Measuring Ministers by God's Standard

It is said that one of the most magnificent diamonds in Europe, which today blazes in a king’s crown, once lay for months on a stall in an Italian market place with a label that read, “Rock-crystal, price: 1 franc.”

It sounds like something you would hear on an episode from Antique Road Show. You have this priceless gem laying out in the open, right there in the public square. But nobody gives it a second look. But why? Why is it that this precious jewel was neglected for so long? It was because no one had looked at it closely. Since it was not appraised by the proper standards, nobody gave it the time of day.

In a sense, that was the sort of thing going on right there in the city of Corinth. The city of Corinth had a wealth of spiritual riches. The city had been blessed in that God had given them many good teachers. Unfortunately, many of these spiritual jewels were being neglected. The reason for this was that they didn’t know how to really appraise a minister.

Now they thought they did. They had criteria by which they judged whether or not a minister was good. Some evaluated a minister based on his knowledge. Some judged them based on their eloquence. Others were concerned with the minister’s social standing. They had all kinds of categories they used for evaluating a minister. None of them though were measuring ministers by God’s standards. They were being evaluated by human wisdom and human standards.

That’s why Paul writes this section of Scripture. In this passage he gives us the right criteria for measuring a minister. And this is something to which we all need to give our attention. That’s because we are all in the habit of grading ministers.

John MacArthur says it is a little game that we all play. We look at a church leader and we automatically formulate an opinion of him. And typically it is based on the wrong criteria, like how big his church is, or how big his staff is. Or we evaluate him based on how many degrees he has or from what institution(s) he got those degrees.

I think it is more practical than we even think. Whenever you move to a new town, you have to start looking for a church. And typically you start to church shop. In the main, you go to one church a Sunday and whatever impression you get, that’s the impression that sticks. You grade that preacher on the basis of that one meeting, and his performance on that day.

We will all judge a minister. There are a lot of ministers here in Ashland, and I’m sure we all have certain opinions of each one. But are our opinions right? Or are we neglecting some spiritual jewels?

Well, let’s look at this passage and see the criteria that God wants us to use in evaluating a minister. In verse one Paul tells us a little about a minister’s calling.

I. Calling [1]
If we are going to evaluate a man, we need to know something about what he is supposed to do or be. If we don’t, we’ve already misjudged him. You can start yelling at a guy that he didn’t do the electrical work right, but he may look at you and say, “Ma’am, I’m a plumber.” What’s wrong is that you haven’t evaluated him according to his calling. You’ve imposed a foreign concept on him.

That’s exactly what we can do to a minister if we are not careful. If we don’t begin with a right knowledge of his vocation, obviously then we will misjudge him. So that is where Paul begins. He says, “This is how one ought to regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” The calling of a minister is to be a servant and a steward.

A. Servant of Christ
Now make sure you understand what Paul means when he says that we are servants of Christ. Some of you are probably already thinking, “O, he means you are a slave.” If you are saying that you are right, but you don’t have the full picture yet. The word here for servant is the word “huperetes.” A huperetes was the lowest of all the slaves. A huperetes was a guy who would be found rowing the oars on the lowest level of a roman ship. A huperetes was a guy who was just out to do what he was commanded to do. There in the belly of the ship, he could only see one thing: they guy standing at the front saying, “Stroke.”

Paul is saying that is what we are. We are lowly, nobodies. The only thing we do is keep our eyes on Christ and do what he tells us to do.

Doesn’t sound all that glamorous, does it? You want to make a big stink about a certain minister? It would be like making your hero one of the lowliest people in the Roman society. Perhaps the equivalent today would be the prisoner who gets stuck with toilet cleaning duty. That’s the lowest of the low. He’s just doing the job that he is told to do.

And that’s what a minister does. A lot of guys go into the ministry because they think it is a great position. People will look up to you and give you special attention, but a minister’s calling is not that prestigious.

So if you want to evaluate me, you have to see if I fit that profile. Am I doing God’s grunt work? My job is to do what God commands me to do, nothing more, nothing less. I’m just a lowly slave.

Not only am I a slave, but I’m also a steward.

B. Steward
Now we are all probably familiar with what a steward is. The idea has not changed much over the centuries. When you go on a flight, you typically have a steward or stewardess who will hand you some peanuts or a drink. That steward or stewardess’ job is to distribute those items. They do not own those peanuts. They are just taking what belongs to the company and distributing it as necessary.

