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Boars in God’s Vineyard · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Good morning. I want to thank Chaplain Joe Allen for
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Speaker 1: inviting me to speak in chapel several times this academic year.
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Speaker 1: I'll be with you three times, counting today, this semester,
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Speaker 1: and then three again in the spring semester. I always
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Speaker 1: want to speak on things that will help you in
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Speaker 1: the ministry. You will hear other speakers in this chapel
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Speaker 1: that will talk about other subjects that will relate often
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Speaker 1: to your studies or your world of academia. I will
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Speaker 1: rarely address that. I will always go toward the practical
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Speaker 1: side of ministry. Because that is where you will spend
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Speaker 1: your life in the days ahead. In whatever capacity the
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Speaker 1: Lord leads you. This academic year, I've chosen to speak
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Speaker 1: on the pros and the cons of ministry. In the
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Speaker 1: fall semester, right now, I want to talk on what
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Speaker 1: is it that makes the ministry difficult. And I want
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Speaker 1: to cover three areas. The first one I'll cover today
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Speaker 1: and the next one in early this next month. And
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Speaker 1: then the third one toward the middle of November, I
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Speaker 1: will talk on another subject related to the difficulties in ministry.
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Speaker 1: What makes it tough? What makes it hard to deal with?
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Speaker 1: And then in the fall, in the spring semester, I
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Speaker 1: want to talk on the things that make it so rewarding,
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Speaker 1: so fulfilling. We'll end on a really upbeat, positive note,
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Speaker 1: for there are far more of those than there are
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Speaker 1: of these that I'll be addressing during the fall semester.
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Speaker 1: In answering the first question, I plan to cover three
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Speaker 1: of the most notable areas that are often challenging in ministry. Today,
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Speaker 1: I will address the subject of dealing with difficult people. Yeah.
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Speaker 1: There will always be individuals who will take the fun
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Speaker 1: out of your day or take the joy out of
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Speaker 1: your career if you let that happen. Difficult people. Next
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Speaker 1: time we're together in October, I'll talk about how we
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Speaker 1: bring our own humanity together. into the scene of ministry
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Speaker 1: and how that works against us and makes ministry difficult.
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Speaker 1: Our temperament, our tendencies, frankly, our old sin nature, our
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Speaker 1: habits that we have not broken that work against relationships.
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Speaker 1: Often we are the cause for the difficulty that we
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Speaker 1: face in ministry. And then the third time, when we
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Speaker 1: come together in November, I want to talk about the
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Speaker 1: things that happened to us that we never expected. The
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Speaker 1: most recent one I can think of that we'll deal
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Speaker 1: with when we're together in November would be, of course,
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Speaker 1: the pandemic. We didn't see it coming. We didn't realize
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Speaker 1: how extensive, lengthy it would be or what a toll
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Speaker 1: it would take on the way we do ministry. I
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Speaker 1: don't know of a church today that wouldn't have to say,
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Speaker 1: you know, it required us to alter a number of
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Speaker 1: things we'd been doing for years and to rearrange things
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Speaker 1: and do them differently. We'll talk about that and, for example,
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Speaker 1: things that happened in your family that you didn't see coming.
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Speaker 1: Even with your partner in life who may become disillusioned
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Speaker 1: or go on a long drift spiritually. And that takes
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Speaker 1: a toll on you and the church or the ministry
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Speaker 1: that you're serving. Things that happened to us that we
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Speaker 1: didn't see coming. Today we're going to talk about the
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Speaker 1: difficult people. Difficult sheep in the church. Sometimes they're difficult
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Speaker 1: staff that serve. People that are working alongside you closely. Occasionally,
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Speaker 1: they are officers in the church, people that were elected
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Speaker 1: to be a part of the church leadership, and they
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Speaker 1: become difficult. In the classroom, we'll just say it straight,
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Speaker 1: some of you students are a pain in the butt.
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Speaker 1: You're difficult for the profs to deal with. And you
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Speaker 1: started out that way and you're getting only worse as
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Speaker 1: time passes. So don't think this is about someone else.
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Speaker 1: You can be the one who is the problem. Anyone
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Speaker 1: called into ministry must be both tender and tough. Both and,
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Speaker 1: not either or. We must be full of grace and love.
