Dear Lighthouse,
What do Satan, David, Solomon, Moses, and many,
many others all have in common? They all struggled with pride. Some were destroyed by it; others suffered loss. We in the
Lighthouse are not exempt. I just wanted to take a few minutes and echo what
I said to the guys at Men’s Group last week. It is something that makes
me nervous.
It’s easy to look around and see a bigger
room, more faces, and look at all the programs and activities we have going within our Fellowship and maybe say to ourselves,
“we’ve arrived”. We have not.
Satan was infatuated with his beauty and power
and felt that he should be equal to God. He was cast down and out of His Presence
as a result (Ezekiel 28:16-17). David felt secure in his army and his borders
and decided to stay home instead of leading his men. Surrounded by luxury and
temptation David fell and with him another woman, her husband, and eventually David’s own family (II Sam. 11:1-4). Wise Solomon could not even escape the pride he felt in all his material goods that
flowed into Israel from around the world. He had the Queen of the South come
up to dazzle her with the splendor (I Kings 10-11). Thereafter, the people of
Israel became conceited, forgot their God and their land was divided by invaders and the people carried off into exile until
such time that God would bring them back. Moses, having been told by God to speak
to a rock at Meribah so that God could provide water for the people, struck the rock instead.
He further chastised the people saying, “Listen, you rebels, must we [Moses
equates himself with God] bring you water out of this rock?” (Num. 20:10) For his pride Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but only to gaze at
it from a distant mountain top.
The theme is summed up easily in Proverbs 16:18,
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” This is so true – so dangerously true. I, for one,
don’t want to look out from a mountain top to see a future that could have
been if only I had not sinned by thinking I was doing things on my own. I don’t
want the temptation that comes from luxury when I should be out leading my troops. I’ve
enough temptation as it is!
Therefore, I just want to pass on a mixture of
encouragement and warning to all of us who call the Lighthouse home and family. We
have indeed been blessed by the Lord. He has supplied us with a church home in
revival, with excellence in song and behind the pulpit. He has called people
into our Fellowship who are searching eagerly for Truth found only in Scripture and for challenges to make them grow. He has supplied leaders to shepherd, teach, and minister to needs. All these things God has supplied. We have been faithful in
our service to Him and as a result God has built up a really nice, effective, and growing ministry.
But (you knew there was going to be a ‘but’,
didn’t you?) our focus must not change now nor our energy wane. We have
not arrived at the end. No, with God’s help I hope that we will continue
to grow and lead others into a saving relationship with Him. We cannot afford
to sit back now. Jesus said, “For
everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.” (Matt. 25:28; also see context v. 13-46) This should be in our minds now. We have
been given much and now I think God Himself is expecting us to do something with it that will benefit His Kingdom.
I certainly am not trying to make us afraid of
growth. Instead, I am just reminding us all that our growth comes from the Vine. As branches off that Vine we need to be sure we are bearing fruit in keeping with
repentance (John 15 and Matt. 3:8).
Our mission remains: The Lighthouse will glow (by teaching the Light – the Truth of Scripture) to gather
(evangelize to the lost and hungry) to glorify (bringing joy and honor to the Name of God). That is our mission. I pray you let it be yours personally
– everyday.
Serving with you,
Evan
