A Successful Ministry

1 Thessalonians 2:1-6a

You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed — God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

Are you a successful minister of Christ the Lord? Would you consider that you have engaged in a successful ministry during the years of your walk with Christ? When you review the work we know as Jasper Park Baptist Church, do you consider it to be a successful ministry? What is a successful ministry? How would you identify success in a given ministry? In the First Thessalonian letter, the Apostle states: You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure [2:1]. In short, Paul is claiming that his time in Thessalonica was successful. An abbreviated mission, a besieged church, harassed and impoverished believers, lack of property and an absence of pastoral leadership … surely any of these would bespeak failure in ministry. Despite every appearance to the contrary, the Apostle looks back, and despite all these problems, avers: You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. Let's review his defence, renewing courage and redefining success in the ministry while laying the foundation for renewed advance of the Kingdom of God in our community.

A Successful Ministry Is Dependent Upon God [vv 1,2] — Previously, the missionaries had suffered and been insulted in Philippi. After a brief ministry resulting in establishment of a congregation in Philippi, Paul and Silas were humiliated by being stripped naked, beaten and imprisoned at the insistence of a crowd incited to fury by the greed of owners of a slave girl possessed by a spirit of python [pneu'ma puvqwna]. Though God intervened, the preachers chose to leave town so as not to further endanger the fledgling church.

Their next stop was Thessalonica. The ministry there was brief, but the impact was great. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi would have been sufficient justification for anyone to avoid further trials. No one of us would condemn missionaries who abandoned further evangelism in the face of beatings and imprisonment. We would commend them for their good sense. But these missionaries drew upon a source of strength which can never fail; they refreshed themselves from a well which never shall run dry. Although they faced strong opposition in Thessalonica, just as they had in Philippi, it was with the help of … God [that they] dared to tell … His Gospel. Refusing to focus on the strong opposition, they chose instead of rely upon God.

Years ago my attention was riveted on Hebrews 11:27. The author notes that Moses had a heritage of faith, having been hidden by faith. He chose identity with God's people by faith, refusing the transient treasures of this life. Then the author observes: By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

Whenever I read the Pentateuch I am again reminded of the difficulties which marked Moses' life. Lesser men would have quit the ministry many times over; Moses persevered for forty years as the leader of the obstinate people whom God chose because he had been trained in the school of hard knocks for the previous forty years. The backside of the desert was a necessary classroom in order to purge him of all thoughts of grandeur which might have clung to him following the first forty years of his life. The story of Moses, prince to pauper to prophet of God, can never be told on the silver screen.

At eighty, a time when sane men have long since retired, Moses was just beginning his greatest ministry. His life lends new meaning to the statement with which Peter began his message on Pentecost – your old men will dream dreams. Peter is not saying that the old men will look back, but rather that:

[T]hose who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles,

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint

[Isaiah 40:31].

Moses continued faithful because he fixed his hope in God, and Paul likewise avers that the missionaries to the Thessalonians relied on God. Therefore, he confidently asserts that it was with the help of our God [that] we dared tell you His Gospel.

We will not accomplish much in terms of ministry through relying on our own strength in this life. I am increasingly, though reluctantly, being forced to acknowledge this fact. The days when I invested eighty and ninety hours during a single week in the work of the ministry are behind me. Increasingly am I forced by facts to confess my lack of stamina and strength. Increasingly I am forced to seek a respite, refreshment . However I may phrase the matter – "I am working smarter," "I am delegating," "I am sharing the load" – evidence continues to accumulate that at last I am indeed mortal. Accordingly, there is not much I shall accomplish of lasting significance in my weakness.

However, I am increasingly confident that God is well able to do great things through the life of even one individual submitted to Him; and I pray that I might be that individual. I am increasingly confident that God is delighted to do great works through the ministry of one church dependent on Him; and I pray that this might be that church. Increasingly am I focused on God and on His strength, believing that He will mightily use those who rely on Him.

[O]ur visit to you was not a failure… The Greek phrase, o{ti ouj kenh; gevgonen, speaks literally of purpose instead of results. At this point Paul is not focused on the results of their ministry so much as on the purpose of the missionaries' ministry. The missionaries arrived with a message, with a clear purpose, with a definite goal in mind. This is not an inconsequential issue, for if we are dependent upon God, success in the ministry lies in pleasing Him; and when our purpose is clearly in focus we will endeavour to please Him. We speak first to glorify God in all things. In the process of speaking some will hear the Gospel and believe, and believers will be made strong in the Faith. Each message, each witness, each act of service to the Name of Christ our Lord, must have at the heart the goal of pleasing God and glorifying His Name.

