Stewardship or Sales? The Means of Ministry

Paul the Apostle did not Peddle the Gospel.  Paul renounced the pursuit of money as the goal of ministry.  He preached Christ and let the chips fall where they would, whether he received money or beatings.

Today, the Gospel should be given freely to all who seek to hear and learn the message of Christ.  The men who preach Christ should not be in the ministry in order to make money as if it is no different than a secular career.

When Paul was defending himself before the Corinthian brethren, one of the claims that he made was that he and his co-workers were not mere peddlers of the word of God but ministers of righteousness. 

The King James Version says that they did not "corrupt" the word of God. It will help us to understand what Paul was saying, if we examine what is meant by the word that is translated "peddling" or "corrupt." 

The Greek word that is used here is kapeleuontes. Concerning this word, Vine’s Expository Dictionary says it "primarily signifies one to be a retailer; to peddle; to hucksterize (from kopelos, an inn-keeper, a petty retailer, especially of wine, a huckster, pedlar, in contrast to emporos, a merchant); hence, to get base gain by dealing in anything, and so, more generally, to do anything for sordid personal advantage.  The key passage is found at 2 Corinthians 2:17, with reference to the ministry of the Gospel (Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 234). 

So what Paul is telling the Corinthians is that He and his co-workers were not corrupting or watering down the Gospel as a peddler or inn keeper might water down the wine that was sold to patrons. He is saying that they were not bringing the Gospel to them out of some self-seeking motivation, but out of a sincere heart and a sincere desire for their well being. 

Paul was passionately sincere when he preached the gospel. He recognized it as "the power of God for salvation" (Rom. 1:16). Therefore, he was always careful to preach the pure unadulterated word and to declare "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). His only motivation for preaching the gospel was to save the souls of those who heard his preaching. To corrupt the Gospel would weaken its saving power. There was no way he could be just a mere peddler of the word of God.

Paul the Apostle in his ministry was not one who would ever corrupt worship, preaching and teaching of God's Word, evangelism, fellowship of the church, psalms/hymns or spiritual songs, discipleship, etc. in any circumstance or situation. Can there be any other reasonable conclusion?  Here are some important Scriptures to ponder in this matter (all verse quotations taken from the ESV):

Matthew 10:8-9… “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts" (emphasis added).

1 Corinthians 9:7-18… "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel" (emphasis added).

2 Corinthians 2:15-17… "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ."

3 John 5-8… "Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles [nonbelievers]. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth" (emphasis added).

God has designed genuine ministry to be inseparable from the life and leadership of the local church. Any ministry that does not strengthen one's commitment to the local church is inconsistent with the purposes of Christ. (Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:23-25)

All genuine ministry for the Lord must not have an advanced price tag, an expectation of compensation before the ministry is given. Why? Because then it is no longer ministry, but commerce, employment, trade or in many circumstances… entertainment.

The single proof-text career-minded preachers will repeatedly misuse in an attempt to “justify” charging for the ministry of the Lord is this familiar phrase… "the workman is worthy of his hire."  No question, it is God’s Word.  However, it is wrongly applied when trying to condone treating ministry like a profession, trade, or entertainment.

It doesn't mean anyone has the right to charge for “hire”. More appropriately it means those "who proclaim the gospel should receive their living by the gospel" (1 Cor. 9:14b) and do so in a manner commensurate with the gospel.  The question is how?  The answer is simple… genuine ministry should be supported through cheerful, faithful giving of God's people. Money should not be a prerequisite for ministry. 

Being ALIVE in Christ!

Hey Christian… YOU are Alive in Christ!  The Apostle Paul used those positive words to create an image and say that all believers are "alive to God in Christ." 

Furthermore, he insists that this magnificent transition from hopelessness which is like death, to a life filled with joy, and the promise of eternity has already taken place—really and truly—in the death and resurrection of Christ. 

How so?  It has happened in the spiritual realm…”heaven.” And that means, of course, that we can't witness this change with our naked eyes. If you became a Christian on Sunday, you might not feel all that different on Wednesday.  It's true that some new believers are immediately and radically delivered from previous sins. Some of us grew up on a steady diet of hearing personal testimonies of people transformed: a man was an alcoholic and philanderer until one day—wham—just like that he makes a clean start as he gave his life to Christ, was immersed and made a 180 degree turn in his life. For most of us, becoming a Christian may be much less dramatic. But that makes it no less real.

Paul knew very well that his readers were likely converts of the less dramatic sort. In fact, that's the point of his entire discussion in Romans chapter 6. After explaining the metaphysical realities of our association with Christ in his death and resurrection, Paul brings the point home. "In the same way," he writes, "count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6:11). In other words, it's not enough simply to know that we are new creations; we have to embrace the concept, and that means changing our behavior.

Paul gives two commands to be considered… "do not let sin reign" in your bodies and "Do not offer any part of yourself to sin" (vv. 12- 13). To keep on sinning would be inconsistent with your new character as one who is "dead to sin." It would be a bit like speaking in a phony accent. To be dead to sin means sin is alien to us. It's out of character.  The things of sin slowly but certainly pass out of our focus and desire.

