The Co-Worker
I have a wicked person on my payroll. He cost me more than I am willing to pay, but I can’t fire him. I have tried several times, but he keeps coming back. He is most punctual, and I can’t remember a day when he called in sick.
He does a lot of work for me. He never gets tired, and he doesn’t even take breaks. If he were not so wicked, I would welcome his efforts and many more like him. Perhaps you know him. His name is Mr. Pride.
“A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor” (Proverbs 29:23 NKJV).
“If God will help us in our future duty, He will first humble us for our past sins” (Richard Baxter).
The preacher goes to great lengths to humble his congregation. He employs graphic, moving, illustrations to wring out tears of repentance from others yet his eye remains dry. Men would do well to rent their own hearts before they work on another lest they teach by example their listeners to be hard-hearted.
The truly great leaders of old bemoaned their own sins along with the sins of others. Ezra, Daniel, and others confessed their sins and the sins of the people. However, the preacher who has pride as a co-worker guards his integrity. Trying to talk sense to a preacher can be like trying to separate fighting dogs. You are more likely to be bitten than to separate them. Why you would think some men are like china dolls, so fragile they shatter at the slightest touch.
Whether you are in the ministry, or a minister at home to your family, do not allow pride to do your work. He will choose your subjects, he will garnish your outlines, and he will exalt you to the harm of those you wish to help.
“It is a sad thing that so many of us preach our hearers asleep; but it is sadder still, if we have studied and preached ourselves asleep, and have talked so long against hardness of heart, till our own has grown hardened under the noise of our own reproofs” (Richard Baxter). |
