What Refreshes a Pastor's Heart

12Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia – 2 Cor. 2

13By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you – 2 Cor. 7

Titus had traveled with Paul extensively. He was with Paul while the great apostle ministered at Corinth, and in fact Titus is mentioned at least nine times in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

When Paul went to Troas to preach the gospel there, he was happy on the one hand because God had opened a door for him. However, on the other hand, Paul was sad and had no peace of mind because he did not find his brother Titus there. Titus had some very important information that Paul needed to hear about.

Now noticed what happened. God opened a door for Paul to preach and minister in Troas. But because Paul did not find Titus, Paul turned away from his opportunity to preach in Troas and walked away from God’s open door. You don’t see this very often.

Why did Paul do that? Paul loved the Corinthian saints. He wrote several letters to them expressing his love and more important trying with God’s help to restore the church that was facing some severe inner problems.

Let me give you a little background before I launch into some applications.

First, on Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-18), he spend about 18 months ministering in Corinth (Acts 18:11). After leaving the church, Paul heard about how the church was dealing with the issue of immorality and wrote a strong letter confronting the sin (cf. 1 Cor. 5:9). The letter he wrote has been lost. While Paul was ministering in Ephesus, he received further reports on how the church had developed divisions, misusing their spiritual gifts, suing one another, forming cliques and a whole bunch of other divisions (cf. 1 Cor. 1:11).

Paul out of a concerned heart wrote 1 Corinthians and sent it to them via Timothy (1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10, 11). More disturbing news reach Paul about more trouble in the Corinthian church, especially in the area of the rise of false apostles (2 Cor. 11:13; 11:4). In order to create a platform to teach their destructive heresies, these false teachers began to assault the character of Paul. They had to do this in order to get the people to listen to their version of the gospel.

Paul then went immediately to Corinth to try to defend this church, protect them from wolves parading in sheep clothing and to encourage them in their walk with God. But when he arrived, it turned out to be a “painful visit” (2 Cor. 2:1).

Some within the church, probably one of the false teachers openly insulted Paul (2 Cor. 2:5-8, 10; 7:12). Paul was very saddened that the church he loved and was so concerned for had not defended him or show any loyalty to him. So seeking to spare them further reproof (2 Cor. 1:23), and hoping that time would heal some wounds and bring them to their senses, Paul returned to Ephesus to minister there.

While in Ephesus, Pau wrote a “severe letter” (2 Cor. 2:4), and sent it with Titus to Corinth (7:5-16). When Paul therefore, went to Troas to preach and God opened a door of opportunity for him, he could not do it. He wanted so badly to find Titus and get from him word on how the Corinthian church was doing since his last letter to them. The spiritual state of the Corinthian Church was so heavy on Paul’s heart, that he could not preach at a place where God had opened a door of opportunity for him. Paul had to find Titus and he had to know how the Corinthians were doing.

This is why we read in 2 Corinthians 7:13 these words: By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.

Titus had brought to Paul good news from the Corinthians. After reading Paul’s letter, they were doing much better and they passed on their love to Paul through Titus his servant. Now Paul was happy. Now Paul was energized. Now Paul was ready to tackle the hardships of ministry. He got encouraging words from a church he served at and loved so much.

Okay, so here is an application:

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, pastors are very concern over how their messages are received by members of the congregation.

Paul wrote a stinging letter to the Corinthians rebuking them over sinful issues. All Paul wanted was to know if the church was okay. Paul was not the kind of person who said, “Hey, I don’t need you. I got other churches that love me and appreciate all that I do for them. Take a hike!”

Let me share something with you: No gospel preacher will throw any church or any believer under the bus and walk away as if nothing happened. One of the hardest things for pastors to do is to lovingly and firmly scold members of his church. He would rather be playing golf. He would rather do a zillion other things. But lovingly and firmly confronting a member in the church who is out of line is what leaders who care for enough for the sheep do. Pastors know that they run the risk of being misunderstood. They know they run the risk of the confrontation backfiring. They also know that the risk of restoring a person back to God and to the fellowship of the fold is a calling from God that cannot be ignored or taken lightly.

Sometimes pastors have got to confront not just to restore wayward Christians, but also to prevent further lost. Some Christians make simple and thoughtless mistakes. They don’t think through their actions and decisions. So a pastor has got to confront such people and inform them of how their decision can be used by the devil to further complicate matters.

