16Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; th...ere is nothing false about him. John 7:16-18
The hardest thing and most vital thing anyone who is called to be a minister of the Most High must learn to do (in addition to pray) is to walk before God and not before man. The man of God must not be swayed by the opinion of the people whether positive or negative but must continally seek to gain God's approval.
The man must be a servant of all to be great and a slave if he is to be first (Mark 10:42-43)
He must bear in love and be able to endure persecution and slander from amongst his own brothers and sisters in the body and then the world. He must allow himself to be stepped on in order for others to see Christ.
Lets take two people who made the greatest impact for God.
Jesus Christ Himself was the most EXALTED of ALL HUMANS. Yet many considered him demon possessed and crazy in His time (John 7) He was discredited by the "church" (or the equivalent during the time since the real church was not born until Christ died. A better description would be the institution that was supposed to stand for God) through the major religious leaders.
1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me 1 Cor. 4:1-4
Paul made himself a SLAVE to all and considered himself to have no rights. He truly walked before God and did not care if he was judged by people!
The churches that he started would turn on him and call him a fake even though he was the real deal! (read 1+2 Cor for reference)
. 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 2 cor 6:4-8
He daily faced the burden of the churches all over the world whether they loved or hated him whether the accepted or rejected him (2 Cor 11:28). His only goal was to present a pure bride to Christ 2 Cor. 11:2)!
1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me 1 Cor. 4:1-4
Many look at numbers as a sign of a sucessful minister. Though this could be a good sign many times it is not true. For the man of truth the definition of a sucessful ministry would be for him to walk before God without compromise despite the numbers till the very end. (Lets rememeber Jeremiah, who walked before God during his whole ministry yet had a grand total of 1 convert that is described or a small handful if any)
Going back to being a servant of all:
Jesus was the greatest servant who held the whole world PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE under Him in the one critical moment on the cross in human history!
The cross of Christ was literally THE WORLD on His shoulders. WHat helps me is the greek myth of Atlus who held the world up. I imagine that in Jesus x290293209
Christ was truly the strongest since no one had the Spiritual strength to do what He did but Christ Himself.
But WE ARE CALLED TO BE LIKE HIM.
This is the analogy I have thought of:
The human pyramid.
THe one top gets the glory but is always the weakest and smallest
The ones at the bottom are the strongest and get no glory
though in reality the bottom ones are the most important.
in the same way the spiritually weak are held up by the spiritually strong who allow themselves to bear the weight of the weak at their own expense
They bear with the weak's sins until the weak can mature and start to support others for themselves.
The stronger you are, the LOWER you go!
This is what discipleship is or a good part of it bearing with infants until they are strong enough to take up their cross and follow Christ!
Many Christians can do no work for Christ simply because they are still trying to DENY themselves!
