Working with kids, I’ve noticed that they can be very willing to blame their teacher for their own shortcomings. They would much rather have their parents upset with the teacher than upset with them.
An assignment didn’t get finished, a direction wasn’t followed, or a test didn’t go well, and somehow the teacher became the problem. By the time the story gets home, the child has explained everything except what the child did.
A wise parent asks questions before accepting that explanation. But sometimes a parent walks into the school ready to correct the teacher, and the teacher was never the problem in the first place.
The assignment was clear, help was available, and the student simply didn’t do the work.
We can recognize that in children pretty easily. It gets uncomfortable when we consider how something similar happens in our own Christian lives.
We tell people we follow Jesus, but then we don’t follow what He says.
We treat someone poorly, handle a responsibility carelessly, or say things we shouldn’t, and the person affected begins forming an opinion about more than us.
They may begin to question the church we attend, the ministry we serve in, and the Lord we say has changed our lives.
Paul cared about that connection between his behavior and the ministry God had given him.
2 Corinthians 6:3 “Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:”
When Our Conduct Becomes Someone Else’s Objection
Paul wanted to make sure the church was not creating a stumbling block before those hearing the gospel through their words, teaching, or actions. And the concern reached beyond protecting their own names.
Think about a simple ministry responsibility.
Imagine we agreed to help with an activity, but we arrive late, haven’t read the instructions, and don’t have what we were asked to bring.
Someone has to stop what they are doing and help us catch up. Instead of admitting we weren’t prepared, we start talking about how poorly everything is organized.
Now the ministry is being blamed for the confusion we helped create. That sounds a lot like the child blaming the teacher.
We may feel better after giving our version of the story, but someone else is left wondering whether the ministry can be trusted. A new volunteer may decide not to return, a parent may become uneasy about leaving a child next time or even worst, someone has second thoughts on learning about Jesus.
We should care about those people enough to ask an honest question: did the ministry fail us, or did we fail to do our part?
Of course, teachers and ministry leaders can make mistakes too. We should address real problems truthfully, and protecting a ministry never means hiding wrongdoing or silencing someone who needs help.
But when the problem is our own conduct, we need to own it.
We cannot control every conclusion people draw, but we can take responsibility for whether our behavior has been pulling people away from God.
“But I’m Not a Minister”
Sometimes we hear the word ministry and immediately think of the pastor. We assume a passage like this belongs to someone with a pulpit, an office, or a church paycheck.
Paul was describing his own ministry and that of his fellow workers, but Scripture also gives every Christian a responsibility to serve (2 Corinthians 6:3-4; 1 Peter 4:10-11).
1 Peter 4:10 “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Peter connects receiving a gift with using it to minister to others. We have something to do with what God has given us.
Being saved does not make every Christian a pastor, but it does mean we have a place in serving the Lord and helping people.
We might teach a class, visit a rest home, welcome a family, hate the gospel or help someone understand the Bible. We may never stand behind a pulpit, but we should do everything to the best of our ability because we are doing it for Christ!
Give People Something Good to See
Paul’s concern did not end with avoiding blame. He continued by describing service that showed faithful service.
2 Corinthians 6:4 “But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,”
Avoiding blame is not enough; a minister should also show that they are true and faithful servant of the Word.
Approving ourselves means giving evidence through how we live.
Think again about the classroom. A student can stop blaming the teacher and still leave every assignment unfinished.
The teacher wants more for that child than to end blaming others. The child needs to listen, learn, and put the instruction into practice.
We need to do the same with what God has taught us. We can be grateful that we didn’t cause a problem, but there are still people to love and responsibilities to carry.
We won’t ever serve God flawlessly, but we can always do our best for Him. We have an opportunity to help others know Christ, and we want our conduct to agree with the Lord we hope they will come to know.
