A number of years ago I was challenged by the following words from an anonymous preacher: “Wherever the apostle Paul went, there was a riot [after he preached]. Wherever I go, they serve tea.” On a more personal note, when I preach, there is sometimes a potluck afterwards. My aim is not to put-down tea or potlucks. My aim is to point out Paul’s faith was firm and durable, not fragile and easily broken. The gospel Paul preached promised a crown in the hereafter, but the path to that crown called for taking up a cross of self-denial and possible suffering in the here-and-now. Late in Paul’s career, after years of self-denial and suffering, he urges Timothy, his partner in the gospel, on with these words in 2 Timothy:8-10 – “Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” Preaching Christ brought Paul as much trouble as it did triumph, more loss than gain (materially), and as much suffering as personal satisfaction. So how was he able to prove tougher than anything the devil and demons in hell could brew up and throw at him? The key words of the text quoted above reveal the secret to his “stick-to-it, see-it-through, finish-the-race” at all costs mentality – “Jesus Christ ... raised from the dead ... the word of God is not chained ... obtain the salvation in Christ Jesus ... eternal glory.” Paul believed what he preached! His soul was soaked in convictions about Jesus Christ and the reality of Christ’s triumph over death and the tomb; convictions about, heaven, hell and the salvation of souls in eternity. Convictions so dyed into the fabric of his soul they couldn’t be beaten out of him. Convictions so powerful that prisons and unpopularity and suffering couldn’t lessen or eliminate them or make him quit his faith or his ministry. Paul’s faith was a force in his life. It proved stronger and more firm than any foe he ever faced or suffering he ever endured.
John Piper, an American Reformed Baptist preacher and author, gave a speech in 1989 at a conference to an assortment of denominational preachers. The speech was entitled, “Brothers, We Must Not Mind a Little Suffering.” He stated, “One of the pervasive marks of our time is emotional fragility. I feel as though it is hung in the air we breathe. We are easily hurt. We pout and mope easily. We break easily. Our marriages break easily. Our happiness breaks easily. And our commitment to the church breaks easily. We are easily disheartened, and it seems we have little capacity for surviving and thriving in the face of criticism and opposition ... We need help here. We are surrounded by a society of emotionally fragile quitters ...” Those words jar me and compel me to ask questions about my own faith (will you ask them, too?): Is my own faith firm and durable, like a piece of tough leather? Or is it fragile and flimsy, as easily broken as a thin piece of peanut brittle? How “emotionally fragile” am I? Are my feelings easily hurt? How much time do I spend pouting and moping? How easily is my commitment to the church broken? Do I not only survive but thrive in the face of criticism and opposition? Jesus Christ was not an emotionally fragile Savior. Paul was not an emotionally fragile Christian. The question here is not is your faith too fragile to die for Jesus. The question is, is your faith too fragile to live for Him? What are you willing to endure now in order to secure eternal glory in eternity? Is your faith fragile, or firm? Just asking.
Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
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