Type:
by Joel E. Kim
With these words, Eugene Peterson begins his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society. He then continues, “A person who makes a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior does not find a crowd immediately forming to applaud the decision or old friends spontaneously gathering around to offer congratulations and counsel. Ordinarily there is nothing directly hostile, but an accumulation of puzzled disapproval and agnostic indifference constitutes, nevertheless, surprisingly formidable opposition.”1
This is true of ministry in general. I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by many who have become models for me as a Christian and as a leader of an institution. My first and favorite lesson so far is that leadership is the art of disappointing people at a rate that they can stand. This has been very difficult being the people-pleaser that I am. The second is related: leadership is keeping the main things, the main things. Perhaps you feel this way. You walk into your office thinking about ABC and the whole day is spent on XYZ. Or the priorities of the family end up playing second fiddle to what’s more wanted or seemingly popular. Churches and institutions drift from their main mission due to good but secondary priorities and needs. Our culture keeps telling us that there are more important things and more pressing matters that should occupy our time and attention.
If this is as true for you as it is for me, we need to listen to Paul from 1 Corinthians. Paul offers a cultural diagnosis in this passage. For Christians in Corinth, cultural pressures and expectations were immense. The city of Corinth was the chief city of its region, a hub of commercial activity, a gathering place for many who were hungry for socioeconomic and political advancement. Power was often expressed in military might, financial abundance, political status, or social standing. Even the desire for wisdom, a commodity treasured and desired, was not street smarts or practical abilities, but the ability to “make sense” of life, systems that plausibly but, ultimately, futilely explained life—albeit with wit, eloquence, and persuasiveness.
At its core, the desire for power and wisdom was about becoming somebody. Wisdom and power were gained not by careful study or life experiences but, often, by knowing the right people. Called the patronage system, where “who you know” was much more important than “what you do,” impressing others provided a way to scramble up the social ladder. Powerful patrons and benefactors provided their clients with money, contacts, and inclusion. In return, clients were expected to be loyal to their benefactors, promote their reputation for honor and generosity, and play the endless game of carefully calibrated self-promotion.
Even if this described the prevailing culture, surely the church in Corinth was different? Unfortunately, no. The social pressures upon the church and individual believers were immense, and these cultural priorities were shaping them. Instead of the culture being saturated by the power of the gospel, the churches and the Christians therein were being transformed by the power of society’s cultural priorities. A church full of people who are hungry to impress others and climb a little higher up the scales of social status will not be a church characterized by deep spiritual maturity and unity. This is why one of the issues tackled by Paul in 1 Corinthians was the division over whom the congregation chose to follow: “For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ’” (1 Cor 1:11–12). It seems the Corinthian believers were unimpressed with Paul’s lack of “eloquent wisdom” (1 Cor 1:17) and his appearance of weakness and meekness before them (1 Cor 2:3; 2 Cor 10:10).
The Christians in Corinth were distracted, following the priorities and demands of the world around them. When both temptations and distractions are many, how do we as ministers and leaders keep the main thing, the main thing?
We want to listen to Paul by focusing on two rich images in two passages known for their focus on Paul as a minister. First is the image of servants and stewards in 1 Corinthians 4:
This is how one should regard us, as servants and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. —1 Corinthians 4:1–4
Paul employs two descriptions, often translated as “servants” and “stewards,” and declares that this is how he regards himself and his ministry. We can say that the word “servant” often means an assistant or junior officer—in classic Greek, an “under-rower.” We can also point out that “stewards” usually implies managing a household (often a slave) or even an estate manager—someone who handles the money and affairs of a household. But for this message, we want to focus on two implications of these images: delegated authority and divine accountability.
First, the ministers and leaders in the church have delegated authority. In other words, Paul and other leaders of the church have no authority on their own. Of course, they were entrusted with something precious: “the mysteries of God.” But it is important to remember that Paul was not an independent guru or an extraordinarily gifted leader—any and all authority that ministers and leaders in the church possessed were given to them by Christ Jesus our Lord. Those of us who teach and the seminarians who study here need to hear this over and over again: we are mere servants, and we serve one master.
As a servant, Paul speaks of one specific responsibility: to be stewards of the mysteries of God. Note well that both the call to ministry and the message are received and given, not self-introduced or self-produced. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:7: “But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” Paul is not saying that the gospel is mysterious, but reminding the mystery- and wisdom-seeking Corinthians that the real mystery is God’s plan of salvation that was hidden in the ages past and is now revealed in Christ Jesus. In an age craving for wisdom, this is the revelation of God’s wisdom preached by Paul: Jesus Christ and Him crucified (cf. Col 1:25–28).
Him we proclaim—only and always. This is what we are called to do—exalting him in our preaching and teaching, displaying him in our lives and our conduct.
Second, ministers and leaders in the church are accountable to one. More precisely, they are accountable to the One. If Paul and his fellow apostles are “servants” and “stewards,” possessing authority not of their own, two questions naturally follow: first, to whom are they accountable? Second, on what basis will they be judged?
Many in the church of Corinth seem to have judged Paul already as someone unworthy. But that is of no concern to Paul. Paul is not being dismissive or denying the importance of wise and godly counsel from others.
Sometimes, the acceptance and approval of others may be a guide and encouragement, but often it can lead ministers and leaders astray. Our judgments are easily guided by the priorities this culture glorifies, even deifies: winning and winners, optimized efficiency, impact and influence, size and success, busy-ness and popularity. The game of comparison is constantly played in our heads.
