By Bill D. Whittaker
We must be able to say with the confidence expressed by Paul in these verses: Our calling, our ministry, derives from being “approved by God and trusted by God” to do his work. We are “apostles of Christ,” sent out on mission as His representatives. We do the work of ministry to please Him with the awareness that the Lord God is the one who “tests our hearts.” Church members and the non-believing community observe us but the ultimate accounting comes from “God as witness.”
The news carried the story of a family that had a Chinese bowl, purchased like a souvenir by a forbear on an overseas trip. It had been in the family for years; used on the table. If they were Baptists, they probably took it to fellowship meals. One day a family member decided to have the bowl appraised, and discovered it was an extremely rare Chinese antique, valued at millions. No more hash in that bowl.
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What a contrast that is with the appraisal God makes of us. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” With the ministry and us, the gospel is priceless while the vessel is weak, subject to breaks and flaws. Don’t be offended if someone calls your ministry idea a “crackpot notion.” When God uses clay pots he runs that risk. We are dispensable, replaceable. That’s why what we do can’t be grounded on anything other than the Lord God.
The famous Chicago evangelist D.L. Moody was once greeted by a drunk: “Hey, Mr. Moody, do you remember me? Mr. Moody, I’m one of your converts.” Moody said, “That’s the problem, you’re one of my converts, not God’s”
Ministry grounded on God is never vain — never empty.
Ground your ministry on God and you’ll be able to stand the trials. Paul did (v. 2). Acts 16 gives the account of the suffering referred to here—arrested unjustly, stripped of his clothing, beaten with rods, feet fastened in the stocks, thrown in the inner prison like a dangerous criminal. All of this because he cared about a slave girl possessed by demons. All because he proclaimed “the way of salvation,” and shared the “name of Jesus Christ.”
How did he respond? In prison Paul and Silas “were praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25). He didn’t send a message to Rome; he talked to the Father. He didn’t whine about his lost privileges; he exercised his praise.
Grounded on the Lord God we can also stand the trails. We can be “bold in our God” while feeling inadequate in our own resources. This is the testimony we give that His grace is sufficient. This is the confidence that declares, “With Christ I can do all things.”