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By: Michael Tao
During Bible time, the Jews were a very materialistic people. Though they were God's elect, they had a hard time to perceive spiritual things. They were vain, prideful and very boastful, they liked to seek a lot of attention. Certainly they would like to show off by taking the good place, which was the high seat in the church.
We might not have a literal good place or high seat in the church, however we sometimes do enjoy recognition among the brothers and sisters in Christ. We want people to know our existence, to appreciate our presence. Here I am going to recommend two ways to catch people's attention. The first one is a shortcut, the other one would take a longer time to get to this high seat. We can make the choice.
1. We have to give people a chance to appreciate
our possession.
We can drive to the church in a most deluxe
limousine, park it right in front of the church, walk into the
church in minks, waving our hands to every soul in the church and
make sure they would not miss our diamond watch and all sorts of
jewelry. Then we sit down, take out our cheque book, write out a
large amount, and get the usher to bring in an offering envelop.
When everyone see these gestures and generosity, they would
humbly lead us to their high seat, which is reserved only for the
honorable. Wealth always draws attention (James 2:2).
If you really do not care for this method, then the alternative is to be content. Luke 3:14 says, "...be content with your wages", 1 Tim 6:6-8 says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain". Be content for whatever God gives to us, praise him that he has given us a job, and a sound mind to work out the budget. Praise him that he gives work to the evil, as they also have their families. God preserves their lifes so there is a hope for them to get saved; and we all were at one time very evil. Praise God for we have at least a floor, a roof; praise him the house is warm, and there is clean tap water. Praise God that you have a Bible - the first time the whole Bible was put together was at the end of the fourth century, there were less than 30 Bibles in the whole world, each would take a big room to store it, and many people at hta time were illiterate!
2. The following is a drastic but sure way to gain
respect.
During the church service, all of a sudden, you stand up among
the congregation, and fall onto the floor. Before people can have
a chance to practise CPR on you; you jump right up, and have your
eyes rolled back, you mumble some noises from your mouth, and cry
out, "Hallelujah". Many churches highly esteem those
who can speak in tongues, because they say they have direct
revelation from God. For the next whole week, the whole church
will talk about your spiritual gift with great admiration; and
will gladly lead you to the high seat on Sunday. They may even
invite you to speak in tongues to them to find out the messages
from God, this would save them time from studying the Bible.
If this is not for you, then we should exercise our true spiritual gifts, as what God has promised in Ephesians 4:7-11. All believers have their specific gift from God, we have to find out what it is, to serve in that capacity so that we can build up the kingdom of God, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We should not bury our talent in the earth(Matthew 25). Those who are willing to serve will receive respect from others, whether they care for the high seat or not.
3. Another possible way of gaining respect is to
let people know about our outstanding secular abilities.
In this Western world, when people worship sports as a god, if we
can convince others how athletic we are, or used to be, then they
would adore us heartily. If you have a pretty face, a muscular
body (male or female); I am quite sure you will draw some
attention. If there is not much in your appearance that you can
boast of (Romans 2:28), perhaps you should show some pride in
your blood, your ancestry(1 Tim 1:4), or even your gender. For
those who have the superstition that some human beings are born
more superior because of their blood, or their sex chromosomes,
they will give you their highest salute. Do not forget your
education, name some great souls that you knew in your college
days, make people feel sorry that they do not know them; put some
titles on your name card. All these would definitely help your
status (Job 32:22, Proverbs 25:27).
However if you want to take Christ as an example, then the Bible gives clear instruction in Philippians 2: 7,8 ,"But made himself (Christ) of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross ". Christ has shown the ultimate form of humiliation and obedience to His father by dying on the cross to save sinners in the world.
Luke 18:13,14 says ,"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smoke upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted". We do not deserve any more grace from God than this taxcollector. God rewards the humble, and chastens the prideful.
4. The next one I am going to show you is easier
than any method before.
