2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” – KJV
A little while ago I posted a question on Facebook asking, “Can you follow flawed leadership? Why/Why Not?” (The question was not particularly directed at church leadership, but leadership in general) A few weeks later a gospel radio announcer posed a question with a similar concept about staying in a church after a pastor was caught in an offense. What I found interesting is that in both cases, the majority of the responses were “yes”. People said things like, “Everyone has flaws” or “Is there any other kind?” In some instances people began to “take a text” attempting to preach a sermonette in the comment sections to support this positive point of view. However, I had to agree with the announcer who redirected his question asking for people to call in/comment with the truth because too many people leave churches and jobs because of being “turned off” or offended by leadership. After he made that statement, people began to call in and respond with the answer “no” and began to defend their position.
What prompted the question I posted was reading an article where a pastor crafted a two-page newsletter to call for the removal of a public official from office based upon a decision they made on one issue. Yes, one wrong decision and you deserve to be removed! Wow! I couldn’t help but wonder if someone in the congregation ever had a problem with this pastor’s decisions. What if they took out a two-page letter to ask for their removal? Forget about people, is there a leader that breathes that can claim to have never made a bad decision in God’s eyes? Is God’s response always the eject button? (The fact that strength is still in my fingers to type this article is proof that it’s not.)
Now don’t get me wrong, one sin does make you eligible for hell absent the blood of Christ. We just need to recognize “The Blood” was shed so we have an opportunity for forgiveness and to repent. If God did that for us, why do we find it difficult to allow others the same opportunity? I believe it’s because we forgot what the make-up of humanity really is. Let’s take a moment to explore what Paul uncovered while writing to the church of Corinth.
Chapter 4 begins with the concept that ministry came from God and through His mercy. No one is really “good enough” but God had compassion on us and gave us a purpose. Never forget that if you are involved in any form of ministry, the service you provide should coincide with your purpose for living. It’s not necessarily about the paycheck. The fulfillment you receive for doing what God designed you to do for the sake of helping others is priceless. Don’t mistake your service for your title. The title that precedes your name is for the recognition of authority because God’s House has order. However, if you are really doing what God designed you to do it is difficult to label your service. Even God scratched His head in conversation with Moses attempting to explain His Ministry to humanity and had to simply say, “I AM THAT I AM.” (Exodus 3:13-14) We are required to serve God but don’t ever miss the fact that within the names of God we discover what His service is toward us. (I.e. Provider, Protector, Healer, Delivered, Shelter, Father, etc.) Ephesians 3:11-12 reveals that God gets fulfillment out of serving us, “to the praise of His glory”. Hence, our service to Him is actually representing His hands and feet in the earth and being the expression of His Ministry to others. This is why we don’t faint! So how does God “enlist” us into the ministry?
He takes “this treasure” and puts it in earthen vessels. Let’s talk about “this treasure” for a moment. Thayer’s Lexicon defines “treasure” as, “the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up; a casket, coffer, or other receptacle, in which valuables are kept; storehouse, repository, magazine; the things laid up in a treasury, collected treasures”. It comes from a root word that means, “to set, put, place, make, fix establish”. If you ever watched any pirate movies than you understand the lengths that one goes through to go after treasure. You see the resources, the ships, the arsenal, the people, and the time invested to seek it out. You also see the efforts of the owner to hide it and keep it from those they wish not to have it. First they hide the map, and then they guard it. If you make it through that stage, there are booby traps en route to the destination of the treasure. It’s usually a very elaborate process to keep these precious items. Well, what could be more precious than the Word of God? Look at how Isaiah 61:1-3 describes The Gospel:
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
This is the treasure that God sticks in an earthen vessel…wait a minute! We understand that a “vessel” is something used to carry or transport items but the description “earthen” is what we need to hone in on. “Earthen” is defined as “clay, with the added suggestion of frailty”. It comes from the root “ostrakon” where we get the word “oyster”.
I discovered that there are 2 types of pearls oysters can produce; natural and cultured. Natural pearls are produced by a parasite getting into the shell and the oyster secreting fluid to cover it. Over a period of time it hardens and becomes a pearl. Cultured pearls are produced the same way with one exception, the “irritant” is man-made or “man-orchestrated”. Meaning man places something in the shell to start the process. The result is usually a perfectly shaped pearl…but it has a much lesser value than a natural pearl.
So when you think of an earthen vessel, consider that there are irritants that one must endure to produce valuable pearls. God’s sovereignty allows the natural process that ensues in verses 8-9 of being hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down to produce gems. That’s the message to the leader. You are going to have to endure some stuff. The message to the follower is, as you watch the leader going through, you are going to see the flaws of your leader. Consider what you see as the process of your leader secreting mucus to cover the “parasite” whose goal is to steal, kill and destroy. Pray for you leader and believe that if God chose them, they will get through their season of testing.
The flip-side is the “man-made” frustration. These are the ones where the devil sits on the side and shrugs his shoulders because he didn’t orchestrate it. I guarantee he’ll utilize it; mostly to kill the leader’s witness. Sometimes these will surface in the midst of a trial. The message to the leader is to be careful not to fall subject to these trials because they can be avoided. The message to the follower is to observe this closely and test the spirit. (1 John 4:1) If your leader has truly made an error and focuses on blaming the devil for being exposed rather than confessing and repenting; that can be filed under the man-made irritant category. The adversary will get a lot of mileage out of a person who refuses to recognize their error and ignores the fact the God is trying to get their attention. When they emerge from this trial, they are bound to repeat it because they come out with a false or “cultured pearl” of victory.
I don’t think the leader gets to escape by singing, “I’m Only Human”. However true that may be, they are still held to a higher standard because people make “life decisions” based upon what they see their leaders do. Hence, there is a penalty for leading others astray. (Luke 17:2) What we have to recognize is that the penalty is to be inflicted by God, not man. We are still required to be obedient and to pray for them. (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Timothy 2:1-2)
This is not to say that I believe you should stay through everything and follow your leaders off cliffs. Hebrews 13:7 encourages us to “consider the end of [their] conversation”. This means we are to look at attentively, to consider well and to observe accurately their manner of life, conduct and behavior. However, if your observations seem to merit your exit, just make sure that you see God opening the door before you go. If God is not leading you out, than stay your course and know that God is in charge of the leader He set in place (Proverbs 8:15-16) and remember leaders do not have cart blanche. Hebrews 13:17 doesn’t just tell us to obey, but it also reminds us that leaders must give an account for how they lead. Likewise, what followers must remember is that we too must give an account for how we respond to leadership.
