A pastor went to visit
one of his parishioners one day. As he knocked on the door he heard
some noise going on inside the house. But no one came to the door. After
awhile the pastor decided to leave. But before he left, he wrote on
the back of his calling card this verse: "Behold, I stood at the door
knocking, but you wouldn't let me in." He left his card and went on
about his business. The next Sunday, he found his calling card on the
pulpit with another verse written on it that said: "I heard the sound
of your voice, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."
3 kids, a poet's son, a songwriter's son, and a preacher's son, were
sitting around bragging about how much money their fathers made. The
poet's son bragged that his father made $50 for putting a few lines
on a piece of paper. The songwriter's son bragged that his dad made
$100 by putting a few words to music. The preacher's son bragged that
every Sunday it takes 6 men to collect all the money his dad makes for
the words he writes.
These are 2 jokes that Brent gave me. But they really do give you an
insight to what goes on in a pastor's world, even from how other's perceive
a pastor's world to be. Not many people know what a pastor's world is
like. As I have said many times, some actually believe that we only
work 1 day a week. Some can't understand why we go to Bible College
or Seminary. After all, we only have 1 book to study. So many people
have a false perception as to what it is like to be a pastor. Which
has caused them to have unrealistic expectations about their pastor.
In a study done by Fuller Institute of Church Growth, they discovered
that 80% of pastors say that being a pastor has negatively affected
their family. 70% say they have no close friends. 50% of all pastors
drop out of full time ministry within 5 years. 32% said that the hardest
task of being a pastor was providing pastoral care. They said it was
harder to take care of the sheep than it was to come up with new sermons
every week. Those pastors said the reason they found providing pastoral
care so hard was due to the unrealistic expectations their parishioners
have of them concerning individual pastoral care.
I must confess that the toughest things about being a pastor for me
was learning how to handle the judgment of an unkind critic, when I
had done my best to be there for them. I can think of times when I have
gone way out of my way to please a person, or to avoid offending them,
and I've received nothing but grief for it. And try as hard as I can
not to let it bother me, those times really are painful.
Please don't think that I'm trying to play a martyr this morning. Y'all
are extremely gracious to me. Perhaps more than I deserve. It's just
that it really hurts when people unjustly criticize us for what we do.
Paul was experiencing similar feelings when he wrote our text. Here
he was, the founder of this church. As their spiritual father, he had
labored faithfully to establish them in the Lord. And what thanks did
he get? Not much. At this time a large number of the Corinthian Christians
were following after preachers who were better speakers, or who put
on a more spectacular spiritual sideshow.
I think we all can empathize with Paul, because despite how spiritually
mature Paul was, it still hurt his feelings when the people he loved
criticized him and started to follow after other preachers. And the
same is true with us. In this text the Holy Spirit uses Paul to give
us some excellent advice on how we can keep from misjudging people.
The first point I see in this brief passage is that you need a balanced
perspective on the importance of those godly men & women that God uses
to teach you how you are to live. If we expect more from them than they
are able to perform, we end up being critical of their lack of performance.
If we expect less, they will often live up to our expectations and we
will still end up criticizing them for their poor performance. And when
it comes to your pastor, Paul doesn't want you to treat him as a superstar,
or as the scum of the earth, but rather as a servant-v. 1.
The word "servant" used here is a rare nautical term, found only here
in the New Testament. It means "an under-rower." In Paul's day, to keep
a boat on course, there were two types of rowers. Some had longer oars
that were used for power. And some had shorter oars that were used to
steer the ship. But in order for the ship to reach its destination,
they all had to work together. So the ship's captain would hire an assistant
called an under-rower. His job was to stay under the deck with the rowers,
and listen for the directions from the captain. And after he got the
commands from the ship's captain, he would tell which rowers to row
to make sure that the ship stayed on course.
The point that Paul is making is that a pastor's main job is to listen
to the commands of the captain of this boat called the church. And after
he gets those commands, he is to tell you, the rowers, how to row so
we all can reach the destination of heaven. What Paul is saying here
is you need to listen to your pastor, because he is under the orders
of your Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In relationship to Jesus Christ, a pastor is nothing more than an assistant.
So don't make a superstar out of him. But on the other hand, don't overly
depreciate his importance either. For he is also a steward-v. 1.
In the Bible a steward is someone who has the responsibility of taking
care of everything his master owns. We use the term steward of those
who serve on an airplane. Stewards and stewardesses are entrusted with
taking care of the needs of the airlines most the valuable commodity:
the passengers.
