Valuing the Ministry

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

December 12, 2004

 

Christian ministry can be viewed from both a narrow focus and broader perspective. In the narrow, it refers to those who by reason of God's call upon their lives and the affirmation of the church, serve as ministers of the Word to particular congregations. We probably use the term in this way more than any other, often to the neglect of the broader perspective in the term. This broader perspective refers to the breadth of ministry as part of the calling of all believers, being part and parcel with knowing Christ. Those who have known the grace of God in Christ are all set apart as servants of God to minister to one another and beyond.

 

In this broader sense, we have ideally, an entire church engaged in ministry. Much of the ministry takes place along the lines of spiritual gifts, so that some are engaged in teaching, others in acts of service, others in serving the administrative needs of the church, others in giving and encouraging stewardship in the church, and still others in exhortation and counseling in the body. Paul had already told the Corinthians that there are "varieties of gifts but the same Spirit... varieties of ministries, and the same Lord... varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons" (1 Cor. 12:4-6). He then identifies some of the gifts that would be present in the body, distributed "to each one individually just as He [the Spirit] wills" (1 Cor. 12:11). And all are given in ministry for the sake of the particular congregation of believers.

 

Yet it seems that in our text the Apostle has a particular area of ministry in mind that is committed to every believer. The context in chapter 5 identifies it. The nature of the ministry is found in 5:18-19, "Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." Some would identify this ministry as being particularly Paul's and his associates. Certainly, it belonged to them. Yet the fact that he described the nature of this ministry in connection with the redemptive work of Christ making sinners new creatures, suggests that all who are reconciled now have a ministry of reconciliation. All are involved to some degree in this work of pointing others to Christ. I was explaining this ministry to my son this week by an imaginary diagram. If you can, picture two triangles with one inverted so that the tips connect, and the large bases paralleling each other - one on top and the other on the bottom.

 

 

The top of the triangle is the statement, "Now all these things are from God," an affirmation that salvation is all of grace, therefore all of God. But as this work of God's grace is applied and narrowed down to the tip of the first triangle we find the focal point: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them." So Christ is the focal point and the application of His redemptive work to the sinner. But from there the triangle flares out again toward the base. There we find, "He has committed to us the word of reconciliation," the work of ministry given to all believers. That ministry is quite specific: "the word of reconciliation," utilizing any form of gospel proclamation to point others to Christ.

 

The need for ministry is quite clear in 5:20, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us." We find ourselves set apart as Christians before the world to make an appeal for Christ to the world. We speak on God's behalf, a weighty responsibility indeed! Yet it is a work that God has given to the church. The gospel's proclamation is always connected to the church. That does not mean that it must take place during a church service but it is through church people. God has given gospel work to the church - not to government or charitable organization or even well intentioned ministries. That is why church planting is central to the New Testament model for missions and evangelism.

 

This naturally brings about the practice in ministry in 5:20b, "we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." Here is the focus of our ministry: we are regularly, habitually (shown by present tense) asking people to be reconciled to God through Christ.

 

Yet we quickly admit that none of us can awaken the dead! We cannot bring those who are spiritually dead to life (Eph. 1:1). We cannot infuse light to darkened minds (2 Cor. 4:4). But we are called to preach, teach, proclaim, and talk up the gospel. That is part of our whole calling as Christians. We are even told the necessity of the Word of God being proclaimed for faith to come, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). It is in this sense that we are workers together with God. God is pleased to use His people in the ministry of reconciliation. We cannot do this work apart from Him - His Spirit must regenerate and animate those spiritually dead to hear and receive the gospel. Yet He has been pleased to use the humble means of redeemed men and women speaking the gospel to others so that they might be reconciled to God through Christ. How must this ministry of reconciliation function in the church?

 

I. Synchronization in ministry

 

I remember what a big deal it was to me as a boy to finally get a 3-speed bicycle! Being accustomed to speeds determined by the amount of pressure I put on the peddles would now be elevated by the additional gears. The process involved shifting from one gear into another, which meant that the bicycle's chain would slip from one sprocket onto the next. When that took place, the chain and sprocket would be synchronized - so that at one and the same time they both worked together to accomplish forward movement. But occasionally something would go wrong. I would click the thumb-activated gearshift but the chain would disengage from any sprocket. I could peddle as hard and furious as possible but nothing would happen - my bicycle would be out of synchronization.