What Paul is getting at here is that we have to take active steps in order to stop sinning. The power of sin is broken, which means that we can have success in our striving against sin. Our shackles have been unlocked. But we have to take the steps to leave the dungeon. In other words, all our struggles and weaknesses don't vanish when we become Christians. The life of faith will always involve temptation. It will also likely include falling short. But we can struggle knowing that victory is secured in Christ.

In other places, Paul uses the metaphor of clothing to describe the way Christians ought to think about their relationship to sin. He encourages them to "take off" the old nature (sin) and "put on" virtues appropriate for a new creation in Christ (Eph. 4:22-32; Col. 3:8-10). This is more easily said than done. Old habits die hard. If we want to let Christ reign in our lives through the Holy Spirit, then we have to make a concerted effort to abandon the behaviors that characterize being dead to sin.

For centuries, Christians have used spiritual disciplines such as prayer and fasting to achieve a life of victory over sin. The disciplines orient the heart and will toward Christ and weaken the power of sin. They aren't magic spells. And they don't accomplish anything on their own. God uses them to do his work in us.

The disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us. All this is to say that actively "putting off" our old, sinful behaviors and "putting on" the new behaviors characteristic of life in Christ help break our sin habits and desires. Spiritual disciplines give the Holy Spirit a chance to produce spiritual fruit in our lives.  If you are a Christian who continues to struggle with sin you just can't shake, don't lose hope. 

Don't buy the world's message that sin is inevitable. Take heart from Paul's extraordinary claim: "you have been raised with Christ" (Col. 3:1)! As far as God is concerned, you are dead to sin, freed from its power. 

Like the prodigal son who finally looked up from the mud and slop of the pigsty to realize that he did not belong there.  Embrace your identity as a child of God made alive to, in and by Christ. Live your life knowing God has already won the victory.

Are You Getting Mastery over Sin in Your Life?

Lingering. Habitual. Out of control. How would you describe the persistence of sin in your life? 

Many Christians, even though they are sincerely committed to following Christ, continue to live with besetting sins. They continue to feel as if they are powerless to overcome the impulse to act against God's commands and their own better judgment. It's easy to believe this is just the way things are. Nobody's perfect, right? Pretending like we are feels self-righteous or hypocritical. Popular culture accepts, and sometimes celebrates, the fact that we each have our deep and personal hang ups.

Everyone has a skeleton in his or her closet. It's not a matter of if you have an addiction, a secret indulgence, a private vice. It's a matter of which one and when it will come to light. If this is true, maybe we should just accept our weaknesses and embrace them as part of who we are.

But here's where the Scriptures stop our self-justifying of sinful behavior. A persistent theme of the New Testament, especially in the letters by Paul, is that the sinful habits we find so hard to shake are not an integral part of us. We are not condemned to sin forever. Instead, Paul insists that Christians can be "dead to sin." This means being free both from the guilt and from the power of sin. That's a counter-cultural message in a society convinced we're all broken, beyond repair, so therefore we might as well just indulge ourselves and enjoy the carnal things of this life.

Dead in Sin

It is true that left to our own devices we are all doomed to struggle unsuccessfully against our sinful tendencies. That's because before we can ever hope to be "dead to sin," all of us are born "dead in sin." Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1 that before we become Christians, we are all "dead in [our] transgressions and sins." Of course he does not mean that we are physically dead. Rather, the life of a person who has not experienced new life in Christ is characterized by spiritual death. 

This means that a person is separated from God's salvation. But it also means that it is impossible for that person to turn-around and begin to show signs of life. Imagine such a person as a dead branch broken from a tree in a storm. Where it lies on the ground, separated from its source of nourishment, it will never again produce tender buds or green leaves or sweet fruit.

A spiritual-like comma [death] is alienation of one’s being [soul] from God. we are all born as dead men, and we live as dead men, until we are made partakers of the life of Christ."

According to Romans 5, we are in this predicament because of the sin of the first human, Adam. Sin entered the world "through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people" (Rom. 5:12). Now the only way we can find liberation from sin is through death, for "anyone who has died has been set free from sin" (Rom. 6:7). As if that were not bad news enough, matters get worse. If we die physically without being reconciled to God through Christ, then we also die spiritually and spend eternity separated from him.

So there we are: because of the sin of Adam, we are that broken branch, separated from our source of life. And as a branch is helpless to change its circumstances, so are we. Humans are totally dependent upon God for life. Without his intervention, we will be forever dead in sin.

That's the bad news. But Paul also delivers very good news. Remember that the only way to be free of sin is through death. Fortunately there is a way to die to sin without suffering physical death. Paul explains in Romans 6 that those who are in Christ, by faith and through baptism (v. 3), participate in his death on the cross. "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin" (v. 6). In other words, because Christ died, those who are united with Christ have died, too. 

Moreover, Christ did not stay dead; God raised him from the dead. And just as we participate in Christ's death through faith, we also participate in his resurrection: "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him" (v. 8).

This makes us "dead to sin" and "alive to God in Christ Jesus" (v. 11). Being dead to sin means that sin no longer has jurisdiction over us. Returning to the image of the dead branch, imagine that it has been grafted onto a live tree by a master gardener. Now its brittle limbs become limber again. It produces buds and leaves and fruit. Although it was previously characterized by death, now it is characterized by life. In Christ, all is made new. Though in our natural condition we are dead in sin, through Christ we are dead to sin.

Next time... ALIVE in Christ!