Paul is saying that when you look at those who God uses to teach you,
don't judge them by how powerful a speaker they are, or by how strong
their leadership skills are, or whether they remember your name, or
even if they are always there when you need them. Instead, evaluate
your pastor by whether or not he is teaching you the secret things of
God-v. 1.
The secret things of God are mainly how to love the Lord your God with
all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the answer to this is
found in the message of the gospel. Even though the fact that God would
come to earth as a man, die on a cross to rescue us from our sins, and
then be raised 3 days later, are truths found in the Old Testament,
for the most part they remained unknown until God fully revealed them
to the people through his apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors.
Along with the gospel, I believe that Paul is also talking about the
answers found in the Bible to the questions that plague mankind: How
to heal a hurting marriage. How to be a loving husband & father, a loving
wife & mother, and a loving son or daughter. And how to live morally
in a society that is on a fast train to hell.
I am responsible to dispense the remarkable truths of the Scriptures
so that your lives will be changed. That is why I preach verse by verse
from the Bible, week after week. Because in doing so I am able to teach
the full counsel of God's Word. Instead of my favorite topic, or what
I think you want to hear.
It is not my job to entertain you by saying clever things on Sundays.
Neither is it my job to give you my opinion about what is going on in
our world. In reality, apart from God's Word I really have nothing of
interest to say to you. My job is to get before God and ask him to reveal
the secrets of life, so I can share them with you so that you can live
lives that bring honor & glory unto God.
I'm not a superstar. I'm your servant. I'm merely someone whom God is
revealing those truths that can set you free. So please don't think
either too highly or too lowly of me. Because both tend to result in
unnecessary criticism when I fail to live up to your expectations.
Secondly, Paul says you need to understand how to evaluate your pastor's
successfulness. Paul gives us the criteria to evaluate your pastor's
success in v. 2. One of the greatest causes of misjudging a pastor is
an inadequate understanding that a pastor's successfulness is to be
evaluated only on the basis of his faithfulness to teaching the truths
of the Bible. Unfortunately, this is not the criterion most Christians
use. Instead most Christians evaluate the success of their pastor by
the size of the church's membership. Or by whether or not he can motivate
the people to give enough to meet the budget. And a new phenomenon of
today is how many times a pastor is invited to speak at conferences,
or how many books he has written.
Evaluating a pastor by these standards is extremely offensive to God.
The reason it is offensive to God is that faithfulness to the gifts
and talents God gives cannot be measured by numbers or any other human
standard of achievement. A pastor's successfulness can only be measured
by God's standard of faithfulness. And faithfulness is not only required
of every pastor, but of every person who is a servant of Jesus Christ.
I can speak as one with 16 years' experience in pastoral ministry that
this truth is a very freeing concept. Other pastors may be drawing bigger
crowds, getting more speaking invitations, and successfully publishing
books, but none of that is a sign of success. As long as I am in the
center of God's will and doing the best job I can of leading this church
with the tools God has given me, then in God's eyes I am a success.
God's opinion is all that matters to me. And God's opinion should be
all that matters to you as well.
Paul next tells us that we all are subject to three judgments. The first
judgment he deals with is that of our fellow man-v. 3(a). When we are
judged negatively by someone, it is our tendency to take it very hard,
to become depressed, and even become bitter. These things cause us to
lash out at the one who misjudged us.
Pastors are no exception to these feelings. In fact, they may have a
greater tendency to suffer depression and bitterness than most people
do. That is because their whole ministry centers around trying to make
people like them. And when the members of congregation start to criticize
their pastor, some pastors have the uncanny ability to twist people's
words so they make the people believe that they are the problem. When
this happens, it is called pastoral abuse. Many books have been written
about sheep who have been beaten up by their shepherds.
Paul knew that as long as he was being faithful to God's Word, then
he was pleasing God. And as long as he was pleasing God, he didn't care
what the people thought about him. Let me point out that Paul wasn't
callous towards people. In fact, Paul loved people very much.
Later on in this chapter, he calls himself a spiritual father. But even
though he loved them very much, he would not let their opinion of him
manipulate him or control what he taught. Paul realized that human opinion
is really very insignificant. But it still hurts when people criticize
you, no matter what you do for a living.
I know that we are not the only church in town. I also know that if
I make you mad, or I don't live up to your expectations, that you can
leave at any time. So trust me, pastors have to walk a fine line between
not caring what people say about them, and trying to make every one
happy.
