Second Friend Day - Elmer Towns

Chapter 10
BECOMING FAITHFUL
One of the greatest abilities in life is stickability. The Bible teaches that stickability is
faithfulness. It is "required in stewards that a man be found faithful" (I Cor. 4:2). Faithfulness is
obeying Jesus Christ.
A conductor began his new appointment to an orchestra, "I'd rather have 10 members of
an orchestra who were faithful than have an 100-piece orchestra that I couldn't depend on."
Following this theme, a minister announced he would rather have a church of 200 people who
were faithful in soulwinning and prayer, than a church with 1800 members in which only a
handful showed up for prayer meeting.
Faithful Christians get a crown. Martyrs, faithful unto death, were given the crown of life
(Rev. 2:10). When the sword was pointed in their direction, they did not deny Jesus Christ.
Perhaps they were told to stop witnessing in the name of Jesus Christ, but continued. The
Scripture doesn't tell us how many souls they won; it tells us they were faithful to death.
Many Christians think they cannot serve God. They look at their talents and feel they
have so little ability to serve Him. A minister once said, "You may not be much, but you can be
faithful." The greatest need in the church today is people who are faithful - faithful in living,
service, prayer and tithing.
A bus worker at Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia, had very little
education; as a matter of fact, he slaughtered the Queen's English. Every Saturday morning, he
faithfully went out with an old-fashioned tie, a salt-and-pepper suit and scuffed shoes. Rotten
teeth showed from his ever-present smile, and he had difficulty talking. When asked how he
brought in over 100 people on his bus, the worker replied, "When I can't think of nuttin' to say, I
jist quotes de Bible." He was faithful to his ability.
God uses the thermometer of faithfulness to test the temperature of our love.
You don't accumulate faithfulness like saving money to spend on a vacation. Faithfulness
is not what you get as a result of being good. Faithfulness is what you are. We cannot prepare to
be faithful, nor can we educate ourselves into faithfulness.
Your basic question to ask is, "How can I become faithful?" Becoming faithful starts with
new motivation. It can't be worked up - Christ makes you faithful. When He naturally lives His
life through you, you are becoming faithful.
Faithfulness is the by-product of duty. A Christian does not worship faithfulness; he
makes Christ the center of his life and that makes him happy. The same truth is found in the
businessman who said, "I never set out to make money; I determined to build a good business
and just happened to make money."
The following points will carry you on the road of duty, hence making you faithful.