“Put Up With Anything Rather Than Hinder The Gospel Of Christ!”

“Put Up With Anything Rather Than Hinder The Gospel Of Christ!”(I Cor.9:1-12).
Dear friends, if I should summarize this week’s teachings in one sentence, it would be: Children of God should be selfless. Selfless means “being concerned more with the needs and wishes of others than with one’s own; not being selfish.”
This is not to say you should develop a thin waist like a wasp becsuse it concentrated on feeding its young and forgot about itself.
Rounding up the week the lectionary text focuses on the messengers of the word. It is often disheartening the way some Christians oppose the idea of providing for their pastor – call it any other name you like, but pastor covers all the other names and titles, since pastor from its Latin roots mean sherpherd.
The wellbeing of the shepherd is an advantage to the flock. By the way, if we take away the negative connotation attached to the expression, “Goat di chop na for place wey dem tie yi, “ you’ll agree that in all walks of life livelihood depends on profession, vocation, trade or occupation. The pastor is no exception to this rule.
The scriptures say we should not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, meaning that in whatever is the work you do you hope to benefit out of it. If the pastors sow spiritual seed among the Christians it is not asking too much if they reap material harvest from the same Christians.
Dear Christian, take care of your pastors without grumbling! They feed you with spiritual food that nourishes your soul and invigorates you, they deserve the material benefits which is reward for their labours.
But as Paul says, these pastors are also selfless. Even though they deserve these rights like others, they “put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.”
Dear friend, this message is to all of us. You may deserve rights to the amenities that others enjoy, but if it is not there, “put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.”
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit help me daily to be selfless. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.