THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE MINISTRY

Part 4

2 Cor.. 11:23-28

Morning Meditation 2/23/17

Verse 23-28 says, “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”

Paul is not complaining in this text. He is simply giving a historical account in the form of a testimony of the difficulties that he encountered in the path of God’s leading. There is no note of bitterness in this testimony. It is a defense of his ministry against those who were false apostles (2 Cor. 11:15) and spent their time bragging on their accomplishments (2 Cor. 11:18). In this meditation I want us to look at,

THE DIFFICULTY OF AVOIDING BITTERNESS

There are two verses of Scripture in the New Testament that speak of bitterness. Ephesians 4:31 says, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.” The word “bitterness” translates “pikria” and means, “bitter gall, a bitter root, and so producing a bitter fruit.” This word describes a life gone sour. Have you ever seen this take place in a persons life? It is a common problem. It was a common problem at the time Paul wrote this epistle. The main verb in this verse is “let be put away” and translates, “airo” and means, “ to raise up, elevate, lift up.” It is an aorist passive imperative verb. The aorist tense means to act immediately to lift bitterness out of the life. It is something that will destroy if not removed. Some people pet and caress bitterness. It always, without exception, neutralizes any good effects of the Christian’s life. The imperative mood is a command that expresses urgency. The command gets attention and it communicates urgency. It is like a cancer. You can’t fool around with it. It will spread. Deal with it in a once-for-all act. This means when you get rid of it and it tries to come back, and it will, it will find that the door is bolted and it cannot enter. The passive voice means that Paul is saying, “let what I am saying, which is the Word of God, effect a change in your life.” The Word will change us. We didn’t come up with the idea. God did. But we have the privilege of making a choice to allow the Word to act upon our lives and remove the bad and establish the good. Bitterness is always bad and should be removed immediately.

Hebrews 12:15 says, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” The Christian is saved by grace (Eph. 2:8). He is to walk by grace toward others. If he does not walk by grace toward others, he will hold them accountable, and at this point he becomes their judge. As their judge he will insist on the proper action on their part to be right with him. Until they do this he continues to believe they have wronged him (they may have) and he broils inside and waits to see them brought to justice. Justice of course is his interpretation of what should be done which amounts to vindication of himself and the disgrace of the other.

Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” This is not talking about being strong in the proclamation of grace for salvation, though this is true, it is an exhortation to be strong in the demonstration of grace in dealing with others. The exhortation in Hebrews is to not fail in this matter. We are also told what bitterness tolerated in the life with do to others. It says, “thereby many be defiled.” Bitterness in the life will defile all those over whom we have influence. Instead of being a help and encouragement to others the bitter person becomes a hindrance to others.

Bitterness is the result of a wrong response to people and/or events allowed by the Lord.. Roy Hession drew a circle and allowed that circle to represent the will of God for the believer. He said, “Nothing can come into that circle from without that God does not allow.” He said, “Now what happened to the believer as a result of the invasion of that circle caused by the actions of another may have not been the will of God for him, but it is the will of God for the one in the circle.” He went on the say, “My wrong response to the other’s wrong is as wrong as his wrong.” That is the best explanation of this truth that I have ever heard. I can’t keep others from doing me wrong. That is not in my power to choose.. I can make a choice about how I respond to the person or event. I can respond under the Lordship of Christ to allow God to take care of the other any way he chooses and therefore release him from any penalty that I might inflict upon him.

This is not to say you have not been wronged. Sometimes it is clearly evident that you have. It is to choose to trust the Lord with the judgment and outcome and refuse to do anything that would be a punishment of the other. It means that we will not nurse a grudge. If we nurse a grudge we have bitterness because a grudge and bitterness are just opposite sides of the same coin. This also means that you are not sitting in the bleachers waiting to see what God will do to him because you have turned it over to Him! Are you sitting in the bleachers waiting to cheer when God vindicates you? You are bitter. Turn it loose. It is spoiling your Christian life.. You say, “Preacher, you don’t even know me.” That is right. But I know what this verse says and there are no exceptions to truth.

There are many common things that can cause bitterness in the preacher’s life. It can actually be bitterness against God. He has not allowed you to build as big a church as others you admire in the ministry. The other preachers have better results, more money, and are evidently doing a lot better than you. You say, “They have had all the breaks. I could do it but I just have not had the breaks.” You are blaming circumstances. Who do you think controls circumstances? Is your God sovereign? Is He in charge of all the people and events that come into your life? If He isn’t I feel sorry for you. If God is not in charge, life is out of control. If He IS in charge, we must receive both the bad and good as from Him. He uses it all to develop the plan He has for our lives (Rom. 8:28). Pity parties over the circumstances of life develop bitterness. This spoils an otherwise great Christian life.

Then people are a problem for preachers. Someone has said, “this would be a great life if it were not for people!” There are those in most churches who when they pat you on the back are placing a knife securely between your shoulders! I have sometimes felt like saying, “Sir, when you leave will you please take that knife with you?” Of course for me to say that, would be to make me his judge, and the Lord won’t let me do that. But you do learn the characteristics of problem children. It is a strict discipline for the minister to judge his own thoughts and not become bitter over the way people judge and treat him and his family. If you dwell on these people you will not have the right attitude toward the ones who are sincere believers and pray for you all the time.. A wrong response to a wrong person will make one’s whole ministry turn bitter.

I love preachers. God has given me a ministry to preachers from my earliest years in the ministry. I do not know why. God is sovereign in how and what He does. We just accept it and go on. I don’t mean to hurt anyone by this statement. But if you are not willing to get hurt and keep on getting hurt, you might as well take down your sign, get a secular job, and hang it up. Just remember this Jesus is listening and watching. When you want to complain about the pain just remember that Jesus is in the audience! It is wrong for the preacher to refuse to get close to people who need a loving shepherd’s relationship with their pastor because of mistreatment he has received by others. You say, “preacher I’m not going to get hurt again. I have had all I can take.” You will get hurt again if you continue in the ministry. It is a part of the turf you are walking on. You will survive, even in a more Christlike life, if you will submit to the pain that comes your way and say, “Lord, I submit to what you are allowing, and I know it is nothing like you pain you suffered for me.”

There is no place for bitterness in the life of the preacher no matter what the cause. God wants to make us all an artesian wells (John 7:37-38) flowing with clean refreshing water. When bitterness is tolerated in the life, the people who drink come away spitting and go and look for another spring from which to drink. And we want to blame it on their carnality or shallowness when it is not their problem at all. It is ours that we have refuse to deal with.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White