Now I would like to share some honest words with the serving ones. You serving ones are the medium. If you are an elder, you need to have a fighting heart! How many pillars, or strong supporting members in the church, can you raise up? Through your serving, how many young ones can become a blessing to their local church, to nearby churches, and eventually, even travel to be a blessing to many churches? You can still preach, but 90% of your labor should be to say, “This young brother has a piece of land. I want to work with him so this land can be solid, so this land can grow, and so this land can be a blessing for many! The harvest from this land will be great enough to satisfy the needs of many!” This is the right way to labor and serve.
Today so many young people come through us, but why have so few really developed? Lot started further up, but then he moved further down to Sodom. Do you realize how many young couples have made vows to the Lord that they would love Him all of their lives? However, when they move to a new city, the church life becomes secondary. When Lot first came to Sodom, he had no idea what the city life was – maybe he was living in the border of the city. But eventually, he began to enjoy the riches of a life there, and began to consider, “Why should I only have these flocks? Why can’t I also enjoy some of the human provisions? I want have a good house, a good job, I want live comfortably.”
My heart aches as I talk about this today. When our young people grow up, they say, “I loved the Lord so much when I was young. So many times I vowed to the Lord, that my family would be for Christ and for the church, but I just don’t know what happened.”
Now, you young ones need to be raised up so you can raise others up. You need to grow properly and develop through the older brothers’ care so that you can help younger ones know how to develop and grow. Don’t just preach when the older ones ask you to. Write down a list of the saints. Pray with them. Visit them. Learn to be a real elder. Otherwise, eventually, you’ll think you are a pro at preaching without really knowing how to take care of the church.
