Devotional -

We Need a Hero ( 27 July )

This is a true saying: If a man is eager to be a church leader, he desires an excellent work. A church leader must be without fault; he must have only one wife, be sober, self-controlled, and orderly; he must welcome strangers in his home; he must be able to teach; he must not be a drunkard or a violent man, but gentle and peaceful; he must not love money.
1 Timothy 3:1-3

We need a hero!

Even a cursory look at the newspapers will show that there is a serious lack of integrity among leaders. Elected officials, teachers, policemen, and even church leaders have been caught in webs of deceit, graft, corruption, and sexual immorality.

At times, many of us are not even shocked by such news, because it has become the norm. If we examine the qualifications for church leadership as Paul wrote them to Timothy, we get a glimpse of the high standard to which we are called, but also of the depths to which we have fallen.

How shall we counteract this dangerous and ungodly trend? Surely, we are not called to be spiritual watchdogs, snapping the whip at our leaders. Neither are we called to a cheap, comfortable kind of existence where anything goes. Where is the balance?

According to (Romans 6-8), the solution is to allow the life of God to live through us and in us. A very wise pastor by the name of Lon Solomon once said, "You didn't save yourself and you're not going to flap your way to heaven, even if you knew where it was. So, if salvation and the beginning of the life of a believer is by faith, and heaven and the end of the life of a believer on this earth is by faith, who do we think we are that we should live the life of the believer by our good works?"

Why would we want to live our lives with the Lord by works? It would be like turning on its head everything God has already done for us. And in any case we will never succeed to please him by our works.

No, the solution must be to allow the life of the Son of God to live in us and through us by faith. Sin will drop away and we will find the only true hero, the Lord Jesus Christ, manifesting his life and love through you and through me.

- 27 JULY -