Some Ministerial Thoughts

I read about Abraham Lincoln. He was a humble man with a sad, sad face, who was renowned for his folksy humor, unfailingly gracious to all.

One night he came to see his general, George McClellan. The general, a brilliant young man of 31, was not at home. Lincoln resolved to wait. When McClellan got home, he gave barely a glance at his waiting guest, walked up to his room. Lincoln, assuming he was changing and would come back, waited some more. About a quarter of an hour later, the maid announced to Lincoln that McClellan had gone to bed. It was a deliberate snub to the president, a man chronically underestimated.

Lincoln responded not with anger or bitterness. When his aide, who had accompanied him, bristled with indignation, Lincoln said, "I will put up with many more snubs from Gen. McClellan, if it would but restore the Union."

I tell this story only because tonight, a guy I have been working with gave me the serious snuberooski! I knocked on his door tonight, hoping to say hi really fast, because he had backed out of Bible study, saying he was swamped with homework. I happened to be in his suite so I thought I would stop by. The doors have peepholes, and of course if the lights are on you can always tell when someone looks into the peephole. After I knocked, he looked into the peephole, but did not open the door!

Ah, I love the kid, and I have been praying for him a lot. He's been swaying back and forth between the world and the Lord lately, and I hope this isn't a sign that he's chosen the world...

Offense comes from my sense of my rights. If I have a high sense of my own rights, than I will find myself easily offended. But what am I, anyways? Paul has some thoughts for me here:

We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, we are dishonored. To this very hour, we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure it. When we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment, we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

Elsewhere, he speaks boldly of his rights:

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

I won't try to apply this generally, but I know that it applies to me as a minister of the gospel. Therefore, I will endure this and much more, but only for the sake of the gospel, that I might share in its benefits. I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself may not be disqualified for the prize.