Concern For All the Churches
This is an article which I wrote that will appear in next weeks Craig Daily Press.
2 Corinthians 11:28, “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”
The great apostle Paul most definitely had the heart of a pastor. Even though he himself had only pastored at Ephesus for three years and at Corinth for around eighteen months, Paul’s concern for those churches and in fact all the churches were great. Paul suffered greatly. In fact, in the preceding verses here in 2 Corinthians 11, beginning in verse 24 he gives his litany of suffering: “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” What a list of suffering, but his greatest suffering is given to us in verse 28, “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.” Paul’s greatest concern was for the health of the churches that were under his care.
I can identify with Paul. While I only have one church that I am directly responsible for, I have a great concern for the church in my community, state, nation, and in the world. I am under great conviction that the church – especially here in the United States and locally – has lost its saltiness. The church has become far too concerned with its image before the world. The largest protestant denomination in the world at one of its last gatherings kept repeating the mantra, “the world is watching.” Yes, the world is watching but what the world needs to see is not just another organization that is like every other organization. The world needs to see an organization that is radically different from the world. The world needs to see a church that is governed by Biblical principles, not by marketing strategies, or self-help and psychological philosophies. The world needs to see a church that turns to God as He reveals Himself in His Word, for answers and not to the wisdom of the world.
I firmly believe that the condition of our nation and the condition of our community – which by any metric is not good – is a direct result of the fact that the church locally has abdicated its responsibility to be light in a dark world. Instead, too many churches are too concerned with being entertaining and relevant. What we need are churches that are led by Biblically qualified men who are burning with a deep conviction to preach and teach the Word of God even if that means they will be rejected by many people. Only when this happens in our community and in the church at large will the trajectory of this nation, and our own community change for the better. Join me in praying for the church both here in the Yampa Valley and across the United States and the world.
Tim Adams
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