"Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God," -2 Cor 3:1-3, 5
Not long after I became the senior pastor of the church I pastor I experienced one of my first trials as a pastor. However this trial did not come from inside the church but it came from outside of it. I had already been ordained by the previous pastor, and the elders, and the rest of the present body had laid hands on me in recognition of this calling. But apparently there was another "approval" that I needed to receive if I was to be legit (at least that's what I thought). I was to meet a regional pastor of another church get his approval or hand of recommendation then have my application with reference letters sent to the lead regional pastor for his approval. For the longest I had my application sent back to me to be revised and was encouraged to go to Bible college. I really felt like there was something else going on. When I checked on the regional website for my church the title I held was "Interim Pastor" I felt very discouraged as if I wasn't a real pastor or really called to be a pastor. I felt like David probably felt in the cave while running from Saul, David had been anointed but Saul wouldn't recognize that calling, yet David wasn't to force his way into the new role but trust in God to place him in it. It was a tough time for me mentally because I was trying to find my approval in a piece of paper and in another's hand of approval when I already had God's hand of approval in the church I pastored. The Lord just told me to leave it alone and find my sufficiency in Him and His calling on my life. I was to focus on what He called me to do as a pastor; to feed His sheep the people He had placed under me, and not worry about matters of external approval. Years later I happened to check the regional website just for fun and I noticed that my name was there now instead of Interim Pastor, but it didn't really do anything for me anymore because I was now sure of my calling.
Paul was being asked to provide letters of commendation by the church he had planted in Corinth, this no doubt came from instigation of the Judaizers and possibly other false teachers. But Paul responded by saying that they themselves, by the evidence of their changed lives were his letter of approval-his commendation, the thing that made him legit. They were open letters testifying of Christ through the work and investment Paul had devoted to them. A tree shall be known by its fruit and Paul had borne much fruit through them. Paul knew that in himself there was nothing special or in any letter of commendation but in God who made him sufficient for all things. God is the one who enables us to touch the lives of other people. It is in our fruit unto God that we find the evidence of our calling. We must find our calling in life, walk in it, and trust God through it. Find your sufficiency in God by impacting the lives of others through your own unique calling and let their lives be your letter of commendation.
Paul was being asked to provide letters of commendation by the church he had planted in Corinth, this no doubt came from instigation of the Judaizers and possibly other false teachers. But Paul responded by saying that they themselves, by the evidence of their changed lives were his letter of approval-his commendation, the thing that made him legit. They were open letters testifying of Christ through the work and investment Paul had devoted to them. A tree shall be known by its fruit and Paul had borne much fruit through them. Paul knew that in himself there was nothing special or in any letter of commendation but in God who made him sufficient for all things. God is the one who enables us to touch the lives of other people. It is in our fruit unto God that we find the evidence of our calling. We must find our calling in life, walk in it, and trust God through it. Find your sufficiency in God by impacting the lives of others through your own unique calling and let their lives be your letter of commendation.
- WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF YOUR CALLING? WHAT'S WRONG WITH AN OVEREMPHASIS ON A TITLE OR A DEGREE IN THE MINISTRY?
- "You don't lay a foundation for a skyscraper and then build a chicken coop on it" -Wiersbe W.