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How is God making you more like Jesus (note 2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 1:28)? If you are in Christ then you are a work in progress (Phil. 1:6). How is God refining you? (John 17:17-19)
In my heart God has been reinforcing and deepening my convictions in relationship to ministry faithfulness
and ministry success. 1 Corinthians 3 serves to
remind me that God is not only concerned with the message I/we communicate (1
Cor. 2) but how I/we build (1 Cor. 3) and “do gospel ministry.” Now it is one thing to exposit a passage of
Scripture like 1 Cor. 3:1-15 and quite another thing to flesh out the
implications of this text. The pastoral lessons R. Kent Hughes talks
about in his helpful biographical book, Liberating Ministry From the Success Syndrome have been truths God has been teaching
me. God is not
only refining FBC Freeport He is refining the minister as well! Paul came to understand that God allowed "a thorn" in Corinth to inflict the apostle for the sake of his personal growth in godliness (2 Cor. 12).
Having said that, I
believe that is appropriate for ministers of the gospel to long for ministry fruitfulness. However, God has been reminding me that He
alone “causes genuine growth” and He
alone provides the increase. All I can
do is faithfully plant and water and sow but I must leave the results
(good or bad) in His hands. As a steward I must
strive to be faithful and entrust the timing and everything else to Him.
In order to engineer man-made growth many church leaders make subtle ministry compromises (like not confronting an influential family in fear of losing a much needed offering check or by not highlighting the full implications of a controversial text like Matthew 19:3-12). When you regularly observe other churches making compromises like this and then witness those same ministries exploding numerically it is not always an easy pill to swallow; (the internal pain is similar to what the Asaph writes about Psalm 73). In moments like this my biblical convictions and my motivations for ministry are truly revealed. Is pastoring a healthy church that is growing spiritually truly the main objective of my ministry? (note Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 1:28-29; Matt. 28:18-20; Heb. 5:12-14). Will I faithfully serve Him even during seasons of difficulty and/or drought? Is the Master’s pleasure my chief delight? Am I serving Christ in light of eternity or am I living for the here and now?
In order to engineer man-made growth many church leaders make subtle ministry compromises (like not confronting an influential family in fear of losing a much needed offering check or by not highlighting the full implications of a controversial text like Matthew 19:3-12). When you regularly observe other churches making compromises like this and then witness those same ministries exploding numerically it is not always an easy pill to swallow; (the internal pain is similar to what the Asaph writes about Psalm 73). In moments like this my biblical convictions and my motivations for ministry are truly revealed. Is pastoring a healthy church that is growing spiritually truly the main objective of my ministry? (note Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 1:28-29; Matt. 28:18-20; Heb. 5:12-14). Will I faithfully serve Him even during seasons of difficulty and/or drought? Is the Master’s pleasure my chief delight? Am I serving Christ in light of eternity or am I living for the here and now?
In this vein, God is
also helping me learn how to genuinely celebrate the blessings of other
pastors/local churches who are faithfully serving the Lord and who may be
enjoying greater (this side of eternity) blessings- via compensation; serving a flock that more
faithfully fleshes out 1 Thess. 5:12-13; leading a ministry that may be exploding
numerically; etc. In other words, I need
to put off all ministerial envy (1 Pet. 2:1) and truly rejoice with those who
rejoice.
At the end of the day, “We (pastors) are unworthy slaves; who have only done that which we ought to have done” (Luke 17:10). In short, God does not owe me anything (health, success, conversions, etc) and He is always refining His bond-servant (Rom. 8:28-29: Heb. 12).
At the end of the day, “We (pastors) are unworthy slaves; who have only done that which we ought to have done” (Luke 17:10). In short, God does not owe me anything (health, success, conversions, etc) and He is always refining His bond-servant (Rom. 8:28-29: Heb. 12).
Over the past many years the LORD has continued to reinforce in my heart the value and importance of
Christian contentment. With Paul I am “LEARNING”
how to find my contentment in Christ alone (rather than looking for it in my
earthly circumstances; per. Phil. 4:11-12). He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it (Phil. 1:6).