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Speaker 1: We must be devoted and determined. We as balanced ministers
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Speaker 1: must be people of merciful compassion and insightful discernment, willing
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Speaker 1: to serve the flock and yet unwilling to be controlled
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Speaker 1: by or manipulated by those within the flock. Hear these
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Speaker 1: words carefully. Today they may not apply. One day they will.
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Speaker 1: We must be patient and sensitive with newborn lambs as
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Speaker 1: they are getting their sea legs and learning to walk
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Speaker 1: in the spirit. At the same time, we must be
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Speaker 1: firm and strong with legalistic sheep. honorary church people, and
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Speaker 1: for sure, treacherous wolves. Former pastor Stuart Briscoe, who ministered
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Speaker 1: for years in the Milwaukee area, suggests there are three
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Speaker 1: qualifications for a pastor. Must have the mind of a scholar,
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Speaker 1: the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros.
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Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more. Being a faithful minister of integrity
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Speaker 1: has nothing to do with being a people pleaser. Some
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Speaker 1: of you are already forming that habit, thinking that's what
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Speaker 1: a good minister is called to do. Not so. You
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Speaker 1: are not called to cultivate a popularity cult through flattery
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Speaker 1: of others. or softening the truth, or compromising the message
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Speaker 1: as you tell people what they want to hear, rather
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Speaker 1: than shaping your message based on the scriptures and delivering
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Speaker 1: what they need to hear. There's a great difference between
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Speaker 1: the two. You must learn not to adapt your words
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Speaker 1: to what is politically correct, though there will be those
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Speaker 1: in your congregation who guide their lives according to that standard.
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Speaker 1: You must not keep in step with those who urge
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Speaker 1: you to keep everything relevant. You'll hear that a lot
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Speaker 1: these days. If you're committed to preach the word, you'll
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Speaker 1: need to be determined not to pay attention to anyone
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Speaker 1: who tries to pull you away from becoming a faithful
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Speaker 1: and consistent expositor of the scriptures. You determine that in
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Speaker 1: your years at seminary, believe it or not. You don't
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Speaker 1: suddenly turn there once you've graduated. Hear this warning. There
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Speaker 1: are still many wolves in sheep's clothing. They lurk in
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Speaker 1: most churches. In the days of Martin Luther, he had
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Speaker 1: his problems with Pope Leo X. In fact, he was
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Speaker 1: considered such a maverick that Leo gave him the name
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Speaker 1: of a wild boar in God's vineyard. Luther turned those
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Speaker 1: words on the Pope himself and saw him as the
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Speaker 1: wild boar. The fact is, you will encounter wild boars
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Speaker 1: in God's vineyard. Dr. Richard Sumi, in his heyday at
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Speaker 1: the school, in teaching the Timothy letters, used to refer
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Speaker 1: to these individuals as without mincing words. He called them savages.
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Speaker 1: Maybe that's too strong for you to hear today, but
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Speaker 1: you'll live to see the day when you realize they
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Speaker 1: fit that description. You will meet them in the scriptures
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Speaker 1: when Saul was ravaging Israel the church. Study that word
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Speaker 1: and you'll realize it means exactly what it says in
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Speaker 1: Acts 8.3. Elders from Ephesus are warned about the wolves
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Speaker 1: that were among them, Acts 20 verse 29. Legalists, according
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Speaker 1: to Paul's writing to the Galatians, in 2, 4, and 5,
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Speaker 1: sneaked in and spied out our liberty. They're still doing that.
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Speaker 1: And you will really earn your right to be called
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Speaker 1: a shepherd of the sheep. When you encounter and deal
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Speaker 1: directly with legalists, they are among the most difficult in
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Speaker 1: the church. The list goes on and on. In fact,
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Speaker 1: I brought with me, I won't have the time to
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Speaker 1: read it, two eight and a half by 11 pages,
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Speaker 1: single space, of people in the scriptures who dealt with
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Speaker 1: difficult people in their lives. There's hardly a major individual
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Speaker 1: you could name who didn't have an enemy or several enemies.
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Speaker 1: This is time for me to make a disclaimer. I'm
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Speaker 1: not saying any of this to make you suspicious or
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Speaker 1: or to frighten you, or to make you jaded as
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Speaker 1: you step into the work of ministry when you leave
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Speaker 1: the school. I'm not even suggesting that most churches are
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Speaker 1: filled with difficult people. That's not true. They are not.
