An Approved Ministry

During Jesus’ ministry, there was a day when Jesus asked His disciples a question: “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples’ response indicated there were a variety of opinions on who Jesus was. Some said He was John the Baptist who had come back from the dead. Others thought He was Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.

Those were some of the thoughts in the general public, but the Bible also tells us what the Jewish leaders thought about Him. They said, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Rather than marvel at Christ’s compassion and love, they labelled Him as a degenerate, a profligate given over to His desires. This was all an attempt to destroy His credibility among the people.

Once someone or some entity has lost its credibility with a crowd, it becomes very difficult to win it back. In our own culture, you can see the battles over credibility.

For example, in the political sphere, those on the more conservative side might tell you that there is no credibility with CNN, or the government of Ney York, or the entire Biden administration including the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Centers for Disease Control. Those on the other side of the aisle might say they find no credibility in Fox News, or the state of Florida, or the Trump administration, or certain famous podcasters. Each group assumes a loss of credibility in others.

We shouldn’t be surprised when those kinds of attacks happen in the political sphere; nor should we be surprised when they happen in the real of religion.

Jesus wasn’t surprised by the accusations, and He didn’t want His disciples to be surprised either. Jesus told His disciples they would be insulted. People would say all kinds of evil against them falsely. In a more extreme example of that, the Pharisees eventually said Jesus’ ministry was empowered by Satan. Those kinds of accusations aren’t new. In 1 Peter 4, it talks about us being reviled for the name of Christ.

Among the people you interact with most, how do you think they would rank the credibility of Christians, or of the Christian churches? Think about that. Satan doesn’t have to do a lot to ruin the credibility of your ministry.

Like Jesus, Paul had to deal with enemies seeking to undermine his credibility. Many times, when he left a church, some of the enemies followed him. Others stayed behind and worked to undo what God had accomplished through him. One of the ways they did that was to begin eroding people’s trust in Paul. They wanted to discredit him. They wanted to ruin his credibility.

From what we see in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian church, it seems like the same kind of thing was happening there. Since Paul left the city so abruptly, his opponents may have used that as evidence to suggest he didn’t really care about the church.

So, in response to those allegations, we have First Thessalonians chapter 2, which begins with Paul’s defense of his ministry. He wasn’t trying to defend himself personally just for the sake of his on reputation; he was trying to prove the authenticity of his ministry so that the people wouldn’t fall away from the faith. His concern was for the church, not for himself.

Now, since Paul feels compelled to defend himself against some of these possible attacks on his character and ministry, it means that if these accusations were true, they actually would discredit him. Paul isn’t saying the arguments are invalid; he’s saying that the arguments don’t apply to him.

So, with that in mind, I want to frame Paul’s rebuttal here around five different ways to destroy the credibility of your ministry. Now, I’m saying this assuming this is something you’d rather not do. But saying them out loud might help us avoid them.

You want your children to come to the faith. You want your coworkers and your friends to come to the faith. So, what are the pitfalls in out efforts? What kinds of things would undo your ministry toward them?

Look with me at verse 1 of chapter 2. Here’s what Paul says, moved by the Holy Spirit—For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.

When something is done in vain, that means it’s meaningless. It’s empty. It accomplishes nothing. Paul knows that his ministry was the real thing, and God used it to do work in that church. It was not in vain. Why? Because Paul avoided the pitfalls of gospel ministry. What are those pitfalls.

Like I said, I’m going to give you five ways to discredit your ministry, and Paul’s message will give us the alternative, or the solution.

Number 1. The first way to ruin your ministry is this: Avoid difficulty. Avoid difficulty. In other words, take the path of least resistance. Take the easy way.

Practically speaking, this means you avoid any kind of suffering. In a conversation, you avoid any kind of awkwardness. If some course of action presents a risk to you, just don’t take. That’s how you get an ineffective ministry.

What’s the solution? What should we be doing instead? Look at verse 2—But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.

Before arriving in Thessalonica, Paul was in Philippi, where he ended up being arrested and beaten for his ministry. But Paul didn’t quit. He suffered shame which he wasn’t supposed to go through as a Roman citizen, but that didn’t deter him.

