In spite of what James says in chapters two and five, we still play up the wealthy churchmember, the big-shot parishioner, above the humble saint who may happen to live on the wrong side of the railroad tracks. After all, not too many of the rich (Matthew 19:23), the wise, the mighty, and the noble (I Corinthians 1:26) will make the grade. We need to brush up on what Paul called the weakness and foolishness of God.
Devotion of the Day
Three-Way Faithfulness
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
II Timothy 4:7
Paul was faithful to the faith: “I have kept the faith.” Not only is faith itself a fight (“fight the good fight of faith”), but we are also to contend for the faith. So he was also faithful to the fight: “I have fought a good fight.” And he was faithful to the finish: “I have finished my course.”
Some are faithful to the faith, sound in belief, orthodox in doctrine, but are not faithful to the fight, do not contend for the faith. But Paul was “set for the defense of the Gospel,” and because some have not been so minded, apostasy has taken over many a church and school. Still others are faithful to the faith and to the fight, but they give up the battle and do not endure unto the end; they are not faithful to the finish. We grow weary in well-doing all too soon. Paul did not soften up in old age and drift into that smiling tolerance which so many today think is a mark of broadminded maturity.
We are in deep need of three-way faithfulness, to the faith, to the fight, to the finish.