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Speaker 1: Some are. Most are not. But there are always difficult
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Speaker 1: people in whatever church you serve. They don't set out
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Speaker 1: to be that, they just over the years have become that.
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Speaker 1: I'll add that most churches are not difficult places to serve,
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Speaker 1: but some are. While most are loving and thoughtful and
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Speaker 1: understanding and kind, I would even add encouraging and generous,
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Speaker 1: There are some that are caustic, independent, argumentative. They have
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Speaker 1: a reputation for resisting whatever shepherd is called to lead
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Speaker 1: that flock. Remember that when you step into ministry. Go
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Speaker 1: with your eyes open. Just as you would tell one
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Speaker 1: of your growing teenagers, when they get to college or
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Speaker 1: when they get into the military or go into business,
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Speaker 1: go into those things with your eyes open. Realize there
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Speaker 1: are people who do not have your good at heart.
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Speaker 1: Take off your rose-colored glasses when you step into ministry
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Speaker 1: and wear glasses that are filled with realism. Now then,
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Speaker 1: Let's look together at a somewhat obscure section in Paul's
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Speaker 1: letter to the Romans. It's toward the end of that
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Speaker 1: letter as he zeroes in on some of the difficult
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Speaker 1: people in the church at Rome. I'll take just a
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Speaker 1: small section of these verses, Romans 16, 17 through 20,
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Speaker 1: where Paul points out some of the boars in the
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Speaker 1: Roman vineyard. Romans 16, 17 to 20, reveals that there
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Speaker 1: were those, to begin with, who were causing dissensions. You'll
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Speaker 1: see that named in the very word itself. The original
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Speaker 1: term donates, actually means divisiveness, polarization. By casting doubt. Cynthia
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Speaker 1: and I often refer to people like this as those
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Speaker 1: who stir the pot. There are those who take delight
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Speaker 1: by subtle questions and accusations and innuendo. They find delight
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Speaker 1: in spreading false information. And often it will be about you,
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Speaker 1: the leader. Things you did not say or even imply,
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Speaker 1: they will spread as though you did both. William Barclay
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Speaker 1: refers to this individual as a man or woman who
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Speaker 1: speaks well but acts ill. The kind of person who,
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Speaker 1: behind a facade of pious words, is a bad influence,
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Speaker 1: who leads sheep astray Not by direct attack. But by subtlety.
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Speaker 1: Who pretends to serve Christ. But in reality. They are destroying.
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Speaker 1: The faith of others. Close quote. Be aware. Be aware.
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Speaker 1: As a shepherd. Keep your eyes open. Pay attention to those.
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Speaker 1: Especially those. who are influencing others in the church. Not
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Speaker 1: out of jealousy. You'll find delight in those that teach
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Speaker 1: the scriptures well. They are part of the team. But
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Speaker 1: those who do so with wrong motive will soon reveal
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Speaker 1: themselves as among those boars in the vineyard. Second, along
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Speaker 1: with spreading dissension, they cause hindrances. You'll see here in
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Speaker 1: this passage. The Greek word is skandala, obviously scandal from
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Speaker 1: that word. I found that such people create drama as
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Speaker 1: they stir the pot among those they influence. Now, why
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Speaker 1: do they do this? Why the dissensions? Why the hindrances?
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Speaker 1: What reason do they have for doing that? Paul takes
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Speaker 1: off the gloves as he identifies the reason. He shoots
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Speaker 1: straight In verse 18, such people are not serving Christ
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Speaker 1: our Lord, he states. They are serving their own personal interests.
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Speaker 1: Make no mistake. Such people are self-serving. John R. W.
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Speaker 1: Stott states that this description, self-serving, is a graphic metaphor
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Speaker 1: of self-indulgence. It's all about them. They're the star of
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Speaker 1: the show. They're the ones who are getting the attention.
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Speaker 1: Then Paul says it like it is at the end
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Speaker 1: of verse 18, by smooth talk and glowing words. Your
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Speaker 1: Bible may read flattering words, They deceive innocent people. Therein
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Speaker 1: lies the tragedy. Every church has both mature and immature saints.
