There is an ancient prayer that goes like this:
"Teach us, good Lord,
To serve Thee more faithfully;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for rest;
To labour and not to ask for any reward
Save that of knowing that we do Thy will,
O Lord, our God. Amen."
After once again reading this prayer recently I was immediately thrown into a state of self-questioning. I began to ask myself what my reasons are. I know that such vague wording can lead to much confusion, so let me explain...
What are my reasons for serving the children in La Carbonera, Peru? Why do we provide food, education, clothing, medical care, etc... for them? Why have we sacrificed so much to help children that we hardly know personally? Why do so many other families give on a regular basis? Why do some sacrifice $100-$200 of their personal income each month to support these efforts? What are the reasons behind the giving, the toil, the laboring, and the hardship??
What are our reasons for planting Teen Challenge in Villa El Salvador? Do the churches that invite us to come share have an ulterior motive? Do the people who give towards these efforts have hidden agendas? Do we have some personal motive or selfish ambition in doing this work?
An amazing man of God, Paris Reihead, once said:
"If you'll ask me why I went to Africa, I'll tell you I went primarily to improve on the justice of God. I didn't think it was right for anybody to go to Hell without a chance to be saved. So I went to give poor sinners a chance to go to heaven."
Were his reasons noble from a humanistic perspective? ABSOLUTELY.
Were his reasons proper from a moral perspective? ABSOLUTELY.
Were his reasons selfless in nature and empathetic? ABSOLUTELY.
BUT, his motives were not right in the sight of God. Why?
Paris Reidhead explains his motives in his own words,
"I went out there motivated by humanism. I'd seen pictures of lepers, I'd seen pictures of ulcers, I'd seen pictures of native funerals, and I didn't want my fellow human beings to suffer in Hell eternally after such a miserable existence on earth."
Pastor Reidhead goes on to tell us that the Lord showed him that he didn't go to Africa for the sake of the people there or for the sake of the preacher, but for God's sake. Our only motivation should be that God would receive glory. Any humanitarian efforts MUST be done in Christ, for the glory of Christ, and in a manner that makes Christ known- otherwise we're simply putting a band-aid on a severed limb. Any preaching must be done in a manner that glorifies Jesus and honors Him alone; it must focus on His sacrifice and His righteousness- it cannot offer up humanitarian answers or temporal solutions or we've missed the point. If we offer temporal solutions to eternal problems then the results will have eternal implications for those we reach out to.
What are the reasons we are traveling around NY and working here in the US? What are our reasons for reaching out to 10 different nations across the globe? What are our reasons for continuing the work we've begun in Peru?
SIMPLY THIS-
THAT JESUS CHRIST MAY BE GLORIFIED AMONGST ALL MANKIND!!!
When our reasons are in alignment with God and His word we can easily fulfill the calling of the individual who wrote the prayer above. If we toil and labor and serve and give and suffer and fight for anyone or anything other than the glory of God then we do so in vain. But if our strivings are done to the glory of God then our hearts will not faint when hardship arises, rather our souls will strive onward to assure that we answer the call of our Lord in Matthew 28:19.
What are your reasons?
What drives you to do what you do on a daily basis?
Are your motives self-serving, humanitarian, or personal in nature?
OR are you living your life in such a manner that Jesus Christ, and Him alone, may receive the glory in all of your dealings??
