About two weeks ago, Eugene asked a salient question at the end of the church business meeting. He asked something like, "What kind of person am I becoming through this church?"
His question was not just introspective. He is serving on the Church Strategy Task Team, which will research how to reach and serve our community. He was moving toward the question, "If we bring people to church, what do we have to offer them? What kind of persons will they become as a result of coming to our church?"
The short answer is that we are becoming a Successful Participant in God’s work in and through us. And a Successful Participant is described on the banner behind me. This morning, we will be looking the characteristic of flexible persistence and how we can develop flexible persistence in our lives.
All of us have given up prematurely sometime in our lives. We may have come up against a business setback, and we quit. Others of us had relational difficulties, whether with our spouse, our in-laws or our co-workers, and we’ve stopped trying to work things out. Still others have started a physical, spiritual or academic program but gave up before reaching the finish line.
We live in a society and time when almost everything is handed to us without requiring us to be patient or to persevere. We buy our clothes off the rack. We buy our food frozen but pre-cooked. The shows on television and the movies resolve all the problems the main characters have, and they do this in 30 minutes to 2 hours at most. And recently, one can get a divorce on-line, without ever leaving home.
Flexible persistence is vanishing from our society. Flexible persistence enables us to work with difficult people in difficult situations to achieve God’s best. Flexible persistence trusts God and utilizes God-given resources to accomplish God-size goals. Flexible persistence can be developed, and we’ll look at its building blocks this morning.
The text is 2 Corinthians 4.
This letter from Paul to the Corinthian church deals in part with false accusations against the Apostle Paul and his Christian ministry. Rather than retaliate or give up serving with the Corinthian Church, Paul worked at resolving the problem. Let’s look at what Paul had to enable him to persevere.
First, Paul had the purity of motive. We see this in verses 1-6.
Paul was honest. He served the Corinthian Church because of his love for Jesus Christ. Paul’s purity of motive enabled him to work with difficult people who falsely accused him of using deceptive and self-seeking methods in Christian ministry. If our motives are pure, we will have the perseverance to work with difficult people or difficult situations.
Seven years ago, I left my job in biotechnology to serve as campus minister at UC Davis. Before I could begin, I had to raise over $30,000 in financial support.
I had never raised financial support before. The closest thing I ever observed was the KQED fund drives on television. In the first two months, I raised about 4% of the total amount. At this rate, I would need 200 months or 16 years to raise the $30,000.
I approached one of my college friends, a Christian who was doing well in computer programming. I asked if he would support me, and he agreed to support me $30.
I was young and tactless. I said something like, "You’re kidding. You’ve got lots of money, and you’re only supporting me $30?" He has not talked to me since that time.
I wanted to give up. My motive was to serve the college students, not to raise money. I didn’t want to wait 16 years to serve as a campus minister. And I didn’t want to lose another friend because I didn’t know how to raise financial support.
But I didn’t quit. My motive to serve the college students for the sake of Christ kept me going. I understood that raising financial support was necessary for ministry cost and my cost of living.
So I continued to work 8 to 10 hours each day in biotechnology, served the church for 15 hours each week and tried to raise my financial support. It took me 9 months to raise the entire amount. And by God’s grace, I didn’t lose another friend in the process.
Because my motive was pure, even though I didn’t know how to raise money, I persevered. A pure motive lays the foundation for flexible persistence. If you are thinking about giving up on a commitment, terminating a relationship or quitting in the middle of a project, check first to see if you have a pure motive.
If our motive is pure, we have the foundational building block for flexible persistence. And we can move to the next building block for flexible persistence.
Second, Paul had the presence of Christ. We see this in verses 7-12.
Although Paul had purity of motive, he admitted that his life was not always victorious on the path toward his goals. Paul in fact admitted that he was overwhelmed and at times knocked down by life’s trials.
We read in the book of Acts that Paul, while in his missionary work, was beaten repeatedly. He was imprisoned. He was shipwrecked. His life was threatened constantly. He was falsely accused often. Yet, Paul didn’t fall apart emotionally or physically.
We might say, "Wow, Paul must have been physically and psychologically strong." But Paul would tell you that he was like a clay pot that is easily broken. His ability to recover from the physical and emotional abuse, and yet not retaliate, was due to the presence of Jesus Christ in his life.
I’ve been a pastor for less than two years, and I have to say that if Jesus were not with me, I would have resigned by now. I love what I do, but I’m not physically or emotionally strong enough to do what God calls me to do as a pastor. Pastors and Christians are human. We get tired when we work long hours. We bleed when you cut us. We get depressed when we are emotionally drained.
