Sermon Tone Analysis

Why do you do what you do?

Can you explain your approach to life?

I mean, What motivates you to get up and go to work or school?

How do you view your relationships?

I recently read a book titled “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek.

This is a book for business-owners, but I find his logic to be consistent with Biblical principles.

He argues that if we want to be successful in the long-term, we must have a driving purpose that eclipses temporal goals.

For instance, if you want to start a company, you must have a purpose that is greater than making money or producing a product.

Rather, your “WHY” should be transcendent of these things and instead focuses on meeting needs or changing lives.

Basically, your WHY should be what you would do even if you never got paid.

Well, whether you have taken time to assess it or not, we all work from a basic philosophy.

A philosophy is a statement that explains your perspective and why you do what you do.

It’s why we treasure certain things in life.

Our philosophy might include one’s family values, work ethic, perspective, etc.

As I was entering ministry, I was given the task of developing my personal philosophy of ministry.

The point of this was to ensure that this was more than just a job opportunity or an obligation.

Instead, my mentors wanted to see the commitment I had to ministry.

Was I doing it for the right reasons?

Was it a self-serving endeavor?

If my philosophy was not biblical or genuine, then ministry was not for me.

In my study to develop my philosophy of ministry, I came upon this section of Scripture we have before us today.

Now, there is more in this passage than this, but certainly not less.

What I hope we can do in our time together is examine the Apostle Paul’s approach to ministry.

But not simply for academic reasons.

You see, the points we’ll draw out of this text this morning are points that every minister and every church member should acknowledge and seek to live out.

This letter was written to the church for the sake of the church- if we are going to live out our calling, then we ought to have a good feel for WHY we do what we do.

Just as we have learned over the past several weeks, the church exists to bring God glory through the building up of His Kingdom.

So if you’ve been wondering why we at LRBC are involved in certain programs or why we have certain goals; why it seems like I am constantly goading us toward our mission to make disciples, it is because of there is a philosophy of ministry that I follow and I hope that today you will choose to adopt this philosophy with me as we move together toward God’s mission.

If you picked up a bulletin, I invite you to make use of the sermon guide and follow along as we study 1 Corinthians 9, A Biblical Philosophy of Ministry.

Paul spends about half of this whole chapter (14 verses) making the case that:

Ministry is a Valid Vocation (1-14)

Paul argues here that the work of ministers has value.

This value should be acknowledged by the church the response ought to be to pay the pastor(s) a decent wage.

Let me just pause for a moment and say that I am so grateful that I do not have to make this argument on my behalf.

Even so, we all know that there are some who have the mindset that pastors should fulfill this role without any compensation.

After all, they argue, it’s not a ‘real job’.

You know the joke- a pastor only works one day a week, what’s the big deal?

Truly, there is more to my role as a pastor than delivering a sermon each week.

Yet, despite the misconceptions, there are others who believe:

We have to keep the pastor humble, so we won’t pay him much.

He decided to be a minister, if he wants a paycheck, he needs to get another job.

Why should we pay a pastor when we can watch one on TV for free?

Paul faced a bit of criticism from somewhere in the Corinthian Church as well.

Somehow they had the idea that it was wrong for a pastor to expect any financial support.

But we can see that Paul takes a very strong position here to the contrary.

He argues from a logical side (4-7) as well as a Biblical side (8-14).

First, he argues that ministers are people too- and just like a farmer should expect to earn from his crop, or a soldier should expect to be supported while on duty, so too should a pastor be able to expect to receive funding through his service to the church.

Biblically, he uses the words of Moses and the example of the temple priests and servants to illustrate the principle.

If indeed a farmer plows and plants with the hope that he will reap from the crops, so also one who leads spiritually should expect to preach and minister with the hope of being supported financially by the church.

Think of it this way: How many of you go to the grocery store to purchase food?

How many of you go to a farm stand and buy produce?

You go expecting to exchange money for goods that are necessary in order for you to be physically healthy.

