Disrespecting the Word and Calling of God

As we head deeper into the end times we see less and less reverence for the Word of God. We see it being applied incorrectly or manipulated to fit pre-conceived agendas. As the love of most grow colder and the fear of God dissipates, it is no wonder that many seemingly take the Word in a careless and thoughtless manner. I understand that for many the motive may even appear to them to be genuine but that is not the point. Speaking to hear the echo of our own voice and feel important is not a "calling."

The first thing we see here is that God gave SOME to be these various things, not everyone. Yes everyone is responsible for reading the Scriptures for their own walk but that does not always translate into being called to divide the Word of Truth to the people of God. I know people who are born evangelists. You can just tell that God has given that to them. I know however that God has not given that to me. Others move freely in the prophetic gifting. You can sometimes tell however if someone is merely faking the prophetic move of God so that they can have attention drawn to them in a church service. So they can appear more holy or closer to God and stand out to the rest of the congregation. The flesh is always weak in matters that feed our pride. With the explosion of social media we see swaths of wannabe preachers operating outside of a call from God. The result is a little of the Word mixed in with some leaven. Whenever that happens there is always collateral damage.

Just look at the rest of the verses above from Ephesians. There is a reason God gave some these callings. Look what is at stake. First this is how God prepares His people for their service. The Bible says that God has prepared works for each of us to do. These works advance the kingdom of God. The church is God's chosen vehicle to bring the life saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. We need people to evangelize us though to come to the foot of the cross. We need teachers to guide us through doctrine in a world that is filled with the wolves of false teaching. We need pastors to shepherd and care for us and prophets to hear directly from God. By doing this, we see that the body of Christ is actually built up through this. If we think logically it would make sense. God's desire is for the body of Christ to be unified behind Jesus. What we see today however is much disunity in the body because of false teachings and people operating within callings they have not received from God. Whether it is prosperity preachers convincing people that God wants everyone to be rich or seeker friendly churches that compromise the Gospel with the things of this world we see people more and more disunified than ever. Realize also that worldly measurements of success does not indicate a move of the Spirit of God. Higher attendance numbers does not mean God is moving. The Bible says that many will gather around them teachers to hear what their itching ears want to hear. We have too many congregations filled with comfortably scratched ears. We all want to hear that God will make us rich. We all want to hear that it is ok to play with the things of this world without consequence. We all want to hear about love and grace instead of sin and wrath. Remember though when Paul said goodbye to the Ephesian elders he said he was free of their blood because he did not hesitate to proclaim the whole Gospel to them. There is blood on the line beloved. Paul warned Timothy that he would protect his hearers by guarding his doctrine. If we are to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ then we must have people walking in the calling God has given them.

That brings us to the key verse for today. We need to realize that Paul is writing these words to Timothy, his protege. Timothy would become the second pastor of the Church at Ephesus and was clearly working within the calling God had on his life. The first thing we see from the key verse is that there is in fact a way to wrongly divide the Word of God. Some may not realize this but simply providing an opinion with some Scriptures mixed in is not preaching. It is not correctly dividing the Word of Truth. Everyone has an opinion but not everyone has the calling from God. Remember what breaks the yoke?

God anoints what He calls. You can have the most eloquent speaker and without the anointing it will not matter. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts people of their sins. It is the Holy Spirit that provides the supernatural power needed to change a life. Unfortunately what we see in this country today are motivational and self help speakers masquerading as preachers convincing people they can have a better life now. Sure the hearers may come up to an altar but they leave no more saved than when they walked in. The yoke is destroyed by the anointing. The anointing accompanies the calling. And not everyone is called.

Finally from the key verse we see the precursor for being a workman approved by God. We must study hard to show ourselves approved before God. There was a period of ten years between when Saul was turned into Paul and his first missionary journey. What was he doing? Studying of course! It seems with each passing day there are more and more people who want to say what sayeth the Lord without showing themselves approved. Far too many people simply want to skip the first part of the key verse. They don't want to study to show themselves approved. I have heard of pastors who get their sermons from the Internet instead of seeking the Holy Spirit for what their hearers need to hear. The purpose of the period of studying is not only so that our doctrine becomes strong and unshakable but also so God can speak into our situation.

Please realize this is not to suggest that only the smart or learned should preach. Only the CALLED should. The truth is that God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. We will all stand before Christ one day and our works will be judged by fire. There is so much at stake beloved. Preparing people for the works God has called them to, perfect unity in the body of Christ, and the eternal destination of the souls of man. To much has been given much is required. If we fancy ourselves called then we should have no problem following the instructions of God here and show ourselves approved. Study hard and if the calling is true, God will open the doors no man can close. We need to fight the urge to hear the echo of our own voices and to want to be seen by man. Study hard.