I have not written for a while so I decided to do so because something was on my heart and mind. I begin by sharing some pretty trivial stuff but hopefully you will see where it is headed. Twice a year I make the journey to Topeka, Kansas for meetings with the Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptist State Convention mission board. I am on that board and so there are times that I have to go to meetings at the headquarters. The nice thing is that our meetings don’t go very long, 2-3 hours or so. I have also been to the state convention and have had the privilege to hear some very good speakers while I was there.

I say this simply as a starting point. I have gotten to know several different pastors and leaders around the two states since being here in 2008. At one meeting I was on my way somewhere and hopped on an elevator. As I went to push the button for the floor I was going to there was a business card that had been placed there in the elevator. It was from one of the individuals at the meeting that I was attending. It’s not that the business card threw me off, it was what was on the business card.

This individual, under his name, had the tagline, “The Spurgeon of the Plains.” Now to most of us that may mean nothing. But I guess it “bothered” me, and maybe it should not have. You see, this guy was likening himself to Charles Spurgeon, the great English pastor of the 1800’s. I know that this individual who had placed the business card is a huge follower of Spurgeon’s, but it seemed a little “proud” to
proclaim yourself with a special title. My respect for Spurgeon runs deep. At 18 he was pastoring, by 30 his church was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the world. He started an orphanage, a college, along with other ministries to the people of England. He was unapologetic in his stand for God’s Word as being truthful and reliable. He had not attended college yet was self-taught and an expert in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.

Yet Spurgeon never tried to bring attention to himself. He always pointed to His Savior. He took upon himself no taglines or nicknames, he simply taught God’s Word. He struggled with gout and discouragement during his lifetime, even speaking and writing about his battles. Yet no one could deny that everything he tried to do pointed to God.

I bring this up because I have been studying Ephesians for a future message series. If anything, this book humbles me before God. Chapter 1 tells me that we are adopted as God’s children, forgiven, chosen and set free from sin’s power and guilt. We have received God’s Holy Spirit as a guarantee of what our future holds. In chapter 4 Paul begins his words by discussing a key to church unity – humility. He says in Eph. 4:2, “Always be humble and gentle.” Humility is not seeing ourselves as compared to others, but seeing ourselves as compared to God. Without
Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). We need Him every day in our lives to deal with all the things that we face.

Again, I do not want to judge a person’s heart. But as I looked at that business card that day, a couple of things came to mind. One, we can have “heroes”, people who have influenced us and helped us in our spiritual growth, either through personal interaction or by reading their writings. I have never met some of the authors who have influenced and taught me, but I am very thankful for what they have helped me with in my life. But my goal is to be like Jesus, not like them. They may have helped me in getting to that but I would never call myself “The Rick
Warren of Nebraska” or “The George Hunter of Burwell.” These are just two people whose writings and teachings have helped me on my spiritual journey. Two, humility means that I am not setting myself on a pedestal. It means that we are setting Jesus on the pedestal, allowing our “good works” to point to Him (Mt. 5:16). My prayer is that I will be reminded daily that I have a God Who loves me, accepts me, and wants to use as I am as I become more and more like Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we all will want that to.

Have a blessed and great day.

In Christ,

Scott