Simply be absent from the church. Then all of sudden, you will
have a lot of caring visits and phone calls from the chruch
fellows,and they want to find out whether you have stumbled. When
you tell them you are not doing well spiritually, then the whole
church will remember you in their prayings. When you return to
the church, everyone will greet you and praise God, you will
become the center of their attention. Do this a few times a year,
when people get tired of it, then switch to other methods.
However, the biblical way is to show your spiritual maturity by not wavering. Hebrews 10:23 says, "Let us holdfast the profession of our faith without wavering". James 1:8 says, "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways". Circumstances may not always be encouraging, but God is in heaven and he provides. When Peter looked at the wind while walking on the sea, he almost drowned himself. When the promise is there, when the call is there, go for it--rather suffer due to obedience, than suffer due to our stupidity.
5. It may surprise you how many people uses the
next method to increase their notability in the church.
This way is to absolutely refuse to change, or repent; stiffen
your neck as much as your can. No matter what the preacher
preaches, or the Bible says, or the Holy Spirit whispers, or your
brothers exhorts; refuse to listen to them at all. Take any
message against your will as unloving, absolutely let no one run
your life. Insist that you want to do it your way and the
psychologists say the best way to learn is by making mistakes. If
you hold this attitude, those with the same understanding will
gladly give you their right hand of fellowship.
The other alternative is not as easy as this one, which is to deal with sins in our life. Christianity is God'ss only way to deal with sinners and their sin. Proverbs 28:13 says, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have merc". People who are willing to repent because of godly sorrow will receive respect from the church.
6. The next way is tailored made for the well-educated.
That is to take a stand on some borderline doctrines. Many people
will be amazed by your distinctive interpretation and wisdom of
the Bible, and would look up unto you as a very spiritual man in
the church. For example, to believe speaking in tongues is still
a valid spiritual gift (see 1 Corinthians 13:10); or to argue
that the Bible contains truth but not the truth itself ( see 2
Timothy 3:16); or to reject the authority of the Authorized
version by using other versions( see Revelation 22:19); or
challenge the doctrine of church by not joining any church but
floating among many (see 1 Corinthians 12:12ff ); or to believe
we have the freedom to interpret the Bible in whichever way we
prefer( see 2 Timothy 2:15); or to bring one side of any Bible
teaching to its extreme and ignore the balance of it (see
Proverbs 11:1), and so on.
The other way is to follow the Bible direction to rightly divide the World of Truth. Although even great theologians have questions in certain portions of the Bible, no one should settle for any grey area. God does not give us a half truth, he gives "yea or nay", not "yea and nay"( 2 Corinthians 1:19, Matthew 5:37), he wants black or white, and not grey. He gave his word for us to understand, and not to get confused by it. Study the Bible, be faithful to His Word because it has cutting edges (Hebrews 4:12), and it is the only way for pastors and Christians to develop their spiritual discernment.
You certainly can see I am not encouraging rebellion, Proverbs 17:11 says, "A evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him". Nor am I here to promote any attention seeking behavior in the church, in fact, Bible teaches us Tongue Control in Titus 3:2, Proverbs 13:3; Honesty in 1 Peter 2:12; Sobriety in 1 Thessalonians 5:6; and Quietness for both men and women in 1 Timothy 2:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:11.
If you do see a glimpse of yourself in these examples, I pray that you will make a decision to change. God does not receive showmanship type of worship. There is no shortcut to spiritual maturity, it takes an organized and regularized route to become mature. There are traditions we should strive to follow - tradition of the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15, 3:6). These all take time and effort, recognition will come in time.
We should not exalt ourselves, however, on the other end of the balance we should care for our reputation. Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is rather to be chosen than great richness, and loving favour rather than silver and gold"; 1 Timothy 3:7 talks about the qualification of a pastor and says, "More over he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil". The biblical standard of a pastor is also a living standard for every Christian. We are God's walking testimony on earth, the world see us to admire our God, Philippians 1:27 says, "Only let your conversation (i.e. conduct) be as it becometh the gospel of Christ...".
