Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Milford

March 30, 2012

Read Psalm 19:7-14

A Four Letter Word

Everyone knows what the term “four letter word” implies, and it isn’t constructive.   However, there is a four letter word in the Christian vocabulary which does more harm than any crude word.  It is the word “need”.  I hear it used by Christians all the time.  From church attenders to church leaders, from guest speakers to authors, they can be heard telling us that we need to share our faith, we need to be better Christians, we need to pray more, etc., etc., ad nauseum.  Using the word “need” in a statement only serves to identify what is lacking.  Agreeing with such statements only serves to acknowledge what is lacking.  How, then, do we overcome this?  What can motivate us to action?  How do we change our situation to gain success?

I was recently watching a history program about World War II was struck by the words of a man who was being interviewed, Lt. Colonel David Edson USMC.  He said, “If you have any expectation of success…then you train.”  Though he was referring to the military, it struck me that his stated principle holds true in all walks of life.  The Bible bears witness to this principle:  “Train up a child in the way he should go” (Ps. 22:6)”, “train yourself to be godly” (1 Tim. 4:7), “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).  The word “need” is nowhere to be found.
For the sake of illustration, let’s employ the word by adding it in:  “You need to train up a child in the way he should go”, “You need to train yourself to be godly”, “You need to correct and train in righteousness”.

See the difference?  By the time the speaker is finished bludgeoning us with all the “need” statements, all that is left of us is a beaten down spirit wondering why we are such failures.

Scripture does not use the four letter word for such important matters.  Instead, it is positive and pro-active.  The quotes used above are imperatives, that is, command statements.  The implication of the scripture commands is this: Since you are the people of God, act like it.  This is what the people of God do.  Now go and do likewise. God expects us to do certain things because of who we are.  In case you forgot, we are His children.  We are Kingdom people.  The people of God follow Him in obedience and walk in His ways, because that is what Kingdom people do.  We train up our children in the way they should go so that they will follow Him and walk in His ways, too.  We do it because that is who we are, not because someone suggested it.  God doesn’t make suggestions.  He gives us commands for our own good.  Like a general over his troops, obedience to his commands will bring success.

But what about training?  God has given us all the resources we need to succeed.  Amazingly, He has given us a training manual.  We call it the Bible.  As if that weren’t enough, He also gave us the Holy Spirit to live within us and to work His Word in our life from the inside out.  And if we still have questions, we can call Him anytime, 24-7, via the hotline of prayer.  But wait!  There’s more!  He has also given us schools, Bible study groups, pastors and other believers to help us, teach us, equip us and encourage us so that we can be fully prepared to fulfill our calling.  So what are we waiting for?  Let’s Go!

Lord, I am a soldier of the Gospel reporting for boot camp.  Let the training begin.  Amen.

Jeff LeFevre