“restrained”
What a cool service we had today!
After opening up with the third letter of John, I was ambushed… tied up, handcuffed, and my mouth was taped over!
You read correctly… (those handcuffs kind of hurt too!)
Hopefully it’s the first and last time folks see a pastor get such treatment on stage!
The point of this “stunt” (although us pastors refer to them as “illustrations”), is that we either support the ministry or we don’t!
But when we do support it, guess what? We become ministers in our own way… by helping make it happen!
John writes:
5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.
Always keep in mind that when you give, through tithes & offerings, volunteering, etc., you are spreading the Gospel! It’s no longer simply on the shoulders of the pastor or the church leaders, but everyone in the church!
However, we can hold back great things from being done in the lives of others when we fail to support the church. We can either be like Gaius, who gave shelter to the “brethren” who traveled around spreading the Gospel and growing the church… OR we can be like Dietrephes (another church leader, by the way) who discouraged others from showing such hospitality, much less display that himself!
If we’re like the latter, that means:
- We’re handcuffing the hands that reach out!
- We’re tying down the feet that go beyond ourselves and into the community!
- We’re silencing the voices that speak the Word of God to those who need to hear it!
So by all means… GIVE! Give like you should (as the Bible instructs us and the same manner that God gives to us)! We have plenty of great things coming up with TLC, but we need your support to pull it off!
Don’t restrain the work of the ministry! Instead, be a “fellow worker with the truth”!