And since this is so hard to do, it is no wonder that so many pastors
quit, not just one church to go to another, but they quit the ministry
every year. Trying to please everyone is the
1
reason why pastors burnout. Paul wants you to know that your pastor
is not to be a man-pleaser. It is not my responsibility to make you
happy. My only responsibility to you is to faithfully present to you
the truths of God's Word.
Now let me offer a word of caution. It's easy to take this statement
of Paul's too far and to develop an absolute disdain for anyone else's
opinions. I know a pastor who didn't listen when the people tried to
offer him constructive criticism about his sermons. He wouldn't listen
to his congregations suggestions on how to be a better pastor. His mindset
was if they didn't like it, they could leave. Needless to say, his church
isn't didn't do very well. Some of the members of the church told me
they believe the reason why the fellowship died, was because he wasn't
open to constructive criticism.
Fortunately, I'm not like that. I'm open to constructive criticism about
my sermons and my pastoral ministry. I want you to know that I care
very much what you think about me. If I know that one of you is upset
with me, I try to do everything I can to make it right. But I also know
that it is impossible for me to please every one of you, 100% of the
time. It's impossible for me to meet all your needs. It's impossible
for me to always be there when you need me. And, it's also impossible
for me to say exactly what you want to hear.
In fact, I guarantee you that eventually I'm going to say something
that will make you mad. But that's okay for I once heard that if half
of your parishioners aren't mad at you, then you're not preaching the
truth. So I hope that my preaching makes you mad enough to correct any
sinful behaviors or attitudes.
I hope I will say something that will make you mad enough to investigate
the truths about how to get saved. For in doing so, you will discover
the goodness of God that leads to repentance. You will discover the
love of God displayed on the cross where Jesus died. And both of these
discoveries will cause you to quit trying to do enough right to please
God. And it will cause you to open up your heart and invite Jesus Christ
to come in as the Lord of your life.
The second judgment to which we all encounter is self-judgment-v. 3(b)-
4(a). Obviously there is a place for self-examination and self-judgment
in the Christian life. I ask you to do this every time before we celebrate
the Lord's Supper. But what Paul tells us is that self-judgment is never
to be the final authority.
Let's stop and think about the conscience for a moment. Our conscience
is a gift from God that enables us to perceive right from wrong. It
is a painful gift, but sometimes it is the only thing that prevents
us from destroying ourselves. On the other hand, consciences are not
always reliable. For we have an incredible ability to rationalize our
actions, and to find plausible reasons to do what is wrong.
You all have experienced situations in which your conscience was screaming
to you not to do something because it was wrong. But you didn't listen
to your conscience and you did it anyway. And we all have continued
in sins over a period of time, that has caused us to be able to hear
less and less from our conscience.
This is what Paul is talking about. He is telling us that there is a
higher court than the human conscience. A defendant's own estimate of
his innocence is never the determining factor in a courtroom. If that
were true, no one would ever end up in prison.
I was involved in a prison ministry for many years. And most of the
people I met said that they were not guilty. The reason they felt that
way was not because they got an unfair trail. But because they didn't
feel that what they did was wrong. I talked to a man who killed his
wife by slicing open her throat. Yet, he felt no remorse for his actions.
In fact, he told me she got what she deserved because she was cheating
on him.
I am so glad that judges & juries never decide a case merely upon whether
or not the defendant feels he is guilty of the crime he is charged with.
They decide the case only on the basis of the evidence that is presented
throughout the trial. And the judge we as believers will have to face
is the Lord. And since he sees & knows everything, he has the ability
to understand the evidence perfectly-v. 5(a).
Now the Bibles teaches that there are times when certain types of judgment
are put into our hands. In fact, in the next chapter Paul will rebuke
the Corinthians for not judging a member who was living openly in immorality.
But in most cases we are to leave the judging up to God.
The reason judgment is reserved usually for God is because first of
all, only God knows all the facts. There is a proverb that says: "Never
criticize a man until you've walked in his shoes for one week." I think
that's wise counsel.
Secondly, only God knows all the motives. We can never know for sure
what someone else's motives are. Our judgments are always premature
and presumptuous because we cannot discern accurately what is going
on in other people's minds and hearts. I heard a true story that really
illustrates this truth.
A group of men decided to play a practical joke on a young, single co-worker.
It was customary for the president of the company to give free turkeys
to all the employees at Thanksgiving. The co-worker's friends stole
his turkey and replaced it with one made out of papier-mâché. The only
parts of the turkey that was real were the neck and tail sticking out
at either end. So the man took his bogus bird and got on the bus to
go home.