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Speaker 1: Those who are less mature I call innocent. They don't
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Speaker 1: know that they're around people that can't be trusted. They
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Speaker 1: don't realize that How innocent they are. How gullible. They
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Speaker 1: are like defenseless sheep. Seduced and led astray. That's why
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Speaker 1: they need you. That's why they need a strong shepherd.
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Speaker 1: A faithful shepherd. What happens is that harmony is disrupted.
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Speaker 1: You'll find as you minister in whatever capacity that when
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Speaker 1: harmony is disrupted, there is a disunity that replaces it.
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Speaker 1: That's tough to deal with. It proliferates. It doesn't become less,
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Speaker 1: it becomes greater. Which explains the whole idea of the
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Speaker 1: word picture. Boars in God's vineyard, they make a dreadful,
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Speaker 1: dreadful scene. Now, how's the problem to be handled? What
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Speaker 1: do you do about it? Now, if you're like most
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Speaker 1: reluctant shepherds, you will put up with it too long.
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Speaker 1: I did that for the first number of years in Minnesota.
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Speaker 1: I looked the other way. I acted like it wasn't happening.
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Speaker 1: I ignored the warning signs. I thought maybe it would
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Speaker 1: get better on its own. In fact, I didn't even
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Speaker 1: want to think it was going on. which makes me
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Speaker 1: appreciate the very first word that Paul uses when he
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Speaker 1: deals with how it's handled, is watch out. There needs
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Speaker 1: to be close observation. Faithful shepherds watch out for their flocks.
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Speaker 1: They care about them. Not, again, not out of jealousy,
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Speaker 1: but out of diligence. And then you will notice at
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Speaker 1: the end of verse 17, the strongest of the terms,
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Speaker 1: stay away from them. Not only observation, but there must ultimately,
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Speaker 1: if there isn't change, there must be separation. Turn away
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Speaker 1: from them. You've not earned your right to be called
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Speaker 1: a shepherd until you have done your work in this realm.
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Speaker 1: It is not pleasant, it is not easy, and it
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Speaker 1: certainly is not popular. Realize individuals who have gained the
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Speaker 1: mastery over a few people often have a following, and
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Speaker 1: those followers are loyal. They don't see the danger in
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Speaker 1: the one they're following. You do. And so that's the
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Speaker 1: reason it's unpleasant and unpopular. You'll be misunderstood by some
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Speaker 1: by dealing with it, and you'll be maligned by others
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Speaker 1: because you have taken it on privately, personally, and directly.
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Speaker 1: This is especially true when you confront those who have
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Speaker 1: gained that group of followers and and they have become
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Speaker 1: popular in the place where you minister. You will deal
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Speaker 1: with various carnal, angry, stubborn Christians who will disrespect you
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Speaker 1: and resist your counsel and resent your confrontation. In a
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Speaker 1: former church, we had a person who was a very
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Speaker 1: gifted individual. She had taught classes not only in our church,
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Speaker 1: but in the communities around our church. She was well
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Speaker 1: known and by many well respected. She was, however, a gossip.
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Speaker 1: She was difficult to deal with. She stirred the pot regularly.
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Speaker 1: She worked against the direction I was taking the church
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Speaker 1: and our elders were trying to take it. There was
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Speaker 1: always something wrong with our plan according to her evaluation.
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Speaker 1: And would you believe, out of those many years I
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Speaker 1: was at that church, I put up with it for
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Speaker 1: 16 years. I state that deliberately, not because I'm proud
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Speaker 1: of it, but I'm ashamed of it. Now, it wasn't
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Speaker 1: planned that I would wait that long. It's just you
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Speaker 1: keep putting it off. It isn't pleasant. As I said earlier,
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Speaker 1: It isn't popular. And when you want to be liked
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Speaker 1: more than you want to be right, you'll let it
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Speaker 1: go on and on and on. Finally, it fell my
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Speaker 1: lot to deal with it. I brought in my closest associate,
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Speaker 1: and along with that, I brought in the chair of
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Speaker 1: our elders. They were in the room when I asked
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Speaker 1: her to come in. I confronted her with the wrong,
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Speaker 1: and she looked at me like a calf looking at
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Speaker 1: a new gate. Me? You're talking about me. And then
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Speaker 1: I began to name evidence after evidence, example after example,
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Speaker 1: one issue after another, after another, after another, even confessed
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Speaker 1: to her that I had overlooked those things I had
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Speaker 1: no business overlooking and it was it had come to
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Speaker 1: an end she was through it's one of the few
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Speaker 1: times that I have let me put it nicely that
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Speaker 1: I have invited people to try another church for their
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Speaker 1: own good and I It's always difficult to know what
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Speaker 1: church to recommend, so I usually do not recommend which church,
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Speaker 1: but it won't be this one. I'll make that clear.