That’s what a steward was in ancient times. He was the top slave in the house. He was the one entrusted with the household finances or household goods. He would be responsible for distributing his master’s goods. You can get the sense of it in the original language. The word for steward is “oikonomos.” We derive our word economics from it.

That’s what a minister does. He takes what belongs to God and distributes it to the people. What does he distribute? Paul says he is a steward of the mysteries of God, which is Paul’s way of talking about the gospel. My job is to make sure that God’s gospel is distributed to his people.
Basically, I am a gospel waiter. I hold forth Christ and allow others the opportunity to take him and the forgiveness and eternal life that there is in him.

I might insert here that this is why we don’t let just anyone administer the sacraments. In the history of the church this has also been the verse that is used to point out that ministers are the ones who are to administer the sacraments. I think you can understand why. The sacraments belong to God too. They are part of that gospel ministry which ministers are in charge of distributing.

There is a lot of this going on today though. That’s why I thought I would mention it. Any Joe thinks he can baptize someone. Or if a group of Christians get together for a small group meeting, somebody might get the bright idea of celebrating the Lord’s Supper. This shouldn’t be done though. God has charged a minister with that particular duty.

He has charged the minister with the responsibility of distributing the whole of the gospel, word and sacrament. And if I’m not doing that, then I’m failing in my work. And I might say that this gives me a great opportunity. The gospel is here and free for the taking. I’m God’s waiter and I am offering you Jesus Christ. And if it is my job to offer him, it is your job to receive him. Those of you who have been struggling with your sins, I want you to know that Christ is yours for the taking. You don’t need to be all up tight about your status with God. Rest in Christ again. Find him to be your God and all sufficient savior.

That sums up my job right there. I have been called to be a servant and a steward. An under-rower and a gospel distributer. I shouldn’t be esteemed in any other way.

When you look at a minister, you need to consider his calling. And along with his calling you need to factor in his commitment.

II. Commitment [2]
Paul finds that it is important to point this out. For in verse 2 he says, “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful [or trustworthy].”

It is one thing to hold the office, but it is a completely different thing to fulfill the function of the office. God requires us diligence in holding forth that gospel. He requires that the gospel ministry be held forth in an unadulterated way.

I want you to recognize that God does not require a minister to be popular or well respected in the community. He doesn’t require him to be charismatic or charming. He doesn’t need to be an extrovert or possess a great deal of social skills. What is required of him is that he is faithful.

Do you remember the parable Jesus told about the shrewd “oikonomos” (manager). Here was a servant who had been entrusted with the responsibility to watch over the master’s finances. He was to distribute the accounts in a responsible way. But the Master came and found that he had been embezzling some of his master’s money. He was a cheat. He wasn’t faithful. So he was going to be fired. He was going to be thrown out.

Now what would motivate the guy to be unfaithful like that? It was his greed right? That’s what ministers have to watch out for. Pastors can get greedy. We can get greedy for all kinds of things. One of them is praise. Praise is an exhilarating thing for a minister. You can get high off of it. Sometimes guys get hooked on it. They get addicted to it and they will do anything to get it.

You know the Pharisees were like this. Jesus said that they liked to be greeted in the marketplace and they liked it when people bowed before them. But what happens when you need someone’s praise. Most likely you aren’t going to be doing your job. The Jeremiah’s of the world don’t get much praise. They typically get thrown in cisterns. So a minister might be unfaithful in the gospel ministry in order to boost his glory.

He can also get greedy for growth too. How do we typically measure a minister’s success? Is it by his faithful exposition of the word? Do we measure them by their regular visitations and the personal exhortations they offer? Not really. Most pastor’s are measured by how big the budget is or what your average attendance is per Sunday. Some even are measured by how many baptisms they do or how many cards are turned in with people making first time decisions for Christ. We measure ministers by pragmatic output—by the results he gets.

There is always one question a minister gets asked. It never fails that when a minister gets into a conversation with somebody they will eventually ask how big your church is. They usually start out by saying something like, “How’s the ministry going?” or “How’s the church doing?” That is typically followed by a question of clarification, “Now, how many are in your church?” That feeds a minister’s feeling that he needs to have results. It can feed his greed.

