True Christian discipleship is a life of sacrifice, not acquiring. This does not mean that we should not provide well for our families, as we are also told in I Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.” However, there is a difference between providing for our families and being materialistic, greedy, or even immoderate.
There is a ditch on either side of the path of life. The overreaction to Christians who had a poverty spirit caused others to fall into the ditch on the other side and become earthly-minded and materialistic. Fearing becoming “so heavenly-minded they are no earthly good,” they have become so earthly-minded they are neither good for heaven or earth.
It is not an exaggeration to say that most Christians, and indeed most people, think in extremes. We tend to judge others by their most extreme elements or actions. However, when it comes to walking in truth, the path of life is almost always found in the tension between the extremes.
For this reason we are told in Philippians 4:5, “Let your moderation be known unto all men” (KJV). This is not just about our material possessions, eating or drinking, but also in doctrine. We must be clear and uncompromising about the basics, but the other peripheral doctrines, eschatology, and other teachings that are ambiguous and open to different interpretations, the safe place is moderation—not gravitating toward the extremes.
Of course, this must be balanced with the fact that some truth is found in the extreme. It may sound extreme to say that Jesus is the only Way to the Father, but it is an extreme truth we cannot compromise without compromising the foundation of His divinity. He is the One who said this, and if it is not true, then He must have lied, and therefore would not be the God of the Scriptures.
The Lord could have been much more specific about such things as church government, food, and drink, but to do so would just make the New Covenant another law instead of the relationship with God that it is supposed to be. There are certainly New Covenant commandments, but they are more about love than what to eat, drink, or the minutia of behavior. In Acts 15:23-29, we are given the basic standard of behavior required by Christians:
“Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,
it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth.
“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”
This was confirmed as the witness of the Holy Spirit and the founding apostles and elders of the church. This is Scripture. We cannot impose any more than this as behavior for constraints without putting them under legalism. However, in the New Testament there were much higher standards for anyone who would be in leadership in the church. Leadership is not just the position of being an elder or apostle, but leadership is basically influence.
As we mature in Christ, we should want to live by higher standards than the minimum that we can get away with. The true lovers of God are not looking to do the minimum that they can get by with, but for how much more they can do for Him. An infant that is totally helpless is also totally selfish. As a child matures and understands more and can do more, they become less selfish. The same is true of those who are born again. New Christians will often be consumed with the benefits, but the mature who have learned the power of the cross will be like the apostles who thanked the Lord that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for His name’s sake. Likewise, immature prophetic people will usually be very different when they mature, but we must give them a chance to mature.
