Three Lessons Learned in the Ministry

Well, you know, when Debbie and I and our family moved here, it's almost 29 years now, March 1st, 2012. It'll be 29 years that we moved to Indiana, drove up the interstate in a U-Haul truck with Debbie in tow in her car with two small boys and a cat, and came to Indiana, it's hard to believe, but 29 years ago, you know, at that time, which was 1983, Ronald Reagan was in his second year as President of the United States. None of us carried cell phones. The Internet was something we probably thought we might need to go fishing with.

Steve Jobs had not yet introduced the Macintosh computer. Our children were four and seven. Now, today, Ryan has a four-year-old, okay? And some of you, even in this room, weren't even born when we first came to Indiana. Others of you were still teenagers and still making up your mind about God and the church and life and many other things, but things have moved along. Wilma Wise wasn't wearing headphones in church and listening to rock music at that time. We've got to check out what she's listening to. I'm just a little worried that Wilma's gone modern on us with her headphones there. But anyway, Ellen Harrington was still playing the piano, but a lot of years have gone by. And we are today—I'm 60 and Debbie's not. And people have come and gone. We're all still here. We're still in the faith, still believing what we believed and worshiping God. So, you know, today for us is really not a good buy or a farewell. As far as I'm concerned, it's just to see you later.

We've not seen the last of each other. We'll see some of you at camp, weekends. You may make your way through, oh, Cincinnati. We may make our way back up through here at some point in the future. You never know. Our paths for many of us will cross again. I also recognize that for some of you, our paths may never cross again. And time and age and chance has a way of doing that. But when we've kind of thought this through in many different ways, after 29 years to at least in one location, save a five-year gap there, it's amazing that we still are friends and that we—somebody still comes and listens to me and shows up at church. So that's an accomplishment anyway. When I gave my first sermon on the first Sabbath we were here in Fort Wayne, I told you, and some of you may remember, because some of you were there, I told you an old Arab proverb which goes that you never really know someone until you've eaten a peck of salt with them. You never know someone until you've eaten a peck of salt.

And we went to dinner at the Bortons that night, and Janet Borton put a bowl of salt in front of me when I sat down there. She was listening that day. But, you know, over the years I think we've eaten more than a peck of salt together. Brethren, we've eaten so much salt together that we all have high blood pressure now with all the meals that we've had. A lot has occurred, many changes have taken place.

And as I thought about what I wanted to say as my final sermon as your pastor, I thought I had many thoughts and many different memories, but I've narrowed it down to three lessons that I'd just like to pass on to you here this morning. I could have had five, maybe ten, but we don't have time for that. I promised you that we would cut this off a little short this morning. But I'd like to leave you with three lessons that I've learned in the ministry and in the church over the years. And this isn't just because of my years in Indiana, but I've been in the ministry now 38 years. And so we've had a number of experiences. We've known a number of people through the – over the years. A lot of people have come and gone. And yet the truth endures. God's kingdom is still our goal. The first lesson that I'd like to pass along to you is to, brethren, treasure, guard, and cultivate your integrity. Treasure, guard, and cultivate your integrity, both personal and spiritual.

We live in a time of cheap compromise and shallow experiences in our culture. Too many people are not willing to put in the time to build the type of character that's needed to deal with the challenges that life will throw at all of us at any time. And to deal with those challenges will always take character, a stiff backbone, a stiff upper lip. It takes character. Sometimes even among ourselves in the church, as a people, we shy away from pursuing what the Bible calls holiness and being a holy people.

We shy away from that, to living a life of devotion, spiritual devotion to God. That's hard. That's hard. Our culture does not cultivate that within us. And even our church culture has not come up to encourage and to inspire that to the degree that I think God's beginning to lead us to emphasize. But holiness is very important to God. We play church sometimes once a week and when it's convenient, but we have to be careful that we don't fail to relate to everyone and to God every other day of the week.

And that everything that we do in our homes, at work, at school, and with friends is of a holy character. We post on Facebook, we tweet on Twitter, and we think we've communicated. And we haven't. Don't ever think that social media, as important and valuable a tool as it is, is the end-all and be-all of communication. Remember that it does take a while to eat a peck of salt together. But peck of salt is a lot of salt. And you do that over a table, you do that sharing a meal, you do that one-to-one.

You don't do that on the Internet. God's called us all to be a holy people. And that's the essence of the Kingdom of God. I'd like for you to turn back to 1 Samuel 12. This is the story of the changeover, the transition in Israel when they wanted a king.

