Before You Quit the Ministry: Learning to Count Like Jesus.

Before You Quit the Ministry: Learning to Count Like Jesus. Some helpful biblical instruction from Pastor Mathis.

We have over two hundred pastors in this room, and if Barna’s recent report is accurate, then about 85 of you considered quitting in the last twelve months. This past March, Barna’s survey on pastoral confidence and vocational satisfaction reported that 41 percent of the pastors they queried thought about walking away in the last year. That was down 1 percent from 2022, which was up 13 percent from 2021.

But most of us don’t need survey numbers to know that these last few years have been hard times to be a pastor and to endure in the challenges of pastoral ministry. And in such times, Philippians is a great choice for a pastors’ conference.  In particular, I love the pairing of “the epistle of joy” with this theme of endurance. Paul wrote while enduring incarceration, and he wrote to a church enduring opposition. And yet Philippians is known for radiating with joy. No other epistle, and maybe no other biblical book, shines so brightly with so many explicit mentions of joy and rejoicing and gladness in such short space. So we are set up very wisely and wonderfully for illuminating both this theme and this letter, and for learning to count the joys of ministry, not just the costs.

Unity, Humility, and Joy:  Chapter 2 continues the focus on unity begun in Philippians 1:27, with exhortations to unity within the church (verses 1–2, 14–16), and humility in the soul (verses 3–4), and with four personal examples.

Verses 1–2 extend the charge to unity, and verses 3–4 commend humility as the channel to such unity. And the Philippians are not on their own to obey, but God himself is at work in them (verses 12–13) to humble themselves, and so, in the face of external opposition, to strive side by side for the gospel, not against each other.  For the Philippian church, opposition was not new. Acts 16 tells us how quickly persecution followed on the heels of the gospel first coming to Philippi. Paul cast the spirit out of a slave girl, and he and Silas were soon beaten with rods and imprisoned. What’s new, and newly threatening, is that Paul has heard of some emerging divisions inside this local church. So Paul, imprisoned again, now in Rome, writes with the burden that the Philippians freshly seek unity and humility, and follow four tangible examples of humble, joyful endurance.

Chapter 2 is wonderfully concrete with these four personal examples: Timothy and Epaphroditus in verses 19–30, and Christ himself in verses 5–11 — which is the heart of the chapter and the Christian faith. And it’s where we’ll focus in this session, and see not only that Jesus endured but ask how. And there’s a sneaky fourth personal example, Paul himself, in verse 17.

If we try to capture Paul’s essential structure in this chapter of exhortations and examples to a church newly encountering tensions within, perhaps it would go like this: pursue (1) unity in the gospel, (2) through humility in your minds, (3) learning foremost from Jesus’s enduring to the cross. So: unity in the gospel, through humility of mind, like Christ at the cross..."

“...In pastoral ministry, unity, not conflict, is our long game. We’re not angling for conflict. We angle for real peace and unity in the gospel. Our calling is not to spoil the peace, but to pursue true peace, -even when- it requires tension and conflict to get there. At heart, pastors are peacemakers, not troublemakers. And we sometimes (if not often) discover trouble that regretfully requires more trouble, in order to pursue true unity and, in the end, have less trouble. But we don’t delight in trouble. Nor do we seek to add unnecessary trouble to the sad amount of necessary trouble we already have in this age. Rather, we delight to be unified in the gospel — and unity in the gospel is precious enough that we’re willing to endure intermediate tensions and conflicts along the path to peace and unity.

Which presents us as pastors with countless needs and challenges for wisdom. We need to know when to handle challenges to gospel unity with one-time private conversations, and when to give trouble more extended private attention, and when to address trouble with public attention in some form, as in a sermon or sermon series, or in a congressional letter, or via church meetings.

In other words, how much attention do we give to sin and error and for how long? These are some of the most difficult challenges in pastoral ministry. And this is why plurality in leadership is so important and precious. Alone, none of us makes such decisions perfectly. We need a team of brothers to help discern what challenges in our own congregation to unity in the truth are worthy of our attention, and how much attention, and for how long.

And is this unity uniformity? Twice verse 2 says to be “of the same mind” and “of one mind.” We might call it like-mindedness, a shared perspective or cast of mind. It doesn’t mean sameness, that everybody believes all the same things about all the same things, but that at the heart, and in the end, there is a like-mindedness in what matters most..."

"So, we are not afraid of relational tensions in ministry, and we check ourselves to make sure that our part in those tensions is owing to the long game of unity, not division, and especially those divisions that stem from selfish ambition and conceit….

On listening to and spreading gossip

On listening to and spreading gossip- Satan, the archenemy of Christ, seeks to distract, discourage, divide, devour, and destroy the true church. One subtle way he divides the people of God is through the tongue.  James 3:6, "The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body."

The Word of God has much to say about gossip, slander, and bearing false witness against one’s neighbor (Proverbs 6:16-19; Exodus 20:16).  Pastor Mike Riccardi provides a helpful biblical overview concerning these "respectable" sins and explains why Scripture describes gossip and slander as serious transgressions against God and man (James 3:9; Proverbs 17:4). I've expanded Pastor Mike's post turning it into a full article.  In effort to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” we humbly ask that you prayerfully consider the following biblical precepts.  

Riccardi writes: "Scripture calls those who give false testimony 'worthless’ (NASB, ESV) or 'vile' (1 Kings 21:10, 13). So also the one who devises evil and spreads strife (Proverbs 6:12-14), and who digs up evil (Proverbs 16:27). 'Worthless.' 'Vile.'  Severe language in Scripture is reserved for serious sins.