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Speaker 1: Her husband was not with her, perhaps a fault on
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Speaker 1: my part, but that was the last I ever heard
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Speaker 1: from either one of them. Let me add, not in
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Speaker 1: my notes, but from memory, The relief was palpable. The
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Speaker 1: release from all of the pot stirring and troublemaking and
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Speaker 1: gossip and innuendo. Now, I wasn't popular with her sister
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Speaker 1: who was in the church. And when she confronted me
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Speaker 1: the following Sunday, I quietly made it clear You're next.
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Speaker 1: And it's amazing how that quieted her down as I
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Speaker 1: said that. When I was younger, I would have never
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Speaker 1: done that. When you get older, you get a little crusty.
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Speaker 1: And hopefully not cranky. But you get tired of it.
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Speaker 1: And you know what else is more important? The sheep
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Speaker 1: need protection. They don't need to be around that. They're
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Speaker 1: learning wrong things. They're also learning that you're passive as
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Speaker 1: a leader. I think the respect for me grew as
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Speaker 1: a result of dealing with it, though there were some
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Speaker 1: in her group that left with her. That was also
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Speaker 1: a nice change. We quickly filled the pews with those
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Speaker 1: who were longing to come to the church and couldn't
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Speaker 1: find a place to sit. Now they had a place,
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Speaker 1: and they came with delight and anticipation. looking forward to
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Speaker 1: a place of worship they could enjoy. I repeat, it
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Speaker 1: is unpleasant and it is unpopular. But if you do
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Speaker 1: the work of discipline as it should be done, always
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Speaker 1: with witnesses, always making sure that those you answer to,
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Speaker 1: in my case, a group of elders, know the full story.
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Speaker 1: In fact, I mentioned earlier, I had the chair of
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Speaker 1: the elders with us, and they all understood. Interestingly, it
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Speaker 1: never once urged me to do it. That was my call.
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Speaker 1: That was my responsibility, and it's yours. Someday, it will
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Speaker 1: be yours. Now, I can just read some of your minds.
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Speaker 1: I can just see some of you thinking, I'm just
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Speaker 1: going to, I'm just going to, Go to a church
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Speaker 1: that doesn't have people like that. Welcome to Mars. That's
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Speaker 1: on another planet. They'll be there. And some of them
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Speaker 1: lie in wait. Had a young man who was a
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Speaker 1: graduate of Master's Seminary. Very fine preacher. Very fine preacher.
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Speaker 1: Excellent expositor. Called me with tears. And I called his
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Speaker 1: name as we were on the phone. And I said,
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Speaker 1: I'm so glad to hear from you. Haven't heard from
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Speaker 1: you in a long time. He said, well, since we've
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Speaker 1: last talked, I've changed churches. And maybe just sobbed. I said,
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Speaker 1: what on earth is happening? He said, there is an
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Speaker 1: old man in our church that has run off three
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Speaker 1: pastors before me. And he's made it clear that I'm next.
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Speaker 1: And he spread the word. that I'm guilty of this
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Speaker 1: and I'm not, that I'm not doing that and I am.
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Speaker 1: And he said, I just don't know what to do.
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Speaker 1: I said, well, get out a piece of paper and
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Speaker 1: a pencil and I will give you some directions. And
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Speaker 1: I went over many of the things I've just covered here.
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Speaker 1: He was as quiet as a church mouse. He said, OK, OK.
