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 For
awhile, a man and his wife visited our services regularly in
Sydney, Australia; then I missed them several Sundays in a row.
When I went to visit them, the wife explained that she really
enjoyed the simple and unpretentious worship but her husband
complained that the singing was terrible and he felt like a
little school boy sitting in a classroom because I used the
blackboard in preaching. Another objection was that we were a
small struggling group, meeting in a converted house, and would
never amount to very much. He had agreed to go with her to a
large denominational church where the preacher stood and
philosophized, and there was a nice brick building.
That
presents a real problem — but only to those who boast in face
(i.e. who glory in appearance).
Paul
says that that which is seen is “for a season” but that
which is not seen is “eternal,” (2 Cor. 4:18). He ministered
in things that were true and lasting, while others were “boasting
in appearance.” Because man is confined to a world of material
things, he tends to build eternal hopes upon temporal
foundations — its quite natural, really — but that is like
building your house on the sand: you lose everything, (Matt.
7:26-27).
When
Paul judged Christ by fleshly standards he rejected Him, (2 Cor.
5:16). It was only when Paul learned to evaluate in terms of
eternity that he properly evaluated the Saviour. (See Isa. 53:
1-3) And many fail to “know Christ” today because they seek
only to “know” Him after the flesh.” They “know” him
as a human philosopher, human-
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-itarian, or emotional prop, but
never as their eternal Saviour.
There
must be constant danger signs to warn Christians and keep us
traveling on the road; to make us realize why we are what we
are, and why we do what we do. If not, we can slide into a “tail-spin”
and follow denominationalism into the bar-ditch of “boasting
in face.”
Look
what a nice building we have. If we are glorying in appearance,
we would be better off selling it and meeting under a tree. We
had _____ in attendance last Sunday. If we are trying for
numbers for the sake of numbers, send them all home. Twenty,
thirty, forty people were baptized in our meeting (campaign?).
How many never attended one service? How many fell away? Look
how fast the “Church of Christ” is growing. Yes? And what
about the Mormons or the J.W.’s? If we are just trying for a
glowing report and an impressive record, we had better stop
before we make them twofold more the sons of hell than
ourselves, (Matt. 23:15).
Our
glory should be in the heart, for one day we shall be made
manifest before the one who sees us ‘as we are. Knowing the
fear of the Lord, let us not “boast in appearance” but
persuade men that one died for all that all might live unto Him,
(2 Cor. 5:14-15). That is eternal! That is like building your
house on rock, (Matt. 7:24-25). You gain all that Jesus has to
offer. —— Jim R. Everett
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