“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed: perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
A new friend of mine brought this verse to my attention when we were discussing our recent “disunity” as a group. We have felt the enemy (or as Paul uses in 2 Corinthians “the god of this world”) attack, attempting to create dissention, anger and resentment, but we are not crushed, we are not in despair, we don’t feel abandoned, and we are definitely not destroyed.
I went back and read the entire passage of 2 Corinthians 4 and it has some significant truths about ministry. I talk a lot about transparency, about the need to be open and honest, or what we do is shallow and easily rooted up. Openness creates deep roots, it fosters connection and meaningfulness.
My flesh wants to sugar-coat things. I want everybody reading this to think that doing ministry on the road is easy, that everything is going smoothly. I want to put on a happy face and send out another smiling update letter. I’m new at this, but I think that is where missionaries have to get burnt out. This is where ministry becomes shallow. If truly following Jesus is like picking up our cross, then we are going to run into rough times, we are going to be attacked with disunity, we are going to feel “pressed,” and “perplexed” and “persecuted” and “struck down,” why would we continue to communicate that everything is OK? At the beginning of 2 Corinthians 4 Paul writes:
I went back and read the entire passage of 2 Corinthians 4 and it has some significant truths about ministry. I talk a lot about transparency, about the need to be open and honest, or what we do is shallow and easily rooted up. Openness creates deep roots, it fosters connection and meaningfulness.
My flesh wants to sugar-coat things. I want everybody reading this to think that doing ministry on the road is easy, that everything is going smoothly. I want to put on a happy face and send out another smiling update letter. I’m new at this, but I think that is where missionaries have to get burnt out. This is where ministry becomes shallow. If truly following Jesus is like picking up our cross, then we are going to run into rough times, we are going to be attacked with disunity, we are going to feel “pressed,” and “perplexed” and “persecuted” and “struck down,” why would we continue to communicate that everything is OK? At the beginning of 2 Corinthians 4 Paul writes:
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”
My pride wants to write blog posts about all of the wonderful things God is doing, about the people God has saved through our ministry, about all the people who have been clothed, fed, and loved along our journey thus far, but I think in actuality, that would not be the whole truth, it would be deception if that was the only stories we told. The road has been tough, and much different than we ever could have imagined. Ministry life with kids, on the road, in an RV, with a team of people who have differing personalities, compounded by 100+ degree heat, has been very difficult.
Thankfully though, “we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (4:5). Our power does not come from us, we are simply jars of clay, with cracks and breaks. We (our flesh) create disunity, resentment, and anger, and only when we allow Jesus to shine through our cracks can we demonstrate “that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (4:7).
Thankfully though, “we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (4:5). Our power does not come from us, we are simply jars of clay, with cracks and breaks. We (our flesh) create disunity, resentment, and anger, and only when we allow Jesus to shine through our cracks can we demonstrate “that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (4:7).
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing this! I'm reminded and encouraged to let my life, not just the gospel (1 Thess.1:8). I know this is the calling for all of us (in Christ) no matter what purpose God uses our cracked pots for...whether in an RV to souls on the streets or in a house to a man and small children.
Thanks for keeping it real!
Sheila
Thanks Andy for being real for all of us back on the homefront!
Love all you guys,
KI
You follow a homeless man, who got nailed to a tree outside the city in a garbage dump...now that wouldn't write to well in a mission newsletter :)
But it is amazing how the Lord brings life through death, resurrection is mysteriously on the heels of the cross.
Remember Jesus chose to using walking as His mode of transportation. Walking isn't very fast. He could have had his posses all mounted on stallions and covered much more ground, more cities and more people would have been reached, healed and heard the truth...but He chose to walk.
The Kingdom of God can be advanced simply on a walk.
Sometimes slow and simple can be profoundly powerful.
I see slowness doing its work in you...accept it, rejoice in the bounds of it, don't feel you have to apologize, just flow with it, embrace it, revel in the audacity of it, let slowness free you, strip you and change you.
He is manifested most powerfully in weak things.
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