 

I use that simple illustration to explain what Paul is declaring. For synchronization to occur, there must be at least two things working together simultaneously. And that is the term that Paul uses: sunergontes in the Greek - working or cooperating together.

 

1. Synchronization with God

 

God has called believers into partnership with Him. Paul has already used the noun form of this word in 1 Cor. 3:9: "For we are God's fellow workers" (sunergoi). The context of that passage helps to explain the meaning that he has in mind here:

 

            Take a look at 1 Cor. 3:1-9.

 

Gospel ministry demands that we keep things in perspective. We are not loners. The work does not rest upon our shoulders alone. We are not to take God's place in what He alone can do in gospel work.

 

2. Synchronization as God's people

 

The plural that Paul keeps using in this context reminds us that we are not being addressed as individuals but as a corporate body of believers. "We are ambassadors for Christ."

 

Gospel work is not monolithic or one-dimensional. It involves God's people working together, some tilling the soil, some planting the seeds, some watering, some fertilizing but all recognizing that God alone gives the increase.

 

This strikes a blow at any pride we might have in leading someone to Christ. We never know how many other people the Lord has used in the synchronization process of gospel work to bring a sinner to life in Christ. Someone initiates a conversation about eternal issues. Someone else clarifies a truth about God's character. Someone else deals with sin and judgment. Another explains the Incarnation of Christ. Someone else talks about His perfect obedience. Another talks about the cross and what took place. Another follows along the way to emphasize that salvation is in Christ alone. Someone else presses the issue of repentance. Another explains faith. Maybe two or three or more urge a person to turn to Christ. Who led that person to Christ? All of the above!

 

3. Synchronization because of God's favor

 

Christian ministry is central to the experience of receiving God's grace. Salvation is all of grace - start to finish. Each day we are to walk in grace and to respond to God because of the grace at work in our lives. But what does this "grace" suggest?

God has done something for us, which we would not and could not do. 

God has initiated the whole saving work.

God has orchestrated every detail for us to hear the gospel.

God has already provided everything in Christ for us to be saved.

God has given us ears to hear and minds to receive the gospel truth.

God has extended His kindness and favor toward us to receive the gospel.

God has delivered us from the hold of Satan, brought us out of prison to embrace life in Christ.


Now, with all of this and more in mind, how are we to respond to the God who has been so gracious to us? Philip Hughes gives a helpful explanation:

For them to receive the grace of God in vain meant that their practice did not measure up to their profession as Christians, that their lives were so inconsistent as to constitute a denial of the logical implications of the gospel, namely, and in particularly, that Christ died for them so that they might no longer live to themselves but to His glory (5:15) [NICNT, 218-219].


Also implied in the reality of grace at work is the matter of urgency and immediacy when it comes to our obedience and faithfulness as Christians. Because God has worked by grace in justification, we must cooperate with the grace of God at work in sanctification. Thus, Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 that shows the grace of God hearing our cries for mercy and how He stooped to save us. Then he reiterates the urgency that we felt when we first came to Christ remaining a constant urgency in living for Christ: "Behold, now is 'the acceptable time,' behold, now is 'the day of salvation.'" We always live in the "now-ness" of God's grace. There must never be a time that we grow slack in our obedience and faithfulness. Grace sustains us day by day, and thus urgency in living by grace follows us each step of the way. As Geoff Thomas so clearly put it, "We receive God's grace in vain when it does not become that mighty redeeming energy in our lives progressively sanctifying and cleansing us, making us increasingly like Jesus Christ" [http://users.aber.ac.uk/emk/ap/sermons/2cor28.htm].

