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NASB | 1 Timothy 4:6 ¶ In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Timothy 4:6 ¶ If you point out these instructions to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished [through study] on the words of the faith and of the good [Christian] doctrine which you have closely followed. |
Subject: The Ministry of the "Walking Wounded" |
Bible Note: Thank you so much for your heartfelt testimony, my friend! We will certainly have to keep you and your family in our prayers, and we pray that the wounds of the past would be healed. I could tell you some stories! About how a church that my father was a pastor of refused to even pay him his salary until the District Superintendent pressured the church into paying him. About how we went on vacation for a week, only to return and find that somebody had stayed at the parsonage (our house) while we were away. About how another church would summon a former pastor to do weddings, funerals, etc, while my father was the current pastor. And more often than not, a congregation has sought to vote him out and give him his 'walking papers', since he decided to preach the Word rather than to make them all feel good and to massage them to sleep without rocking the boat.. :-) But has the church really lost sight of what a shepherd is really supposed to be? What can the church as a whole do to support or to help pastors who have been manipulated out of their parishes simply because they became 'unpopular' with the crowd for the wrong reasons? Have Christians lost all sense of responsibility and respect, since the pastor is there to take the congregation to the 'next step', rather than to play "chaplain"? The problem in my denomination/church is that they need to forget the fact that they are Mennonites, and to remember the fact that they are Christians. We cannot idolize society, even the society that we have created in order to try to get away from society as a whole (like the Mennonites), and the majority is not always right! So, I would go on record as saying that politics should not play any part or be present at all in the church at ANY level, since God does not show favoritism to anyone. We've already seen what politics can do to our Bibles (for example: the TNIV), and we surely do not need it to invade our churches any further. The church and its affairs should not be a "business" by any means, and we should not lose sight of how the Lord became angry and drove out all of the "profit seekers" when He cleared the Temple. What the Lord did then was not only for just that moment, but He was making a statement- that the church should not be influenced by capitalism or power or control, but should only be influenced by Him, and Him alone! I believe that many present day churches and denominations have sorely lost their sight of Christ, and that is seen largely by the decisions that are made, and by the hurts that have been inflicted on the local level. But not all of the "walking wounded" have been successful in starting up non-denominational churches of their own, and my heart goes out to those who truly feel that they have been dealt a serious blow by the powers of Satan. However, I have seen a great many of those who have lost parishes not lose hope, and many of these have gone on to be successful missionaries.. Just my thoughts! Blessings to you, Makarios |