Well, if you come to church in order to experience Spiritually sustaining teaching and direction, then you why would you consider it not to be worthy of some sort of financial support?

He says it plainly in v. 14 (READ)

Again, I am so thankful that you as a body financially support the ministry through your giving.

To value the work of the ministry is a piece of our philosophy because it demonstrates our priority to spiritual health & growth.

And if one day you find yourself on a personnel committee or a pastor search committee, I pray you will remember that God’s word teaches that it is right to pay your pastor a wage that allows him to spend appropriate time in ministry preparation and also permits him to lead his family well.

Ministry is a Valid Vocation.

Discuss: Why is it important that a church financially supports their pastor?

Like any assertions of validity, it is important that we recognize qualifiers to these statements.

Even though ministry is a valid vocation, there is more to it than vocation.

This brings us to our second point:

Ministry is a Calling, Not a Career (15-22)

Paul actually refused to accept financial support from the Corinthians at this time.

Not because he didn’t need it, but rather because he did not want the Corinthians to be confused as to his message.

There is a problem that exists in some churches where the pastor is simply there to do his job and get on with life.

Indeed, some that I have met only preach because they have to in order to keep their job.

Paul knew that this some would accuse him of preaching this message simply to get rich.

Like many prosperity preachers of our day, there were some who went around asking for support for a mission, but the mission was merely the fattening of their own wallet.

I’ve talked to some outside the church who assume this whole church-thing is a sham.

They assume that pastors are all hypocrites who are hustling people.

Paul says it this way (READ v.16-18)

In other words, while it is right for a church to pay their pastor, a pastor (and any other ministry leader) must be motivated by the Gospel, not the support.

Folks, I want you to know that I am not in ministry for the money!

The reason Paul preached is the reason I preach- because there are millions of people who are dead in their sins and their only hope is the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

The reason I go to the school and do FCA is because there is opportunity for Jesus Christ to be magnified.

The reason I counsel broken marriages is because Christ is the hope of the world.

The reason I go on mission, coordinate with other pastors, visit, pray, witness, etc. is because I know that unless the Gospel is proclaimed, people cannot respond in faith!

ILL: I heard a story one time of a small child who was walking on the beach and saw hundreds and hundreds of starfish that had washed onto the shore.

She hurriedly went about picking them up and tossing them back into the water, racing against the sun’s increasing heat.

A man stopped her and said, “Child, you will never be able to save all these starfish.

Why, you will not make much difference at all.”

The child replied, “Yes, but to the ones I save, it makes all the difference in the world.”

Friends, I entered ministry because God called me to proclaim His Hope and to equip the saints of His church to go and do likewise.

Each week, as I prepare a message and seek to minister to our community, I do it not out of compulsion that I must fulfill a job duty nor out of the motivation of financial support.

I don’t even do it so that you will be happy with me.

I do it because God has placed this call on my life!

I do it because I am broken and moved to action by the condition of our world.

I do it so that others might experience the joy and peace of Christ’s kingdom- That they might have life when all they’ve ever known is death.

So that the world may know my God and be known by Him!

Church, if the day ever comes that I step up here to preach out of anything less than a Gospel motivation; If I am merely preaching out of my job responsibility, I pray that God would take me on, for the Gospel is far greater than a career!

Folks, I need you to hear me here: My desire is that you would be equally inspired to live out your calling.

That you would be motivated by the hope and truth of the Gospel

A Biblical Philosophy of Ministry includes a church who believes in the ministry enough to support its pastor, and a motivation to minister for the sake of the Gospel.

Ministry is a calling, not a career.

Discuss: How does one’s motivation for ministry factor into their effectiveness in fulfilling the ministry?

Finally, the philosophy of ministry must have grounding.

Thus, our last point in the philosophy of ministry is:

Ministry is an Authentic Testimony of the Gospel (23-27)

Let me just read these last few verses (READ 23-27)