It also calls the one who 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴 to gossip “an evildoer” and “a liar” (Proverbs 17:4).

In a fallen world, it does seem unavoidable that there will be vile people who happily publish (spread) hearsay in an attempt to stir up dissension and attract attention to themselves. But it’s especially grieving to see so many who name the name of Christ eat up the dainty morsels without a moment’s hesitation or discretion. And even worse, to pass them along as if it were biblically permissible to give them any consideration at all! Still worse: to treat them as if they were settled fact!

Refusing to give heed to unsubstantiated claims is not optional, or some application of advanced Christian maturity. It is a basic, ground-level principle of Christian decency."

You could call it Christianity 101 with respect to receiving reported information:

1) Should I involve myself in this conflict? Proverbs 26:17 teaches, "Like someone who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel (conflict) not their own." Much wisdom from above is needed before entering a battle zone. Prayerful consideration and sound judgment are essential (Prov. 3:5-6).

2) Confirming facts via biblical corroboration.  "In general, every matter is to be confirmed by the mouth of two or three truthful witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:15-16; 1 Timothy 5:17-19)."  Sometimes you may not be in a position to receive all the relevant facts.      

3)  Proverbs 18:17, "Be careful, one seems right until another comes and examines him."  There’s often two (or three) sides to a story/conflict/dispute.

20+ years ago a pastor-professor told a seminary class of a time when a neighbor lady came over during a family yard sale with bruises on her wrists. This man and his wife were naturally very concerned. "What happened to you? Are you ok?" Their neighbor went on to explain that her husband was responsible. "Last night he grabbed me and hurt my wrists!" This loving pastor quickly marched over to his unbelieving neighbor's house believing he needed to courageously confront this tyrant of a man.  “Someone needs to hold this guy accountable for his actions.” But after interacting with his neighbor he heard the complete story (Prov. 18:17).  He found out that this man's wife had been drinking before this incident transpired. When the husband confronted his wife over her drunkenness, she angrily came after him with two kitchen knives. When his wife raised her right and left arms to stab him, the husband grabbed unto her wrists, and did not let go until his wife dropped the kitchen knives. This pastor apologized for sinfully rushing to judgment.  He then circled back to confirm that these new details were true. The neighbor lady said, "Sadly, what my husband shared is true."  She then apologized for misleading them.  She also noted, “I'm actually very grateful my husband did not call the police.  Had they, I would have been the one arrested.” 

For another example of why applying Proverbs 18:17 and 26:17 is so important, compare and contrast Netflix's, "Making a Murderer" docuseries with the Daily Wire's, "Convicting a Murderer" docuseries.  Liberal, lesbian activists seemingly duped millions of Netflix viewers into believing that Steven Avery was a good man.  A victim that was wrongly convicted of kidnap, rape, and murder by a corrupt legal system. Once all of the pertinent facts were presented many humbly admitted that they had drawn the wrong conclusion. They wrongly assumed Netflix was presenting the evidence fairly.  Suffice it to say, if you do not have access to the pertinent facts, it is difficult to draw just conclusions, especially if/when it involves judging a fellow believer? 

In church disputes, there are generally three sides to a story:  1) Person 1 or group A; 2) Person 2 or group B; and 3) The position of your shepherd-leaders (1 Thess. 5:13-15). For many reasons, a believer must join a local church that has biblically qualified, pastors and elders; (hence 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1:5f).  It’s essential because these human shepherds are called by God to serve as the “overseers” and human “guardians of the flock” (Hebrews 13:17).  When moderating conflicts, church leaders often make difficult decisions based on private information and facts that the entire church is not privy to.  Malicious gossip and serious slander sometimes forces leadership to share details that they’d rather not trouble the entire congregation with. 

4) Be discerning and cautious before rendering judgment.  Proverbs 18:13, "To give an answer before you hear is folly and shame to you."  See points above. Note Matthew 7:1-5.

5) “Do not associate with a gossip (Proverbs 20:9)." Puritan Thomas Watson said, "The scorpion carries poison in its tail, the slanderer in his or her tongue."

Pastor Riccardi concludes with some cautionary words of wisdom- "Therefore, when someone makes disparaging claims about anyone or anything without meeting the biblical standards of corroboration, that person is displaying his own wickedness and discrediting his reputation. To people of Christian character, such behavior should be like a blinking neon sign that reads: Don’t take me seriously. I refuse to meet ground-level standards of Christian behavior and speech. 

Such a person has disqualified himself from being taken seriously.

But when Christians of good conscience fail to do that—when they do lend credence to unsubstantiated accusations and claims of secret knowledge—they culpably (even if unknowingly) participate in the worthless man’s wickedness.

But understand, dear brother or sister: to do this is to expose yourself—not only as one who fails to grasp the basics of Christian conduct, but also as one whom Scripture calls an evildoer and a liar (Proverbs 17:4).

Why? Because with his 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 the godless man 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘴 his neighbor (Proverbs 11:9).

If a good name is to be more desired than great wealth (Prov 22:1), then maliciously acting against someone’s good name—speaking 𝘰𝘳 listening—is to act against his very life (Leviticus 19:16)."

 Serious sin that impacts the unity and health of the Body OR that unfairly destroys someone’s good name, demands a serious, biblical response; (hence Titus 3:10; Matthew 18:15-17; Proverbs 9:7-8; 17:4; 1 Cor. 5:11-13; Exodus 20:16).