Growing Through Titus

The effectiveness of Lake Christian Church isn't measured by what goes on at the worship service on Sunday morning, but by what goes on in the lives of the members throughout the week. Our faith is meant to impact every area of life! As it says in Titus 2:10, we "must show ourselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way."

In the book God's Message for a Growing Church, the author challenges the complacent Christian by pointing out the fact that we live in a culture that expects the church of Christ to keep quiet about matters of faith. People in the world don't care if we get together on Sunday and talk about Jesus Christ. But they don't want our faith to permeate other areas of society:

• In the schoolhouse, educators say, "Morals are meant to be taught at home. Spiritual values can be taught in the church. But in the schools, we demand value-free instruction."
• In the White House, politicians say, "I'm personally against abortion, but I refuse to impose my personal values on my constituents. After all, people should be able to choose what they want."
• In the trading house, brokers say, "Don't try to mix business and ethics."
• In the courthouse, lawyers say, "It's legal to celebrate Christmas in the home, but a creche on public property violates the principle of the separation of church and state."

Even some Christians prefer it that way. Show up on Sunday for a sip of juice and a sermon--then do what you want the rest of the week. But is that all there is to being a believer?

We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God.--Titus 2:12

You're expected to devoted to Jesus Christ and make him the Lord of everything! Your faith is a new way of living! No area of your life should be untouched by Jesus Christ. The unbelievers of the world may not like it, but that's the truth.

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.--Titus 1:15

Growing Through 2 Timothy

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that every man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.--2 Timothy 3:16-17

What exactly does "inspired" mean? The Bible claims something very specific when it says it is inspired. When you pick up a Bible, you hold the actual words of God in your hands.

The Bible's Source Is God

This is the only instance in the entire Bible where the word translated "inspired" ever shows up. It means "God-breathed"--as if each and every word came directly from the mouth of God. Inspiration means the Bible--all of it--is God's word speaking to us.

The Bible Is Given Through Men

Even though the inspired word is really God's word, God used people to compose the Bible. Each writer used his own point of view to communicate God's word. The Lord used different people with their unique personalities, life experiences, and vocabularies to write the different books of the Bible.

The Bible Is True

One person asked, "Since people wrote the Bible and people can be wrong, does this mean parts of the Bible might be wrong?" In a word, no. Since the ultimate source of Scripture is God, then the Bible cannot be wrong.

The Bible, then, is all of what God wanted to reveal to us. It should teach us, guide us, correct our errors, and train us up to become men and women pleasing to God.

Growing Through 1 Timothy

Here's an old joke for you:

• Do you know why ministers' children misbehave?
• Because they spend most of their time with the children of elders and deacons.

Over the last two months, I've talked to some elders representing three different churches. Each conversation had one thing in common: They were frustrated with one or more ministers on the paid staff of their respective congregations.

Most church of Christ elders long for their minister/paid staff to be like Timothy:

Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you.--1 Timothy 4:14

We all want the church's minister to live up to his or her potential! But let me get straight to the point. If leaders want their ministers to be like Timothy, then those same leaders should try to be like Paul. At Lake Christian Church, our elders and deacons sign a letter of intent that simply states that they are committed to a Pauline pattern of leadership:

• Model to the People
• They intend to lead by example just as Paul modeled the kind of ministry he desired in others--2 Timothy 3:10
• Mainstay to the Paid Staff
• They intend to establish a partnership with their ministers, looking out for their interests as well as providing tangible guidelines--1 Timothy 1:2
• Mentor to Potential Leaders
• They intend to be connected to other men in the church in order to influence and inspire them--2 Timothy 2:2

In Eugene Peterson's Message, he offered this insight from 2 Chronicles 10:7--

If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they'll end up doing anything for you.

Would you like to serve with a minister who would "do anything for you"? Then be considerate of his or her needs. Consistently make positive assumptions about them so you'll respond with compassion. Remember, Jesus worked things out with Peter. Barnabas worked things out with Paul. And Paul worked things out with Timothy.

So, who's your Timothy?