1069. Removing Obstacles from Ministry

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville South Carolina today on The Daily Platform or continuing a study series called ministry according to second Corinthians today speaker is the Dean of the seminary. Dr. Neil Cushman, the title of his message is removing obstacles for ministry from second Corinthians 61 through 13 today I would like to talk about removing obstacles from the mystery as this is what Paul's point is and second Corinthians, in particular in chapter 6 and my key verse in this passage would be second Corinthians 63 through four, giving no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed, but in all things, approving ourselves as ministers of God. The church is taken a big hit in the last year for the first time in modern history. Maybe saw this on the news. Church attendance has fallen below into the minority status more people stay at home then go to church. Many churches report a decrease in church attendance of 25% even after the stay-at-home order has been lifted. I've been told and may perhaps you have been to that a more significant trend caused by coalbed is the move towards fewer weekly services what's happened people have become accustomed to the one service that they that they watch online and so going back to a full schedule has met some resistance so will church members put pressure on pastors to keep a more relaxed schedule I can.

I cannot think of any event in my life that is caused a head that had a bigger impact on the church of Jesus Christ. So are we. Are we at the point where we have a new normal board about pastors we think about the impact of COBIT 19 and and cancel culture as anybody thought about how this is all affected pastors that got a blog here by Thom Rainer, he's probably that the most is the foremost statistician researcher on what's going on in the in the church and he talks in this sum in this blog about how everything has changed. He says this, please hear me clearly, the vast majority of pastors with whom Martin communicates, which are thousands of pastors are saying they are considering quitting their churches.

It's a trend I have not seen in my lifetime summer just weeks away from making an announcement they're looking for work in the secular world, someone moved by vocational ministry. Some will move to some type of marketplace ministry, but many will move. Why has this period of great discouragement.

Ensued, of course it's connected to COBIT 19 but the pandemic really just increases trends that were already in place when we would've likely gotten to this point and in the next 3 to 5 years.

I also want you to know that these pastors do not think they will be leaving ministry permanently. They just believe the current state of negativity and apathy in many local churches is not the most effective way that they can be doing ministry and us always got some points that he lays out about what pastors are discouraged about, you can go online and read that it'll will be hard for you to find find that. But the most interesting thing about this blog are the responses to hear these pastors talk about is what they're going through and I let me just read one of these it's a it's a prayer and this pastor says I'm sorry Lord I just don't want to do this anymore. I can no longer find the energy, inspiration, or compassion to keep going. Pastors should be able to retire after 30 years they just run empty. It seems too much and I'm tired out by dealing with people I've lost the ability to bounce back each week I combat I combat exhaustion. I guess too little reward too much taken for granted what can I do I can't retire yet I realize COBIT as part of my weariness weary of the restructured restrictions the divide the bickering sad for the people. The families I haven't seen in almost a year there was a lady who stopped in the office this morning for a task and told me pastor. We love the live stream will must be a little guilty but it's so nice to sit in the living room all comfy with our coffee and just watch church they boat they both had their vaccines. They used to be. Almost every Sunday worshipers. They have no clue what that does to me more exhaustion. I know I'm supposed to be preparing for the new normal. What in the world that is I just need to get back to the old normal, but I know it's not coming back so there's a lot there.

I that's probably enough for for this message. But there are obstacles that people are facing in particular are pastors.

This is been a really really tough time for pastors just had the pastor who is preaching in big Chapel.

Today we we were visiting used to be my pastor and he told me that that they're in. And his and his little orbit where he lives. There are 12 vacant pulpits in his low world of of independent Baptist churches. He said in in neighboring Michigan there there about 20 bacon pulpits. There used to have a list of names as a people call him because he's a big church and and they would say give me names and he would say That these 50 names. These 20 names always had this like ongoing list now is list of got one name. There are no replacements for many of these of these pulpits out minted to draw dire picture of what's going on I'm trying to place the need in front of us today and and to think about and to pray about and to seek the Lord about more pastors for the work of the ministry. Well, the apostle Paul knows something about tough times, serving in ministry.

The church at Corinth was responsible for a good bit of that Paul founded this church in A.D. 50. I think spent 18 months there establishing the church doing evangelism and discipleship. Intensive teaching of God's word and asked was normal wherever Paul served persecution from unbelievers occurred, but opposition from unbelievers is normal and expected and were feeling that today right with the cancel culture and it's going to get worse at Corinth, Paul felt the pain of being rejected by first-generation believers. Not long after Paul had left to establish other churches.

False teachers infiltrated the church, bringing with them another Jesus, another gospel and a better way of doing ministry in order to win the Corinthians over entirely. There was one thing they had to do.

They had to destroy and discredit Paul as an as an apostle of Jesus Christ. So think they set out on the campaign to attack his personal life to attack his motives and to attack his effectiveness in ministry.

