Personality-based
ministries are one of my pet peeves. I
know it’s a prejudice, but I distrust them intensely. It has been very difficult for me to accept
Rick Warren. I’m still not entirely sold
on Bill Hybels. I never trusted Joel
Olsteen, from the moment someone mentioned his success in Houston to me. This is not my morning to remember names it
seems, but suffice it to say that when a human name is mentioned in relation to
a ministry before my Master I’m not their friend, not initially. And no, that’s not fair, and yes, I know that’s
a human prejudice.
I see in the
entry this morning a real good support for this view, except that I’m not sure I
really understand the point. It sounds
like Chambers is saying that unless sermons on salvation are preached, only the
preacher is glorified. That can’t be
right, but I’m wrestling with what Chambers meant by, “If we preach the effects
of Redemption in human life instead of the revelation regarding Jesus,
the result in those who listen is not new birth, but refined spiritual culture,
and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in another
domain.” I’m not sure what he means by
effects of Redemption in human life.
I don’t
think that the effects of Redemption should be the focus of ministry, but if
change does not happen as a result of Redemption, then was the person
redeemed? If the Spirit of my Master is
not able to affect change, is He present in that person’s life? The results of Redemption should point to the
person of Jesus. The results of
Redemption should be so dramatic they can’t be ascribed to human effort. And this does not mean that a person must
become perfect after being redeemed. I
am ample proof of that; I would have been discarded long ago.
But when
Chambers says that, if after a sermon, people go on and on about the preacher
rather than my Master, there’s a problem.
He says something very interesting, “What a wonderful personality! What
a fascinating man! Such marvellous insight! What chance has the Gospel of God
through all that?” I believe it is the
nature of people to look no further than the sphere of their eyesight for
something to worship. But I also believe
it is in the heart of people to desire more from their worship than can be
found on the ground they walk. People
want a priest who will go before God on their behalf so they won’t have to; to
be holy for them.
Can you imagine
the pain my Master feels when those He gave so much to enable to enter His
presence instead send another? When I can’t
be bothered, or I am ashamed of my sin I refuse to give up, or when I am afraid
of losing my identity on a cross, I lose far more than I am able to
retain. I hurt the heart of my Master, I
lose the peace and joy He has for me, and I reject any use I may be in His
Kingdom. It is the sacrifice of my
Master that provides the example I am to follow, and it leads into His presence. The goal, the place the journey leads, is
into His presence. It’s not about the journey;
it is truly about the destination.
Paul, my
frustrating and intimidating ministry model, says that he makes up in his body
what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.
I wrestle with what that means. I
struggle with thinking there is something lacking in the sufferings of Christ,
even as Paul suffers over the church, the body of Christ. He sees his role in ministry not about
himself at all, but about his Master and his Master’s body, the church. He endures whatever he must to care for his
Master’s body. So, here, the ends
justify the means. Another cliché that,
in this context, becomes true. So it is
about the destination rather than the journey, and the ends justify the
means. Perhaps only when the destination
and ends are Jesus.
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