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Snapshot

My Dear Friend,

The church today has two halves, evangelical and Charismatic / Pentecostal, with one emphasizing doctrine and the other spiritual gifts and power.

Evangelicals place heavy emphasis on seminary training and tend to evaluate their ministers and congregants by their intellectual prowess and doctrinal positions. Pentecostals and Charismatics, on the other hand, tend to give top billing to ministers whose ministries are attended by the gifts, signs, and wonders of the Spirit.

While each camp feels its emphasis is most important, the real question is, what does God think? I believe the testimony of Scripture reveals He considers something more important than doctrine or spiritual power. It is personal testing. Why?

Personal tests tell Him more about us. They reveal our true self. Our core spirit. Our real developing character. The real, invisible, naked soul that is living inside the visible person who professes Jesus.

Personal testing requires moral choices in real-life scenarios sovereignly arranged by the Holy Spirit to see where we truly stand in faith and loyalty to God. God desires demonstrated faith more than correct doctrines and impressive intellects - though they, too, are needed. He yearns for manifested loyalty more than manifestations of spiritual gifts and miracles, though they, too, are part of His merciful ministry.

Therefore, daily, trying situations meet us and God watches our response, ready to honor us if our decisions honor Him. Scripture is filled with honorees who honored God in their trials.

Esther was no Doctor of Theology, but she risked her life to save the lives of her people. Noah was not a miracle worker, but by faith he built an ark when no one else believed a flood was imminent. Job was not a seminarian, but amid catastrophic losses, cruel rejection, and agonizing physical pain, he chose to continue trusting the God he had known before his ordeal. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him” was the greatest thesis on faith ever written by a doctoral candidate (Job 13:15).

Daniel never worked a miracle, yet was calmly ready to die in a den of lions rather than pray to a king as if he were God. Mary of Bethany would have made a poor doctrinaire, but she sacrificed her most expensive possession to bless Jesus.

The Smyrna Christians were neither Calvinists nor Armenians, but they were “faithful unto death” (Revelation 2:10). John the Baptist never worked a miracle, but he preached righteousness without compromise, even to a wicked king - and went home, proven in faith and loyalty, without his head.

With these proven honorees in mind, let’s note seven things our successful tests accomplish.

First, they open the way to a deeper, closer, experiential knowledge of God. Neither doctrine nor gifts give access to God’s presence or discernment of His ways, but demonstrated trust and faithfulness do both. Our academic knowledge of God becomes experiential, real, and very personal. Because we have held Him close in trials He lets us come closer when seeking Him. And we sense His Spirit, His presence, His power as never before.

Second, they give us new, clearer biblical insight. Because we obeyed the Word, the Holy Spirit opens the Word further. We grasp its deepest principles and richest secrets. Five minutes of obedience makes a better Bible interpreter than five years of hermeneutics. After Jesus' disciples stayed loyal through the crises of His betrayal and crucifixion, “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:45).

Third, they bring God’s approval for service. God chose the Levites, not for their creeds or doctrinal expertise, but because they choose to stand with Him even against their own sinning family members (Exodus 32:25-29; Deuteronomy 33:8-10). Even Jesus, despite His commanding knowledge of doctrine at age twelve, was not approved for service until He passed all His tests, first, in Nazareth, and later, in the wilderness (Luke 2:46-47; 4:1-13; 4:14-15).

Fourth, they transform us. We always emerge from fiery tests of faith and loyalty as changed persons. Stronger. Purer. More trusting. More faithful. More fireproof! Christlike character has been deeply forged by repeated, Christ-pleasing decisions in the fire. Without fiery trials, we remain as we are; with them, we become “as He is” (1 John 3:3), transformed into His fireproof image!

Fifth, they give us a testimony. It’s often said, “Without a test, you have no testimony.” Testimonies recall not only God’s faithfulness to us in tests but also our trust and faithfulness to Him. When we tell others how God helped us in our troubles, they believe He will help them in theirs. Hearing of our choices to stay true to Him inspires them to stay true. Thus, our testimonies strengthen Christians and honor Christ.

Sixth, they win the lost. Besides inspiring Christians, our testimonies convince and convert sinners. When we fail our tests by doubting, disobeying, or abandoning Christ, the lost observe our failure, feel confirmed in their unbelief, and remain smugly in the dark. But when they see the Light of the world guide us through life’s darkest trials, they take notice, become convicted, and come to Him to guide them also.

Seventh, they qualify us for the rapture. The Tribulation will be a final test for the untested. So, Christians successfully tested now have no need of that time. To them, Jesus will fulfill His promise to the successfully tested Philadelphians: “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world” (Revelation 3:10, NLT). When Jesus appears, and takes away the tested, the untested will immediately realize the surpassing importance of testing.

Our personal tests come in many forms. Will we turn down a lucrative job when God calls us to another? Will we keep trusting God’s promises when their fulfillment appears impossible? Will we let go of an unholy relationship to preserve our holy relationship with Jesus? Will we answer God’s call to service when friends or family vigorously object? Will we persevere in a humble, hidden vocation or ministry with little rewards and no recognition because we know Christ called us there and He is watching?

Will we endure rejection, injustice, or grievous losses because we’re standing for God’s righteous standards and kingdom goals? Will we give up our worldly interests and favorite pastimes to have more time to seek God, study His Word, and pray? When close Christian friends abandon Christ, will we keep holding Him tightly - and let them go?

When Christ calls us to leave our possessions and church family to serve Him on the mission field, will we obey, sell out, and go? When we wish for a spouse, yet know intuitively that, for now, God wants us single for His work’s sake, will we stay single and lonely to stay true and fruitful? Besides these, there are countless other scenarios in which God may test our faith or loyalty.

So, don’t be blinded by all the emphasis currently placed on intellectualism and doctrine or spiritual gifts and power. Stay focused on the surpassing importance of personal testing . . . until the One testing us appears!

Staying focused,
Greg Hinnant