Averell W. Harriman, a wealthy philanthropist, an integral part in the Post War international efforts, and Governor of NY also once served as a diplomat to France. When he was asked about the fluency of his French, he replied, “It is excellent, except for the verbs.” It is easy to see the comedy of this statement; however, it is no laughing matter when it comes to our lives as Christians. We might be excellent so far as the nouns and adjectives are concerned: doctrine, faith, good, faithful. The question might be, “But where are the verbs?” Go, do, teach, serve, give, pray, visit, attend, love, study, and so on are all actions that can ensure that we are not unfruitful in our service to God.
We sometimes get into the mindset that “going to church” and “being a good person” are the extent of our reasonable service (Rom. 12:1). Yet, when you think on it, going to meetings and being a good person isn’t any different than the Boy Scouts of America, Shriners or Kiwanis Clubs, and any other civil service organization. Christ did not die to set up another nonprofit organization or club. We know that intellectually, but we don’t always live it. Paul charged Titus to “set in order” the things that remained (Titus 1:5). Chief among those things was establishing an eldership in every congregation on the island. Paul closes the letter with this also, “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful” (3:14). The context of this statement was specifically seeing to the needs of some evangelists that were to be traveling in their area. We need to shift our thinking about good deeds away from philanthropy and towards eternity. I will say that there are times when those things overlap but, the focus needs to be on removing the physical need to get to the greater spiritual need (Luke 5:20-26).
A changed mindset and a shift in a paradigm for a group starts with us individually. Try asking yourself two questions. What are the pressing needs around me? What steps can I take to meet those needs? This puts you in the active engaging role of fruitful Christianity. If I were to see the needs around me and ask the question, “Why isn’t anyone doing this for me/them?” that is victim Christianity. If I see a need in my life or another’s and I ask the question, “Which church or person will do this for me/them?” that is consumer Christianity. We are trained to be consumers and taught to be victims by society. Christ has empowered us to not fall for those weak ways of thinking. A Cretan was known as a “lazy glutton” (Titus 1:12). We can’t afford to be either in our service to the Lord. Look around. What are the pressing needs in your life, in your home, in the congregation, in the lives of those you come in contact with? What will you do about it?