A Successful Ministry Demands A Pointed Message [v 3a] — The Apostle then writes of the appeal we make. We clearly understand that this appeal is related to the Gospel named in verse two. Paravklhsi" speaks in some contexts of encouragement, but in this particular context it speaks of an appeal or an exhortation. The word was used of encouragement given soldiers going into battle. It was said that mercenaries required an appeal, but that soldiers who fought for home and country required no exhortation.

For a moment, scope in on that thought that the Gospel involves both appeal and encouragement. There is great encouragement in the Gospel of Christ. Forgiveness of sin is a source of rich encouragement. Acceptance before God the Father is encouraging indeed. Life is an encouragement, as are the multiplied benefits which accrue to the believer. But the security and the serenity which belong to the believer results from his position and not as an incidental aspect of the Gospel. Encouragement is assured as we rest in this Good News; encouragement is ours only in Christ.

There is also this thought: the Gospel ever and always involves appeal. Preaching is not merely the dissemination of information, though I fear that much of modern preaching has adopted the model of lectures. The issues involved are too great to permit speaking dispassionately. Those refusing to accept the message we bring are under sentence of death. Those rejecting Christ are embracing death. Loved ones and dear friends are passing into eternity if they have not Christ. Knowledge of the consequence of our hearers' action and our purpose in speaking does not permit delivery of the message saying repent, such as it were, and believe, after a fashion, or be damned, in a measure.

Though no formal appeal should be issued with the delivery of the message to a congregation, the message itself must present the note of appeal. Peter, preaching on the Day of Pentecost, made repeated appeal to the hearts of his listeners. Men of Israel, listen to this… Brothers, I can tell you confidently… Let all Israel be assured of this… [Acts 2:22,29,36]. His message was one great appeal from first to last to believe in this Risen Son of God. The Gospel message always contains the note of pleading.

I remember one occasion when I had been invited to speak in chapel at Western Baptist Seminary in Portland. Much was made of the fact that I was only the second Southern Baptist to address the student body and faculty and that I was not a trained preacher. It was a novelty to think these seminarians, dedicating their lives to the ministry of the Word, would be addressed by a biochemist and not by a preacher. I had a very high hill to climb if the message I intended to bring would taken seriously.

As some of my students in Dallas were wont to say, I cleared a spot on the pulpit and pitched a fit. I spoke of the power of the Gospel to change lives, to convert the lost, to redeem fallen humanity. I related how uneducated men from farms and small towns were students under my tutelage, and were winning many to the Faith in the city of Dallas. I pointed out that the students whom I addressed that day questioned the value of witnessing, seldom extended an invitation when they preached and consequently were frequently struggling to build their churches and were discouraged. I observed that in fifty-four years of educating ministerial students the school had not graduated a single evangelist. The only conclusions possible were that either God had ceased calling evangelists or that the school had failed to equip students for that service. In light of these dismal options I issued a call for repentance and an open commitment to preach the Gospel in the power of the Spirit. I extended an invitation to students and faculty to openly repent and to make a commitment to win some someone to the Faith in that year.

To my surprise and joy the altar quickly filled with students quietly weeping as they humbled themselves before the Lord; they were soon followed by a surprising number of their professors. The following two days saw me occupied in speaking with students concerned with evangelism, concerned with the importance of speaking to the lost, concerned about the importance of witnessing to the grace of God. Students informed me that the topic of discussion in each class during those following days was whether it was proper to extend an invitation. What had those godly teachers come to? Debating whether it was proper or not to invite decision for Christ! The message of life is an appeal of itself! How can a preacher preach without the note of appeal, both to outsiders and to believers – to outsiders to trust Christ and to believers to live lives worthy of that precious Name by which we are called?

A Successful Ministry Displays Pure Motives and Proper Methods [v 3b] — Their appeal did not spring from error or impure motives, nor were the missionaries trying to trick their listeners. Many preachers so-called in this day would benefit from considering such open motives and methods. It is no secret that the Faith is tarnished in modern minds by the antics of greedy men and men of impure hearts. The tragedy is not that such men have occupied positions of trust, but that spokesmen of the Faith did not speak out against their wicked actions until forced to do so by the secular press.