They commentator Philip Hughes says these people were unscrupulous parasites sucking the spiritual life out of Corinthian believers charging money for their for their teachings and deriding Paul they never never really founded anything. They just come in like parasites and take over that which is already been established. They accused Paul of being fickle, lining his pockets with the money that he was collecting for the poor, delivering that that money to to Jerusalem. As Paul was apt to do. They said that Paul's word can be trusted since he said one thing and he did another. I think you remember in this in this book this letter that Paul said you know I'm in a come and visit you and and then he changed his mind. It appears they said he's he's fickle, he's unreliable. They went after his personal life. They went after his motives and his effectiveness in ministry.

I think if I were Paul and I think you were Paul, you probably do this right you know and maybe say, well, you know, I've got a lot of other work to do and it spent my time in other ways. But Paul was not ready to walk away from this ministry. There were three things at stake for for Paul and the first one was his own personal integrity and all of these accusations about his is personal life and his motives and his covetousness and all the things that they were accusing him which were absolutely not true. I suppose if that was the only thing that maybe Paul would've just walked away from that, but he felt it was necessary to defend himself. More importantly, his calling as an apostle asked that the master builder is is the first epistle of Corinthians tells us, and then the loss of this crucial ministry at Corinth. I believe that Paul viewed their response as being a turning point that that if they were not rescued at this point than they would be lost to false doctrine to these these false teachers who had infiltrated the work. So one of the things that Paul talks about and in the context of of these these very pointed discussions. He always brings up that the bema seat of the day of the Lord, and he wants the Corinthians to be able to stand before the Lord some day with with with good works and and righteous living in respect to their their Christian lives, and does so, he works hard at at dealing with this well. Paul had lost a great deal of ground with this church. We see this and that, in the first chapter where he says for we write none other things unto you than what you read or acknowledge and I trust you shall acknowledge even to the end. As also you have acknowledged us in part that we are your rejoicing even as he also RRs in the day of the Lord Jesus. It's that's a reference to the bema seat and this confidence I was minded to come unto you before that you might have a second benefit and I guess we could maybe say a second work of grace curses in that passage, although I'm not you know espousing that view of sanctification. But what Paul is saying here that he's he's got some teaching that needs to take place that's going to help them and end as they respond that teaching guy will work in their lives will do a work of grace as they grow in him.

No successor in yellow. You have acknowledged us in part. They're not acknowledging him on the whole they just they're just there kind of got reservations now about Paul and his ministry there, holding him at arms length and that's he's lost some ground here with these people. We see this at the end of the book as well, where Paul says all this time you've been thinking we are defending ourselves. Do you actually it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ at all for your upbuilding. Beloved the talks and that's in in chapter 13 about you know if I please respond because I don't want to have to come to you and say the kind of things I'm gonna have to say to you if you don't respond. He lost a lot of ground but then moving to our particular text today at the end of the text. Notice this, we have spoken freely to you. Corinthians hour heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections and returned widen your hearts also.

He sent we are. We're just we love you with all of our hearts in the Corinthians are like that so sure about Paul.

You know, we yet he had started the church, but now there's some things about him that we learn from these these special teachers who have come our way and Paul is saying here you are.

Because of this because of your stance you have messed really messed up your own spiritual life.

That's what that's talking about your restricted in your in your own affections. This is really really upending your spiritual life, keeping you from growing. So I think this is a really big deal for Paul and blameless ministry is really the kind of the thing that he puts in front of them to to help them to realize the error of their other ways. In rejecting his his his ministry to them so we asked the question what what is blameless ministry and in this passage we got a long list of things you know Paul is really good at making lists also really good at long sentences right and so were and were inside of a long sentence here actually. But he's got them. I think that this list breaks down into into three parts and and and the first part has to do with ministry. This is just tough it requires endurance. It requires thick skin right if you're going into ministry you're going to be a pastor of a church you can be a pastor's wife to be a missionary. You know lots of different ministries you're going to have to be tough, especially in the day and age in which week which we live, but also he talks about the transformative aspects of his ministry and the kinds of things that he actually focused on in his life and then is it blameless ministry is is true reality nettle require little bit of explanation. As we look at verses nine and 10 so blameless ministry is tough.

It's difficult and this is this this particular and this is divided up by the prepositions that Paul uses all you Greek scholars out there you can take a look at that, but he's he's laying out these eight things here that have to do with everyday life for Paul by each of these ideas here. Each of these nouns are plural, and so so so these are the kinds of things you just take a snapshot of practically every time in Paul's ministry and you find out these kind of things are are going on is experiencing afflictions and hardships and beatings, and he's going to prison and he's in the finds himself in the middle of riots which happened in Corinth right next chapter 18 and you know hard hard labor and thin in the Thessalonian first Thessalonians, Paul talks about working day and night because he had the in the work of a job making tents and then he also had the work of the ministry of music.

