A Driving Life Purpose

J. Ruskin Garber

For centuries controversies have

prevailed over interpretation of the scriptures regarding various Bible doctrines, ordinances and other truths. Volumes have been written; debates and arguments have been carried on; great masses of Christianity have pledged their loyalty to the various creeds stemming from these differences. Even today new divisions and splits continue over these and other circumstances. Each group thus formed zealously defends its doctrinal position, feeling that is has arrived at the best and most complete interpretation of the scriptures. Examining these various groups, we find commonly that there is one or more points of interpretation which is unique with them and which they feel is the neglected truth that has fallen into the ground and which they have rescued from obscurity.

B eing in interdenominational work, [we have] felt keenly the impact of these differences. A newcomer to the missionary boot camp finding these differences naturally feels that his conception of the doctrines and creeds in the Bible is the one right understanding and that all should immediately make adjustment accordingly. Surely God is not the author of this extreme confusion and [we have] not endeavored to establish another doctrine or to emphasize the differences that have promoted such strife and dissension within the body of Christ.

Great emphasis has been placed in our day upon the Word of God. Men who are able to amaze and awe the churchgoers with some new twist of truth or clever exposition of the scriptures are in great demand in the pulpits. Who wants to hear the gospel the same way year in and year out? As we have on occasions read the works of Bible expositors of the past centuries we have been amazed at the profound detail of their exposition and, therefore, realized that the searching out of truth has not been the compelling force that sparked the expansion of the church in those days nor is it the force which will bring life to the church in this generation.

Typical is the experience of William Carey, generally regarded as the founder of modern Protestant missions. While working as a shoemaker he received his vision and burden of unreached men, but the offer of his life brought this rebuke from the church leaders of his day: “Sit down young man, when it pleases God to convert the heathen, He'll do it without your help or mine.”

Many have become skilled at so-called rightly “dividing the Word of Truth” to the point that God's purpose in the scriptures becomes a mass of intricate details with no central aim or objective. (Many have divided the truth, but few have endeavored to join the truth of the scripture in an effective testimony to inspire action for God.) Great emphasis has been laid upon this “Study to show thyself approved” with the approval based on human standards, and as a result few arrive that “need not be ashamed.”

Somehow our Bible study program has not resulted in a movement of lives into the job for Jesus Christ. Much time has been spent defending the faith. A lively message crusading against Satanic forces which deny our faith will always draw the admiration and applause of a group of believers, but the same apostle who admonished us to defend the faith also admonished us to exercise it. The best defense is an offense. While we have been busy defending the faith, we find the opposing forces have been busy outstripping us by their zeal to propagate their beliefs. Like patrons at a sports event we like to talk and shout a good fight, but when a call comes for volunteers for battle there is a strange silence.

We exhort many to “contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” but when we exhort the saints to deliver this message to others, such exhortation becomes unpopular.

Great emphasis is laid these days upon select portions of truth from the writings of the Apostle Paul. It is a strange paradox that we can so comfortably accept or reject truth which was all-inspired of the Holy Spirit at seemingly any whim of fancy that suits the particular motives or objectives of the individual or group of believers. We believe the message of salvation is by grace apart from works, but to separate Paul's testimony concerning the free grace of salvation from the warnings given by the Holy Spirit through Paul is to do violence to the scriptures. Comfortable Christianity is built around emphasizing the truth which brings peace concerning our eternal salvation and yet at the same time relieves the believer of the sharp reality that as a child of God he has a solemn obligation of service to the Master. When we consider that the Apostle Paul, with all his service and testimony for God, continually realized the possibility of becoming useless as a servant, a castaway, how much more should we fear in our faltering efforts?

Nowhere do we find evidence that Paul's assurance of salvation gave him liberty to expect to escape from the judgments upon a life of disobedience. We like to embrace the truth of the apostle, but we shrink from the example of his life. We believe that this is the reason that he so plainly speaks to the Corinthians: “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherever I beseech you, be ye followers of me. For this cause I have sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.” I Corinthians 4:15-17. And other scriptures where Paul admonishes them to follow him as he followed Christ: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am as Christ.” I Corinthians 11:1.

Like the multitudes who listened to Jesus, the listening was fine but the following was too big a price. We affirm again that to accept the truth of the scriptures without accepting the life is the height of hypocrisy and sham. The Holy Spirit not only used Paul to reveal these scriptural truths, but He inspired him to live by them for our example and admonition. “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” Philippians 4:9. The reason these truths are so readily avoided while others are emphasized is not hard to understand, because to follow the Apostle Paul as a witness for Christ is an objective which robs us of all fleshly motives, ambitions and glory from men.