I remember a very busy week early on in my ministry when I visited two people in two different hospitals on the same day. The one I visited in the morning recovered miraculously, and we praised God together. The one I visited in the afternoon die, and I mourned with the family.
When I got back to the office, I was emotionally drained, but I still needed to prepare the message for Sunday. There were still calls to make, calls to take and meetings to plan. By the end of the day, I was physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. Only the presence of Jesus Christ in my life kept me from falling apart.
The presence of Jesus Christ in my life has given me the power to persevere, to forgive and to be courageous in times of need. If we have a pure motive and the presence of Christ, we can move to the next building block.
Third, Paul had the power of belief. We see this in verses13-15.
Again, we see Paul’s motive is for the benefit of others and for the glory of God. But we see also a powerful faith at work. Paul speaks of and lives according to what he believes. Because of his belief that death is not final, but that there is the resurrection of the dead, he persevered in his ministry to the Corinthian Church.
Many of us have weak beliefs, and as a result, we don’t have the power to persevere. People are swept along by trends and popular vote. What was once wrong is now right or culturally accepted. As long as everybody else is doing it, Christians are getting divorced, Christians are cheating on taxes, and Christians are neglecting Sunday worship of God.
If you don’t have strong beliefs, you won’t have the power for flexible persistence. We’ve all heard about Thomas Edison, who performed 10,000 experiments before he perfected the incandescent light. He believed, and he persisted despite 9,999 failed attempts.
You may know of Paul Ehrlich, who tried 605 possible remedies for syphilis. He received the Nobel Prize for his success on attempt number 606. He believed in a remedy for syphilis.
Do we believe we can reach the 10,000 English speaking Asian in Marin County with the life-transforming good news of Jesus Christ? Maybe 10,000 is too large a number for you to believe at this time. I believe our church can reach and serve 100 English-speaking Asians in Marin County. Do you?
And when we reach and serve 100 English-speaking Asians, I believe we can reach and serve 200 English-speaking Asians. Do you? And when we reach and serve 200 English-speaking Asians, I believe we can reach and serve 300 English-speaking Asians in Marin County. Do you?
Jesus said in Matthew 25:21, "Whoever is faithful with a few will be put in charge of many more." Do you believe that?
To have the power of belief in our lives will help us overcome criticism, limiting thoughts and past failures. If you have a pure motive, the presence of Christ, and the power of belief, we can move to the next building block.
Fourth, Paul had the promise of return. We see this in verses 16-18.
Many people are afraid of using up their lives, and they never put their entire effort into anything. The fear of trouble, the fear of mistakes, the fear of criticisms or the fear of failure limits their willingness to persevere. Their motto in life is "No pain, no pain."
Paul was not one of them. Paul knew that if he sacrificed his life for God, God would raise him from the dead, just as God raised Jesus from the dead. He knew whatever he gave, he would receive in return in eternity with God.
When we accept God’s promise of return, we won’t hesitate in the face of trouble; we won’t quit when unexpected hardship comes, and we won’t withdraw when we make a mistake. We don’t even have to wait until heaven, but we can receive the promise of daily renewal, daily power, daily forgiveness and daily grace.
Paul J. Meyer wrote in Unlocking Your Legacy, "Cost and self-sacrifice do not make something hard. Nobody feels sorry for the athlete who wins an Olympic medal, even though the person paid an incredible price through grueling effort behind the scenes, denying himself or herself certain things, probably for several years, all for one hopeful brief moment of glory. The medal, once attained, minimizes every cost and self-sacrifice."
Meyer continues, "Following God is similar in many respects. There are costs and self-sacrifice to be made, but that does not mean it is hard to follow God. Hard is when you compete but never win, invest but lose everything, work but receive nothing for your efforts, and show love but receive hat in return.... When I compare my costs and self-sacrifices with what I have already received and will receive in return, my costs and self-sacrifices are insignificant!"
To have God’s promise of return in our lives will help us give of our time, money and efforts generously to accomplish what could not otherwise be accomplished. If you have a pure motive, the presence of Christ, and the power of belief and the promise of return, you will not quit nor will you even recognize the possibility of defeat.
The church is called to serve people for the sake of Christ. 10,000 English-speaking Asians in Marin County will not be easily reached, but with flexible persistence, they will surely be reached.