You can read the story for yourself starting in Acts 16:6. Paul wasn’t sure which way to go next, and God was closing the doors. But then God gave Paul a vision which led him to Philippi.

Paul’s beating wasn’t an accident. It was part of God’s plan. Let that sink in. God’s plans for you and for me as His messengers will include suffering. And if we’re not willing to suffer, we will not be faithful messengers.

In Philippians 1:29, Paul says to the church—it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake

Believing in Jesus Christ is a gift form God. And so is suffering for Him. If you are trying to avoid difficulty, it’s not going to work. What you need is not less suffering or less risk. What you need, and what Paul demonstrated, was more boldness. That’s what verse 2 says. In the midst of much conflict, he declared the gospel with boldness.

“Yes, but if I talk about Jesus, it’ll be awkward. They’ll think I’m weird. They’ll put a label on me.” We all think those things, and we need the Spirit of God in that moment to remind us, “So what?!” We need to stop avoiding difficulty, and we need to be bold, even at the risk of being awkward or the risk of being rejected and possibly persecuted. If you want to ruin your ministry, avoid any difficulty. Avoid any opposition.

Number 2. A second way to discredit your ministry is this: Get the message wrong. Get the message wrong.

If you don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re going to lose your credibility. You need to get the message straight. Nobody wants to buy a diamond ring or a car, or get a prescription from a guy who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. You want someone who knows. You want someone with confidence in what they’re saying.

That’s how Paul spoke. Look at verse 3. Paul continues, speaking of himself and Silvanus and Timothy—For our appeal does not spring from error.

Paul refers to his ministry as an appeal, or some translation say an exhortation. That is an attempt to change someone’s direction. It’s a type of persuasion. But Paul’s efforts were not rooted in error.

That means, Paul didn’t get the message wrong. He knew his message was the truth, and he knew had had it right. He didn’t stray from the message given to Him by the Lord Jesus.

It’s not always comfortable to tell someone, “I don’t know.” But sometimes that’s what we have to say. Otherwise, we might start making something up. We don’t know what were talking about.

Peter mentions that in 2 Peter 2:12. He’s talking about false teachers, and he says they are “like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant.”

Speaking about things you don’t know can happen if you start getting into more difficult or more obscure theological topics, like angels in the case of Second Peter. But it can also happen if you don’t get the message straight. Don’t just way what people told you to say. Say it from your own experience. Know the word of God for yourself. It’s great if you can remember the Scripture references, but even if you can’t, at least know what’s true and what’s speculation. Don’t start attributing things to the Bible that aren’t in there. And don’t start using Bible verses in ways they were never intended to be used.

Some of you might remember 2 Timothy 2:15 which was the AWANA verse. ESV says—Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Know what you know, and speak the truth. Get the message right. If you get the message wrong, what good is that going to be? It will be an empty ministry. It’ll all be in vain.

Let’s go to number 3, now. Pitfall number 1 was “avoid difficulty.” Number 2: Get the message wrong. And now, number 3: Pursue impure desires. Pursue impure desires.

This is what Paul avoided as well. If you look at verse 3 again, you’ll see that he says his message didn’t come from error, and it didn’t come from impurity either. That word is primarily aimed at sexual immorality.

Sexual immorality is something we all need to be fighting against, and Paul addresses that in chapter 4. But think about how devastating sexual impurity is for a minister of the gospel. Think of the effect it has had on the church when a pastor leaves his wife for another woman, or a pastor who is exposed for pursuing sexual favors. It devastates that church, and it sends ripples out into the world as well. It’s crippling to their credibility.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard about this, but the Southern Baptist Convention is dealing with its own issues regarding sexual abuse, and most recently the FBI has opened an investigation against them. The SBC is different from other denominations, because churches are independent from each other. There is no strict adherence to a doctrinal statement that has to be made, just a general agreement.

But if there’s a Southern Baptist church on the other side of the country, and a scandal breaks out there, it doesn’t matter that that church has nothing to do with us. we get lumped into all that whether we like it or not.

Well, this kind of stuff isn’t new. False teachers have been around since the beginning of the church, and one of the defining characteristics has been a pursuit of sensuality rather than a battle against it.

Again, going back to the false teachers of 2 Peter 2, the Apostle says many will follow their sensuality. He also says they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.