 

From here the Apostle moves into the variegated nature of the ministry. After a few years in ministry, I reflected back on one particular seminary class that totally missed the target in content. It was the basic missions class taught by a lady. She would paint the most idealistic picture of what was happening on the mission field, how everyone worked together, people were converted, churches started, money rolling in, etc. It seemed to be a missions' utopia. Then I began to see more of the inside of local church ministry and to become better acquainted with what was happening on the international fields of ministry. What this teacher put forth suddenly became laughable because it was so far off base from reality. It did not even reflect what Scripture identifies to be the variegated nature of ministry. Such variety still calls for dependability by God's servants.

 

II. Dependability in ministry

 

If you ever feel discouraged in Christian ministry, then read again these verses and reflect upon them. Here we find demonstrated the push and pull, the tug and be tugged, the up and down found in Christian ministry. Those who offer 5, 10, or 12 steps to particular ministries, guaranteeing certain results have not read much of the New Testament picture in ministry! But regardless of the situation faced or its difficulty or its success or its failure or its strain or its cost - the Christian is called upon to be dependable and faithful to Christ as "servants of God."

 

In this regard, we find that Paul identifies a number of necessities or requirements for being dependable in ministry.

 

1. Integrity (v. 3)

 

Everyone in ministry will make mistakes. Sometimes it is a mistake in preparation, other times in judgment, still other times it is a failure to understand the personalities involved in particular ministry settings. When that happens, the one ministering must be willing to be corrected or to make corrections himself. But what Paul deals with is not mistakes along the way that come from lack of experience or lack of training. He addresses those situations that involve character issues.  "Giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited."

 

We must be honest that often the gospel itself and the nature of the Christian message offend people. But what we must ensure is that we do not offend them due to rudeness, pride, carelessness, harsh words, hastiness, etc. The idea of "offense" in this case means a cause for stumbling. We are not to contradict the gospel by the way we live or speak or act or by our attitude so that it would cause someone to think less of Christ and the gospel. Nothing by way of our lives should be a detractor from the gospel. A person might reject the gospel outright, and that happens often. But it does not need to be because we have been loose with our tongues or sloppy in our morals or hypocritical in our conduct as Christians.

 

2. Humility (v. 4a)

 

We must keep in mind our position in Christian ministry. 'God is God, and we are not,' as my friend Ray Pritchard put it. We take the position of "servants of God," not masters over others. A servant follows his master's commands, seeks to be diligent in all his responsibilities, and always defers to the master.

 

Paul calls for this "in everything." Far too often we separate our "ministry time" with "regular time" in life. But Paul's insistence, shown by the present participle, calls for the Christian to always be commending himself as a servant of God. That means we keep in mind that we are "on duty" at work, at home, at school, at recreation, at social occasions, and even when we are alone. Such humility keeps the believer from discrediting the gospel by arrogance or pride.

 

3. Consistency (v. 4a) "in everything"

 

To help us understand what is meant by "in everything," the Apostle gives a diverse list that encompasses the circumstances that likely follow our ministry as Christians.

 

a. In difficulty (v. 4b) "in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses"

 

He begins by describing those times that call for us to bear up under the weight and strain of circumstances. Clement of Alexandria described Paul's "much endurance":

Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. After that he had been seven times in bonds, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and in the West, he won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith, having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; and when he had borne this testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance [quoted by Philip Hughes, 223].


In afflictions he has in mind those tight squeezes of life, the times that we feel the intense pressure coming from every direction as though we are in a vise. Hardships refer to bearing up due to the necessities of life being in short supply. Some suggest that he has in mind "torture." Whether by torture inflicted or needs unmet, he calls for endurance. Distresses translate a word that means you are in a narrow space, in constraints, or we would say, 'between a rock and a hard place'. The implication is that whichever way we turn in such setting, we feel the intensity of our circumstances as ministers of Christ. It pictures a situation that you can do nothing about, you cannot get out of it. Geoff Thomas mentions "Joni Eareckson virtually chained to her wheelchair," and "a man or woman frustrated so often because of being confined to a place, a job, a marriage, a church, and there is no escape from them"[http://users.aber.ac.uk/emk/ap/sermons/2cor29.htm].

