A Word in Season: Concern for the Churches (2 Corinthians 11:28)

Paul’s Catalogue of Sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11

If you had asked the Apostle Paul to identify his most distressing burdens, or his most painful experiences, you might have imagined that he would choose something from the catalogue of woes that's recorded in 2 Corinthians at the end of chapter 11.

Setting himself in contrast to the false teachers, he says that he has been in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often, boasting in the things of which they would have been ashamed.

And then he begins to spell out some of the particular sufferings. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes, minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been in the deep.

At which point you're asking how Paul is even alive still, let alone what state his body might have been in after such afflictions and abuses. But he goes on. He'd been in journeys often, in perils of waters, robbers, his own countrymen, the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in the wilderness, in the sea, in perils among false brethren, and in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

And you say, well, Paul, take your pick. I mean, any one of those, let alone a combination of them. That's got to be the worst thing that you face. But it seems then that Paul says something which crowns the whole.

Paul’s Deep Concern for All the Churches

Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches. Now, Paul is not God, and he knows that. And we are not Paul, and we should know that. We're not apostles. We don't necessarily have the same responsibilities and duties, even in terms of pastoral labor, let alone in terms of apostolic responsibility.

And yet you will notice that what burdens Paul most of all is the state of the churches. And it's not first and foremost his frustration that things aren't going the way he'd like them to. And you might imagine that that might be the case.

Now, what he says is that really this is a function of his compassion. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble and I do not burn with indignation? There's nothing that causes the apostle more distress than the weakness, the affliction, the stumbling of God's people.

When he looks at the flock of Christ and he sees what they're passing through, what they're struggling with, how they're being oppressed or persecuted, undermined or deceived, it grieves his soul. And more even than any of the sufferings, or perhaps even the combination of the sufferings, is that day by day, this concern, this compassionate regard for the people of God presses in upon his soul.

A Pastor’s Heart and the Care of the Churches

Now, is there anything of that in our experience? Yes, there may be many things that are taking place around us, many sufferings that we're undergoing, many afflictions that we have to deal with. But are we burdened with a concern for the churches of Jesus Christ, particularly for the congregation to which you belong?

This is one of the marks of a pastor's heart. When a man has a shepherd's soul, he has this profound concern and compassion for God's people. They take up his waking thoughts. They draw out his most ardent affections.

He is troubled when they are troubled. He feels the burden of their weakness. He is concerned and distressed when he sees them stumbling. And if that's true of pastors in particular, ought it not also to be true of God's people more generally?

Again, we may not even have the responsibility of care for one congregation. Paul had many pastors, typically one, perhaps with interest or investment more widely. But as Christians, do we not have the good of the kingdom at heart, both in our own backyard, as it were, but more broadly, as we understand what's taking place in sister churches, as we look at the progress of the gospel around the world or the difficulties that they face?

Pleading for Mercy, Preservation, and Gospel Advance

These are the things which we ought to take to heart. This is what ought to engage our compassion and our concern. And this ought to be something then for which we earnestly plead with God that he would show mercy and favour and preserve and restore and advance his kingdom.