Paul was bivocational! Don’t panic. That just means that he
worked a secular job to support himself so that he didn’t have to ask for
anything from the churches to which he ministered. That’s why he worked night
and day. Make some tents, then make some disciples. A stitch here; a witness
there. No doubt, many of the false teachers were jealous of Paul and made all
kinds of accusations: “He’s just in it for the money!” “He’s taking advantage
of the churches!” (As a side note, I have discovered that so many times when
people start making accusations like this, it is because of what they
themselves are doing.) So Paul feels (again and again) that he must defend
himself to the church, reminding them that he had taken nothing from them.
Instead, he gave them everything he had – which, by the way, is what great
ministers do!
Paul reminds the church of what he did. Not only did he
compare himself to a mother nursing her baby (see previous post), but also he
said, “I’ve been like a father to you.” (Please understand that the next
statement is in no way meant to stereotype the roles of men and women. I am not
being chauvinistic in any way. It is about the culture of Paul’s day.) Where moms
take care of the emotional needs, dads take care of the practical needs, at
least in his culture. So he exhorted, comforted, and charged them. In other
words, Paul taught them truth. More than that, he showed them truth. And the
truth is this: Every born again believer, every faithful follower of Jesus must
live their lives in a manner that is worthy of being blood-bought children
adopted into the family of a king. No. Let me rephrase that – adopted into the
family of THE KING!
When I was a youth, my pastor would always give us “the
speech” before we went on an outing: “Remember Who you belong to!” I know that’s
not perfect grammar, but it is good counsel. We belong to the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords, so we need to start acting like it.
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