Warren Wiersbe said that ministry is the overflow of our relationship with God. Simply, that if 'ministers' in particular, and Christians on the whole, are in the business of offering Christ to others, they can not offer what they do not have. Someone else, i forget who, said that the problem with so much preaching is that preachers are like starving chefs who barely lick their own fingers. No heart warming ministry will flow out of a heart that has not been warmed.
On Thursday morning i read Numbers 9 and 10, Psalm 45 and Acts 17, and i saw some of this in action. The opening verse of Psalm 45 is 'my heart overflows with a pleasing theme...' What is that pleasing theme? The Handsome, God-blessed victorious King, who reigns forever and whose bride enters his presence with joy and gladness. This instructional love song was written and sung for the new son of David sitting on the throne of Judah, and is fulfilled the final Son of David, sitting on the throne of the universe.
This is a 'pleasing theme.' It's good to think about Jesus! It's good to stop and look at the sunrise on a cold, clear winter morning, good to stop and watch a cardinal pick about in your garden, good to slowly wallow in the truth of the Gospel. And this theme overflows. The Psalmist can't keep it in any more, praise is cascading from his lips for the king, and for The King. He invites others to sing with him, as they consider the beauty of this great King.
Moses does much the same in Numbers 10. It's nearly time for the camp to set out, and he wants his brother-in-law to go with them. Partly because he knows the lay of the land, he's a wilderness expert, and can help them on the way. But Moses is far more concerned about Hobab, at least at first. He says 'come with us, and we will do good for you...' Come to Israel, come to the LORD, come to Canaan. Abandon your false gods. Yes, for objective reasons of truth and helpful reasons of guidance, but more, come with us because we will do good to you. It will be good for you to be in relationship with the LORD and His people. It will be good for you to enjoy the promised blessings of Canaan, it will be good for you to rejoice in the atoning blood of the lamb as we celebrate Passover.
The LORD's goodness is a pleasing theme that overflows from Moses lips. He's tasted and seen, and now he says come and see. Is our preaching, our evangelism, the same? Do we offer a 'get out of Hell free' card, or do we offer a love stronger than death? Do we offer a new set of rules, or a king that will ruin our hearts for other lovers? Do you offer the Gospel to law-breakers, or to adulterers?
Paul's Mars Hill address in Acts 17 is the cornerstone for people who think that unless we offer a Gospel wearing a nose stud and laden with expletives we're doing it wrong. Look, Paul goes to Athens and meets them on their own terms. He doesn't really though does he? Hey, Athenians! God doesn't live in these temples you've built, God doesn't need your service, God is not unknown. If he was trying to be culturally sensitive at the cost of Biblical faithfulness he didn't do a very good job!
What does Paul actually say? Consider the God who loves you enough to give you the rain in it's season, who loves you enough to reveal Himself to you, who loves you enough to go to the grave and defeat death on your behalf. Not like the Greek gods, who were just bigger and more powerful people, with their jealousies and sins writ large, but a God who is fundamentally not like us. Paul says 'come to Jesus, and He will do you good.'
The Psalmist's heart, and Moses's heart and Paul's Gospel warmed heart overflowed with a pleasing theme, do our hearts do the same? As our hearts overflow, do our voices say, 'come with me, taste what i've tasted, see what i've seen, and it will do you good.'
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