“As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming…” Ephesians 4:14
Paul’s concern for the churches he birthed or nurtured into maturity is evident throughout his writings. The body’s steadfastness was always on his mind and heart. One of his illustrations likened unequipped saints to so much debris the wind tosses during a storm, as the verse above declares (Ephesians 4:14).
When the wind comes in strong, it changes all that it overpowers. We’ve seen this in our region’s recent fast-moving storms. Destruction altered the landscape. Repairs can help, but much was lost or irreversibly altered. Strange enough, in a few years most will not remember what it looked like before this storm. New winds will demand our focus; history will blur under newer pressures.
Comparatively, Jude also spoke of stormy assaults on the faith once delivered (Jude 3,12-13). The destruction of the basic tenets of faith is still a goal of the enemy today. The church must be vigilant, to withstand that storm.
Jesus himself taught us the importance of hearing and heeding Him. Without our life’s foundation built firmly on Him, destruction is certain, and great (Luke 6:46-49).
The eleventh chapter of 2 Corinthians is a remarkable passage. Paul is speaking plainly to a congregation that has had their moments of victory, and seasons of compromise. Paul must upbraid them; they are so dull in discernment:
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. 2 Cor. 11:3-4 (NASB)
Paul then continues in that chapter to expose the false teachers’ methods. He makes an appeal to the Corinthians: pull yourself out of the weeds spiritually, and get back to following Christ and His true under-shepherds.
They had fleshly hearts that idolized a teacher’s “credentialling” and “boastful signs of victory.” Paul countered these false values by appealing to the Corinthians from his own “spiritual resume.” He recounted his weaknesses, and things he’d suffered for His Lord. Please note Paul’s greatest suffering, as he agonizingly revealed in verses 28-29:
Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? 2 Cor. 11:28-29 (NASB)
I want to try and summarize what Paul is getting at, in my own language: “Mark the true apostle by his overwhelming concern for you spiritually; and not for his own advancement, ease, popularity, or even skin. The true apostle is one that counts his physical assaults as nothing, compared to the burning in his heart for your steadfastness, growth, and unwavering proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord.”
Two friends are in my heart as I write today.
One has suffered the loss of all material goods, at the hands of the people he had come to serve. Everything. Gone. What would you think? His response is one of caring concern for the souls of those who now have more possessions, but do not possess the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. And what of his tiny flock, in this community?
The other is running a gauntlet of increased opposition, violence, threats and invented charges to shut down any gospel witness in his region. Physical assaults and property destructions are now common. Many have been driven away. What would you focus upon? His heart is for the battered believers, and shepherding them for their encouragement amid such fierce attacks. And, how to continue to present the gospel to those so numbingly blind?
I share these things to encourage you. Labor at maturing in your Spirit-given gifts of Faith, Knowledge, Wisdom and Discernment. The wind is steadily blowing here, and your foundation must be on Him, and not shifting sands.
Would you also commit with me to pray through Jeremiah 20:7-13? As you do, remember each other, and our brothers and sisters in fierce storms, now. May we be found glorifying God and making His Name known, regardless of the winds that would delight in tossing us about.
Cornerstone Community Church 