Resources/Articles
The Highest Title in the Land
When I think of the call to preaching and try to reduce it to one pregnant statement that best describes it, I cannot rise any higher than “man of God.”
Conrad Mbewe
The above statement should rate among our top five on a list of things we remember. It is the world’s greatest need for a man or woman to be a “man of God” or “woman of God.” It is not because they wear the “religious clothes” (i.e., dark collars and white robes) that they are set apart from other men and women. It is their godly characters and holy ways of life which serves God in honor.
In the New Testament, the words “man of God” are mentioned twice (1 Timothy 6.11; 2 Timothy 3.16-17). In the Old Testament, the phrase is mentioned over eighty times in reference to Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and David. All of these were men of God because they spent time in His presence. They received a message from the Father. They appeared before God’s people or any enemy of righteousness and said, “Thus saith the Lord.” There was authority behind those words which was attributed to their relationships with God.
Many of those who listened to these men of God speak took note of their words as one who had been with God. This is the way “man of God” is described in 1 Timothy 6.11. He is respected and honored because he pursues righteousness and godliness. Accepting such a responsibility will bring power and strength to a lesson delivered by a preacher, instructions from a father, or exhortation from an elder. When men of God occupy the positions of husband, father, elder, deacon, evangelist, or teacher, others will grow because of him, not in spit of him.
In 2 Timothy 3.16-17, Paul is telling Timothy that the word of God is like a toolbox for the tradesman, containing everything he needs to repair or build a piece of equipment. The only thing Paul makes sure Timothy knows is at the end of the day, he will give account of what he has done (2 Timothy 4.1).
A man of God needs to keep the word before him. Remind yourself your instructions are not from cultural trends, business criteria, political policies, or other worldly influences. Take your cues from God. A man of God will do justice to the law of God by keeping the charge assigned to him. Pray to the Lord every day of your life to make you a man of God and keep you a man of God. It is the highest honor on the face of the earth to be linked to a great infinite being.
What legacy will you leave this world as a man or woman? Will you leave wealth, position, pride, popularity, power, and fame, or honor, courage, growth, self-control, humility, faithfulness, holiness, sacrifice, and endurance? Leave your family, friends, the church, and this land with a signpost of one who followed the ways of the Lord Most High. Then when people remember you, they will remember your works as those things which need repeating within their own lives.