Rusting water slides, empty television studios, hollow hospital complexes, all stand as monuments to the greed of man and manipulation of the gullible. Repeated pleas for ever greater donations, defamation of God's Name through claims of being held hostage by God, commercialisation of the Gospel, modern trafficking in Gospel trinkets such as anointed cloths, glow-in-the-dark pictures of Jesus, and red strings to tie around your wallet – all mask rank greed! Greed marks the public proclamation of the Gospel in the minds of far too many; and the greed of those listening, the desire to obtain and to have more, the desire for an idol instead a model, is the fuel which continues this farce.

I suggest that such ministers so-called as those who continually disgrace the Faith through greed and wicked acts are even now under the condemnation of 2 Timothy 3:1-7. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud … ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control … not lovers of the good … rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power… They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. A successful ministry must be open to scrutiny and examination at any moment! Listen! To the Corinthians Paul disclosed his intentions through his insistent words: I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions, but you [2 Corinthians 12:14].

We who are called by the Name of the Son of God must be ruthless in examining our motives for outreach and our methods of ministry, immediately rejecting every motive which would dishonour the Name of the Risen Son of God. We invite outsiders to share in a service of worship knowing that they will hear the Gospel message and knowing that they will be challenged to weigh the implications of that message. We do not seek to deceive them into attending our services. We invite outsiders to the Faith knowing the consequences for them should they reject that Faith. Our motives are ever open and subject to minute examination.

Paul denied either error, plavnh", a word which usually designates intellectual error, or impure motives, ajkaqarsiva", a word which usually refers to moral impurity. We would be justified in concluding that neither intellectual error nor moral impurity were motivating factors for the missionary appeal. The salvation of those hearing the message was the appeal and the glory of God was the apparent and evident sole motive for the appeal. Paul points to the openness with which the missionaries conducted their ministry, thereby demonstrating that he rejected every attempt to manipulate his listeners, however noble the motive in such manipulation might have appeared. Underscore the thought in your mind that those advocating spiritual subterfuge or divine deception speak the language of the enemy, not the language of Zion.

There exists a class of Christians who employ precisely such tricks as these to obtain a full church house. Whatever they may avow and aver, they hold to the opinion that the end justifies the means and that a full house implies God's approval. If such thinking holds true, then God loves the Edmonton Oilers – despite a less than sterling season – since the games are generally well attended. There is a difference between a crowd and a congregation. We must ever remember that Emmet Kelly could fill a circus tent, though his own life was empty. Pete Rose could fill a baseball stadium, but that did not make him pure. Dear People, it is a disgrace to the Name of Christ to resort to tricks instead of relying on His mighty power. When we begin to use deceit to induce outsiders to attend a service where we anticipate they will be subtly induced to become religious, to become better people, or to join our congregation, we have entered into the realm of spiritual subterfuge. Our motives have moved into the realm of the world and as such they must be condemned as unworthy of the Lord Christ.

Likewise, neither pulpit nor pew must be permitted to become the preserve of predators. Congregations must be protected from those who prey on the weak and the helpless. Our motive in bringing others into the assembly must be to honour Christ and we must treat most seriously the responsibility to provide a haven for all who come under our canopy for shelter. The weak must be strengthened through ministry designed to build them up the in Faith. The helpless must be encouraged and equipped to stand. All who come to us must be treated with respect and accorded dignity in keeping with our calling. Congregations must recognise and resist intellectual and moral error, especially among the preachers. Only then will the grievous hurts of the past several years as the Jim Bakkers and the Jimmy Swaggerts and the Oral Roberts and the multiplied others who sullied the Name of Christ and disgraced the ministry be avoided.

While ministering in San Francisco, a spokesman for a ministry to Catholics spoke at our church. I listened to his presentation with great interest, for many in attendance had been raised in Catholicism. The heart of his message was that since outsiders would immediately reject the Gospel, it was necessary to make friends with them, take them to a ball game, invite them over for a barbecue, invest time in them. Then, after perhaps six months you might casually mention that you were a Christian.

I concluded that his motives were right since he seemed genuinely to desire the salvation of the lost; but his methods relied upon deception and subterfuge. I do not oppose friendship evangelism in itself. We are to be people genuinely interested in others. That which I dissent from is the thought that we may manipulate the lost to our own purposes, however noble those purposes may appear. We are to be open and above board in speaking of our Lord.

I openly challenged the speaker's methods by requesting that those with backgrounds in Catholicism stand. Well over half the audience stood. I began to ask first one and then another how they came to Christ. Repeatedly the answer came that someone came to their door with the message of life and they believed. Had we manipulated the people they would never have believed and we would have been discredited before the world. We were open and honest in our motives at that church. Just so, we of Jasper Park Baptist Church must eschew insinuation into the lives of those to whom we reach, trusting instead that the power of God openly displayed in love will touch their lives.