And the Israelite leaders had gone to Samuel and said, Give us a king like the other people have. We want to be like Mike, Mikey, down the street. We want a king. And Samuel thought he was being rejected, and he'd failed. God said, They've not rejected you, Samuel. They rejected me. And so, after picking Saul and coming down to it, Samuel had some final words that he wanted to say to the brethren, to the members, to the Israelites.

And in 1 Samuel 12, he called them all together. And he tells them, I'm doing what you've asked, and here's a king. And he goes on and tells them what that king's going to do to them. He's going to take your sons, and he's going to tax you and whatever. But before he got to that, in verse 2, he said, I'm old and gray-headed, and look, my sons are with you. I walked before you from my childhood to this day. And Samuel had, remember. He was taken as a child to the temple, or the tabernacle, by his mother, Hannah, and left there, dedicated to the temple.

So he grew up in the spiritual, political center of Israel. He was known, and he became their prophet, their spokesperson, between them and God. And he said, I've walked with you before you from my childhood. Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed. He says, whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I cheated? You know, we could say today, whose money have we taken?

Who have we sponged off of? Who have we taken from? And he's saying, essentially, nobody could come forward. He said, whom have I oppressed? We could say today, whom have I abused? Whom have I mistreated? Or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? Nobody came forward. He said, you can produce evidence. Essentially, he's saying, I'll restore it to you. Nobody did, because he hadn't done that. Samuel could stand before the people in integrity, real integrity. He had not succumbed to the powers of his office in his position. He had not been bribed. He had been fair at his judgments.

Nobody could slip him something behind the tent and sway his mind. He wasn't on the take with anybody. He had not coveted. He had not let physical things get to the point where, you know, he was tempted to take something that was not his by right of his office. He didn't do it. We, you know, where do you want to start today? To find examples of greed, to find examples of people who have been bribed. You know, in today's life and world, there's too many ways by which past mistakes can be brought out.

Not that all of them should be. I'm not saying that they should. But in Samuel's day, he basically stood before them and he said, I've not cheated you. I've not abused you. I've treated you well. He had that type of an integrity. He had clean hands before them and a clean conscience. I can say the same thing before you today. I have a clean conscience, and my dealings with you and the way we have worked together, I can stand in the same way.

So I pass that along to you because our integrity as a person, our spiritual character, is at the end of the day what we have to live with. In the dark of night, when we're all by ourselves and we know what we've said, we know what we've done, we know who we are, that's what's most important.

And that will dictate so much of what we do in the daylight and what we do in our lives. And if that is important to you, then your relationship with God will stand the test. And our enemy, our spiritual enemy, Satan, will not be able to exploit our lives because he knows exactly where we have compromised, and he will ensure that there is a temptation in front of us to exploit that weakness that any of us have that we could succumb to at any given point in time. He knows that.

And that's why inner integrity, character, is what is so important. Keep it. He's not ignorant of our compromises, and we should not be ignorant of his devices. Live an honest life before God, one that is filled with sincerity and in truth. Lesson number two. Live by the Bible and stand behind his word, not yours, not your word, not your opinion. Live by the Bible and stand behind it. As a minister, I've had to learn to preach the Bible.

When I stand, when I preach what this book says, when I teach its laws, its principles, this is the authority, this is the only authority any minister ever has to stand before anybody and teach. Whenever we step from behind this and rely on our own opinion, our view of the world, or whatever is totally, not that we don't have our own opinions or whatever, but it's always a challenge for a minister, a speaker in any teaching situation, to twist the Scripture, to twist a story or an idea to fit the moment, to fit a time or frustration.

And not that I haven't done that at various times. But when I have, I've made a mistake in handling the Word of God, because no one should ever read into the Bible their point of view, their opinion, or use it for anything other than what God intended. Now that's a temptation for anyone who claims to speak by the authority of this book. But what I've learned, I'm saying, after 38 years, is that when I stand on this authority, and I use this in my dealings, in my teaching, I'm on safe ground. And so are you. So are you.

