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Good morning.
Why do we serve the Kingdom of God – just to do our duty or to see results?
In this respect the Lord pointed out 2 Corinthians 13:2-9: “On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, 3 since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.
5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. 7 Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.”
What is Paul’s objective with the church in this passage? Isn’t it perfection (V9)? The minister (whether ordained or lay) should not only do things in order to be seen doing something, but should aim for results. Although the ministers in this passage have already succeeded in the test of following Jesus, it is more important to them that people notice that their students (congregation, listeners) actually also follow Jesus. If their students fail to follow Jesus, the ministers’ success is of no value – they have actually failed (V7).
In verse nine Paul pointed out that a minister doesn’t have to look good and they don’t need to appear strong. Their image is not of importance, but rather the results they have, i.e. the fruit they bear. The success of a minister is not measured by the flashy church building, or the attractiveness of the programme, or the eloquence by which they minister, or even numbers of people, but it is measured by the sinless lives, obedience and fruitfulness of their students.
In verse two Paul mentioned how he anticipated dealing with the sin of those who have not yet passed the test and in verses three and four he points out that although those who minister are weak before the Lord, they are powerful in dealing with righteousness. Christ paid a terrible price and His expectation of the resulting fruit is perfection – maturity and obedience in Christ. We will always make mistakes, but are we mature enough to obey Christ and deal with sin in our lives? This is the objective of Jesus via His servants, the ministers (ordained or lay) who should point out sin in their students’ lives.
How would we know whether we’ve passed the test of being in faith (V5)? We will be doing the right thing (V7a). Doing the right thing means both not doing the wrong, such as sin, and doing what is right – obedience. This should be the aim of every Christian – holiness. I watched a programme on television where a young pastor in Indonesia ministered in great power to a church of 30 000 people, seeing many miracles daily. He said he desired to be the Holy Spirit’s friend on first name basis. Then he realised that the Holy Spirit’s first name is Holy, and he as pastor therefore needed to be holy.
Minister, are you holy before God? Are your people holy? People are you holy?
Lord, help me to test myself and pass the test.
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