Those kinds of leaders produce a culture of sensuality. People say, “We can say these things. We can cross those lines. We can dress this way, and it’s all okay in this church.” And they do it claiming that it’s all covered by the grace of Jesus Christ.

In 2 Timothy 3:6, it mentions false teachers “who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions.” Those are leaders who are sexual predators. They’re using their authority to lead others into sexual sin, and it’s all for their own personal gratification.

But Paul says, “That wasn’t my ministry. That’s not what we did. We were different than the world. We pursued purity rather than impure desires.”

Fight for purity in your own ministry. Just to give you some other examples, an impure desire in evangelism could be thinking something like, “Well, I really want to tell her about Jesus because she’s so beautiful, or he’s so attractive.” Or maybe it’s someone who claims there are doing evangelism, but there’s a flirtatious demeanor in it. It might not sound overtly impure, but it’s the same heart. It’s an impure motive that will ruin the credibility of that ministry. Don’t do that. Pursue purity in all that you do, especially in your evangelism.

Let’s move on now, to a fourth way to ruin your ministry, and that is focus on numbers. Focus on numbers.

In our American society, stats are a big deal. We care about the stock market. We care about sports. And so, we care about the numbers.

Sadly, that mentality creeps into a church, and people start to focus on the size of a church. They look at the number of people. They look at the size of the building. And they look at the size of the budget. People want the stats.

Well, if you want to grow a church and all you care about is the numbers, there’s a whole bunch of ways to do that. Books have been written on it.

Obviously having people repent and trust in Jesus Christ is a good thing. Having someone get baptized is a good thing. But when a church or a ministry gets consumed in the statistics of all that, if they’re using the numbers as the final gauge of their success, then they will inevitably begin to adjust their approach a bit to get more numbers. Their concern is no longer if they’re being faithful to Christ. They will assume they are being faithful because they’ve got more numbers. That’s called pragmatism. Do whatever it takes to get the numbers. If it gets results, then it must be right.

I’ve had a pastor tell me about revivals where pastors are charging fees based on how many conversions they can guarantee. I’ve heard about pastors and missionaries asking people generic or vague questions about faith, and then when people respond affirmatively, they get added to the tally of their converts, because it all looks better on paper. They get more numbers.

Why do used car salesmen have such a bad reputation? Because if they’re getting paid a commission on every sale they make, they don’t have an incentive to get you the best deal. In fact, they are incentivized to get you to pay more, not less. And so, that’s led to some shady practices and a general loss of credibility.

How tragic it is when Christians start doing the same kinds of things. They using what Paul referred to as “disgraceful, underhanded ways.” Paul was ashamed of those kinds of things. But it happened because teachers were more worried about the numbers—the numbers of attendees, the number of conversions, or the numbers in the budget. As one pastor put it, the emphasis is all on nickels and noses. Count the money and count the people. Nickels and noses.

But notice Paul’s final description in verse 3. Here’s the solution to that kind of mentality. His ministry did not come with any attempt to deceive. It was an honest message with an honest motive.

Paul wasn’t going to hide the difficult parts of the message just to make it appealing. He gave them the truth upfront. No matter how unglamourous the message was, he was going to tell it to them. He wasn’t trying to appeal to the largest audience. He simply wanted to be faithful to the message.

Look at verses 4 and 5. Paul expands on this idea. He says—But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.

Paul’s first and final concern was not what the people thought about him. It was what God thought about him. God had called him to that ministry. As he says, God had approved him for it, so his goal was to please God, not man.

Paul saw himself as a steward, a servant, a slave of Jesus Christ. It wasn’t his message; it was God’s. And what Paul wanted, most of all, was to be faithful. God, says Paul, would test his heart. God knew his true motives.

That’s why, as verse 5 says, Paul didn’t come with flattery or with a pretext for greed. He wasn’t in it for the money. Can you think of some preachers who are known for pursuing the money? I’m sure you can. They fly around in their private jets telling people how much God will bless them if they send them their money.

Rather than give themselves for the sheep, they’re taking from the sheep. The Bible doesn’t say it’s a sin to have a lot of money, but it does say we shouldn’t love it. It shouldn’t be the focus of our lives. And the church shouldn’t be a place where people are flashing their riches. In Paul’s day, women were putting gold and pearls in their hair. It looks different in every culture, but flashing money still happens.

