Good morning from Liverpool, New York! Our reading for this Wednesday, November 12, 2014 is 2 Corinthians 3:1-6. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant- — not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (NIV) As a member of the Board of Ordained Ministry I share responsibility for reviewing and credentialing those who will become ordained pastors within our conference. There is a detailed and lengthy process candidates must go through before they earn the privileges of ministry as an Elder in the church. There are letters of recommendation from various places required from various sources at differing times throughout the process that are weighed along with educational requirements, psychological exams and background checks. This passage reminds me of this elaborate process as I think about the “letters of recommendation” of which he asks sarcastically that he feels they are expecting from he and his ministry team. As with any process that attempts to screen appropriate candidates to whom we might entrust with authority, no process, no matter how stringent, will prove perfect and will result in many good persons being denied while some who are not worthy granted access to authority. The apostle Paul sarcastically points this out when asking whether they demand such letters of recommendation to verify his spiritual authority over the church in Corinth. It seems ridiculous to him for them to question his authority being that many came to faith in Christ originally through his ministry. The only reason for their questioning his authority now is due to the influence of others charismatic teachers whom have come to them casting doubt on Paul’s teaching and also because Paul’s message to them now is not what they want to hear. This is the frivolous nature of humanity – we want only to be taught what we are willing to believe. Sound doctrine will always confirm what we obviously know is true, but it also challenges and convicts us of beliefs and actions which prove false or which we need to embrace if we are to grow in faith and faithfulness. The Corinthians were a divided church with differing groups within its fellowship following differing charismatic leaders of their liking and choosing. The church was being pulled apart and moral corruption was setting in and being accepted. Their witness to a diverse and pluralistic unchurched community was being tarnished. Now that he was attempting to correct their way his authority and that of his representatives was being challenged. Paul reminds the church that his letter of recommendation is the changed lives his ministry inaugurated during his physical ministry with them. If he could not be trusted how could they explain the trust it required in his teaching that enabled so many to come to faith in Christ. Beyond the requirement of college and seminary degrees and other types of documentation, the greatest testament to authority is the effectiveness of one’s life and ministry. In every way from his record with them and the work he had done elsewhere they should have recognized his rightful authority. In fact, his record should have granted him the status of higher authority above other so called teachers and self-professed prophets and apostles. Now Paul’s effectiveness is not a matter of boasting in his own competence, if fact, boasting and obvious selfish pride should disqualify any teacher in our eyes. Paul was willing, and did so elsewhere in this letter, to admit his personal weaknesses. His pride was founded not on his own capability but on God’s competence. Run, my friends from the proud and boastful who would claim authority to lead or teach you. This does not mean that only those who demean themselves are worthy of the authority we would grant over us, but only those who are honest about their limitations and incompleteness of their knowledge are truly deserving of authority over us. I remember the word of Jesus when warning his disciples about the false teachers and prophets who they could expect would rise in their midst, saying “by their fruit will you know them.” We should take this instruction to heart as we live in an age of many conflicting voices each claiming authority over us. Effectiveness is not to be understood in the numbers who follow a person, for many are easily deceived and Satan is the author of beautiful lies. Though numbers of people impacted is one measure of effectiveness, it is not the sole one. The quality of the lives of those who follow a particular teacher is a better measure. Quality is measured in term of submission to Biblical truth, works accomplished, personal integrity and the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Qualifications include the evidence of sacrifice paid by those who follow Christ. How do we rate the claim to authority over us? Documentation of learning is important, but should not precede the evidence of mature and abundant faith. Blessings! Pastor Brian Homan
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 20:57:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015