Thursday, September 03, 2015
During This Time
Bob Robinson:
Sometimes I wonder if the reason we focus on what we do so much is so we can avoid dealing with who we are. It's as if we think that annual mission trip makes up for being a jerk the rest of the time when we are home. Really, seriously, do you think that is what God intended? If you do, then maybe we need to talk.
character ministry work
So, in between the salvation brought about when Jesus first came and the blessed hope of when Jesus will come again, what has God called us to do? It’s there in verse 14: God has purified a people for his own possession for a reason; to do something.The whole thing is not about what we do so much as it is about who we are when we do what we do.
The final words of Titus 2:14 literally mean, “zealous (totally committed) to excellent/beautiful works.”
For years, I over-spiritualized texts like this. I presumed God’s call to his people to merely do “good work” alone could not be godly enough. I thought, Surely God must mean "evangelism" when he says "good works" since all other work is not significant. But this is not so. According to the highly-respected Greek Lexicon written by Louw and Nida, the Greek word for “work” (ergon) simply means, “that which one normally does—‘work, task.’”
Sometimes I wonder if the reason we focus on what we do so much is so we can avoid dealing with who we are. It's as if we think that annual mission trip makes up for being a jerk the rest of the time when we are home. Really, seriously, do you think that is what God intended? If you do, then maybe we need to talk.
character ministry work
