Active Duty: Working for Our Lord

This morning I read something quite comical. A local preacher had posted a comic on social media of what appeared to be a husband and wife. They have very serious looks on their faces and the wife has her hand on the man’s shoulders. He is holding a letter in his hand.

The caption at the bottom reads, “It’s from the local church. We have been called up for active duty.”

I found this quite funny until I realized how sad it really is. This is how many Christians see our service to God. We are unwilling to serve unless forced by some dire set of circumstances.

The shock on the faces of those in the comic was revealing. Could God really expect us to sacrifice something? Yes He could and you better believe He does. Just like freedom isn’t really free, someone paid the price for it; our relationship with Jesus comes with responsibility.

Active duty is a term that has been used by the military for quite some time. How long, I am not sure. But, the phrase depicts the need to be active in doing our duty, active not passive.

A soldier’s duty is to protect, defend, and fight for the cause for which he or she has vowed allegiance. Should the Christian soldier be any different? Are we as Christians leaving our post or on perpetual leave from our duties? Sometimes, it seems that way.

What happens when a soldier leaves his post and ignores the service for which he is responsible? The other soldiers in his unit are more vulnerable. The people he has promised to help are left unprotected. It is dangerous for any warrior to shrug off his or her responsibility.

We are to be soldiers of the Cross. The Bible tells us to fight the good fight and not grow weary in doing good. God knows how hard it is. But, it seems we have gotten to the point we have forgotten we are at war, spiritual war.

Can we imagine the danger for Christians everywhere as Christian soldiers leave post and relax in completing our reasonable service. We no longer feel ashamed that we are not working for the Lord. That’s how far we have fallen. As a result, the future of our local church and the future of our faith is in question.

God has already won the war. That will never change. But, we will be judged as Christians on what we did with the gifts and talents God gave us. Are we using them to further His kingdom or wasting them on worldly foolishness? We will have to answer for our lack of dedication to Him. But, we don’t want to think about that now do we.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV