"Tight lines" is a blessing fishermen offer each other, a wish for lines taut with the weight of good fish. May God grant that the lines written here be taut with His blessings.
Wednesday, 18 February 2009 | |||
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Enlightened Hearts - 2 | |||
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After the previous heady installment on the text for the
week,
II Corinthians 4:1-6, I feel moved to reflect a little more
personally. By widening the text a little beyond the lectionary (starting
with verse 1, rather than verse 3), we see that Paul is speaking in a
context in which he might easily be discouraged. He is clearly defending
his ministry against opponents in Corinth who appear to be questioning
both his methods and his motives. At a time when our congregation has shrunk a little, and like many, many congregations, is struggling to pay bills and salaries, it's easy to relate to Paul's defensiveness. I also can see in the first sentence of verse 2, "Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God," a response to those who invite struggling churches to adopt marketing techniques or to worship and behave in ways that are more "relevant" to contemporary life. I'm not saying that all invitations to churchly relevance involve "deception" or "distort" the teaching of Scripture, but I'm fairly sure that a number of them do. One example might be a worship style that plays into a contemporary tendency to individualism by encouraging a private and individual reception of Holy Communion rather than a corporate partaking. Another might be an understanding of faith that emphasizes personal experience over biblical truth, downplaying a good grasp of doctrine in favor of an exciting mission or ministry. Paul is arguing here that results are not everything in ministry. The fact that people are unresponsive to the Gospel is not ultimately his responsibility. Paul writes in verse 3, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing." In other words, the mere fact that some cannot see the truth of Christ, are unconvinced, are unconverted, does not mean that a ministry has failed. It is Satan (v. 4) who has blinded them, not the preachers. So as verse 1 says, "we do not lose heart." That's a good word for these times. We are looking to see "God's glory displayed in the face of Christ," not a full church building or a large bank account. May we teach and serve in a way that makes His face more and more visible. | |||
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Profile |
I am the pastor of Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon. I love to flyfish and hike along the beautiful rivers in our area. I welcome your comments as I share sermon work in progress and occasional other thoughts.
Thank you for visiting this blog. I invite you also to visit my web page.
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