"As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance...through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise..." (2Corinthians 6:4,8).
After twenty-four years of faithful service to his church in Northampton, Massachusetts, Jonathan Edwards, America’s premier pastor-theologian, was honored by an all expense-paid, month-long sabbatical in the Hamptons.
No, actually he was fired, the victim of a vicious slander, a marvelous example of the old adage: No good deeds go unpunished.
Those who observed Edwards’ behavior in the days that followed were amazed at his equanimity: he was calm and quiet and showed no displeasure toward those who demanded his dismissal. As one biographer put it, "His happiness was out of the reach of his enemies" (Iain Murray).
How can any of us maintain our composure in the face of egregious injustice? Paul answers: By knowing that we are "servants of God."
Years ago, a friend told me about a board meeting in which he was cruelly maligned. At one point one of his elders shouted, "Don't forget, son, you work for us!" My friend absorbed the rebuke quietly and replied. "Yes sir," he said. "You pay my salary, but I don't work for you. I'm a servant of Jesus Christ."
I wasn't present on that occasion, but his words have indelibly marked my own thoughts about the work that we do: We don't work for anyone but Jesus.
That doesn't mean we can be cavalier about our employment, but it does free us from worrying too much about what others think of us, say about us, or do to us. We can endure dishonor and slander, knowing that we will receive our reward from the Lord. For we serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:24).
David Roper
4.3.21