It is an axiom of the Faith that in ministry the method must complement the motive. There may be exceptions to this axiom, but they are quite limited in scope. The general rule is that method is important to ministry. In the situation where we speak of ministry, whether to outsiders as we deliver the message of life or whether to believers as we seek to build up believers in the Most Holy Faith, servanthood must be apparent. In either instance the minister must be a servant both to God and to God's people. It will soon become apparent what drives the minister of Christ by the methods employed.

A Successful Ministry Is Disclosed Through Precise Mission [vv 4-6a] — Paul had the divinely appointed mission of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. Near the end of his days and while languishing in a Roman prison, the aged man of God affirmed that it was of this Gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher [2 Timothy 1:11]. Were the old man to speak in this day we might well imagine him saying, I wanted nothing more than to be a preacher of the Gospel.

All around in these last days it appears that many ministers have adopted as the verse for their lives the passage recorded in the Book of Deceptions, Whoever wants to become great among you must be served, and whoever wants to be first must be master of all. Paul’s message that the ministry itself is sufficient reason to be a minister of the Gospel is refreshing. Peter implored: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve [1 Peter 5:2].

There remains to this day a class of ministers who serve within the parish through flattery and through wearing a mask to cover up their true purpose and through illegitimate hunger for compliments. They seek to be built up instead of building up; they seek to be enriched through using the flock instead of through waiting on the Lord who appointed them to service. Paul denied that he was found among such as that.

You know we never used flattery, nor did we ever put on a mask… We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. With these simple declarations the Apostle silences the suggestion that the ministry is a place for obtaining the forms of gratification esteemed in this present world, either through advancing oneself by massaging the ego of others or through enriching oneself by financial means or through having ones' own ego stroked. We serve, fulfilling the calling received, speaking the truth in love [Ephesians 4:15]. As ministers, we serve, though perhaps called to discover what it is to be in need [Philippians 4:12a]. Likewise, true ministers serve despite being viewed as fools for Christ, despite being cursed, despite being slandered, despite becoming even in the opinion of fellow believers the scum of the earth [1 Corinthians 4:10,12,13].

Neither flattery nor dishonesty nor inflated ego motivates the minister of God. Such true ministers are content to wait until God Himself reveals their motives before all mankind permitting all to see; and until that day he is driven by this one noble thought: we make it our goal to please Him [2 Corinthians 5:9].

Jude, the outspoken brother of our Lord, exposed in his brief letter those who boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage [Jude 16]. Neither may we permit greed to become our motivating force for the service we provide. Likewise, the ministry is no place for those with such weak self-esteem and so uncertain of their calling that they are driven to serve in order to obtain compliments. Either we are secure in our calling or we need to find another line. Either we are capable ministers of Christ, fulfilling the ministry we received, or we need to vacate the pulpit.

Permit me to bring the message to this conclusion: why do you serve the Lord? What motivates you to attend the services of the church? Why do you minister within the assembly? No less than is true for the one who occupies the sacred desk is the responsibility to be pure incumbent upon those occupying the pew. Just as the minister must one day appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so all the saints of God are included among those who shall give an account before the Judgement Seat of Christ. The Christian is aware that each one [will] receive what is due him for the things done while in the body [2 Corinthians 5:10].

My dear people, is not the approval of Christ for having faithfully served in the place He set us sufficient reward to continue in our several ministries? And is not the knowledge that we have pleased God in honest and open service both to His people and to outsiders sufficient reward for our continued outreach and service? If such knowledge of God's approval is somehow insufficient, is it not sufficient incentive to know that God takes note of us and of our service, promising to reward us before the saints and angels?

My plea to you who are fellow believers is that you will continue to fulfil the ministries God has assigned. If you should think that God has somehow failed to appoint you to some service among His people I would plead with you to determine to seek His will in this matter that you might begin serving today. I would remind each listener that to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given [1 Corinthians 12:7], and that you also are among those so gifted and appointed to serve. Therefore, serve.

To you who are outsiders, who are separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world [Ephesians 2:12], I plead that you believe this Good News so that you will no longer be foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household [Ephesians 2:19].

And this is that Good News, delivered in sincerity and with motives pure in the sight of our God: if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved… for “Everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved“ [Romans 10:9,10,13]. Believe this message today and be saved. Amen.