A Workman’s Motto

Serving – January 2021 – Grace & Truth Magazine

A Workman’s Motto

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. —1 Corinthians 15:58 NKJV

Here we have an uncommonly fine motto for the Christian workman, and every Christian ought to be a workman. It presents a most valuable balance for the heart: immovable stability linked with unceasing activity. This is of the utmost importance.

There are some of us who are such sticklers for what we call “principle” that we seem almost afraid to embark on any scheme of large-hearted Christian activity. On the other hand, some of us are so bent on what we call “service” that in order to reach desired ends and realize noticeable results, we do not hesitate to overstep the boundary line of sound principle.

Our motto in 1 Corinthians 15 supplies a divine antidote for both of these evils. It furnishes a solid basis on which we are to stand with steadfast purpose and immovable decision. We are not to be moved even the least bit from the narrow path of divine truth, though tempted to do so by what may appear to be better.

“To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). Noble words! May they be engraved on every workman’s heart. They are absolutely invaluable, and particularly so in our day when there is such willfulness, scheming, self-pleasing, a tendency to do that which is right in our own eyes, and a practical ignoring of the supreme authority of Holy Scripture.

The present condition fills the thoughtful observer with grave concerns, as he sees the deliberate throwing aside of the Bible even by those who admit it to be the Word of God. We are not speaking of the insolence of open and avowed infidelity, but of the heartless indifference of respectable, professed Christians. Millions say they believe the Bible is the Word of God, but they do not have the smallest idea of submitting themselves wholly to its authority. Instead, man’s reasoning bears sway, and what seems advantageous commands the heart. The holy principles of divine revelation are swept away like dust on the floor before the vehement blast of popular opinion.

How immensely valuable and important in view of all this is the first part of our workman’s motto! “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast [and] immovable.” “Therefore” throws the soul back upon the solid foundation laid in the previous part of the chapter in which the apostle unfolds the most sublime and precious truth that can possibly engage the Christian’s heart. That truth lifts the soul completely above the old creation and plants it on the solid rock of resurrection. On this rock, we are exhorted to be steadfast and unmovable. It is not a stubborn adherence to our own notions or favorite dogma – or to any special school of doctrine. Instead, it is a firm grasp and faithful confession of the whole truth of God, of which the risen Christ is the everlasting Center.

Yet, we have to remember the other part of our motto. Standing firmly on the ground of truth, the Christian workman has to cultivate the lovely activities of grace. He is called to be “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” The basis of sound principle must never be abandoned, but the work of the Lord must be diligently carried on. There are some who are so afraid of doing something that may cause harm, they do nothing; and others, who rather than not be doing something, will do wrong. Our motto corrects both. It teaches us to set our faces as a flint where truth is involved; while on the other hand it leads us to go forth in largeness of heart and throw all our energies into the work of the Lord.

Let the Christian reader especially note the expression, “the work of the Lord.” We are not to imagine for a moment that all “service” by professing Christians is entitled to be designated “the work of the Lord.” Far from it! Many things undertaken as service for the Lord by a spiritual person could not possibly be connected to the holy name of Christ. May our conscience be exercised as to the work in which we embark. We deeply feel how needful it is in this day of willfulness, laxity and wild liberalism to own the authority of Christ in all that we do. Blessed be His name, for He permits us to even eat and drink in His holy name and to His glory (1 Cor. 10:31).

The sphere of service is wide; it is only limited by that weighty clause, “the work of the Lord.” The Christian workman must not engage in any work which does not place itself under that most holy and all-important heading. He must, before he enters upon any service, ask himself this great practical question, “Can this honestly be called the work of the Lord?”

By Charles H. Mackintosh

“I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith ... Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.” —Romans 12:3,6