DON’T TRY TO BE A CHIEF IF GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE AN INDIAN

Today’s Bible readings are Ezra 4:24-6:22, 1 Corinthians 3:5-23, Psalm 29:1-11, & Proverbs 20:26-27

1 Corinthians 3:5-9

⁵ After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. ⁶ I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. ⁷ It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. ⁹ For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

I want to talk to you today about the principal of serving with excellence in what God has called you to do. It seems to me that we tend to get envious, & even jealous, of other people & their abilities. We look at certain ministries & we think that they are more important that other ministries. Sometimes we will avoid a particular area of service because we think we that there is another area of ministry that we would like doing better.

It is like the person who says:

1.     I don’t want to serve in the nursery but I would love to stand on the platform & sing.

2.     I won’t serve in the bus ministry but if you need somebody to do something important you can call on me.

3.     I don’t like cleaning but I love to preach.

There are all kinds of thought like this that people develop. I want to be very clear—this all stems from PRIDE!

1.     It is pride that makes us puff up like this.

2.     It is pride that makes us miss wonderful blessings.

3.     It is pride that comes before destruction.

Paul dealt with this in his ministry. People got into wrong thinking about these things. He made it clear that it doesn’t matter what part of service you are involved in, IT IS ALL A TEAM EFFORT!!! Some people will be in the spot light while others do less spectacular things BUT they work together for the SAME Jesus & will share in the SAME reward!!!

The purpose for our effort is the SAME—to reach people for Jesus. What difference does it make if you are the one on the platform getting all the recognition or if you are the one driving the bus full of shouting kids? It takes both in order for the harvest to come!

As men, we pay more respect to those who have positions of prestige & power. It is not the case with God.

·        If you want to be great you will be a servant.

·        If you want to be first you must be last.

·        If you want to find your life you must lose your life.

We think that if we aren’t in the limelight we are not important to God’s plan. I believe that the opposite in more true. If you are not where God has called you to be you have lost out on purpose & blessing, even if the place where you are appears to be a place of prestige & power. In other words, if God called you to work with kids but you chose to be a CEO instead, YOU MISSED THE MARK & ARE MSSING YOUR GREATEST DAYS OF BLESSING & PROSPERITY!!! 

Everybody wants to be the chief. The problem with that is that God has not designed it to be that way. Most people are called to be indians. That is the way that it is supposed to be. It doesn’t mean that God is unfair. We must learn to trust in Him when it comes to this. God is perfect in all of His ways. Your purpose is the same as the chief’s; the function is what is different.

Don’t envy the position of others because you do not know the burden they bear in stewarding that position. Instead, be who God created you to be. If it is a chief then be the best chief you can be. If it is an indian, then stop trying to be the chief & be the best indian the world has ever seen. This is what makes the kingdom grow & blessing flow!!!

Pastor Richard Schlotter