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Teaching Program
The
Foundation of the Church
Course: The Cross
Lesson
9
Lesson
Title: Take
up your cross
Personal
Testimony: The Turnaround
Philippians
3:13-14 'Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'
From the time I committed my life to Christ in 1975 I wanted to be a preacher.
The Lord confirmed the call on my life and two years later I went to Bible school. At Bible school I had two great ambitions for my life, the first was to be a successful preacher, and the second was to build up a large missions work.
These two ambitions had good results in my life; I gave myself to the study of the scriptures, and I became involved in overseas missions. I am so thankful to the Lord for both of these things because I would not have a ministry today if I had not committed myself to these ambitions at that time. Forgetting the things that are behind meant to me that I had turned my back on the world and I ran towards the goal of having a successful ministry for the Lord.
In 1983 I went to the Philippine Islands and became involved in missions.
The need for support made me regard the ministry as somewhat competitive and I tried to promote myself as 'doing great things for God'. I did not always feel good about this because the scriptures I preached told me to do the opposite.
Philippians
2:3-4 'Let
nothing be done through strife or
vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than
themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the
things of others.'
But at this time I couldn't see any other way of building up a successful missions work. I looked for opportunities to testify about what I was doing, but even this seemed at times to go against scripture.
Matthew 6:3 'But when you do alms, let not your
left hand know what thy right hand is doing:'
My endeavours to build up my ministry found some success but it was difficult because I did not have a naturally outgoing character that is a great asset in leadership. In addition, my love for the scriptures was actually hindering me in pursuit of the goals that I had set for my ministry. It is interesting to notice that my love for the scriptures did not produce love in my heart. In fact the opposite happened and my knowledge of the scriptures made me critical of those who I thought had put success above truth.
I found I came into unity with people who held the same critical views as me, but this was a negative unity built on things we criticised. This negative kind of unity does not last and those who had been my friends later became critical of me.
I came to understand the scripture that says:
Galatians
My ministry seemed to die at this time. I knew the call of God on my life and the desires of my heart but in many ways it appeared that I was no longer in ministry. It was at this time that a great change took place in life. My goals were completely turned around, and I was facing a new direction. When I ran towards the goal of a successful ministry I regarded the world as being the thing I left behind, but now it was the goal of a successful ministry that was behind me and the goal I ran towards was 'to win Christ'. Forgetting those things that are behind meant keeping my eyes on the higher goal; 'the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus'.
The difference now is that ministry is not
competitive. I am free to lift up
others, and my ministry is an opportunity to worship. It is not important whether it is seen or
unseen, large or small; it is only important to know that Christ is glorified
through it. I am seeing things happen
now in a way I haven't seen before. The
main reason for this change is because God turned my ministry around and now it
is the 'love of Christ' that holds it together (2 Corinthians
See
'The Higher Calling to Worship' Chapter 7.
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