It's when we stray from that that we can get in trouble. We can stray from the path of God, from principled living, from, again, integrity and ethical conduct and lawful conduct. When I preach from that, when I write from that, when I speak from that, I'm on safe ground. And any and all ministers should know that. Most come to learn that, but the ones that endure and stay around will learn that. But if you learn that as well, then you will be on solid ground. When you go over to Acts 20, and you read what Paul said to the elders of the church when he was giving them a farewell address in Acts 20, begins in verse 17. He gathered the elders in the city of Ephesus, and he had spent some time there. He knew them quite well, and he was passing through, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be there again. And so he wanted to give them some words of encouragement and instruction. And he begins in verse 18, he says, You know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I have always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house. Testifying to the Jews and to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I go in the Spirit to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me. And so he was moved to say what he did here. He wanted to finish his race with joy down in verse 24, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

And indeed now I know that you all among whom I have gone, preaching the kingdom of God will see my face no more. He says, therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. So like Samuel, Paul is basically saying, you know, I've not wronged you. I've treated you fairly. And I am innocent of anything here and what has happened. But I wanted to focus on verse 27. He says, I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. The whole counsel of God. He taught them the Bible, the Scriptures, such as they were at that time, which is what we would call today the Old Testament Scriptures. But as you would know from reading Paul's letters, he took the Old Testament to a much deeper level than they could even imagine.

Because what shows up in his letters is teaching and understanding, extracting out of those Old Testament Scriptures, understanding that nobody had at the time. Paul was a unique individual. But he said, I've given you the whole counsel of God. Again, any minister that strays beyond the counsel of God, it gets on shaky territory.

And so you've got to be careful. And so I've learned not to go beyond that and not to get caught up in something that for a moment, for a time, you know, there are moments of frustration that come at any point in the life of a church. And there's always a temptation to tell a story or to extract verses from the Bible and start beating people over the head with it. You ever been beaten over the head with the Bible? Well, you probably have, because I've probably done it myself over the years. And what I'm saying is I've learned not to do that. Just let the word stand for itself. Now, there's a time and place to be corrective and to deal with things. But be very, very careful how that comes out. Be very, very careful. Well, Paul goes on to give him other warnings. But what he said to them there in verse 27, to not, you know, that he had given them the whole counsel of God. He'd used the Scriptures wisely and before them. And when he did that, he knew that he was on good, solid, safe ground. And that is what's most important. And so, if you go jump down to verse 32, one of the things he says here is just a beautiful, beautiful section. He said, Now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. This was kind of a blessing that Paul gave them.

He commended them to God. They were in His hands. And to the word of His grace, the word of grace comes from all of the Bible, all of the teachings of God, all of which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. He too said in verse 33, I've coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me. Paul had a unique talent as a tent maker. And there were times when he employed that trade to pay his expenses rather than take money from the church. He was not above taking money in terms of tithes or offerings from the church, and he did that too. But he gauged his group at various times, and it was with the Corinthians especially at one point that he said it was wise he made a judgment that it was wise not to take the money, and he supported himself. He knew their attitudes, and they needed to grow and develop, and so for that time he didn't do it. But he supported himself, and he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had said these things, he knelt down, and he prayed with them all. Then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more, and they accompanied him to the ship.

Lesson number three.

Let no man take your crown.

Let no man take your crown.

You will recognize this as a statement that Christ makes in Revelation 3 to the church at Philadelphia. Let no man take your crown.

We have quoted that. We have slung it out there at times. It sometimes is used as an epithet toward the ministry or toward someone else who may be doing harm in the church. But, you know, it has, I think, an interesting teaching there. I think that learning and understanding what Jesus meant takes a long time and a lot of maturity when he said, Let no man take your crown.

You know, we've had several weeks to think about a lot of things once we realized we were going to be moving and going on to a different job.

And, again, 28, 29 years in one area running between two congregations. And we were here about seven years. Then we left in 1990 and came back in 95. We left again in 96, I guess it was, and then came back sometime in 96 or 97. I can't forgot exactly and have been here since. So I've got to have a distinction of about the only minister that's now left the church, said goodbye to the church, three times.

I don't know of anybody else in the church of God in our time that has done that, but three times for me to leave. And I think this time I'm gone. I will go and not come back as the pastor. Mike Wolf is laughing. That's okay.

He doesn't believe me.

Who knows, Mike? We might need to meet up again one more time. But at any rate, three times. I have to tell you, there's a Gilberton-Sullivan operatic called Pirates of Penzance. And there's a song in there. Some policemen are supposed to go and look for the bad guys.

And they are in the courtyard of the Lord of the Manor. And there's songs saying they're going to go and do what they're supposed to do. And they say, we go, we go, we go. But they don't go. They don't leave. They keep marching around singing this stupid song. We go, we go, we go. And the Lord of the Manor says, but you don't go.

Yes, but they don't go. It keeps going back. But finally they leave. And so I, Debbie and I were laughing about this the other day. The some of you in Fort Wayne are probably saying, yes, but you don't go.

So we're going again.

But, you know, the biggest problems that I have had over the years with people have been when someone wanted something from me that I could not give or I would not give.

Okay? Let's make that, put that statement out to think about.

