The Character of the Faithful

Introduction

I. Introduction

This morning, I wanted to finish up our Road Map retreat weekend by reminding us of our focus for this year. If you were unable to join us on Friday and Saturday, all of those sessions will be available for you to watch online. For the next 6 to 9 months or however long it takes for us to get through the worst of the pandemic, I believe that God is calling us remain steadfast, and to walk faithfully with Him and with one another. And this may not sound spectacular, or life-changing but I believe that this is what it will take to not only survive but also to experience whatever spiritual growth may come as a result of God’s grace. In Isaiah, we see that there are different dimensions in our relationship with God.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

There are seasons where we are called to fly with God on eagle’s wings, those are special times of revival where our relationship with God almost feels effortless. Then are times when we are called to run with God, obviously this takes greater effort but you get further and accomplish more for God in a short window of time. And there are times when we simply need to walk with God, one step at a time, and make sure that you don’t faint. It may not feel like you are getting anywhere fast but the simple act of moving forward no matter how slowly, gets you where you need to be. For many of us 2020 was a whirlwind of change, things happened so quickly one after the other that it was hard to even find time to reflect on everything that has happened to our lives in a short 10 months that has felt like 10 years. At the beginning of this year, it feels like we wore ourselves out so much dealing with last year, that all we can do is walk and not grow faint. But for those of us who remain faithful to this journey, I think you will be surprised how far God will carry you in the end.

With that in mind, I wanted to share the effort that it will take to endure through this time of suffering in our world.

2 Timothy 2:1–10 ESV

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

The late Christian theologian, Dallas Willard once stated that:

The path of spiritual growth in the riches of Christ is not a passive one. Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning. Effort is action. Earning is attitude.

What Willard meant by this was the fact that any meaningful spiritual growth requires effort, discipline, and sacrifice but all of these actions don’t guarantee growth, it simply creates the conditions for growth because in the end true spiritual growth is a work of God’s grace. And the person who puts in all this effort with the attitude that their efforts deserve to be rewarded doesn’t completely understand how God’s grace works.

When you think about the soldier who fulfills his duty, there is no guarantee that his loyalties will lead to victory in battle . When you think about the athlete, there is no guarantee that the hours of practice will lead to a championship. And for the farmer, all the toil and effort to grow his crops doesn’t always a guarantee a bountiful harvest. The end result is dependent on a variety of factors outside of his control. But in each of these examples, to put in no effort, to neglect faithful discipline, to avoid any sacrifice is in effect a plan to fail. In fact, it is a guarantee that you will fail. The grace of God simply does not override human neglect.

In this passage, we see how the grace of God works synergistically with the efforts of man to ultimately fulfill God’s plan for our lives. And in these three analogies we can practically see what it means to be faithful.

Faithfulness requires:

Devotion like a soldier

Discipline like an athlete

Diligence like a farmer

We can see that Paul begins these analogies with the simple exhorhation for us to share in suffering especially as it relates to living out the gospel. The Christian life is often likened to a spiritual battle and though we can’t see it, the battle for the souls of men and women is as real as any war. (Driving through this city is a daily reminder of the destructive power of sin and Satan.) If you understand the Christian life in this way, it makes more sense that we are are called to endure suffering like a good soldier.

Whether in peacetime or wartime, every soldier spends their energy getting ready for the battle that is ahead of them. There is an expectation of hardship, a preparedness for sacrifice, to live without some of the comforts of life, and to so to speak, set yourself apart from civilian affairs. Some people may think its crazy that we’ve spent the last 3 weeks waking up to pray for an hour and to fast in form or another. I would like to think that it is more like prepration, training, and something like a Christian bootcamp.

Focusing our spiritual disciplines in manageable stretches like that grow the muscles of faithfulness. Some would argue that these things seem a bit legalistic but it’s only legalistic if you expect a badge of honor for completeing the training. No soldier goes through bootcamp and expects a medal of valor because the real battle lays before us in the real world. But in the end, its not the sense of spiritual accomplishment or recognition that drives us but it’s our simple devotion to our commander officer.

