Paul is now full swing into his deliberation of thought into such matters that are concerning him regarding this early church. In truth, they are still affecting the church today. In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul deals with the testimony left to them and us of the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness. The pressure cooker of heat, sand, repetition in diet, new laws, conflicts with enemies, death, and consequences of poor decisions was revealing character flaws in the people.
Note how Paul starts:
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.
(1 Corinthians 10:1-6)
Here they had all these great opportunities to behold the wonder of God's presence and protection in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They had seen God provide manna from the sky, and water from a rock.
The next verses (7-10) identify specific things that these people did to test God.
Verse 7 - Idolatry
Verse 8 - Immorality
Verse 9 - Insolence/Insubordination against God
Verse 10 - Murmuring/Grumbling
Verses 6 and 11 are almost like refrains in a horrible song of conflict and God's resolution to purify and refine His people. All of this is recorded for our benefit. It is placed here so that we would not forget how easy it is for us to fall prey to the tempter's snare.
Then.....
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
(1 Corinthians 10:12-13)
Where is this going? From the angle Paul is taking this he is making it clear to these believers that there are still viable temptations and struggles that we all face. These are things common, not extreme. The desire to place something in sight that illustrates God, or becomes our god is natural. Idolatry has many potential shapes and sizes.
Immorality? Are we not an immoral country and society? Pornography is accessible everywhere and running rampant in homes and school lockers. It's not just "out there in the world" but also in the lives of those sitting in our pews and in our church offices. Immorality is portrayed as convenient, conducive, expected and actually the new "morality." Turn on your TV to the most "innocent" of shows and it is there or implied. Read the magazines, listen to secular radio. From homosexual agendas to heterosexual indecency, it is there and being shoved in our faces and thoughts. The temptation is there.
I feel that verse 9 is a bit large to address here, but the temptation to forget the Scriptures and live our lives as independent is like taking fire into our bosom and expecting we won't be burned or bitten like the snakes bit them in dessert.
Murmuring! Uh oh! Grumbling, complaining, having an unquiet spirit that is filled with unrest and contention. How could that ever come into our lives right?
This thing called ministry. Ministry is understanding "temptability." We must address this negative reality attached to ministry. As verse 12 stated - Take Heed! You are just as close to failure as the rest of us. Ministry is realizing I am one wrong step away from an avalanche of devastating proportions.
We have read the newspapers, seen the TV reports, and conversed with those who are astounded at the failures of visible figures who were in this thing called Ministry. The blight it leaves and the marks of disgrace it pours out on the testimony of Christ and His purpose and design for the church is hard to recover from.
I was watching a brief segment that Oprah had with Ted Haggard. She and Ted were discussing how the church does not want to own up to its failures and be willing to address the conflicts between the supposed need to be "perfect" and still living with sincere struggles in the Christian life. Some Oprah Show viewers said they thought Ted was lying; others said he was in denial. One viewer wrote: "I think Ted was open, honest and delightful. This is one of the problems I see with the Christian faith. They insist on being perfect. Perfection is not possible, and the problem is not that Mr. Haggard lied, but he lived in an environment that insisted on his lying."
Later Ted Haggard responded to this comment.
While there were religious pressures to keep quiet, Ted says only he is to blame for his problems. "Sometimes in religious environments there's pressure to perform, and I, particularly, had pressure as the pastor of the church … but I think the fault is my own," he says. "I submitted to that and participated in it. But now, of course, I'm thrilled to be able to speak openly and really be me."
I obviously do not know Ted Haggard and am in no position to judge his true heart, but on the surface he has brought to light some important aspects. The "real me" is that I am temptable. Ministry is realizing that I face the same fears and desires that every person out there faces. I am not perfect. I am not always right. I am not going to be perfect until He that is perfect comes and changes this corruption into incorruption.
I need to realize the burden of ministry is not perfection, but progress. I understand that temptation and sin are not the same, but I also understand that temptation leads to sin. Knowing that I also know that I will fail to do it right 100% of the time, but we also need to understand that some failures lead to things that are never recoverable. I am human, but my humanity is not an excuse to live in denial of that temptation or in abandonment to the sin that comes from it. If I have an interest that could lead to a besetting sin, an area of struggle or conflict, I need to listen to my own preaching and put people and obstacles in place to help keep me from letting temptation turn into sin.
Remember Ministers, we are temptable. We are not perfect. We are not inhuman. We are not uncommon. We are faced with the common things, the normal things, that could lead us to indescribable horror if we let it.
Ministry is a wonderful opportunity for God to use common people like you and me for His indescribable glory and for the advancement of the Gospel. But it is also a wonderful opportunity for the devil to give the gospel a black eye and defraud God of His deserved glory if we allow our unwillingness to get help and open up to trusted advisers and partners in ministry.
May we live supernatural lives for the one who has supernaturally saved us and by His supernatural power which strengthens us in the inner man. (Ephesians 3:16)
Danger of Temptability.....Now that is Ministry!
No comments:
Post a Comment