In addition, the self is not the boss: “In fact, I do not even judge myself” (1 Cor 4:3). Our emotions about ourselves are unreliable and our view of self changes constantly, always filled with the desire for better, more, and greater— even on our best days. Feeling good or bad about our own ministry may have some value, but it has no ultimate significance.
Then whose approval do we seek? “It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor 4:5). What matters to Paul is what his Master thinks. And the only judgment that counts is the final one (see 4:5). The new reality in Christ has already begun and the present-day preoccupation with human judgments is passing away, giving proper place to the judgment of God. Thus, what the Corinthian church was doing, in judging Paul and the apostles, was “beyond their paygrade.”
God is the only judge, the only Lord. And how does the Lord judge? By the servant’s faithfulness (cf 1 Cor 4:2). What is required? Not eloquence. Not wisdom. Not one’s presence and strength. Not “leadership.” Not wealth. Not prominence or impact. What is needed is simply to “be found faithful.” It is always worth reminding ourselves that godliness is more important than giftedness, and that faithfulness is more needed in the church than accomplishments.
In addition to servants and stewards, Paul uses another powerful imagery— that of a nursing mother:
But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. —1 Thessalonians 2:7–8
In what is certainly one of Paul’s “richest descriptions” of ministry, Paul—as he does in Corinthians—describes a ministry that is not beholden to popularity but focused on God. Then Paul describes a servant who pleases God as someone who is “gentle among them.” There is a lot of discussion about the translation “gentle” because it is possible to translate the term as “infant” based on a textual variant.
But for our purposes, I want to draw your attention to an example of what this gentleness looks like in ministry.
Paul states that ministers and leaders should serve like a nursing mother. The word behind “nursing mother” is not the usual word for a mother but more technically a “wet nurse,” someone often hired in the ancient world to nourish and nurture children. But our translation rightly highlights the relationship between the infant and the wet nurse: she is taking care of her own children. What is emphasized by this metaphor? The love that a servant has for the people of God.
A servant is like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. The translation “taking care” seems to simply focus on the needs of the children being met. But the term is even more intimate—it is a rare word that implies something akin to “cherish.” This love for her own child is reinforced in verse 8 as the whole verse is enveloped by love. It begins with “being affectionately desirous of you,” and this is complemented by the closing phrase, “you had become very dear [or “beloved”] to us.” This is certainly not the image of someone who is hoping to use people for his own gain through flattery, nor is this an image of someone who is a thief or a robber or a hired hand (cf. John 10), but rather a lasting and present love and longing for Paul’s congregation.
This is powerful imagery. I recently read the book, Please Look After Mom, by Kyung-Sook Shin, a novel translated from the original in Korean. It’s about a family whose mother disappears and the family’s struggles with their loss and what they missed about her. The author uses “mom” as a motif that ties chapters together. In one description, the daughter explains, “The word ‘Mom’ is familiar and it hides a plea: Please look after me. Please stop yelling at me and stroke my head; please be on my side, whether I’m right or wrong. You never stopped calling her Mom. Even now, when Mom’s missing. When you call our ‘Mom,’ you want to believe that she’s healthy. That Mom is strong. That Mom isn’t fazed by anything. That Mom is the person you want to call whenever you despair about something in the city.”
For Paul, love for other people—the sheep under his care—is an indispensable requirement for ministry. This is not because ministering to people is easy. As many of us know well, sheep do bite! We read about Demas who was initially an important figure among Paul’s inner circle, his “fellow worker,” someone who was with Paul when he was in prison as Paul’s final greetings indicate in his letters to the Colossians and Philemon. Not much is known about Demas except that he ultimately abandoned Paul and, seemingly, his faith: “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica” (2 Tim 4:10). People often make ministry hard.
Yet ministry is not a detached, disengaged, intellectual pursuit of preaching and teaching. It is about life lived together, holiness modeled, and love shared. As Paul says of his own ministry that he and his fellow servants were “ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves” (1 Thess 2:8). This means that ministry requires coming near the congregation. It does not stand apart but serves from within so that we can “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom 15:12). As John Calvin comments on this passage, “In the mean time, we must bear in mind, that all that would be ranked among true pastors must exercise this disposition of Paul—to have more regard to the welfare of the Church than to their own life, and not be impelled to duty by a regard to their own advantage, but by a sincere love to those to whom they know that they are conjoined, and laid under obligation.”
One book I enjoyed reading was Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson by D. A. Carson, a well-known New Testament scholar. The book is about his father, Tom Carson, who labored faithfully but without distinction in Quebec. Perhaps it speaks to me so powerfully because my father was also a pastor. The biography ends with these words: “When he died, there were no crowds outside the hospital, no editorial comments in the papers, no announcements on television, no mention in Parliament, no attention paid by the nation. In his hospital room there was no one by his bedside.
There was only the quiet hiss of oxygen, vainly venting because he had stopped breathing and would never need it again…But on the other side all the trumpets sounded. Dad won entrance to the only throne room that matters, not because he was a good man or a great man—he was, after all, a most ordinary pastor—but because he was a forgiven man. And he heard the voice of him whom he longed to hear saying, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.’”2
Our hope and prayer is that we as faculty and staff along with our students will be like servants, stewards, and nursing mothers, who remain faithful to the Lord and to His Word and love the church as Christ loved the church.
This article is from our Summer 2024 edition of UPDATE Magazine, Grateful & Hopeful: Faithfully Stewarding God’s Gifts to the Seminary.