 

b. In opposition (v. 5a) "in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults"

 

The next string of negatives facing the believer in ministry comes due to direct opposition. Paul could speak quite authoritatively on this subject. He knew what it was to be beaten with rods by the Romans and a cat-of-nine-tails by the Jews. Most scholars believe that Paul was literally disfigured from so many beatings throughout his life. He also knew what it was to be in the depressing and filthy setting of prisons in the Roman world. I have twice been in the "Mamertime Prison" in Rome where Paul supposedly was imprisoned. It is cleaned up for the regular guests that walk down the stone steps and bend over to walk through the little stone prison. You can be assured that it was not so clean in Paul's day nor was it so well-ventilated nor so light. And you can be assured that no local diner catered meals three times each day.

 

Ron Owens has written a book that tells the story of Georgy Slesarey in Russia. He was a leading violinist in Moscow, playing first chair in the renowned Bolshoi Theater Orchestra. Georgy was arrested one night at his home after completing another night of music and Christian witness during intermissions at the Bolshoi Theater. He never returned to his home. The Soviet Secret Police interrogated him with no chance for defense. Then they shipped him to a Siberian prison. For a while he was given special privileges as he played violin in the prison ensemble as a propaganda tool. Georgy used it as an opportunity for ministry and sharing the gospel with others as well as encouraging the few Christians that he found. But when he refused to renounce and give up his faith even when offered release if he would do so, Georgy was put to the work of digging out iron ore. It ruined his hands so that he would never be able to play a violin again. Finally, after a brief time, he was executed by shooting [Ron Owens, They Could not Stop the Music].

 

Georgy's story could be told over and over in thousands of lives of God's servants that have maintained faithfulness even during opposition that cost them everything. Can we do any less?

 

c. In self-discipline (v. 5b) "in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger"

 

This refers to the hard work - the kind that leaves you drained physically and emotionally. Sleeplessness is the result of spending so much time in ministry of the Word and prayer that he is sleep deprived. The same is true for hunger; it comes about because there is just not the time to eat due to intensity for ministry.

 

4. God-given virtues

 

Two sets of 4 particular virtues are identified.

 

a. affecting the disposition (v. 6a) [#1-4]

 

The Christian servant needs "purity of life and motive" and "knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus" [Hughes 226-227]. Additionally, he must be tempered with patience that bears injuries, weaknesses, and behavior on the part of others without giving way to anger. Kindness demonstrates "the qualities of ease, pleasantness, and goodness... so that people immediately are at ease with us and are attracted to our pleasant disposition" [Simon Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary: 2 Corinthians, 217].

 

b. affecting the practical action (v. 6b-7a) [#5-8]

 

Each virtue is anchored and applied by the Holy Spirit. This obviously refers to the Christian walking in the Spirit's fullness as he seeks to minister to others - it is a life of dependence upon the Lord. The result of such a life is "love without hypocrisy," a genuineness in the way he loves people for the sake of Christ. He keeps proclamation of the gospel central, recognizing that this must be accomplished "in the power of God" and not in his own strength.

 

5. Readiness ( v. 7b)

 

The weapons of righteousness for the right hand - refers to the offensive application of the gospel, while the left hand refers to defending the faith. The specific use of "righteousness," "means either the weapons that righteousness supplies or the weapons that promote righteousness" [Kistemaker, 218]. The righteous life of the believer due to the righteousness of Christ stabs like a spear and cuts like a sword as he ministers. But it also repels the attacks of accusers who have no ground to rightly accuse the Christian of wrongdoing. This is similar to the over-arching exhortation of v. 3.

 

6. God-glorifying focus (vv. 8-10)

 

Finally, he follows by showing that whatever the circumstance the servant of God faces, he must maintain his focus as the Lord's servant.

       a. In varying opinions v. 8a

       b. In accusations v. 8b

       c. In obscurity or limelight v. 9a

       d. In ups and downs of life vv. 9b-10

 

Conclusion

 

We see in this passage that we must never take for granted (1) that each of us is involved in Christian ministry if we are properly responding to God's grace, (2) that ministry will call for faithfulness and consistency even in difficulties,  (3) and we must not only think about action or doing but also "being," living the kind of lives that demonstrate that we are truly servants of God. When we do, we truly value the ministry.

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