God needs full-time kingdom workers who will always stay on the job
By Dean Collins
Many of my peers have retired. I have watched some come near this monumental event starting to ease off the gas pedal well before the retirement day arrived. I have seen others go with vigor until the day of retirement and then step into meaningful part-time roles and responsibilities in their fields of expertise and in their volunteer work.
I have always believed that while there are legitimate and necessary reasons to end full-time employment, there is never a time when a believer can behave like a part-time worker in the kingdom of God. Maybe this is some of the meaning of the language in Hebrews 10:39:
“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Stay the course
No, the author was not speaking about retirement. In fact, earlier verses indicate that as we consider the final days when Christ returns, we are to do everything we can to encourage one another to stay the course, to endure whatever suffering comes, including the humiliating loss of life and property the martyrs experienced in the first centuries after Christ ascended to Heaven.
To understand the full impact of the later verses of Hebrews 10 it is vital to remember what is said in verses 12-17: After Christ had endured his suffering on the cross and paid the sacrifice for all sins and had come back to life and ascended to Heaven, he sat down at the right hand of God.
Christ and Christ alone took all of the pain and suffering of the cross to pay for all sin for all time. The old spiritual says it this way: “Jesus walked this lonesome valley; he had to walk it by himself. Oh nobody else could walk it for him; he had to walk it by himself.”
And when he had completed his mission, he sat down. The work of the cross was finished. But that does not suggest that Jesus is no longer active and somehow retired from being our Lord, our Savior, or our shepherd. His work on the cross was perfect and complete and continues for all sinners both in the past, present, and future.
Hear the instructions
Here’s a summary of instructions to us that the writer adds, starting in verse 23:
Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering
Consider how to stir up one another to love and good works
Don’t neglect meeting together
Encourage one another and do it more as we get closer to Christ’s return
Remember previous suffering and how God got you through it (my paraphrase)
Don’t throw away your confidence in the promises and faithfulness of God
Live by faith and don’t shrink back
The lonely work of Christ on the cross is a striking contrast to the admonition to meet together often as saints. While we are in fact filled with God’s Spirit, we are not God. We cannot go it alone. We must stay active in the community of faith if we hope to endure hard times and fulfill the kingdom assignments God has given us.\
Never shrink back
Much of the latter chapters of Hebrews serve as a reminder to review what Christ has done for us and to consider the saints who have gone before and now cheer us on. These reflections are not given that we simply remember and celebrate and then sit down with God. Yes, you should sit down alone with him every day. But then as long as we have breath we are to jump into community, spur each other on, and never shrink back from the kingdom work waiting all around us.
Father we confess that we sometimes get lazy. We sometimes pull back or away from others in our community of faith. Forgive us for robbing ourselves of the depth of what fellowship brings to us. Today we will not shrink back but will move forward in faith that you are not just simply sitting and waiting but actively working by our side with every faith step we take. Use us today for your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Hebrews 10:12-17, 23-25, 32-39 ESV
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
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