[x_custom_headline type=”left” level=”h4″ looks_like=”h4″]When most people consider their favorite Bible characters, they often pick out some of the more prominent ones, such as Moses, or David, or Samuel, or one of the other prophets like Elijah or Isaiah or Ezekiel. And of course, in the New Testament, the men of God who often stand out are some very key individuals who operated in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, such as Peter or Paul. And I like all of those men of God, too, of course.[/x_custom_headline]
However, there is another man of God that I really love that stands out to me, and who I have done some personal studying about, who I want to bring your attention too today. His name is Luke.
Luke is the man the Holy Spirit inspired to write the books of Luke and Acts. And both of these books are written to a Gentile audience, because Luke was also a Gentile himself.
Luke is a physician, who is part of the Apostle Paul’s ministry team. And perhaps it is his medical training that had taught him to be orderly, sharp and exact in his descriptions. Because he is an exact and precise observer, and faithful recorder. So when you read the books he wrote, you can see that Luke was a first rate historian and a skillful scholar.
But Luke was more than all of these things. Luke was a team player.
According to Philemon 24, Luke was a “fellow laborer” with Paul. He was not just a spectator or a hanger on; he was hands on, doing the work of the ministry along with Paul.
Ministry is spelled – W.O.R.K.! And Luke was actively involved in the work of the ministry alongside Paul. And even though Luke was a physician, and no doubt wealthy, he was not “too good” to do whatever was necessary to get the assignments given to his man of God accomplished.
Luke records a situation with Paul’s ministry team in the sixteenth chapter of Acts that should grab our attention. Because in this passage, the Holy Ghost forbids Paul and his team from going to a particular region to minister. But while waiting on the direction of the Lord, as Paul is seeking the Lord one night he receives a vision from the Holy Spirit, instructing him where to go to minister, as you will see below.
[x_blockquote cite=”Acts 16:9-10 KJV” type=”left”]“9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”[/x_blockquote]
Notice in verse ten, that Luke used the words, “we” and “us,” in this verse. In other words, he was saying that he was just as committed to fulfilling the assignments the Lord gave his man of God, as Paul himself was.
This is because Luke wasn’t just a spectator, or on the sidelines of the ministry watching as others did the work. Instead, he endeavored to see to it that what Paul was instructed to do by the Lord was accomplished, no matter how hard he had to work to get it done.
Something else to notice is that Luke and the rest of the ministry team followed Paul as their leader. And so his vision was their vision. His leading was their leading. Paul’s ministry became their ministry. In fact, throughout the Word of God we see this pattern. God speaks and guides the leader, and the people follow. You never see them holding a vote, nor an open discussion about what God has told the leader to do anywhere. This is because they were team players.
One final thought I’d like to draw your attention to about Luke can be found in the passage below from Paul’s second letter to Timothy.
[x_blockquote cite=”2 Timothy 4:9-11 KJV” type=”left”]“9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: 10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me….”[/x_blockquote]
Luke was constantly loyal, and he was not a quitter. Luke stayed true to his assignment, which was to assist Paul, regardless of what others on the team did. Demas however, being a man of divided loyalty, finally allowed the world to win out, and he left the team and backslid.
What you must understand is that some are called to work with a man of God for a season to be trained and developed, and then sent out into their own ministry, such as Crescens and Titus were. However, most others, like Luke, are called to stay faithfully beside their man of God and assist him in fulfilling his assignments until the end.
I long to have dozens of men and women like Luke in my life and ministry. With team players like him, there is no telling what all could be accomplished in these last days.