Don’t Give Up Ministering the Gospel (Part 3)
This is the third in a series of posts. Click here for previous posts: part 1, part 2.
In a culture that is growing in opposition to the Christian gospel and Christian living, we need Paul’s encouragement in 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 not to faint.
The verb “faint not” refers to not being cowardly or to not being weary and giving up—losing the heart to continue on. So the idea revolves around not losing the motivation to keep on keeping on in the face of pressures to get you to give up. Opposition, persecution is designed to pressure Christians to be silent, to give up.
But we have been called by God to minister. So we must overcome such discouragement. We have a God-given calling! We have a God-granted privilege of rescuing people (the ministry of reconciliation mentioned in 2 Cor 5:18)! We have been entrusted with the greatness of the New Covenant gospel—an unveiling of the brightness of the glory of God not seen by those under the Old Covenant (2 Cor 3).
2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
What ministry? The ministry of the New Covenant message of Jesus Christ (for which the Jews were persecuting Paul because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah). Paul became a jar of clay carrying this precious message of the gospel.
We need to have a “big view” of the message of the gospel we carry to rescue people. We need to value the message we carry—its transforming power (the resurrection power, the eternal life power) that saves people’s lives for all eternity. This should motivate us to the point that we can say with Paul: “WE WILL KEEP ON MINISTERING THE GOSPEL, COME WHAT MAY!”
Where is our determination? We faint not! We will not lose heart! We will not give up! If you are to faint not in this ministry, you must have this perspective of your faith:
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:16–18)
Proposition: An eternal perspective motivates ministry perseverance in the face of perpetual persecution.
Paul provides three reasons not to give up ministering in the face of persecution:
- Inner spiritual renewal is greater than outer physical deterioration.
- The eternal weight of glory surpasses our light, momentary affliction.
- The unseen realities are eternal while our seen experiences are temporary.
We don’t give up ministering because of the Spirit’s work to renew us from within is greater than the destructive effects of persecution on our bodies. There’s another reason we don’t give up ministering. We don’t give up ministering because our affliction is light and momentary compared to the eternal weight of glory that awaits us.
Verse 17 begins with the word “for.” Paul is giving a further explanation of his claim in verse 16. As if someone doubts his explanation in verse 16, Paul digs in and reinforces his claim even further. We do not give up ministering; we don’t faint or lose heart because of verse 17.
Our affliction is the vehicle God uses to work in us. By comparison it is light and momentary. Do you see the verb “Worketh for us”? This means that something accomplishes, produces, brings about, prepares, or makes ready. What is it that works or accomplishes something for us? Our affliction. It does this of itself (as a tool in God’s hands of course). But this is the irony—the very thing that afflicts us is the tool God uses to work in us for our eternal weight of glory.
Does it really feel like your affliction is light and momentary when you are under attack for ministering the gospel? Paul is not denying the reality and effects of suffering. He uses a significant word to summarize all the persecution and opposition he has faced in his ministry. (Don’t forget what he described in the context of this chapter and book.) The word affliction pictures great pressure, constraint, or a burden. Think of being pressed to the ground in a wrestling match and you’re straining as hard as you can to prevent yourself from being pinned on your back.
Paul purposefully uses this word of great pressure weighing someone down and then says that that pressure is light in comparison to something else. He’s not denying that the affliction is weighty. He is emphasizing that this weighty thing (the horrible effects of persecution on our outer person) is nothing in comparison to something so much more weighty.
In addition, our affliction is momentary—by comparison. We must have an eternal perspective. It is but for a moment—like mist that disappears in a split second. What seemed heavy to us as a child (barely able to lift a five-pound dumbbell) and what seemed a long time to us as a child (waiting for Christmas to come all December long) seems light to us now and seems brief to us now. Our perspective changes as we mature and have lived longer. Our perspective about this life will certainly change when we find ourselves in eternity. We know this is true, but it’s hard to feel this now in the midst of our trials.
Although the affliction from persecution may seem heavy and long-lasting, the glory that awaits us far outweighs and outlasts all that we feel in this life. It is “far more exceeding.” The same Greek word is repeated twice to communicate that the eternal weight of glory worked out for us is beyond all measure, it is surpassing, it is beyond comparison (both in its quality and extent—think of a great-tasting cake and a lot of it—glory is better and longer), utterly, “to excess.”
Our affliction brings about the weighty, eternal glory God plans for our reward. God plans to reward us with glory—all of the blessings of the age to come (see Matt 25:14–30). Glory is the reward we will receive because we faithfully stewarded the responsibilities God gave us—ministering the gospel, fulfilling the Great Commission, our ministry of reconciliation as ambassadors for Christ.
The glory will be weighty—far surpassing the weight of the affliction. The glory will be eternal—far surpassing the length of the affliction. How do you measure the weight of glory? How do you measure the length of eternity? You can’t measure these things because they are beyond our grasp to measure.
We don’t give up ministering because our inner spiritual renewal is greater than our outer physical deterioration. We don’t give up ministering because the eternal weight of glory far surpasses our light, momentary affliction. In the last post, we’ll unpack Paul’s last point: we don’t give up ministering because the unseen realities are eternal while our seen experience is temporary.
Kevin Collins has served as a junior high youth leader in Michigan, a missionary in Singapore, a Christian School teacher in Utah, and a Bible writer for the BJU Press. He currently works for American Church Group of South Carolina.
Photo by Krzysztof Maksimiuk on Unsplash