You see, no man is an island. We do not live in a vacuum where we can do what we please and it won’t affect others. Married couples know this. A wife or husband just cannot do what they please and expect the other spouse to understand. A wife makes decisions bearing her husband in mind and a husband does the same for his wife.

Leaders who serve together on a team are also in the same boat. If you got one or two members of a leadership team operating on their own or independently from the others, that team will be in trouble if confrontation is not used quickly to bring correction.

Paul confronted the Corinthians and then he waited to see what their response would be. He had to know. He could not preach at Troas even though God had opened a door for him. He would not be able to study. He would not be able to stay focused. He would not be able to give himself entirely to the work of preaching and pasturing in Troas when his heart and mind were still thinking of the Corinthians. This is what pastors go through when they preach a stinging message from the pulpit.

I got a few people in the church that I go to often and say, “How was the message? Did I come across with a good heart? Were the things I said understandable? How do you think it was received?” I am not looking for strokes. I am not looking for a “that-a-boy.” I just want to know that I did not blow my God-given opportunity to lovingly confront sensitive issues in the church or else I got to come back again next Sunday and do it all over again – and keep on until I get it right. I would rather get it done quickly and be done, then to have to try doing it again.

A good pastor who is in love with his people is not concern that people will leave his church when he confronts sin. He is concern that his people don’t leave God. The church is secondary, what really matters is their relationship with God. I got little issues when someone leaves my church and goes to another church; I do melt on the inside when I hear that someone has left my church and goes nowhere.

What blessed Paul’s heart was to know and hear that those whom he once ministered to were walking with God. Like a gentle shepherd, Paul simply wanted to protect his sheep from error and false teachers and to nurture them further in the things of the Lord.

This is why Paul was the kind of pastor who would walk away from a door that God had opened for him at Troas for fruitful ministry because he was more interested on how other Christians whom e loved had responded to his letter. Why start something new when the ones you got are in terrible spiritual need?

A young university graduate crossed a large river on a barge. An elderly, worn, gentleman was driving the barge. The university student asked the old man three questions: "Do you know anything about physics?"

"Nope," replied the old man.

"Then 1/3 of your life has been wasted! Do you know anything about philosophy?"

"Nope," replied the old man.

"Then another 1/3 of your life has been wasted! Do you know anything about social sciences?"

"Nope", replied the old man.

"Then another 1/3 of your life has been wasted!"

Suddenly, the barge hit a large object, took on water rapidly, and overturned. Both men were thrown into the water. The old man cried out to the young student, "Do you know anything about swimming?"

The young man replied, "No!"

The man called back, "Then your whole life is wasted!"

Paul simply wanted to know that his letter to the Corinthians, most like written in tears had not been wasted. He wanted to know that God had used him to reach those whom he loved and sacrificed his life for.

I guess you can say that it is not what you know that determines whether or not your life is wasted, but WHO YOU KNOW. Paul experienced the sweet fellowship of knowing Jesus and he longed for others to know the same thing. This is the heart of every pastor who is committed to his flock.

What Adds Fuel To My Fire

And they read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading – Neh. 8:8

I am fully blessed and rewarded by God each day that I have the privilege of digging deep into the Scriptures. I need to do this regularly. It is like a drug for me that meets a need and helps me to serve on with joy and determination.

Having my own personal devotions daily is not enough for me. It is important and it is necessary, but not nearly enough. My heart longs for more. I want to know God more and to fellowship with Him in truth. This is the reason why I long to every week to preach, not just one message on Sundays, but two – that is two different messages. Preaching and teaching comes easy for me. It is not because I am smart or talented, God knows otherwise. It is because God has gifted me in that area and I use it to get to know Him more.

Therefore, for me, I have the greatest of pleasure when I go deep into the debts of God’s Word in my study. I feel at times that I am a better student of God’s Word than a preacher of it. That is, if you were to step into my skin and be part of my study time and then remain in my skin and be part of my preaching time, you may conclude that I am more fulfilled in my study than in the preaching or communication of God’s Word. I just love it and can’t get enough of it.

That’s why at the very beginning of New Hope West Oahu, I created the 8:30 service in addition to the 10:30 service. I knew we would only have enough people initially present to really have one service. And since we are a satellite church where we show the message of our senior pastor whenever he is available to preach, that cuts into my own time to preach. So I decided to have two services, one to show the satellite message (10:30) and the other for me to preach, in order to fulfill the longing of my heart.