But again, what is the easiest way to populate a church? It is not by expositional preaching. It is not by preaching through books and by being faithful to preaching the whole counsel of God.
They can be greedy for gain too. It’s not just glory or growth. It can be the love of money that motivates a minister. I think that I’ve mentioned the pastor who didn’t really believe in the resurrection or the virgin birth of Christ. When asked why he became a minister, he explained, “It’s a good job.” That is, it pays well. You can also look at the best selling Christian books. Not all that is selling out there is sound theologically. But the authors are really raking in the profits.

Obviously, if your thoughts are focused on how big the bottom line is, your thoughts are not going to be focused on a faithful proclamation of the gospel.

Nevertheless, your esteem of a minister must be based on his faithfulness. You need to ask, “Is this man preaching the Bible? Is he faithfully administering the sacraments. Is he fulfilling his duty to pray for the flock of God and visit them in their homes?” If your going to criticize a minister, you need to make sure you are measuring him by his commitment to those things. And not by any personality quirks. The question that you should ask is, “Is he a faithful huperetes? Is he a faithful steward of God’s mysteries?” That’s what God requires.

Another criteria a minister must be evaluated on is where his main concern lay.

III. Concern
Paul makes it clear where a minister’s concern is not to be. Paul says in verse three that he is not concerned with what the Corinthians thought about him. Whether they were speaking disparagingly about him or whether they were touting his excellence as a teacher, he says it doesn’t really matter to him. That’s what he means when he says, “It is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.”

It is funny too. When you read the New Testament, and particularly the letters of Paul, it seems like he is always having to defend himself and his ministry. A lot of people were antagonistic to him. You would think that Paul would be elated that at least there was a small contingent that was touting his excellence. But Paul doesn’t care one way or the other.

A lot of ministers do care though. They need the affirmation of the people to keep going. And it seems like they are always taking a mental poll as to where the people stand. Do they like me? Or Do they not like me?

I understand that every pastor needs to be encouraged. And don’t think that I’m telling you that you can never compliment me on a message or anything like that. I don’t want you to feel like I’m suppressing you. I just want you to recognize that a minister isn’t supposed to be all caught up in what people think about him.

If a guy is always concerned about how people feel, he’s not going to be very effective. If he is always stressing about what Margret Jane said about his sermon or about a given elder regards him, that’s not healthy.

If you see a minister like that, then you might want to watch how much you esteem him. Paul tells us that a minister isn’t supposed to be concerned with the judgments of the populous. His concern is to be focused on the judgment of God.

Paul says, “It is the Lord who judges me.” And then in verse 5 he says, “He [i.e God] will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.” Paul’s focus is on the last day when he is called before God to give account of his work here on earth. He is more concerned with what transpires on that day when God judges him.

That’s where a good minister will place his heart. His main concern is that he hear those words, “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.”

Really, that’s what keeps a man going in the ministry. Have you ever thought about Jeremiah? Have you ever wondered what kept him going all those years? It wasn’t the praise of men, that’s for sure. It was his focus on God’s glory. It was the fact that God was his highest priority. If he had been looking to the people of Judah he wouldn’t have been the Jeremiah we all know. But since his eyes were on God, he was able to do what he did. He was able to preach that tenacious message. He was able to lose his family. He was able to have his own town turn their backs on him. He was able to be thrown into a cistern.

That’s what you want in a minister. You want someone who cares more about what God thinks of him and of what God will do to him, than anything else.

Conclusion:
What this passage amounts to is that you want a minister who is going to be infatuated with Jesus. A minister’s calling is the calling of Jesus, a calling to preach Jesus and to do the work Jesus wants him to do. A minister’s commitment is a commitment to Jesus, and not to himself or to any other man. A minister’s concern is a concern about the judgment Jesus will one day pronounce. So, if we could boil it down to one thing, how you evaluate a minister should be based on whether or not he is 100% sold out for Jesus. Is Jesus the highest priority for this guy.

Certainly no minister will live up to these criteria fully, but a good minister will certainly measure up well to these criteria. The one thing that behooves us though, is that we not just evaluate the minister. But after having measured them and found them worthy, we must then embrace them and submit ourselves to them. The Corinthians were guilty of neglecting God’s the gifts that God had given them, and we must not do the same. Once we see that they fit God’s criteria, we should remember that they have been sent from God. We should then embrace them as treasures of the greatest worth.