Serving God

20 August 2017

Dear Phyllis,

 

Last week a fine pastor in Pakistan, who has a church and childrens home, wrote me asking for help to get in contact with some organization who will help him with his childrens home. The following is my reply to him.

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Dear Brother Hanook.

You have written the wrong man for advice about the childrens home and evangelism. There are two radically different positions about how to serve God. There is the George Mueller/ Hudson Taylor position of faith based ministry; and there is the traditional position that is used by 90% of Christian missions. I wrote a PB letter a few weeks ago in which I discussed the issue of those who are serving God and those who are following Jesus.

In the days when Jesus was here, He had the 12 who were constantly with Him. There is no evidence that the 12 felt compelled to do fund raising. Christ was entirely responsible for their provision. When Jesus invited a man to, “Follow Me”; it was assumed that He would take care of all their needs. The only case of fund raising that I know of in scripture was when Jesus told Peter to go fishing (Mt. 17:27). He said, “You will find a coin in his mouth. Use that to pay the tax for you and Me.” It is conceivable that Jesus may tell someone to go fishing for support, but there is a vast difference between that and someone going out with a tin cup saying, “Jesus told me to get some money to pay for our tax. Could you help us out and give us $50?” Jesus doesn't need to beg for money to pay for His own bills and it is dishonoring to Him to prove to the world that He does.

If someone invited me, “How would you like to work for me in China?”, I would assume if I was going to work for them, then they would be responsible for my support. It is a strange employment, indeed, that would ask someone to work for them and then require them to provide for themselves. I could say, “I am going to work for the Chinese government here in Chiang Mai”; but I better not expect the Chinese to support me if they have never spoken to me about that employment. If the Chinese embassy contacts me and asks me to do something for them; that is a totally different situation. In that case where we have a contract, I can confidently expect to receive money from the Chinese for doing what they ask me to do.

It is not dissimilar for most Christian work. Many people say, “I am going to work for God” and then expect God to pay for it. If the Lord orders it, it is highly probable that He will pay for it. If the Lord has never said a thing about that, then He is under no obligation to pay for what is my idea – not His. This is the difference between those who are “serving the Lord” and those who are following the Lord. Those who are following the Lord are simply obeying what He has told them to do. In that case He is obligated to pay for it. Those who are serving the Lord are sincerely engaged in all kinds of worthy Christian projects where the responsibility for financing it is totally on their shoulders. The problem is that very few people know the Lord. Because we don't know the Lord well enough to follow Him we are left to our own devices to do what we think best.

The second stage of this is to say, “The Lord told me to do this”, when He has actually not said a thing. It is extremely dangerous to try to put words in God's mouth and then say, “The Lord said...”. The Christian mission scene is littered with hundreds of cases of bad bills where earnest Christians believed God would pay for it, but in reality He never did. Solomon wrote a wise verse when he said, “Every Word of God is pure: He is a shield to them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His Words, lest He reprove thee and thou be found a liar” (Prov. 30:5,6).

I would encourage you to be a real man of faith and prove the Lord in your endeavors to serve Him. But there is a terrible danger in making serous mistakes in guidance. Paul wrote a wise word of caution when he exhorted, “Let every man think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). It is a notable thing to launch out to trust and prove the Lord, but it is an equally fatal mistake to try to trust God beyond the faith He has given you. If God has given you the faith to do something, then do it. If you hope He will back you up, then all I can say is “Lots of luck.” You are going to need it. When I left the US Air Force to stay in Japan as a missionary I had zero backing. I had no one who promised to give me a dollar. But I had $3,000 in my pocket that I got for leaving the service. A friend thought it would be most honoring to the Lord if I gave away all my money and started out with nothing. But I didn't have faith for that. Since then I have stepped out several times with nothing and the Lord has always been faithful. It doesn't bother me much to have nothing, but I have more faith now than I did when I first started following the Lord. I have some amazing testimonies of the Lord providing exactly what I needed. And I have some testimonies where I sincerely believed God would provide and He didn't.

One time was 15 years ago when I tried to buy a truck in Japan. I desperately needed a truck and had prayed a lot about it. I found exactly the truck that I wanted and promised the man to pay him the full price in two weeks. I gave him $300 as a down payment and was sure the Lord would give me the rest in two weeks. The day came that I promised, and God had given me nothing. The man was shocked that I broke my promise, and I was bitterly disappointed in the Lord for failing me. It was one of the few times when Jesus failed to give me what I had asked Him for and was sure that He would do it. Because I had broken my promise I gave the man an additional $500 and he kept the truck. What I didn't know was that within a few weeks I would be fired from my job; I would leave Japan to return to Thailand and never return to Japan to work again. If I had bought that truck it would have been a huge mistake. False guidance cost me $800 but I have always been grateful to Jesus for keeping me from buying that truck.

Guidance is one of the most difficult parts of the Christian life. I heard an excellent message on guidance one night. After the message I went forward to speak to the speaker. I said, “Brother, you have hit on the most difficult thing in my life”. Then he gave me the wisest word I have ever had on that subject - “Don't try to get guidance above your head”. (Don't try to trust God for more than He has given you faith for.) Some people walk very closely with the Lord and it is amazing the things He tells them and does for them. If you are not that close to the Lord and try to be like them, it could be disastrous. The name-of-the-game is KNOW THE LORD.

For your self; I don't know what to say. I understand your heart. I would feel the same way you do. The needs are tremendous. What are we suppose to do? Ask the Lord. 90% of Christian activity is mans work, being done mans ways, by mans means (for God). Nearly all Christian missions are run on a business basis. They are done in the name of the Lord, but they are no different than any other secular organization, like the Red Cross. Take God completely out of the equation, and it would make no difference as God is not involved. It is totally mans organization, done in mans ways. A lot of these organizations are very good doing very good work. If you can make the right connections perhaps you can have a big home and help a lot of Children. But I have zero connections. I don't have any to help myself.

God bless you brother, bill