He's not getting a lot of sleep seat at the sleepless nights there and also sometimes examining the heat so they went. Time without food so so were talking about the general picture of just difficult times that requires endurance night in my look at what we have here we have not experienced that on the whole, we have not experienced these these types of hardships on the on the whole, but I do believe that that these things are around the corner for us and then blameless ministry is also transformer this is what Paul focuses on because these particular things focusing on these things and living in this way is what leads to transform lives.

This is really what we are to be thinking about where to be thinking about keeping our lives pure walking with God getting to know the Lord in an deeper and more significant ways every day and and treating people with with kindness and and gentleness. We don't need to engage in some kind of major political overthrow or major political fight. Let others do that. That's not our mission. Our mission is to walk with God and to watch the Holy Spirit at work is the word is given truly, genuinely love people and watch the power of God at at at work there so we have these prepositions all guiding guiding this particular segment and then blameless ministry. Number three is this really true reality because here the things that a nonbeliever would think about Paul and his fellow workers that you know Paul get accused of being a deceiver that he was he was he was telling people one thing and actually meaning something else or doing something else.

For instance, they picking up the offering for the poor so he got accused of being a liar you know pastors get accused of things like that. And yet Paul knows in his heart that is a truth teller and and God knows that that's what really matters right so so so really we have a we have a God's view column and we've got a man's view column here which one to go with as unknown. You yet really who you wanted who you want to be known by you know if if God knows who you are. If God is watching your life and that that that's what really counts as dying yet. Behold, we live.

He talks about in the first chapter how they despaired of life and you perhaps were very close to death. But God preserve them as punished, yet not put to death is sorrowful, yet always rejoicing is poor, yet making many rich is having nothing yet possessing all things. You know by my sister died wonderful woman who love the Lord who served others who love their church and she died just two weeks ago and I can truly say that she didn't want anything but to serve people. Her husband Jeff went through the house and went wall drywall. They mention this in the in the memorial service program but II talked about this before. He wrote that he went to every wall every room of the house he could find one thing that melody asked for and wanted all the things that were there were things that Jeff put their she didn't want anything. He had to talk her into going and buying things for herself like buying clothes and things she really was remarkable aware her focus was the blameless ministry is tough. It's transformative and it is true.

Several years ago, I was aware of a a minister of the Lord who came under attack for his ministry.

And this is a wonderful wonderful man who is a visionary person who who helped get churches planted.

He didn't care about building his own ministry. He cared about getting people trained and getting them in place and serving the Lord and just helping them and assisting them and so many different people were affected by his life. I have two mentors in my life and he was one of them. He was the person who really helped me to to see that God could use me serving him because I really wasn't convinced of that prior to meeting this man and being under his is some direction and encouragement along the way. Well, sometimes bad things happen and several of young pastors confronted him this one day about his life and accused him of run mode be having bad motives and of wanting to be in charge.

There's camp that was involved in things like that and that was such a discouraging time for him but he just decided to just and withdrew in and and focused on where he could focus so that's what they they really didn't want and then the in in that particular being the next particular direction on serving this area. He he thought.

But that's just the Lord helping him to realize that that's what he needed to do a need shift to another to another opportunity that the Lord had from and what a discouraging time for this man at the end of his ministry he just passed away a couple of years ago and he actually taught here in the sad part about that story was that I was one of those guys. I was one of those three guys that confronted him on a sunny day and said things to him that that were not altogether balanced and carefully prayed about and fought through. I say that I've met. That said, that really did anybody.

I'm not saying that for affect.

I'm saying it's easy to fall into that. Especially when you're young. I have apologized for that. 100 times.

It has never left my consciousness. It is a black mark on my soul, for I know the Lord's forgiven and and he forgave me to. I we we are your best friends, but I will never forget his look and the damage that I was part of so my encouragement to you is, is to find yourself on the side of you. Known summaries can attack you along the way it's going to happen. They can attack your wife. Make yourself ready for that. And that's more difficult than you being attacked ready your soul.

Make sure your your ministry is your masters not be perfect and make mistakes but make be careful about what you do, so that you maintain a a a blameless ministry before God and before let's bring fathers. I think about this and I think about the responsibility that you given to us to good stewards of ministry. I pray for strength for each of the people who are here today. People in our seminary who will be filling pulpits in filling missions oppositions around the world that serving you in so many different ways and many are now what I pray for wisdom and strength that they might have in practice, blameless ministry pray these things in Jesus name meant you would listing to a message preached in seminary chapel by Dr. Neil Cushman, Dean of the Bob Jones University seminary join us again tomorrow as we conclude this series on The Daily Platform