JB and, Well Done...
JB Whitman was a friend of mine. He was well read, passionate about Christ and the gospel and severe in his appraisal of messages that undermined that gospel. He was one of those that combined kindness with honesty and gentleness with forthrightness and that seems to be a rare ability. Because he was that way and because I knew he was I couldn’t very well debate his qualifications when he responded to one of my messages when I visited the assembly of which he was one of the shepherds.
I’m not much of a speaker and I know it. I tend to ramble too much and have real difficulty in getting from A to B to C without numerous little diversions. I admire those that know where they’re going, how to get there and who stick to the path. Then, too, I oscillate between an emotional striptease and serious “bookishness”. As a consequence I very often get in the way of the gospel I wish to present. That Sunday (though it may have been Wednesday) I felt that I had the usual wrestle but when I was done JB came and with what seemed to be deep-seated pleasure he said to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” It wasn’t just what he said that made the moment memorable for me; it was the quiet and thoughtful and pleased way he said it. Still, what he said gave me a lift I’ve never lost sight of and it made me want to do what he was sure I had done on that occasion. He thought I had been true to the gospel. (It might be vanity in me that leads me to mention this; on the other hand it might be that I feel the need of such assurance that I can’t keep it in. On the other hand, maybe I just miss JB a little.)
This incident came to mind several days ago when a friend of mine completed a little series of meetings not far from here (and I didn’t get to even one of them). He came to eat with us and I asked him how he had worked with the messages he had agreed to bring. When he was done and without thinking of what I should say, I said “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That was how his report and summary had made me feel about what he had done. It was only after he was gone I made all the connections with that moment and that precious moment with JB. I was pleased to be able to say to my friend that he had done well and was a good and faithful servant because that’s what his summary had made me think. But it was in saying it to my friend that JB’s word to me became even more precious. What I had said to John was a profoundly lovely thing; he had honoured himself in being faithful and the loveliest thing I could respond with was that word. It was then—additionally—that I realised the great honour JB had bestowed on me and it meant that at least on that occasion I had dome something worthwhile, I had been faithful to Jesus and his gospel.
One of these days JB’s teacher will say to all the loyal and blessed ones, “Well done, good and faithful servant, share in the joy of your Lord.”
Mmmm, love the very thought of that!
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy for allowing to post from his website, the abiding word.com.