you feel like you just have the generic gift. “I just give people a ride to church.” Same gift, different terminology.

Author Donald Whitney encourages us with these words:

Many Christians serve God faithfully and fruitfully for a lifetime without ascertaining their specific gift. I am not saying you shouldn’t try to discover your gift; I’m saying that you aren’t relegated to benchwarmer status in the kingdom of God until you can name your gift.”

Ask yourself – does what I do involve sacrifice? Does it involve suffering at times? Is it less convenient than my favorite hobby? Then you are serving.

I’m surprised how many Christians come to church and go home and have no participation in body life all week long.

Do you know what Paul would say? “Stop being lazy and use your gift!”

Rom 12: 6, 11 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them… Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

There are so many ways you can serve your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Some of those tasks are less flashy than others. Some will receive very little public recognition if any. Some will deserve thanks but never get it. That’s why you must maintain your perspective and serve God himself through your actions. He never misses one thing you do.

And he rewards you for doing it!

Heb 6: 10 For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.

Author:Cripplegate