How much of your property can you take with you to Heaven?
What can you take to Heaven? Jesus tells us to “store up your treasure in
Heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew
6:19-21). It’s not money or property or cars or jewels that last for eternity,
but the souls of human beings, and these are our treasure that we should be
investing in.
There is a very real temptation to think of people as
capital to utilize for the mission of the church. When we see people as what
they can do for us, we will compromise the message to get more people in the
church, more people volunteering, and more people letting us down. Do more
people bring more manhours of useful volunteering? Potentially, but we are
after quality, not quantity, after disciples, not pew-warmers.
In this role we might plant and water seeds in people,
fostering relationships with those who will walk away from the faith and the
church (Matthew 13:20-21, 1 John 2:19). Paul tells us to be “kind to everyone, able
to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting our opponents with gentleness.”
Why? Not because we’re sure they’ll be saved, but because “God may perhaps grant
them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to
their senses, and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by
him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
Therefore, our call is not to make wise investments, such as
ensuring people are showing evidence of election and growth and worthiness
before investing in them, but investing even when there is no evidence of their
spiritual calling, they are going from bad to worse, and we are quite sure if the
Spirit doesn’t move that we’re wasting our time. Many people in history have
said something to the effect of, “Character is shown most clearly in how we
treat those who can do nothing for us.”
If God would have painted a yellow
stripe on the backs of the elect, I would go around lifting shirts. But since
he didn’t, I must preach “whosoever will” and when “whosoever” believes, I know
he is one of the elect. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Key Verse: Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom,
instruction, and understanding. ~ Proverbs 23:23
More:
1. Before evangelism, preaching, and revivals I usually pray, “God,
if you’d don’t send your Holy Spirit, then we’re just bothering people and wasting
their time.” The adage says, “We should talk to God about people before we talk
to people about God.” How often do you pray for those you’ll come into contact
with throughout the day? Are you praying that God would move in their life? How
about praying now?
2. Can you think of anyone in your life who took a risk and
invested in you? Any scholarships, open pulpits, free lunches? How do you pay
it forward and take someone to lunch so you can invest in them?
3. Bad investments often require us to go looking for lost
sheep. One of my regrets in ministry is giving up on a young man who repeatedly
missed appointments and didn’t do his homework. If I could do it again I’d
spend more time holding him accountable. Read Ezekiel 34 and consider how you’ve
treated God’s flock.
4. Rudyard Kipling said something all people everywhere ought
to heed, “Beware of overconcern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you
will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor
you are.” Are you investing in truth and souls and prepared to meet the man who
cares immensely about both of those things?
5. Further Reading:
Mack, Wayne. A Homework Manual for Biblical Living:
Personal and Interpersonal Problems. Chicago: Moody Press, 1979.
Mack, Wayne. A Homework Manual for Biblical Living:
Family and Marital Problems. Chicago: Moody Press, 1979.
Getty, Keith & Kristyn, and Fernando Ortega. My Worth Is Not in What I Own. Getty Music, 2014.
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