Dear brothers and sisters,
Loving greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Today let us see about the importance of having a broad
mindedness in doing the ministry for the lord. Many times we have
a childish & worldly nature and that will not help the spiritual
growth of the believers and their ministry for God. God’s
people have many divisions and enmity in these days and this will
not help us to grow for the lord in a very fast manner. Even in
the time of our Lord Jesus earthly ministry the disciples had
similar type of divisions and enmity so they fought for the leadership
as in Luke 9:46, “An argument started among the disciples
as to which of them would be the greatest.” Jesus brought
a child in front of them and said in Luke 9:48, "Whoever
welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever
welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least
among you all--he is the greatest." Children cannot take
vengeance against each other. Our lord Jesus Christ taught his
disciple’s the servant hood as in Mat 23:11 & 12, “The
greatest among you will be your servant. Vs.12, For whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Like any worldly business person who stands for
their name, fame and patent the disciples of Jesus also had similar
ideas that others should not do the ministry in the name of the
lord Jesus as in Mark 9:38, "Teacher," said John, "we
saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop,
because he was not one of us.” Immediately our lord told
them not to stop such people as in Mark 9:39 & 40; “Do
not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle
in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for
whoever is not against us is for us.” If we start thinking
in that line ‘whoever is not against us is for us’
we can really extend our hand of friendship with many people easily.
Apostle Paul writes & corrects this favoritism
in the early church. If we start having our own groups we are
just like any worldly people with infant nature as in 1 Cor.3:4
to 7, “For when one says, "I follow Paul," and
another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? Vs.5,
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants,
through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to
each his task. Vs.6, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered
it, but God made it grow. Vs.7, “So neither he who plants
nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things
grow.”
Apostle Paul also writes about the unity in the
body of Christ as in 1 Cor 12:25 to 27, “That there should
be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the
same care one for another.” Vs.26, “and whether one
member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be
honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Vs.27, now ye are the
body of Christ, and members in particular.”
May the lord help each one of us to understand
this truth that ‘he who is not against us is for us’
so that we may not have the spirit of groups or favoritism but
only unity among the body of Christ. We must develop the spirit
of tolerance to respect and accept one another in the body of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Your Web-Site Pastor,
Rev.
Dr. T. Marcus Devasahayam
Web-site: www.barodabibleclub.org
e-mail: marcusbbc@yahoo.com
Mobile: 91-9327243600 ,Church 3096882 / 5540651.
Res : 3, 2nd floor, Arpita Complex, Priyalaxmi Mills Road, Vadodara
– 390003, Gujarat, India, Phone:91-265-2335651.
