Being in a place of transition is sometimes not the most fun place to be. It seems like my life has been full of them for the past decade, but looking back I am grateful to see the providence of God in the middle of everything. In one of those transitions (one that I didn’t particularly want to be in), I felt it wise to just make the best of the situation; but it was a constant battle with my attitude -- one that I didn’t always succeed in. Our family had stepped out on faith, hoping for a wonderful thing. However, whether it was God’s will or my own failure to trust Him, I found myself in a place of disappointment, hunger (spiritually), and even regret. But the blessing in all that was the eventual experience of hearing God’s voice, his revelation, and the light bulb going off in my head. I had begun training for my new job, and I was away from my family, in a different city. I would spend my days in the classroom, getting to know people and making new friends. But I always ended up back in a lonely, dark, quiet hotel room at night that I really didn’t want to be in. I did what any man who’s away from home, all alone on the road should do . . . I opened my Bible. Opening my Bible and reading it are things that I do multiple times a day. But there are times when you just read the words on the pages and you still feel empty. The reading is dry and it’s merely become your habit. But for that particular moment, some of His words grabbed me, woke me up, and gave me hope. Let me share them with you.
“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess. 1:2-3
And there they were – three words that would transform my life (again), my focus, and my purpose. FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. These words would drive me to the biggest leap of faith I have made to date.
The church of Thessalonica was birthed out of a mission trip Paul and his team took to that city (Acts 17). After a few weeks hanging out in the synagogue, marketplace, people’s homes, and explaining and reasoning with them the truth of Jesus, the church was birthed with converted Jews, pagans and “not a few women.” I am sure that he would have loved to spend more time there, but he ended up having to get out of Dodge pretty quick. This is something that Paul was probably accustomed to by then. He later heard reports of the witness and work of this young, simple community of witnesses. Their faith and witness was growing, God was using them, and they became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia -- “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.” (1:9). As one writer puts it, “the gospel being proclaimed far and wide…”
Yesterday a friend sent me an email with an article by someone named David Kuykendall titled “A Great Church.” In his article he identifies about five things to do in order to become “a great church.” All the points he makes are valid and well worth the practice. But simply stated, I am convinced that what makes us great (if we can even use the word “great” to describe us) will be how we measure up to these previously mentioned three characteristics, actions, or values: Faith, Hope, and Love. We live in a success-driven society -- if there aren’t significant results we drop our plan, retool, and come at it from another angle. Even in “doing church” we fall into that trap. In the town where I used to live, there was a church planter that posted this on his blog once, “I know how to really put together a high quality worship service.” Surely this is not the measure he uses to define greatness in God’s eyes. . .
But we all are guilty of it. How many times do you hear pastors brag about how many people they have in attendance or enrolled? Or some of us fear the humiliation and shame of not having many numbers to talk about. I was at a denominational meeting once where pastors got award certificates for having the highest number of baptisms. Really, having many people baptized is great, I rejoice! But can we truly get a good picture of the long-term, effective witness of that church based solely on the numeric value of baptisms? The message this sends is, “You are a better church because you baptized this many, but your church . . . well, you didn’t really baptize that many people, better luck next time.” I wonder if John the Baptist kept a count of how many baptisms he did? I wonder if he brought it up at the local Prophetic Associational Breakfast, “Hey I baptized Jesus the other day.” I’m thinking not.
We need to let “Faith, Hope and Love” force us to revaluate our purpose in this God given mission to love Him, love others and make disciples. A great church can only be identified over time and it has to be accessed through the words of God. Not the numeric values assigned my man. I totally agree with what Lance Ford states in his book Right Here Right Now In a conversation he is having;
”Five people gave their lives to the Lord in our meeting last night. I bristle. I
want to ask, ‘How do you know they gave their lives to the Lord?’ You can’t know that until some degree of time goes by…We must watch a person’s life to know whether or not they have really surrendered it to the Lord”
But how do we identify “greatness?” The truth is I don’t know but I think we have to consider whether or not the people we are baptizing (or discipling) are known for their Faith, Hope and Love. Are they making disciples, is their witness reaching out to unreached people, are they baptizing others? How are we known for our Faith, Hope and Love? If you look at my life, wait about 10 years after I am dead and see what my kids are doing. The very ones that I have the most opportunity to spend focused discipleship time with -- what are they doing? Are they still walking in fellowship with Christ and following his commands to love God and love others? Or look at others that I have discipled over the years. Is the fruit of my calling and life still growing and bearing fruit after I am gone? Could you say that they have Faith, Hope and Love?
Throughout the New Testament canon this trilogy of words (Faith, Hope and Love) appears in a variety of instances, nine different times (Rom. 5:1-5, 1 Cor. 13:13, Gal. 5:5-6, Eph. 4:2-5, Col. 1:4-5, 1 Thess. 1:3, 5:8, Heb. 6:10-12, 1 Peter 1:21-22). In the context of 1 Thess., they identify what our motivation of service should be. In Col. 1: 4-5, hope is the anchor of the churches’ faith and love. In all cases they are so connected to one another it’s hard not to take the time to seriously consider what God is saying. The fact that this trilogy is used so much is not a coincidence. God is trying to get us to listen and hear Him saying, “This is what I am looking for.” Where is your Faith? Where is your Hope? Where is your Love? Klyne Snodgrass in his commentary on Ephesians says this: “That these three occur together so frequently in the early church writings is no accident. They are foundational terms for Christianity, along with grace and truth, and they summarize the gospel and its consequences.” What are the foundations of your life? What will be the consequences of your life?
FAITH, HOPE and LOVE is my prayer.
Peace in Christ Name
J Guthrie
Eph. 2:10
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