Did you hear about the pastor in Brooklyn a couple weeks ago who got robbed at gunpoint while he was livestreaming his service? Ordinarily, we’d feel pity for someone when that happens. But when you find out that the pastor drives a Rolls-Royce, and that the jewelry they took from him and his wife could total over $1 million, it changes the way you see the pastor, doesn’t it?

One news article had a quote from the man since the robbery occurred, and this is what he said in response to people who were accusing him of being flashy. “It's not about me being flashy. It's about me purchasing what I want to purchase. It's my prerogative to purchase what I want to purchase. If I worked hard for it, I can purchase what I want to purchase.”

Well, it’s pretty hard to convince others you’re not a selfish person, when the last 4 sentences you used mention yourself 8 times. What kind of credibility does that kind of ministry have with most people? It’s not a good.

And yet, why does he still have a ministry and all that money? Because he knows how to play the game for himself. His focus is the numbers, and he knows how to use them. That’s not a faithful minister.

In 1 Peter 5:2, when Peter speaks to the elders of the church, he says do not shepherd the people for shameful gain. That must not be the motivation. In fact, the qualifications given for an elder or a pastor in 1 Timothy and in Titus says he must be free from the love of money, not fond of sordid gain.

When Paul says goodbye to the elders from Ephesus, he reminds them—I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

If you want your ministry to be meaningful, you need to be able to say the same thing. If all you care about is moving up the corporate ladder, and having all the best new toys, that’s going to discredit your ministry. People are going to know what your real priorities are, and this is either going to help affirm your ministry or discredit it.

Based on what your friends and your coworkers can see in your life, are you a selfish person or a selfless person? Whom are you serving? Do you live for yourself? Or do you live to serve God and others? Focus on the numbers, focus on the stats, focus on the money, and your ministry will be discredited.

Lastly, and this will be quick, and it’s connected to the previous one. Number 5: Make it about you. Make it about you.

You see, we can use our lives to point to God, or we can use God to point to us. Does that distinction make sense? We all face that danger, whether you're a pastor or not.

I’ve heard some people talk about God and talk about faith, but in all that the spotlight is on them. We need to fight against that.

We don’t want selfie Christianity, where the camera is only aimed at us. We want the camera, we want the spotlight on Jesus Christ. He has made us. He has saved us. He has died for us. He has been raised from the dead. He has redeemed us. And it’s all for the glory of God.

Don’t let the attitude that drives social media be the attitude that drives your ministry. Look at me. See how many followers I have. The heart of ministry is “Look at Christ. Look at Jesus Christ.”

Let’s close by seeing the heart of Paul in verse 6—Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Faithful ministry is focused not on your own glory, not on what you can say you accomplished, but on the glory of God in Jesus Christ. We’re not working for the admiration or the esteem of others. We’re working for the honor of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I think a good summary of this principle is humility. Humility. It’s not about us. It’s not about being served. It’s about serving. That’s what characterized Jesus’ ministry. Humility.

Paul was an Apostle. He was personally converted by the risen Lord Jesus. He was God’s chosen Apostle to the Gentiles. He was personally sent out by the Holy Spirit. But he didn’t use that to assert his own authority. It wasn’t about him.

Like it says in 1 Peter 5, he was not domineering over those in [his] charge, but [he was an example] to the flock. He led by example. If we wanted the people to work hard, he worked hard. If he wanted the people to love one another, he loved them. If he wanted them to proclaim Christ, he proclaimed Christ.

Paul’s idea of leadership was not stand in the front giving out orders. It wasn’t about getting people to do what he wanted. It was about honoring Christ and making Christ the focus. He didn’t want people to be impressed with him. He wanted them to be impressed with Jesus Christ.

That’s the heart of a true minister. And that’s the heart we need to be pursuing and helping others pursue. That’s what it means to be a faithful minister.

This world is never going to stop spreading lies about Jesus and about those who follow Him. But your life will either prove those accusations true or false. One day, the truth will come out for the glory of God. Let’s follow the example of Paul as he followed the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. And let’s pray God uses us to faithfully proclaim the message of Jesus Christ.