Do You Admire Ministers? Remember! by John.

Do You Admire Ministers? Remember!

In I Corinthians, Paul gave those people a startling revelation that still startles people today. In 1:21, Paul says God chose to save people by what the Greeks in particular chose to consider foolishness.
1:25 says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." Verses 26-29 really should catch our attention: "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

God did not choose many of the best, but mainly the lowest, less valuable people by the world's standards to call; yet, some of these messengers of God today are feted as intelligentsia. They come very close to becoming idols themselves. I hope none allow such a thing to happen, but I know too many of us become quite egotistic when we should be completely servant-minded. I've known many deacons who thought their title made them rulers in the church instead of servants of the church. Acts 6 makes it quite clear that deacons started out as people who handed out food and other required items to widows and other needy people in the church. That didn't take a great mind, only a great spirit of devotion to the Lord and His work.

Pastors of large churches have attained popularity that most Old Testament prophets never achieved. With that popularity a lot of power is bestowed on them not by God necessarily, but by the people in the church.

Now, I've always considered church members as Christians, but time has given me reason to doubt that all of them are. I tend to think of myself not as one who has arrived, but as one who is striving to reach the goal of the high calling in Christ as Paul said in Philippians 3:14. I believe none of us ever reaches such a position that we can be absolutely right about anything, salvation included.

When you look at us (ministers of the Gospel), what you see is not what we once were. All of us have things in our past, things we do not want to ever come up in public. If we don't, then I believe we've already missed God's truth about us. We grow from nothing to something under the tutelage of older Christians used by the Holy Spirit for that, and from our peers who are also striving to become the person God wants all of us to be.

This situation makes us very vulnerable. We are still "earthen vessels," or ("jars of clay" II Corinthians 4:7, NIV). God's power is shown to all who will see it in the very accomplishments of such ineffectual, lowly servants.

Numbers 16-18 starts with the rebellion of Korah Dathan, Abiram and On against Moses and Aaron. They considered themselves called of God, and Moses and Aaron as failed leaders. If you remember the history, this occurred after the messengers brought back a discouraging report of the land God was going to give them. The ground opened up and swallowed them with their families, tents and other belongings. I'll not dwell on that. What I want you to notice is that Moses fell on his face before these people. He wasn't a young man! He was getting old, more than eighty; Yet, I'm sure he was stirred by mixed emotions. I believe he felt his own unworthiness to be in the position of God's leader for these people. I believe he remembered the sins in his past. I believe the people's sudden vicious enmity terrified him. Despite that, they were family, and he did not want them destroyed! He wasn't the man he was when he was in Pharaoh's palace; He wasn't the man who saw the burning bush. He wasn't the man who stood before Pharaoh and challenged him to let the Israelites go! He was the wonderful mixture that a person becomes with the help of God's Holy Spirit doing the leading. He stood for God's right, and still he pled for the lives of those who hated and wanted to depose him. Doesn't that remind you that Jesus said, "I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44).

I admire Moses, but not as a demigod. I see him as another minister of the Lord who suffered growing pains like all the rest of us. Of course, I gladly acknowledge God talked directly with Moses, and I don't think God has ever done that with anyone else other than Jesus. I know some claim that God converses with them in prayer. All I can say is that I haven't had any experience like that; Yet, I have experienced what I believe was a message from God to me alone, and I rejoice in that.

I'm also glad that I have experienced the love of many people, and I'm sorry I've disappointed some and made enemies of others. I don't think any of us want to make enemies. We want to be peacemakers and be blessed by that, but we are living, growing things in God's hands, and as one of my children used to frequently remind me, "No one is perfect, Daddy!" That certainly included me and everyone else I know.

I think it is good to admire God's servants, but we should be careful not to place them on some kind of pedestal overlooking everyone else. We should see them as equals with a different chore to perform for the Lord, and we should see our own calling to be just as important as anyone else's in God's plan for His creation. If you belong to Jesus, I do not only consider you a brother, or sister, but as someone doing God's work where you are, and I admire you! You are family!