The Ministry

"Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you....And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls...."
2 Corinthians 12:14a, 15a

To the lay person, this seems like a situation, or an emotion, or something that is linked only to Paul. But to a pastor, these verses represent the heart of the minister. A minister's life is the people whom God has placed under his care. They become his friends...they become his life.

In this culture, especially in the town where I live, there are a lot of churches. It happens to be probably the biggest pet peave I have as a pastor. Because when the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, begins to rub on the rough edges of a person's life, and deal with them, it doesn't "feel" good, and so the person has no problem telling the pastor, "I'm not being fed. We are leaving the church." And the pastor smiles, and says to them, "May the Lord bless you and keep you," when on the inside, he is dying.

What lay people don't understand, is that the minister's life is the people. His life is the ministry, and the ministry is his life. And the people, his life, are his friends. So when it may seem easy for someone to come up to the minister and say, "We're leaving," to the minister it is a knife in his heart.

That is why Paul says here, "...for i do not seek yours, but you...." He doesn't care about anything the people have or can give. He cares about the people, and would gladly lay down his very life for them; to "spend and be spent" for their souls. There are unseen laborings in prayer for the flock. There are times of sleeplessness when the Lord puts someone "on your heart." There is the loving. There is the caring. Paul was pouring his life out for the church there at Corinth, not necessarily because he loved the building they were meeting in, but he loved the church - the people. The people of Christ are the church. We are the church. And Paul, and any other minister true to his calling, would gladly pour out his life, to the very end if need be, for the people to whom God has given him to minister and to shepherd. The Word tells us that we are all ministers. We all belong to one another.

Allow the word of God to dwell in you richly, and do the work of the ministry. Allow God to use you today in the life of another believer, or in the lives of those around you who don't yet know the light and love of Christ. Shalom.