You know, 38 years in this job, and not just here, but Indianapolis, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, where I've worked, a lot of people, a lot of stories and situations.

And, you know, a minister in a congregation has certain responsibilities and the authority to designate this and that and so and so to do this and shift things around. And it happens. You know, there's organization that has to be done and decisions made about people and to ordain so and so, not to ordain so and so, to have someone do this or give this opportunity to someone or to remove this opportunity from someone. And it just, that's the life of a group of people in a church and what happens. And sometimes people get their nose bent out of shape. And sometimes people don't like the decision that is made. And sometimes the ministry and sometimes I have made mistakes. I know my mistakes and I've made my share. And I've made my share of good decisions and successes as well. But when I look at, over the years, the biggest problems I've had, very often those, the big ones that seem to, that don't get solved. Because some problems get solved. I will tell you, being around long enough, as I have in an area, you have problems and you stay long enough, sometimes God's Spirit just works around reconciliation. Years ago we used to move ministers more often, like every three to five to seven years. And that was kind of the way it was done. Well, we had seven years here and we've had 21 straight in Indianapolis.

And sometimes people get crossways with you. And we've cycled through problem, reconciliation, forgiveness. One of the things I've learned is, if you stay long enough in a situation as a minister, in this case, you can work through a problem, where somebody may take off something, leave the church, or go to another congregation, or just go off in a corner. They're there, but they're not there. You know what I mean? And I didn't go anywhere or I didn't change whatever happened. Sometimes, and this has been a rewarding thing and it's been a maturing thing for me, and I think for others, is that to realize you can work through a problem and a conflict, and you can reach resolution. It can be done in the human sphere. It can be done in the church business. I've seen it happen. Where God's Spirit and a converted mind and heart are at work. It can happen. Now, sometimes it doesn't, at least at a particular point in time, and people move on.

But sometimes, as I've analyzed conflict and some of the ones that I've had with people, it's very often, the biggest ones, sometimes the most insolvable ones, are because somebody wanted something from me that I couldn't give, or I would not. I made a decision, I won't do this. And, you know, you fill in the blank. It can be everything from money to an office to an ordination to just, you know, passing out songbooks. Sometimes, you know, I recognize those are all jobs and responsibilities and needs, and sometimes what we think are this, maybe from my point of view, the simplest things are, they mean a lot to people. And I recognize that. And we all want to serve and give in whatever way. So, you know, every job in the congregation is important. And handing out a songbook, or picking it up, or, you know, doing the sound system, or doing the bulletin, or giving a sermonette, or even a message in the church, those are valuable things. And once they're given, they should be cultivated, developed, and if they ever have to be changed, then hopefully done in the best way for everybody. So, but sometimes I've had to make decisions where I wouldn't or couldn't give what people desperately wanted. And I realize that it's when someone fixed their hopes on me as a man, and I disappointed them, that that just brings out interesting reactions. And I've had to realize, you know, when I've had my generated conflict with other people, sometimes my supervisors, those over me, it's because I've done the same thing. When we look to another person to make us happy, we're dealing with some very tender, sensitive matters. What somebody wants, what I want from somebody else, if that's what I need to be happy, I better be very, very careful how I approach that. Now, you know, in a marriage relationship, a husband wants respect and honor from the wife, and the wife wants to be loved. Some of the most basic things there. They both want to be loved and respected. But, you know, we enter into a marriage relationship with someone because we do need what the other person can give in that relationship. Love, honor, respect. And when a marriage works, that brings a relationship to the highest, godly purpose. We need other things from a boss. We need a paycheck. We also need respect, encouragement. Add a boy. Add a girl. Good job. You know, from a job we need self-esteem. So there are things that we do need from people and things. But when our lives are so focused on what someone else will give us, or what we think we must have from someone, for that relationship to be at any level of working relationship, we need to be very, very careful because we will be disappointed at times. And if we get so disappointed in another person, especially in the minister membership relationship, then we're dealing with something that is spiritual in nature, and it can be problematic. We will disappoint people. You will disappoint me. I will disappoint you. A minister will do that.

Human beings in our relationships will disappoint one another. It's inevitable. The maturity comes when we know how to handle that disappointment. That's where emotional, spiritual maturity comes in as a human being to know how to handle that disappointment, or that rejection, or that rebuff, and to handle it in an ethical, godly, Christian business-like, however you want to determine it for the setting, way.

Sometimes I've had people transfer their anger and their frustration on me, and that creates sparks. If I come in challenging you, and if I'm frustrated and I'm upset, and that reflects in the way I deal with you or speak to you, there will be sparks.

