June 26

Worthy Of Greater Honor

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.

Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

Hebrews 3:1-6     

The problem of who should be in authority and who should receive honor is an age-old struggle. As this passage indicates, the one who comes after—Jesus, in this case—receives more honor than the one who was faithful in the foundational work—as was Moses. But “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future.” In many ways missionaries represent the task that belonged to Moses, that of a servant, testifying to what will come in the future. Missionaries who do foundational evangelistic work must expect that the future will not belong to them, but rather to the leaders of the local churches they establish.

This was true in Nigeria where W. Harold Fuller served as a missionary with the Sudan Interior Mission. He illustrates this from his own observation of the partnership between missionaries and Africans. “A while ago I was riding in the back seat of the ECWA (Evangelical Churches of West Africa) General Secretary Simon Ibrahim’s car. He was at the wheel. Sudan Interior Mission missionary Gordon Beacham sat beside him.

“I thought about the fathers of those two men. Gordon’s father had been a pioneer SIM missionary among the Tangale people of Nigeria. Simon’s father had been one of the first Tangale preachers. They often traveled together in the missionary’s car. Gordon’s father sat at the wheel; Simon’s father sat beside him.

“That’s the way it was in the work, too. Of necessity at that time, Gordon’s father was the driver. Today, their sons have changed places. The church is in the driver’s seat, and the mission sits alongside.

“That’s what has happened in the transfer of responsibility. The team members are still the same; they’re still traveling together to the same destination, but ECWA is now behind the wheel . . . Taking over responsibility means taking over leadership. It doesn’t mean suddenly being able to finish the task all by oneself. It’s a change of leadership, of authority, of responsibility, but it’s not the completion of the work.” ²⁶