The Measure of Success As A Preacher

Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. - Exodus 17:8-12 I was watching a tribute to the late Evangelist Billy Graham on the one year anniversary of his passing at the age of 99 when I once again began to recall the few times in my life when our paths crossed and our lives touched. The first, was when I was visiting Houston Baptist College in the mid 1960's; the second was a few years later when I was attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the third was in Denver Colorado where I attended a Billy Graham School of Evangelism. Each of those encounters was pivotal in my life. They were short and informal conversations from which I drew great encouragement. I am certain that for him those three occasion became lost in the thousands of other brief moments in his life but for me they have loomed larger than life. During that first three or four sentence conversation in which he asked me, "What do you plan do with your life?" I replied, :To be a preacher." Now, 54 years later, his response still rings within my heart and soul. I hear it as clearly today as I did that day . . . . "Then preach the Cross - stay with the gospel." The truth is we preachers have a responsibility to encourage young men called to preach. We need to encourage them to be true to the gospel and preach Christ Jesus. We need to ingrain within their soul the eternal truth that what the world needs and really wants is to see Jesus and know that in Him they can have their sins forgiven and their destiny assured. The second time, at SWBTS, the takeaway was drawn from the fact that as he was walking past a line of students in which I was standing he stopped abruptly, looked at me and said, "We've met before." The mere fact that as he was leaving he recognized me in that crowd and remembered meeting me somewhere previously. Again, I was lifted up and encouraged. As an aside, I also remember once when I was a newly arrived preacher in Beaumont, Texas and attending the Golden Triangle Baptist Association's annual Evangelism Conference that only a few of my new colleagues every spoke to me beyond, "Good to see you brother," as they made their way to someone else. Well, as the Lord would have it a dear friend, who at the time happened to be the Director of Evangelism for the Home Mission Board, Darrell Robinson was the principle preacher for the event. After he spoke and while prayer was being offered he stepped down from the platform and quietly came and sat down beside me. By that simple act he raised my presence among my new colleagues. Not only so but a handful of my Deacons who were in attendance as well. At the end of that evening program nearly every colleague want to speak to and with me. This is what great leaders do. If they by a word or an action can encourage and lift others then they speak that word or take that action. Now, in Darrell's case it was intentional but in Graham's case it was habit. Both of these men were encourager's to me and I suspect neither long remembered the words spoken or actions taken. I could go on and on naming the people who the Lord used to touch my ministry and shaped my life but my point is that what we have received we are to "Go thou and do likewise." Each of us is to be an encourager. Whether by design or by habit of life we can do for others what these two men did for me. None of these words or actions were a big deal to them but these small actions were a big deal to my life, my preaching and ministry in general. That brings me to another thought that is closely related. I know a lot of people who in the Christian realm (applies elsewhere too) were strong leaders in and of their own rights but never achieved that greatness that makes one's name synonymous with some achievement. Of these people, I have heard some critically say things like, "Oh, how sad they never reached their full potential." Or, "Isn't it sad, they had so much potential but never realized it." To that I have a couple of things to say. First, a word about "achieving greatness." I am pretty sure that is not the goal of the God called preacher. There are no illusions of greatness only a desire to faithfully preach the Gospel in the place where God places us. The measure of greatness before God is faithfulness in service. We must always remember that every Christian leader, especially His preachers, serves at the pleasure of the Lord. He calls them, equips them and assigns them a realm of service. Every person who answers that call and faithfully serves where assigned is already successful. They may not achieve greatness but after all they are servants of the Lord. I always wonder when people come away with more praise for the earthly leader than the Lord he proclaims. Sadly for far too many success is measured in worldly terms. We have still not moved too far from the old three "B's" of success, that is, buildings, budget and baptisms. We look at the size of the building in which they preach and the crowd numbers to whom they preach and how much money comes into the church coffers. By these standards clearly some are faring better than others. But keep in mind many a secular leader has done the same. The 3 "B's"" has always been the wrong standard of greatness and success for the body of Christ, . . . the church. Fortunately it is the Lord, not his people, who decide the standards of success and greatness. We forget that Jesus stated the standard of success by saying, "He who is faithful over little  will be made ruler over much." I remember a day when among preachers there was no hierarchy of authority, success etc. We were brothers in Christ called by the Lord to preach the same gospel and to do so wherever the Lord chose to place us. Too be sure some were deeper thinkers and others better orators but all had the same call and same measure of the Holy Spirit to accomplish what God assigned them individually. I remember hearing a Fort Worth pastor's reply to a young theological student who was being critical of churches made up of largely "high society" types. He said, "God calls some to minister to the 'up and out' and others to the 'down and out'. . . . clearly He has called you to later." There is an old gospel song that says, Brighten the Corner Were You Are." We remember that we are to do that by remember that Jesus is the light of the world so as Bill Graham admonished me 54 years ago, just preach Jesus. By worldly standard William Carey was a failure but by divine determination he without doubt heard upon entering Heaven, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." We seem to forget that regardless of the level of success by the "3 B's" unless you are in the place where God wants you doing the things He assigned you, . . . . .you have not succeeded. As ministers of the Gospel we are part of a team and we are not the leader of that team. We are literally a "Band of Brothers." As such we endeavor to encourage one another; we take opportunities to lift one another in prayer; we counsel one another; and we respect each other as our equal. Moses was the great man God had called and assigned the task of leading Israel out of Egyptian bondage. As that God called leader endeavoring that God assigned take he made both good and bad choices and was judged not by his peers and not by his people but by the God who called him and assigned him his task. So for 40 years he wandered in the wilderness with a rebellious bunch of God's people. However, Moses was not the only leader among the throngs of people. There were many. These included men like Hur, Joshua and Aaron. They were pivotal to Moses being able to successfully complete the assignment God assigned him. They did this by being faithful to the task to which God called them. A powerful example of what they did to insure that Moses and with him Israel's success was assured was when the Amalekites, a group of nomadic raiders, attacked Israel. You remember that while Joshua led the Israel's troops into battle Mosses, Hur and Aaron watched from a nearby hill. As they watched they noticed that as long as Moses had his hands raised the battle went favorably but as he wearied and let his hand drop the battle went against them. Seeing this Hur and Aaron responded by helping Moses keep his arms lifted. The came alongside and strengthened him for his task. As each was faithful to their tasks the victory was theirs. Faithfull over little  . . . to ruler over much."  Moses was the senior guy with the call to deliver Israel from Egypt and bring them to the promised land. Joshua, Hur and Aaron's task was to support Moses. Interestingly enough Moses was permitted to see the Promised Land but God selected Joshua to lead Israel to possess the land. All of us who have been called of the Lord to preach the Gospel are of equal standing before the Lord. Hopefully we are in the place that the Lord wants us. Let us, who are called of God to preach, be faithful where he places us to preach the gospel and not fall into Satan's trap that has already consumed so many by thinking that big equals success. As brothers in calling we should not be jealous of each other nor disparaging of each other. Instead we should encourage and pray for one another. And as I mention in the beginning it is little things we do and say that are more often than not pivotal to our lives. Jesus has said,  "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."