As he was sitting there, he struck up a conversation with the man sitting
next to him. He discovered that this man had been out of work for quite
some time and things were pretty tight. His hopes for a Thanksgiving
feast were slim. In fact, all he had was a few pounds of hamburger meat
that he was taking home for his family.
The young executive decided to give the man his turkey. But then he
thought that this might hurt his pride. So he decided to sell it to
him. He asked the man if he would like to buy the turkey for whatever
change he had in his pocket. The man of course was delighted and appreciative
of such generosity. You can man imagine this man's thoughts when he
unwrapped the turkey he had purchased.
When the young executive found out what his friends had done, he rode
that same bus home for several days looking for the man in order to
make amends, but he never found him. Despite the fact that the young
executive's motives were pure, to this day the other individual probably
looks back to this incident as a classic example of man's inhumanity
to his fellow man.
The point that Paul is making is that the Lord, the ultimate judge,
is the only one who can properly sift through our motives. I know that
the concept of the Lord as a judge is one of the most unpopular concepts
of Christianity. That is because too many people believe that God is
against them. They believe that God hates them. And that the only reason
God lives is to get them when they get out of line. Paul tells us that
kind of thinking is wrong. Look at the last part of vs. 5.
I used to have a sense of dread when I thought about judgment day. I
imagined myself standing before the judgment seat of Christ and seeing
a giant movie screen come down. And there, projected on that screen,
would be the ultimate America's Funniest Home Video of my entire life.
I imagined the inhabitants of heaven laughing as they saw all my shameful
thoughts and deeds being played for everyone to see. And afterwards
I would walk away humiliated knowing that for out eternity people would
ridicule me for what I did.
Fortunately, that is not what is going to happen on judgment day. When
we stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, it is going to be a time when
the Lord Jesus praises us for all those deeds we did for His glory.
That doesn't mean that we can live anyway we want to right now. As we
saw in ch. 3, there may indeed be some shame and loss at that judgment.
But in this passage Paul emphasizes the fact that there is going to
be the giving of praise to those who were faithful while they lived.
Paul mentions this fact to encourage us to live faithfully for Jesus
now. That doesn't mean a life void of sin. It means relying on the Holy
Spirit's power to steer you away from sin. And allowing the Holy Spirit
to convict you when you sin, so you will confess your sins. Paul knew
that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
To ensure that you won't have to fear what will take place at the time
of judgment all you have to do is open yourself up to the searching
light of the Holy Spirit and let him reveal your motives & attitudes
while you are alive. When you allow the Spirit to reveal your sinful
attitudes, such as jealousy, covetousness, anger, hatred, or lust, you
are allowing him to bring judgment upon you now. And then on the day,
when you stand before Jesus Christ, all you will hear is praise.
Do you know that the greatest motivator to do right is praise? We love
for people to praise us when we do something. So the greatest reward
I'm looking forward to is not a jeweled crown. Neither is it the ability
to rule over Australia during Jesus' 1,000 yr. reign. The only reward
I am looking forward to is the day when I hear Jesus say to me, "Well
done good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things,
I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your
master." That's the praise that I believe Paul is talking about here.
There may be some of you here this morning who have judged yourself
wrongly because of the criticism of others. And right now you are paralyzed
by obsession or even depression because of a sense of worthlessness.
And as I have been talking about not misjudging people, all you have
been thinking about is that person who misjudged you. And the pain they
caused you is eating you up and the hatred you feel towards them is
causing your blood to boil. If that is you, please make a decision to
forgive that person.
Then decide that from this day on, you are going to quit looking for
the praise from others. Instead, let the praise Jesus gives you for
being faithful to your gifts and abilities shape your image. If you
will do that, then it won't matter any more what anyone or everyone
might think about you.
The message I want to leave with you this morning is that it is possible
for anybody to receive praise from God! It is possible because on a
cross, at a place called Calvary, an event took place that had never
happen before or since in all of human history. The judge of the world,
knowing that the defendants who would stand before him were guilty,
stepped down from the bench and surrendered himself to pay the penalty
of the defendant's crimes. Since the crimes we committed were worthy
of capital punishment, Jesus voluntarily took upon himself our death
sentence.
Jesus died the death reserved for only the most horrendous criminals.
He allowed this to happen just so he could pay the penalty for the crimes
we all have committed. And right now he is offering a verdict of not
guilty to anyone willing to come & receive him as their Lord. I don't
know about you, but I can't think of a better deal than that! If Jesus
isn't the Lord of your life, won't you please me him Lord right now?
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