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I have recently found out that sometimes you can't win. As a pastor you sometimes have to confront people in their sin, their unbelief, the sick situations, etc.
This is never pleasant and most men and women I know in ministry would rather eat glass covered in razor blades soaked in iodine. If a ministry leader loves confrontation...they may need to consider another vocation.
On the other hand, we have derelict pastors who never deal with issues for fear of pushing someone away, making the matter worse, losing relationships and/or finances, etc.
This is just as wrong as the minister who thrives on confrontation.
I imagine many (if not most) of the prophets, apostles and church leaders through the ages must have felt very burdened when God gave them a hard word for the people or they had to be involved in some confrontational situation.
It seems that Jeremiah wanted out and even refused to speak for God because of all the trouble it brought him...but he couldn't.
It seems that Jesus was asking for plan B when He asked His Father to take the cup away from Him...but He didn't.
Paul certainly went through hell for the message he preached all the while dealing with a thorn in his side that he begged to be taken away...but it wasn't.
Martin Luther paid a terrible price for his confrontation of a corrupt church and men wanted to murder him.
Martin Luther King Jr. (and many civil rights leaders) paid the price for standing up to the status quo with their own blood.
Around the world today their are many who lose all...family, property, and even their own lives for doing the right thing.
And lastly...in the final days of history we know that the church will be persecuted and the saints martyred because of what we represent and the judgments released upon the earth
I wonder if Jesus was blamed for Judas' suicide? I wonder if his family was offended at Jesus and His disciples because of Judas' actions? After all, Jesus told him to do what he had to do. Jesus outed him in his sin and intentions in front of his closest friends.
I wonder if the Iscariot family would sue the church for the cause of Judas' death if those events had happened today??
It is a sad day (but nothing new) when men take offense for what they do by pointing the finger at the one who cares enough to warn them.
Seems like good company to keep, being rejected for doing the right thing.
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