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Speaker 1: He would on occasion say, are you serious? And I said, yep,
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Speaker 1: I'm serious. Go there. I said, let me ask here,
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Speaker 1: do your elders know what he's doing? Well, most of
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Speaker 1: them do. Were they there before you got there and
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Speaker 1: watched all this? Yep, most of them were. Well, you
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Speaker 1: need to break him of a very bad habit. You
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Speaker 1: need to expose him call his hand he said well
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Speaker 1: he's 80 years old I said I don't care if
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Speaker 1: he's 180 210 he needs to be confronted he's making
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Speaker 1: your life and many in the church miserable he said
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Speaker 1: well he certainly is and and yet you know He's
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Speaker 1: really rich. I said, I don't care if he's rich.
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Speaker 1: That doesn't qualify him for doing what he's doing. Call
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Speaker 1: him in privately and tell him if it doesn't change,
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Speaker 1: you're going to make it known publicly. He said, well,
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Speaker 1: when do I do that? I said, how about next week?
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Speaker 1: How about this week? He said, okay. He's writing this down.
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Speaker 1: And I said, get your elders ready for it. And
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Speaker 1: he did that. That week he called the old guy in,
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Speaker 1: confronted him, And he said he balked at first, kind
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Speaker 1: of looked down. He said, well, I never thought I'd
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Speaker 1: be talked to like this. And I said, did you
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Speaker 1: back off? He said, no, not once. You told me
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Speaker 1: not to back off right here. He's reading it right
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Speaker 1: here in the paper. Well, that's right. You followed through well.
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Speaker 1: How'd the elders do? He said, you know what? Man,
30:56
Speaker 1: they stepped up. And I said, How about the following Sunday?
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Speaker 1: You know, he didn't show up. I said, that's great.
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Speaker 1: If he shows up and starts making trouble, expose him publicly.
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Speaker 1: Call him by name. I said, are you serious? I said, yeah.
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Speaker 1: I did that once with an elder who was a
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Speaker 1: child molester. It had been going on for some time.
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Speaker 1: No one knew it. When we found out about it,
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Speaker 1: we confronted him as a group of elders. And he
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Speaker 1: was sort of the hero of the church at the time,
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Speaker 1: until we investigated and found out the truth. Newspapers, reporters
31:39
Speaker 1: showed up. They had their cameras ready and the TV
31:42
Speaker 1: was there. They had heard about what was going to
31:45
Speaker 1: be done, but they had nothing to report, except an
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Speaker 1: article that appeared in the paper the next week that said, finally,
31:52
Speaker 1: a church handles it like it should be handled. Don't
31:59
Speaker 1: be afraid of doing what is right. Don't be afraid
32:03
Speaker 1: of standing against what is wrong. There may be those
32:10
Speaker 1: who played a major part in your being called to
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Speaker 1: that church. I've had that happen. It's sort of a
32:17
Speaker 1: known factor that often the one who is most influential
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Speaker 1: in your being called turns against you when the church
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Speaker 1: begins to appreciate your ministry and out of jealousy He
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Speaker 1: works against you. They may be older than you are.
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Speaker 1: Often they are. They may be longstanding in the community, influential, intimidating,
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Speaker 1: always powerful people. Let me tell you about an elder
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Speaker 1: that I dealt with in a former church. Another place,
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Speaker 1: another time in my life. He was angry all the time.
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Speaker 1: I rarely knew him when he wasn't angry. He was
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Speaker 1: angry in elder meetings. Unfortunately, he had been elected as
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Speaker 1: the chair of the elders, and there we were under
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Speaker 1: that man's influence. Everything I tried to move the church into,
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Speaker 1: he worked against. Every time I attempted to deal with
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Speaker 1: things like discipling elders and working alongside them in carrying
33:26
Speaker 1: out new ideas, he stood against them. And in a
33:31
Speaker 1: fit of rage, he came in one cold evening. I
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Speaker 1: was at the study by myself. He stomped in and
33:41
Speaker 1: slammed the door, and he looked at me and he said,
33:43
Speaker 1: I've about had as much of you as I'm going
33:46
Speaker 1: to take. And he pulled his coat back kind of
33:49
Speaker 1: like this, and this is no exaggeration. There was a
33:54
Speaker 1: revolver stuck in his belt. He said, you know, I
33:58
Speaker 1: carry a gun. In fact, I'm not afraid to use it.
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Speaker 1: He turned it on the butt of the gun and
34:06
Speaker 1: he pounded out the bullets. They fell on the desk.
