ARE THEY FAITHFUL?
Are they faithful? This is a question often asked of elders and preachers regarding a member of a congregation. How do you answer that? Here is a member who attends every Sunday morning worship assembly but doesn’t attend Bible School, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Another member attends all services. Are both faithful? Is one hundred percent faithful and the other fifty percent faithful?
Does the name Miguel Cabrera mean anything to you? He plays for the Detroit Tigers. In 2012 he won the prestigious Triple Crown for Major League Baseball. That means he was the leader in batting average, home runs and runs batted in (RBI’s). His career batting average is 321; he has hit 365 home runs and has 1260 RBI’s. Very impressive, wouldn’t you say? He is also going to be known as baseball’s highest paid player when Detroit signs him to an eight-year extension worth $248 million. All of that is great but there is something else to make this player stand out and that is, he is faithful. What does that mean? Here is something more important than all of the above statistics – in eight of the last ten seasons he has played in 157 games (Major League Baseball plays 162 games each season). Doesn’t he ever get sick? Doesn’t he ever have a pain? Does his back ever hurt? Do his legs hurt? Do you suppose he gets tired traveling (81 games are played away from home)? Get up in a different hotel, get dressed, get on the bus, go to the ball park, and take batting practice – doesn’t he ever he tired of that? I know, you are saying, “If I made $30 million + per year I would be faithful.” No! He’s not faithful because he receives a high salary; he receives a high salary because he’s faithful. He does his job.
There is a scripture that we need to apply to ourselves, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2). To the church at Smyrna, John wrote, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).
Larry