I used to be a huge fan or war movies like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, the Pacific which were all based on real wars. What is always striking is the bond between good commanders and the enlisted men that would serve under them. One of the characteristics of good military units that could completely alter the tide of a war was the devotion of these groups to their commanding officer. It’s difficult to fight for something so nebulous or vague as a cause or even a kingdom, it’s far easier to battle for a man who represents these things. And Christ is that for us, he is the one who represents all that is good, true, and just in this world.

Second, faithfulness requires discipline like an athlete. This is something I have a little bit more of first hand experience with. In any sport, your chances of victory is understanding the physical skills that need to be developed to win and learning how to play by the rules of the game. I still remember playing in my first little league basketball game and just having no clue how to play the game. I think I must have frustrated my friend’s dad who was the coach becasue dribble the ball without traveling and picking up the ball. Anytime I would try to guard someone, I would end up hacking them becasue I didn’t know there were actually rules on how to defend your opponent. I’m sure I cost our team alot of wins during that season.

Eventually through practice, I picked up the requisite skills to learn how to play by the rules of the game and to understand the nuances like where I should be on the floor, how to set picks for my teammates, and open up passing laws for easier shots. For many years, I played basketball almost every single day so that I could contribute to a winning team. In a similar way, victory in the Christian life requires certain skill sets and adherance to the commandments set by God regarding our purity, understanding of doctrine, how to best best practice our faith, even serving and loving one another has guidelines. And you cannot expect to have any chance of victory of you don’t know these requirements or constantly breach them.

Finally, we are called to be as diligent at farmers. Unfortunately, here I have only negative experience. I have the opposite of a green thumb which I think is a black thumb because anything that is living and green in my house eventually ends up dead, even very easy plants like cactus cannot survive under my watch.

When we used to have a backyard in San Diego, I tried to grow tomatoes but it was so much harder that I thought. You have to give it the right amount of water, put in the right fertilizer, protect it from the sun, make sure that there are no insects, fight off the birds, and the list threats goes on and on. I realized that it is so much easier to just go to the market and buy a freaking tomato. But I’ve tasted vine-ripened tomatoes and it is a totally different experience. Its seems like it is a different fruit altogether. (Did you know that tomatoes are actually both a fruit and a vegetable.00

And in theory, knowing how hard it is to bring a tomato into existence, the diligence it takes to successfully grow these plants, I can understand why Paul says that the person who labors in the harvest should be the first to receive a share of the crops. You have to work so long and hard to see your crops come to harvest but when it happens, there is incredible joy at the result. Spiritual growth personally and corporately is very much like tending a garden. To see the fruit of the Spirit requires faithful diligence, protecting it from the winds and the rains, and not giving up prematurely.

Conclusion:

At the end of this section that we read, Paul concludes his thoughts by quoting from a well-knowing teaching in the church at the time:

2 Timothy 2:11–13 ESV

The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

This teaching clearly highlights this intersection of grace and our effort that I eluded to. Those who have committed themselves to denying themselves of some of the comforts of this world, who desire to crucify their sinful desire, and to die daily to themselves will have a greater confidence to know that though they, yet will they live. Those who have the strength to endure, to persevere, there is a crown of glory that awaits you and you will reign with Christ forevermore. That serves as great motivation to run this race to the finish because the alternative is unthinkable. To do nothing, to put no effort into your walk with God is to open yourself up for disaster and that is the denial of Christ, perhaps not in word but in action. I have seen enough people shipwreck in their faith because they simply gave up and didn’t realize that though it feels like the Christian life is like walking on a tightrope, there is always a safety net underneath us. Sometimes we hang onto Jesus by a small thread and it feels like it takes all of our strength, all of our will power to remain connected to other believers, to eek out a prayer, to read the Bible without being cynical. All Christians cycle through periods where they feel faithless and maybe you’re going through that period right now. God knows, there were times last year where I felt completely devoid of faith but what kept me hanging on was the knowledge that though we are faithless, God remains faithful, He remains steadfast because that is who He is and He cannot and will not go against His very nature. The faithfulness of God is the safety net that protects us when the trials and troubles of life seem to difficult to endure. And far from an excuse to simply stop trying, it’s the very thing that motivates us to work with all our might to live for the one who gave His for us. (Teaching my children how to ride a bike.)