THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE MINISTRY

Part 2

2 Cor. 11:23-28

Morning Meditation 2/18/17

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.”

THE DIFFICULTY CREATED BY THOSE WHO DENY THE FAITH

In our last meditation we looked at the difficulty of personal preparation. We will look next at the difficulty created by those who deny the faith. There are the scholars who on the basis of that scholarship reject the Bible and Christianity or the grounds of so-called science. This seems to hold some authority with many who hold to Christianity loosely. Scholarship does not constitute authority. I know I am attacking an idol which many worship. God has had some things to say about worldly wisdom (scholarship). I ask you to read 1 Cor. 1:18-31. This is God’s answer to worldly wisdom.

Just this week I read an article in the Baptist Challenge, an article entitled Noted Infidel Speaks in Baptist Church. I will quote parts of this article. The article says, “They weren’t the kind of thing you’d expect to hear in a church, especially one packed with Baptists: §‘I do not think Jesus proclaimed himself the Messiah or thought that he was.’ §‘I believe Jesus was raised from the dead, but I’m skeptical that it involved his corpse.’ § ‘We need to be utterly candid that the Bible is a human product, not a divine product.’” These remarks were made by Marcus Borg during a series of speeches at Myers Park Baptist Church and reported in the Charlotte Observer. Borg claims that many have given up their childhood belief that everything in the Bible can be taken literally. Borg told audiences on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that these ex literal Bible believers are now ready for a deeper reading of the Bible as a series of metaphorically true ­ if not always factual ­ stories about the human relationship with an acceptance of God.

Things like this stir the minds and hearts of Bible believing preachers. We know that apostasy is contagious and when churches start allowing infidels in their pulpits it indicates that apostasy has gained a stronger foothold that we thought. Therefore it causes us to fear for the faith of those over whom God has made us overseers (Acts 20:28).

This creates the difficulty of having to stop and answer. Jude 1:3 says, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude says, “My original plan was to write to you about the ‘common salvation.’ But I have had to change my plans about that. A need has arisen. The apostasy that is being experienced has so impressed itself on my mind that I feel I must write and ask you to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Jude was diverted from what he wanted to do. Needs have to be addressed and those needs many times are recognized by things that come to our attention in such ways as the article I have quoted from. However, there is a danger here. There is the danger of being pulled off our main course permanently so that all we are doing is fighting the heresies. I have no doubt that God has raised up some to keep the dangers of heresy before us all the time. They bring things to our attention that we had no idea about. However, a pastor cannot continually dwell on what the heretics believe. For Christians to grow they must have the exposition of Scripture (Eph. 4:11-16). So there is the danger of being led away from the main course of our ministry. Then there is another difficulty. It is,

THE DIFFICULTY OF THE DEPRESSIVE EFFECTS CREATED BY THOSE WHO QUIT

John Mark was a young man who got excited about traveling with Paul on one of his missionary journeys. The following will describe what I am talking about. Acts 12:25 says, “And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.” This verse records where John Mark joined the team. Then Acts 13:13 says, “Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.” This verse tells of his departure from the team. Now we wouldn’t think anything about it unless we had recorded the differences that Paul and Barnabas had over taking John Mark with them on a future mission trip. This is recorded in Acts 15:37-38 which says, “And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.” This verse gives the reason for John’s departure. He quit the team because the going got rough or because of a lack of commitment. This issue split Paul and Barnabas. Paul said, “We don’t need a quitter. When we really need him, he will leave us like he did before and we don’t need the disappointment that a quitter creates.” Barnabas said, “But Paul, I have felt like quitting myself at times. I understand young man’s problem. I believe that we ought to give him another chance. I have talked to him and he realizes that he made a mistake.” Paul said, “The journey is too tough. If he failed one time he will fail again. He is not going on our team.” There was serious contention between Paul and Barnabas over this issue. So the missionary team of Paul and Barnabas was permanently split over this issue. People who quit cause problems. They are problems that the preacher has to deal with. You say, “preacher who do you think was right, Paul or Barnabas?” First, I think John Mark was wrong. He created a problem between two great men of God. Now to answer your question. I believe both Paul and Barnabas were right. I believe Barnabas was right to give John Mark another chance. What Barnabas did, proved to be right. John Mark turned out to be a great servant of God and was later a helper of Paul. Paul was also right. John Mark needed to learn that his quitting caused a problem that cost him something. He couldn’t just come and go a will with Paul. It cost something to mess up with Paul. So John Mark learned his lesson, counted the cost of quitting, was given another chance by Barnabas, and made his STUMBLING STONES STEPPING STONES. Thank God, God always has a Barnabas that He will use to give one another chance. However, the quitter may cause such grief and discouragement that those who were affected by his unfaithfulness will be reluctant to give him another chance. It cost something to be a quitter. It is a price paid by others as well as the quitter.

First the problem of discouragement. There is no man of God that does not get discouraged at times. When people quit and just plop down in a pew and become a “couch potato” in church, it is discouraging. It is hard for the preacher not to be affected by that when he gets up to preach. If he doesn’t watch it, he will be addressing that problem from the pulpit instead of calling the person to the side and talking to him privately. Then on the other hand, it becomes a problem when God does lead the preacher to address this issue for the benefit of all. There this guy sits with a chip on his shoulder and is there to accuse the preacher of picking on him personally if he preaches on something that he is guilty of. It is wrong for the preacher to unload on a particular person from the pulpit. If he has something personal to say to an individual, he should call him aside and talk to him individually. It is also wrong for him not to preach what God leads him to say from the pulpit for the benefit of all, just because there is someone sitting in the pew that he knows might take personal exception. Do you see the difficulty that this presents to a man of God?

Another illustration of this difficulty is found in 2 Timothy 4:10 where Paul said, “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.” Paul says Demas quit because of the love of this present world. We know he quit and we know why he quit. He was to blame. Paul got personal about this and put his name in the inspired Word of God for those who would read this through the ages. If I had a son, I would not name him Demas, would you? His name stands for quitters who are drawn away from the work of the Lord because of their love for the world.

I pastored Shady Grove Baptist Church for over 27 years. Over the years I have been discouraged by the sight of my church members driving by the front of the church on Sunday mornings pulling a boat behind their vehicles as they went to the lake to fish. That presents a preacher with the difficulty of presenting the message on Sunday morning without the discouragement created by the sight of this unfaithful Christian. Now listen, it is not the preacher that did wrong. The preacher has a job to do that is described in Hebrews 13:17 which says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” God will hold the preacher accountable for his oversight of the flock. What the church member does is his business. There is no way a faithful pastor can be unconcerned at unfaithfulness on the part of his members.

There is the difficulty created by the depressive effects of those who quit. I have seen people quit over childish things that revealed their complete lack of Scriptural maturity. They left the church over childish things and joined a church that was doctrinally flawed. People who do this are totally inconsistent. It does depress the preacher when people refuse to deal with negative attitudes with the Word of God and instead settle them by quitting (nothing is settled that way).

I will speak to a couple of more issues before I change subjects. So there will be a part 3. I believe the pastors and missionaries will be helped by these thoughts and it will help laymen to pray for their preacher.

May God bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White