Bulletin Articles: Full Article for Record Number 1066
Know Your Place
by Larry Ray Hafley
What would happen if a gifted mechanic wanted to perform heart surgery? What would be the result if a short, slightly built fellow wanted to play center on a pro basketball team? In all areas of life, we need to know our place, our role, our function, and we need to attend to it.
Christians who do not know their place are sources of strife, confusion, and division. Churches suffer grievously where brethren fail to fulfill their duties while trying to meddle in someone else’s. Truly, "As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place" (Prov. 27:8).
When Joshua took Jericho, the Lord instructed "every man" to "ascend up...straight before him" (Josh. 6:5). Accordingly, when the walls "fell down flat," "every man" "went up straight before him, and they took the city" (Josh. 6:20). Picture the scene, the chaos, if each soldier (there were nearly 40,000-Josh. 4:13) had decided to go any way he pleased!
Also, when Gideon went up before the men of Midian, very specific battle plans were employed (Jud. 7:16-18). No doubt much of the success of their mission can be attributed to the fact that "they stood every man in his place round about the camp: (Result?) And all the host (of the Midianites) ran, and cried, and fled" (Josh. 7:21).
In the Lord’s army today it is imperative that every sainted soldier know his place.
(1)Elders must lead their flock by godly example, teaching, and prayer. They are not to follow the flock’s decisions, but to guide them into the paths of righteousness. Elders who attempt to do the work of deacons do not know their place. Why have deacons to serve if the elders are going to do their work? The spiritual health of a church will suffer when the elders are not spending the major part of their time taking heed to themselves and watching for souls (Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:17).
(2)Deacons who attempt to manipulate and maneuver the elders’ judgment to suit their own do not know their place. They are to serve as dedicated deacons, not as semi-elders. Thereby they "purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith" (1 Tim. 3:13). Godly deacons are spiritual men who are indispensable to the church and its work.
(3)Evangelists often assume the office of a bishop, and congregations often use them as they would two or three deacons. Both stations are out of place. The preacher must live a godly life. He should spend his time reading, studying, and teaching, and not playing nursemaid to every church baby who fusses, whines, and complains about everything "that’s going on down at that church" (1 Tim. 4:13, 15; 2 Tim. 2:15). Live, study, and preach the word; that is the duty of a preacher (1 Tim. 4:12; 2 Tim. 4:2).
(4)Saints must know their role and responsibility before God and should utilize their abilities to the glory of God in the church (Rom. 12:4, 5; 1 Pet. 4:10, 11). Just because a man is a dependable worker and capable classroom teacher does not mean that he is an accomplished song leader. Each servant of the Lord should maintain his personal purity and live a life of holiness and godliness, shining as the light of the world, holding forth the word of life.
Conclusion: "Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27). "But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you" (1 Thess. 4:10, 11). If we will all do this, the gentle bliss of unity will envelop the Lord’s purchased possession in perfect love.
