RUST

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. (2 Thessalonians 3:1-15 ESV)

 When I was a little kid, back in the 80s, I remember riding with my Mom in an old Lincoln Continental that was our family car and once we hit the four lane highway, my mother would "stomp on the gas"-and it felt to me as if we were flying! She used to tell me that she was "blowing out the carbon." I wasn't sure what that meant, but I knew it was fun.

Later, when I was a teenager, I learned that carbon would build up in a car's engine from sitting and  idling. Hence the (questionable) procedure. And just cruising around town didn't qualify for "carbon blowing." You apparently needed to reach a certain speed for a period of time. That would help the engine clear out its carbon problem. Or so I was told.

As I have grown older I have learned that the Scripture above also speaks of idling. If we're not busy with our Father's business, we may end up forgetting about our calling as the body of Christ: to be His hands, feet, and voice in the world. That ministry will demand much of us. But as an old preacher once said: "When it comes to serving our Lord, better to burn out than to rust out!"

Better to burn out than to rust out. Think about that statement. How many of us will rust out and how many of us will burn out? If you live in Alabama and take a ride out into the country you won't have to drive far to find a car or a truck sitting in a field rusting out. Being a "car guy" I often wonder why someone would let something that is so beautiful sit out in the weather and just destroy itself from lack of care and lack of use. Some people in the church are exactly like that old truck or car sitting in the field. They have lost their "usefulness" or maybe they are broken in a way that only a "master mechanic" can fix.

Being a car guy I can appreciate the care and work that it takes to restore a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. I can appreciate the detail and the craftsmanship that is put into each part of the car. I can also appreciate the craftsmanship that our Lord puts into each individual person. We are all designed for different things but accomplishing the same goal, the Glorification of Jesus Christ.

The decision that each one of us had to make is simply this: Will we sit on the sidelines, slowly rusting out and loosing our opportunity to make much of Jesus or Will we get involved, "blow out the carbon," and make much of the gifts that we have been given and in turn making much of Jesus Christ?

As that old preacher once said: "When it comes to serving our Lord, better to burn out than to rust out."