Why Do So Many Pastors and Church Leaders Fizzle Out?

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Have you ever paused and evaluated why you share the gospel with others?

In 1 Corinthians 9:1, Paul asks, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?” N.T. Wright points out that Cicero, a century before Paul, was among Rome's greatest thinkers and statesmen—a sophisticated philosopher, brilliant lawyer, politician, and above all, a passionate believer in Rome's glory.

Cicero argued that Rome was naturally free, unlike other cities and nations he deemed naturally enslaved. Thus, when Rome conquered them, it was sharing the gift of freedom through its fine republican government and free citizenry. Ironically, a political rival managed to exile him, and in his absence, had his house destroyed and a statue of the goddess Liberty erected in its place.

Although Cicero returned from exile, he was executed during the civic purges following Julius Caesar's death, having been considered too dangerous for the emerging regime due to his potential criticisms. The new rulers, having eliminated him and others, swiftly declared that “freedom” had been restored—a claim every regime makes to its subjects, especially when it is, in fact, enslaving them. Wright adds,

As well as their ‘rights’, the Corinthian teachers prided themselves on their ‘freedom’. This had several aspects. They were ‘free’ because Corinth, as a Roman colony, had freedoms and rights that other cities didn’t. They were ‘free’ because, in the popular philosophies of the day, people who had true knowledge and wisdom (as they thought they had) had discovered true human freedom. And now they were ‘free’ because, as Christians, those who had previously been ‘under’ the Jewish law were now free from it, and all of them were now free from the corruption of the world as a whole. So now they could do what they liked. Or could they?^[1]

Paul says in verses 16-18, ¹⁶ “For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach—and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a commission. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel.”