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Speaker 1: He said, just remember, I'm not afraid to use this
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Speaker 1: when I need to. Put every one of the bullets
34:19
Speaker 1: back in, slammed it shut, put it back in his
34:23
Speaker 1: waist and walked out. Welcome to the ministry, huh? Nobody
34:33
Speaker 1: ever told me at Dallas Seminary I may face somebody
34:36
Speaker 1: like that. Nobody at the church ever warned me that
34:40
Speaker 1: the man carried a gun. He's a psychopath. He's a
34:45
Speaker 1: very sick man. He's dead now through a number of
34:52
Speaker 1: events that have happened. In fact, before I moved from
34:55
Speaker 1: that church, one of my prayers was, Lord, remove him
35:00
Speaker 1: so that the man who takes my place will not
35:02
Speaker 1: have to deal with him for as long as I've
35:06
Speaker 1: had to deal with him. Even attempts at confronting him
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Speaker 1: never worked. And would you believe, the day I read
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Speaker 1: my resignation before that church service that morning, Scouts Honor,
35:21
Speaker 1: he came into my office threw his keys on my
35:25
Speaker 1: desk he had carried the keys to the church for
35:28
Speaker 1: all those years and he said well I'm out of
35:31
Speaker 1: here and I didn't know whether to shout or wind
35:35
Speaker 1: my watch I mean I was I was thrilled he
35:39
Speaker 1: said I decided to move and he moved a number
35:42
Speaker 1: of miles away and was never there from the day
35:46
Speaker 1: I read my resignation on isn't God good how he
35:51
Speaker 1: takes care of things that I was not able to
35:53
Speaker 1: take care of. Let me get even more serious. In
36:00
Speaker 1: a former church, our receptionist named Sharon received a phone
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Speaker 1: call from a man she didn't know. He said, is
36:09
Speaker 1: this the church that teaches people about Jesus Christ? Are
36:13
Speaker 1: you the ones who have that teacher that urges them
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Speaker 1: to follow him as their master? She was thrilled to
36:21
Speaker 1: hear it. Him asked that, she answered, well, yes, that's us.
36:25
Speaker 1: You're invited to come anytime. He said, no, I'm not interested.
36:28
Speaker 1: I'm a part of the church of Satan. All of
36:32
Speaker 1: us are working against you and especially against your teacher.
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Speaker 1: And I'm calling to tell you, we will win. Hung
36:43
Speaker 1: up the phone. That wasn't bad enough. Several weeks later,
36:50
Speaker 1: one of our members was on a flight flying from
36:55
Speaker 1: where we were located at the time to New York City.
36:58
Speaker 1: Happened to be in first class. The meal was served
37:03
Speaker 1: and the man next to her didn't eat the meal.
37:08
Speaker 1: And she looked over there and said, you're not hungry.
37:12
Speaker 1: It's late in the day. I thought everybody would be
37:14
Speaker 1: eating today. He said, no, we're fasting.
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Speaker 2: Oh.
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Speaker 1: She thought she was meeting a fellow believer, and he said,
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Speaker 1: I'm a member, I'm going to read this, I'm a
37:25
Speaker 1: member of a group of Satan's followers. We're fasting and
37:29
Speaker 1: praying to our master that at least 100 marriages of
37:34
Speaker 1: Christian leaders will break up by the end of this year.
37:40
Speaker 1: Did you know that went on? Did you know that
37:44
Speaker 1: kind of thing goes on? gives new meaning to the
37:51
Speaker 1: statement when you enter into ministry. You don't step onto
37:56
Speaker 1: a playground, but a battleground. This is serious stuff. And
38:06
Speaker 1: if you're given the kind of playing around with things
38:08
Speaker 1: as you're going through your schooling, it's a good time
38:12
Speaker 1: to leave. Ministry's nothing to play with. They play for
38:19
Speaker 1: keeps out there You'll be needed like no one else
38:24
Speaker 1: in the church is needed. How easy to ignore the
38:29
Speaker 1: words that we just sang. And though this world with
38:35
Speaker 1: devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear.
38:42
Speaker 1: For God has willed his truth to triumph through us.
38:46
Speaker 1: The prince of darkness, grim, we tremble not for him.
38:52
Speaker 1: His rage we can endure. Lo, his doom is sure.
38:57
Speaker 1: One little word shall fell him. The enemy is real,
39:06
Speaker 1: men and women. Real. As real as a Satanist fasting.