The Apostle Paul never became a “big time” operator; he did not rely on the money and influence of big names to make his ministry a success; there was no prearranged build-up for Paul. As he shook the dust off his feet of the rebellious Antioch and headed for Iconium he had no flattering titles or human achievements to cause the people of Iconium to await with breathless anticipation his coming. We might well take heed to the word of Elihu: “Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man. For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing my maker would soon take me away.” Job 32:21,22. Paul barely escaped the stones at Iconium, only to find the angry people followed him all the way from Antioch and Iconium to Lystra, where they stoned him and “drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.” What clever strategy has Satan now used to cause the wicked hearts of men that once stoned an Apostle Paul to find praise and admiration for the public ministry of men today?

Paul did not have a long waiting list of coming engagements; the news of the riots that accompanied his message made it unlikely that anyone would schedule him for a coming meeting. Placing Paul in the spotlight of our modern approach to the ministry proves very interesting. If truthful, the advertising would have to be as follows: “The Apostle Paul coming to Derby ….At his meeting in Antioch (in Pisidia) devout men and honorable women expelled Paul and Barnabas from the coasts…In Iconium the multitude of the city was divided, and he fled from the assault by the Gentiles, Jews and the rulers…At Lystra he was stoned and left for dead.”

His personal testimony would be: I came not with excellency of speech and wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I am likely to be weak, fearful and trembling. My speech is comtemptible, and my preaching is not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstrating of the Spirit and of power — That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. I Corinthians 2:1-5; I Corinthians 10-10.

Likewise the ministry of Paul the Apostle was never based on financial success; he had no price required for his service; no living in luxuries or more acceptable situations; he defended the right of the minister of the gospel to live by his ministry: “Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live by the gospel.“ I Corinthians 9:14. But there is a vast difference between the many plush situations in the ministry today and the living of the Apostle Paul. He delighted to ”make the gospel of Christ without charge.”

Let us consider soberly this testimony concerning his ministry: “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness: Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail: for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.” I Thessalonians 2:4-9.

Not only do we know how the Apostle Paul conducted his ministry and the example that he left, but we also know where he endeavored to preach. He clearly states: “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation.” Romans 15:20. Paul's ambition to win men and plant churches would have pushed him far from the shores of America with our competitive and overlapping ministries. While some doubt that the church has a commission to preach the gospel to the regions beyond, the Apostle Paul found sufficient command in this verse in Isaiah where he quotes: “But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.” Romans 15:21 from Isaiah 52:15.

We do not want to convey the impression that we have fully understood or have accomplished in any large degree all that is set forth in the challenge to the churches contained in the scriptures. The heart of the difficulty is not that we have too much teaching or understanding of the scriptures, but that we have learned to allow ourselves to accept these truths which give us a measure of spiritual satisfaction and yet are not motivated to act in the cause of Christ. We believe there is just one purpose in the church, and that is the world objective of the gospel. It was for this objective that God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son. It was for this objective that that all power in heaven and in earth is given. It is for this objective that the church is commissioned to be witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth. The Apostle Paul lived for this world objective, and we believe that heaven's blessing will flow in abundance upon those who likewise live whole-heartedly for this cause.

By comparison, the church has little concern today that there is an objective or an enemy to defeat. The church needs an austerity program; a sacrificing of selfish interests to the end that we might obediently win the battle for Christ. During the war we did without many things; we got along without driving our cars; women gave up thousands of articles of aluminum from the kitchen; we saved our fats and considered nothing too great or too small to do to contribute to the war effort.

Where has the church lived sacrificially or suffered in any similar measure for the cause of the gospel? Do we really believe that one soul is worth more than the whole world? When the call came for volunteers and the draft which followed, thousands of our young men obediently marched off, many never to return from the field of battle. Are we willing to give less for the cause of Christ? In all missionary history only 23,000 lives have ever been given for the cause of world missions. While there are no statistics, yet knowing the small degree of success on the field we can imagine that the greater part of these were not used in any effective ministry. Compare this with the millions who have laid down their lives on the field of battle to bring death and destruction.

We do not know how late the hour is. There may still be time. Doors of opportunity still remain throughout the world in various parts. Will we continue to fatten our souls in the abundance of America while the rest of the world hungers for our Saviour?