I had a pastor once who exhorted us, "Every member a minister", meaning that all of us should be exercising his or her spiritual gifts in some ministry or other. He was exactly right. It is in this context that I use the term today. Our text this morning is 2 Cor. 6:3-10 ---
3 We do not give anyone an occasion for taking an offense in anything, so that no fault may be found with our ministry. 4 But as God’s servants, we have commended ourselves in every way, with great endurance, in persecutions, in difficulties, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in troubles, in sleepless nights, in hunger, 6 by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by benevolence, by the Holy Spirit, by genuine love, 7 by truthful teaching, by the power of God, with weapons of righteousness both for the right hand and for the left, 8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and praise; regarded as impostors, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying and yet—see!—we continue to live; as those who are scourged and yet not executed; 10 as sorrowful, but always rejoicing, as poor, but making many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
NET
If you are involved in ministry, the truth of these verses resonates in your heart, because you have lived it. Of all people, ministers are held to a higher standard. Often, they are expected to be "perfect", which is unreasonable. Jesus demonstrated, as history's only perfect man, that even in the face of perfection, there is opposition. Furthermore, in the days leading up to His crucifixion He promised the disciples that their ministries would be opposed by people who are controlled by the enemy (John 15, 16, 17). Paul tells Timothy in 2 Tim. 3:12 that all of us who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus WILL be persecuted.
Still, those associated with a specific ministry, especially one that is faithful to the Word and that God is blessing, seem to be the target of the worst attacks by Satan. Paul lists some of them in this passage. He points out that ministers will sometimes experience glory, praise, but will also (even more often) experience dishonor, slander, accusations of being an "impastor" :) (imposter), distresses, harassments, and sometimes even imprisonment, beatings and death.
Some are so discouraged by these attacks they give up, laying down their ministries and walking away. When this happens, Satan has won a skirmish. Yesterday morning, in the wee hours, I came upon an article which I shared to my Facebook page. It was titled, "The Reality of Spiritual Warfare in the Home". If you are a mom, please go read it. I'll put the link under Sources: below. Your primary ministry is now the raising of godly children. Don't pooh-pooh or disdain your very important ministry, or let anyone discourage you about where God has called you at this time. It is not up to us to interfere with the callings God puts on other people's lives. As for me, I have enough troubles with the calling He has put on mine!
In that regard, take care how you view and assess ministers, whether "men of the cloth" or laypeople. I learned this lesson from my father many years ago. He was far from being a perfect man, but he was a very loving man, one of the two most loving men I've ever known. (The other is my husband.) My dad would never participate in a campaign to get rid of the man God called to our little church, and he warned us against such behavior. God states that He hates pride, and I imagine He especially hates the kind of spiritual pride which tears down ministers and ministries. If God gives you a word of knowledge to share with a minister, then share it with him or her . . . in private (Matt. 18:15-17). Don't go murmuring behind someone's back. This is unscriptural, because it creates dissension in the Body of Christ. This kind of behavior makes you Satan's "tool". Don't be deceived! It is not up to us to revoke the calling God has placed on a person's life. That is God's job.
God calls us to "be tenderhearted and forgiving of one another, just as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us." (Ephesians 4:32)
Most ministers are very careful to live by verse 2 of this passage. They avoid the very appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22). I have seen this in action and silently commended them for their wisdom. They realize that they live at the very nexus of Satan's most potent attacks.
Let's pray for our ministers, anyone leading a ministry. (I consider this "almost-daily blog" a ministry. Please pray for me!) In particular, could I ask you to pray for the youth discipleship weekend we are having through our local church, beginning this evening. Let me ask that you specifically pray for these: Brandon (youth minister), Sydney (youth ministry assistant), Taylor (worship leader), the praise band, Ed (the visiting minister who will be speaking), host homes, small group leaders (mostly college aged students), those who are transporting the youth, those who are preparing or who have prepared food for the youth. Thank you for joining me in prayer for them.
Heavenly Father, I pray this morning for every person leading a ministry or serving in ministry. Please fill them with Your Holy Spirit and give them patient endurance. Thank you for the truth of Scripture that you give to them. May they proclaim it boldly, yet with love. May their lives be characterized by humility and love for their fellow believers and for the lost. Fill their spirits with Your power, O Father God, and strap onto their hands Your mighty weapons of righteousness. Teach them to do spiritual warfare in the matchless, mighty name of Jesus, Lord God! Please protect them and their families, Lord God! Strengthen their families and keep them from Satan's plans to harm them. Father, I lift up to you this morning our D-Now weekend, and pray for all those involved. Let Your Holy Spirit go forth in power to irrevocably change lives. Please have Your hand on every minute detail of this weekend, Lord. Bring forth a mighty harvest of souls and may those who already know You have their love for You deepened. I ask this for the furtherance of Your kingdom and for Your glory alone, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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