39:16
Speaker 1: Praying to their master that one of us will fall.
39:21
Speaker 1: or our marriage will fail. This is the time to
39:28
Speaker 1: grow up. to realize that what you're learning is a
39:36
Speaker 1: game plan for life next time I'll talk about the
39:43
Speaker 1: things we bring with us into ministry that make ministry
39:47
Speaker 1: difficult Today it's about people, actual individuals, folks you've not
39:56
Speaker 1: yet met, but you will. You'll need to be ready,
40:03
Speaker 1: and you'll need to be strong. Back in 1985, Marshall
40:12
Speaker 1: Shelley wrote a little book I wish every one of
40:16
Speaker 1: you would read. I mean that. It's titled Well-Intentioned Dragons.
40:25
Speaker 1: Well-Intentioned Dragons. Marshall begins. Oh, by the way, the subtitle
40:35
Speaker 1: is Ministering to Problem People in the Church. Marshall begins. Dragons,
40:44
Speaker 1: of course, are fictional beasts. Monstrous reptiles with lion's claws,
40:56
Speaker 1: a serpent's tail, bat wings, and scaly skin. They exist
41:04
Speaker 1: only in one's imagination. But there are dragons of a
41:11
Speaker 1: different sort, decidedly real. They leave ulcers, strained relationships, and
41:22
Speaker 1: hard feelings in their wake. They don't consider themselves difficult people.
41:31
Speaker 1: They don't sit up nights thinking of ways to be nasty.
41:37
Speaker 1: But for some reason, they undermine the ministry. They're not
41:45
Speaker 1: naturally rebellious or pathological. They're convinced they're serving God. But
41:55
Speaker 1: they wind up doing more harm than good. They can
42:00
Speaker 1: drive pastors crazy or out of the church. if you
42:14
Speaker 1: do not get a handle on this, chances are good
42:16
Speaker 1: you'll become a victim. And you'll leave the church a
42:21
Speaker 1: broken man or woman, disillusioned, deeply, deeply disturbed. Your whole
42:35
Speaker 1: frame of reference will have changed because you didn't ready
42:41
Speaker 1: yourself for difficult people. My hope is that God will
42:46
Speaker 1: keep you strong, stable, positive, determined, committed to work the
42:58
Speaker 1: work of the ministry, but never gullible, not passive, on
43:11
Speaker 1: the alert, watching out, Being ready when necessary, taking charge.
43:27
Speaker 1: Remember Jesus' words? The one who was so gracious to say,
43:35
Speaker 1: come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden,
43:39
Speaker 1: and I will give you rest. Short time later said
43:44
Speaker 1: to one of his followers, get behind me, Satan. The
43:51
Speaker 1: one who came to the last meal with his disciples
43:57
Speaker 1: whom he loved to the end, spoke to them in
44:01
Speaker 1: these warm and encouraging terms, said to one of them,
44:09
Speaker 1: whatever you're going to do, do it quickly. Get out.
44:18
Speaker 1: That's the Savior. Both and. Not either or. Staying in
44:32
Speaker 1: ministry requires mind of a scholar, heart of his child,
44:40
Speaker 1: the hide of a rhinoceros. Remember that. Remember that. Thank you,
44:53
Speaker 1: dear Father, for the way you love us, watch over us,
45:00
Speaker 1: protect us. For the years, you've done that for me.
45:06
Speaker 1: All the mistakes I've made, all the times I've looked
45:10
Speaker 1: the other way when I should have walked into the battle.
45:14
Speaker 1: I realize today when I speak, I'm no great example
45:18
Speaker 1: of all of this, but I can speak from experience.
45:23
Speaker 1: When I've done what I should have done, you honored it.
45:29
Speaker 1: Help these men and women as they form their opinions
45:31
Speaker 1: about ministry to keep it real so they might serve
45:38
Speaker 1: you with a whole heart as shepherds who love the
45:45
Speaker 1: flock and at the same time guard it well from wolves.
45:51
Speaker 1: In Jesus' name. Everybody say it. Amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message, Boars in God's Vineyard, was copyrighted in
46:06
Speaker 2: 2021 and 2023 and the sound recording was copyrighted in
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Speaker 2: 2023 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
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