The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Thursday
February 7, 2008
Don't you know that those who work in the Temple get their meals from the
food brought to the Temple as offerings? And those who serve at the altar get a
share of the sacrificial offerings. In the same way, the Lord gave orders that
those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it.
Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest
that I would like to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my
distinction of preaching without charge. For preaching the Good News is not
something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me
if I didn't do it! If I were doing this of my own free will, then I would
deserve payment. But God has chosen me and given me this sacred trust, and I
have no choice. What then is my pay? It is the satisfaction I get from preaching
the Good News without expense to anyone, never demanding my rights as a
preacher. This means I am not bound to obey people just because they pay me, yet
I have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ.
1
Corinthians 9:13-19
When God first gave me the vision for Woes to Wows many years ago, the spark came from my own needs. I knew I needed counseling, but I couldn't afford it. Even when I went to a Mental Health Center it was not very helpful because my underlying need was spiritual. Then the Lord put another person in my path that had the same need. We laughed and talked about how wonderful it would be if someone would start a Christian Mental Health Center. Little did I know then that God was planting a seed for me to start just such a ministry.
I don't know how many of you watched the Judas movie on TV last week, but there were some things in there that were, of course, not recorded in the Bible, yet could very well have been true. For instance, Judas wanted to make money off the healings. Many ministries do make money off the very work God called them to do and that is not a bad thing. According to Paul, they should be supported and given a salary. Jesus wasn't, Paul wasn't, and I sure never have been.
Jesus was a carpenter. If I'm right, Mary Magdalene and other supporters carried the financial burden, but he wasn't "paid." Paul was a tent maker, but he didn't have offices or make a salary. Ditto for Woes to Wows. I am compelled to not only listen and love hurting people, but I am also compelled to write out of my own experiences and how God's Word applies to those experiences. Oswald Chambers' My Utmost… writes: "Watch for the storms of God. The only way God plants His saints is through the whirlwind of His storms. Will you be proved to be an empty pod with no seed inside? That will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of the vision you have seen. Let God send you out through His storm, and don't go until He does." That, my precious brothers and sisters, is a God thing.
Be encouraged…the storms come to make us strong and show us whether or not we are firmly planted in Him and compelled to serve!
Father, thank You for the storms that help us recognize that You are not in the storms, but that You work through them. Help us become mighty oaks for Your glory. Help us keep the compulsion to share You – with or without pay.