That's why I said I've got to be careful that I just stick to the Word of God, and not opinion. But I've had people transfer their frustration in life, their anger for whatever life has dealt them, or what has happened this year, or five years ago, or 25 years ago. Sometimes a minister gets that transferred on them, and I've learned to accept that as part of the job, and let that measure how I respond.

But I've had that, you know, when I've done the same, I've had conflict with others, and I've had my share of that as people have done that with me. And that's why I say, don't let any man take your crown. Know how to deal with those relationships with another person, so that they don't drag you down.

Or they don't let, you know, get you off because you expect too much. Or you're looking to that person for something that maybe God can only give you, that you should be going to God for and developing. Don't let a man take your crown and cause anger, bitterness, envy, and some of these other works of the flesh to come in between you and God. Because, brethren, ultimately, for any of us, when we let those things consume us, it will damage and jeopardize our relationship with God.

We can get ourselves otherwise, and we can think we're just dealing with, you know, that man standing up there, that minister, or that person, and he's not, he's the reason I'm unhappy.

He's the reason for my unhappiness in life for 50, 40 years, or for 5 years. And we're making a mistake when we do it.

That's one of the biggest lessons I think I've learned. Don't let a man take your crown.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 10, the Apostle Paul was dealing in this letter with a church full of people who, boy, they were lasered in on him, and they didn't like him.

And they were angry, and they were frustrated. And that's why he put some of them out of the church, or at least one, in the first letter of Corinthians.

And he'd labeled their heresies, their divisions, and their problems.

And then he spent, because he did that, he had to write another letter to try to move them forward in a relationship with him and with God.

And that's what makes 2 Corinthians such an interesting letter.

But in verse 12, 2 Corinthians 10, he says, He says, I'd better turn there. I forgot to put that verse in my iPad.

2 Corinthians 10.

He says, That's the problem.

Measuring themselves by themselves, comparing with each other.

And not this, who's got the newest car, the biggest house, the largest salary.

It's talking about looking to one another and trying to get some innate basic need met from another human being.

That's what it's talking about, by this comparison. And the way we deal with it. When you do that, when you measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves among themselves, you're not wise.

It's inevitable to be a mistake, so don't do it. Don't get caught in that.

Let no man take your crown.

Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 3.

There's one scripture I can leave you with.

There's a few passages from 1 Corinthians 3.

To some, what I've done in passing on to you and turning over to another man to come in.

Paul put it all in perspective here, beginning in verse 5, when he said, because of, again, just the human relationships there, Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?

But ministers, through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters.

But God who gives the increase.

Human beings plant water, any growth, spiritually, physically, numerically, otherwise, that comes from God.

Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God's fellow workers.

You are God's field. And this is, again, just directly showing the relationship of the ministry to the church.

He and Apollos were fellow workers.

I and Terry Swaggerty, in this case, who I'll turn this over to, were fellow workers.

And you are God's field. You are God's building.

According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it.

The foundation was already laid here by someone else that came before me, and I've just had a part in helping to build on it over the years.

And that's been my role.

He warns, let each one take heed how he builds on it.

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is in Christ Jesus.

At the end of the day, your foundation and mine had better be in Christ, or we're in trouble.

And it goes on to show that if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, or precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become clear.

For the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is.

If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he'll receive a reward.

If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss.

But he himself will be saved, yet so is through fire.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

So I've had the privilege to work as a pastor with you to continue building on the foundation for quite a long time.

And it has been a trip. It's been a trip.

And we have enjoyed it. We don't look at this today as folks a good-bye, but more like a see-ya-later.

Because as I said, we're going to run across each other in various other settings over the years at camp or a weekend.

Or maybe you'll come through Cincinnati. We hope, God willing, to get into a house that will have a few extra bedrooms.

So you're welcome to leave the light on for you.

Okay. And you just leave the $10 as you go out. No.

But we put down a deposit. Well, we haven't done anything yet. We put in an offer on a house yesterday.

And we'll find out tonight how the dickering will go on that. And we'll see where that goes. But we'll see one another, and we'll be in touch, and certainly you will be in our prayers.

Debbie and I both feel that when our life is summed up, our glory is going to be that we've known such people as you.

And that we will be able to count you as friends. And that's our true glory. And that's our true honor.

We don't want what you have. We want you. And that's where it all ends.

So let me give you a final blessing, friends.

May the hand of the blessed God be on you.

May He shelter you all the days of your life.

And may He keep you safe and bring you into His eternal kingdom of peace.

God bless you and keep you.

Until we meet again.