We have been doing this for the past six years. And what makes this more of a blessing for me is that most Sundays now, both services – the 8:30 and 10:30 are open for me to preach live. Taking one message and preaching it twice would be a downer for me. I got so much to share, so much to pass on from God’s Word, so much that I want to teach as a means to edify the saints that preaching one message twice would not work well for me. I must preach two messages one in each service.

Call me selfish – and you’re probably right. But I can’t help it. I am in love with God and I have a passion to relentlessly pursue the truth so that preaching twice on Sundays is merely a temporary outlet to hold me over.

If it were up to me, I would preach and teach six days a week and rest only on one. Sometimes people ask, “Do you run out of topics and material to preach on?” I laugh on the inside. I got so much things from God’s Word that I am aching to share. The frustrating part for me is not being able to share it.

So when I am not preaching and teaching as much as I long to, I have another outlet that is extremely fulfilling for me. I spend large amounts of time going deeper into the Word in my study. I wake up early and dig deep and I go to bed late at night digging deeper. I feast on theology, doctrine and the intricate details of God’s Word.

Like what it says in the passage above in Nehemiah 8, I long “to give the sense” of the Word that people whom I preach to may understand its message. This is my heart’s consuming passion. For me, nothing else matters as much.

I don’t sing, I don’t dance, I don’t do drama, and I am not that technically astute in the sound system or multimedia. But take away from me the ability to study and communicate God’s Word and I might as well die.

This another reason why I started “Fresh Bread” blogs. Writing blogs is another outlet for me to hold me over until another day. Even if I lost my church and was not preaching anywhere else, I would relentlessly study and write blogs because doing so is like taking a breath of air – I can’t help it.

When I am riding in my car, I listen to messages that explain the Word of God; when I pause for a moment during the day, I got messages and internet sites that I read on my iphone to fill me enough in order to move on in my next step.

I am not drawn to meetings with pastors or others who want to come together and talk programs, numbers and the latest cultural fad. I am drawn to those who believe that “as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another” (Prov. 27:17).

I am not excited to go hear a prophet share his or her latest predictions, most of the prophets today are so far removed from the prophets of the New Testament; I am not interested in attending services where people are so-called healed and where the audience is entertained to such an extent that they their “emotions” are raised to unbelievable heights leaving their heads and brains way behind. What excites me is when someone stands in the pulpit and unapologetically and passionately explains the meaning of a bible text so that the audience will leave with a greater understanding of God and as a result, know Him deeper.

Now this is just me – I don’t judge anyone else who differs.

I stated before how I long and passionately seek to preach and proclaim the Word on Sundays – twice when possible. What I did not say earlier is how it is soooooooo hard for me to give that privilege to anyone else.

You see, because I long to preach and teach, for me to step aside and let someone else do it is such a struggle for me. I would rather do it myself because I get so much spiritual value out of it. Regardless of whether there is one or one hundred people in the church, does not matter as long as what comes out of my mouth is the proclamation of God’s Word. When I am done preaching once or twice on Sundays, I am exhausted in a good and fulfilled way. So when I choose to give up my preaching assignment, I do so reluctantly. But when I do give it up, I do so because it is an honor for me to share the excitement and privilege that comes with preaching. I want others who know what I experience and what I feel and how it blesses me and draws me closer to knowing God. I am very disappointed when I see others that I allow to preach take lightly such a calling that they use the pulpit for personal benefits and gains. They are more concerned with the exhibition of self than the knowledge of God. But a few get it and I am so happy for their experience.

I screen very carefully my day and what I choose to get involved with. I have a few simply questions I ask myself when something comes up: “Will it take me away from my own personal study and prayer time and if so, how long? And, if I do attend, will it enhance my knowledge of God or distract from it?” (cf. Acts 6:1-5)

I hope that these blogs will be used by God to spiritually spur you on in your own walk with God. Sometimes when we hear things from the lives of others, God uses such things to challenge us. I will from time to time share things in this blog that are deep and personal to me. You may not agree with some of the things I share, but you will understand what God uses to add fuel to the fire my life. In the end, I hope you will also catch the fire of God and burn brightly for the Lord.