Chapter 6 - The Sincerity of Ministry

The Dorean Principle

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The Dorian principle a biblical response to the commercialization of Christianity by Conley Owens Chapter 6 the sincerity of ministry pragmatism versus principle

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I did not have a lasting career in the world of theater, but I did enjoy the time

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I spent in it At one point I had the privilege of being cast in a community production of the fantastics

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If you are unfamiliar with the musical the first act models the plot of Romeo and Juliet But ends more comically than the

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Shakespearean tragedy Two young lovers pursue each other while their feuding families attempt to keep them apart

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Through their perseverance they happily married by the end of the first act however

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The couple struggles to keep their relationship together in the second act When they discover the family conflict was all a ruse

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Their fathers only pretended to fight in order to matchmake the rebellious youth Who they were certain would do exactly what they told them not to do and fall in love with exactly whom they told them not to fall in love with The word pragmatic best describes the two fathers in the fantastics

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While other parents might be driven by principles such as honesty or Liberty These fathers were dead set on accomplishing the match through whatever means they had available to them

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This divide between pragmatism and principle applies to our consideration of Paul's ministry

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Most people would not regard the Apostle Paul as a devious manipulator regardless many label his refusal of funds as an act of pragmatism an

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Otherwise morally neutral course of action taken in order to advance the gospel with minimal impediment

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Sometimes Paul refuses funds in order to promote an industrious work ethic Sometimes he refuses funds in order to satisfy the expectations of his audience

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Sometimes he refuses funds in order to accommodate the impoverished sometimes he refuses funds in order to avoid conflicts of interest and so on in The course of this book

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I have taken a different approach Rejecting the notion that Paul primarily acts out of various pragmatic motivations

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Rather I have identified the Apostle as a principled actor following a singular moral code set by Christ Yet this code itself is not without its own underlying motivation

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Paul does not promote obedience to an arbitrary rule But instead highlights the virtue that undergirds the

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Dorian principle and its rejection of reciprocity While he indeed speaks of gospel reach and other motivations.

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He primarily emphasizes the importance of sincerity He states the matter most directly in the second epistle to the

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Corinthians For we are not like so many Peddlers of God's Word, but as men of sincerity as commissioned by God in the sight of God.

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We speak in Christ 2nd Corinthians 2 17 Paul identifies the peddling of God's Word ie

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Receiving in exchange for ministry as the opposite of sincerity While the

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Apostle occasionally mentions other factors that motivate his policy. This goal sits at the core of his intentions in This chapter we will explore a handful of Paul stated motivations

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Examining how they align with the virtue of sincerity These motivations certainly voice

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Paul's concern for the spread of the gospel, but ultimately clear his name from charges of pragmatism

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More importantly they reveal sincerity's discord with reciprocity as well as its harmony with co -labor

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Sincere ministry in the previous chapter we saw that Paul waives his right to support in order to maintain his status as a servant and Naturally follows that he must abide by the

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Dorian principle in order to serve sincerely While he primarily speaks of his service to the

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Lord in 1st Corinthians 9 He also speaks of his service to others 1st

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Corinthians 9 19 This continues in 2nd Corinthians 11 where the Apostle claims that he preaches free of charge in order to exalt others

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Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I preach

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God's gospel to you free of charge 2nd Corinthians 11 7 While Paul's humility is physical the

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Corinthians exaltation is spiritual that is The Apostle exalts the Corinthians through their salvation.

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They have been raised up and seated in the heavenly places Ephesians 2 6

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The preceding context redefines this exaltation in terms of betrothal to Christ 2nd

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Corinthians 11 2 If his goal is the salvation of the Corinthians Then Paul rejects funds in order that he can rightly or effectively preach the gospel

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On either of these counts Paul's free preaching extends from his sincerity If it is necessary to preach freely in order to preach rightly

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He will do so because he ministers sincerely without ulterior motive If it is necessary to preach freely in order to preach effectively

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He will do so because he sincerely desires the Corinthian exaltation Paul argues that his rejection of payment is an expression of love for the

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Corinthians 2nd Corinthians 11 11 cf Galatians 4 16

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Anything else would be insincere cf 2nd Corinthians 2 17 Not truly a pursuit of love

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Sincere Apostleship As Paul's ministry is in his apostleship it stands to reason that sincere ministry demands sincere apostleship thus

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When false apostles began leading people astray in Corinth Paul appeals to his fidelity to the dorian principle in order to demonstrate the truth of his apostleship

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As his opponents have not lived up to the same standard this same principle demonstrates their false apostleship

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Speaking of his rejection of funds Paul writes And what I am doing

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I will continue to do In order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission

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They work on the same terms as we do 2nd Corinthians 11 12 Paul chooses rejection of payment as a marker of delineation between himself and others who claim to have a similar apostolic ministry

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And his choice of this particular distinctive is not arbitrary If his actions are to cut off opportunity from his opponents to claim apostolicity

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What he does must actually mark his ministry as true not merely different As the greek word apostolos indicates

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An apostle is sent And this commission entails a certain behavior Toward those to whom he is sent

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He must share his message indiscriminately And without return from the recipients of his message

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Not adopting the commercial practices of one who has ulterior motives This practice and attitude distinguish paul from his opponents in second corinthians

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With this contrast in mind he pens the following words For we are not like so many peddlers of god's word second corinthians 2 17a sincere parenthood

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Later in second corinthians paul speaks of his spiritual fatherhood Here for the third time.

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I am ready to come to you And I will not be a burden for I seek not what is yours, but you

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For children are not obligated to save up for their parents but parents for their children second corinthians 12 14 cf first thessalonians 2 5 through 7 9 through 12

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This language of paternity highlights paul's role in the conversion of the corinthians thus

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He says that he became a father to the corinthians in the gospel first corinthians 4 15

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Similarly he birthed his galatian children through the formation of christ within them

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Galatians 4 19 and he became onesimus's father upon onesimus's conversion philemon 10 through 11

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This metaphor of paternity provides an illustration of why it would be particularly inappropriate

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For paul to engage in ministerial reciprocity with his church plants While others might receive payment from their converts

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Paul declines because this would be akin to a father burdening his child He rejects their money out of love second corinthians 11 11

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He repeats this paternal ethic to the thessalonians contrasting greed and parenthood

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As their spiritual father paul must act sincerely as a parent rather than with the pretext for greed

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For we never came with words of flattery as you know nor with a pretext for greed god is witness

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Nor did we seek glory from people whether from you or from others that we could have made demands as an apostle of christ

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But we were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children first thessalonians 2 5 through 7

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Yet in a sense Paul does demand a form of repayment for his fatherly love

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In return I speak as to children widen your hearts. Also second corinthians 6 13

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While the apostle does not burden his children by accepting payment from his ministry He demands the repayment of love and honor in context

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They are to do this by receiving his appeal to be reconciled to god second corinthians 5 20

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In other words Sincere parenthood warrants sincere childlike deference if paul desires to secure the cooperation of his converts

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He must reject their payment as a loving father Sincere diligence

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In thessalonica paul refuses funds in order to set an example of hard work

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For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us Because we were not idle when we were with you nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it

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But with toil and labor we worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you

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It was not because we do not have that right but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate second thessalonians 3 7 through 9

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Some have taken these comments to mean that though paul has no obligation to engage in manual labor

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He does so in order to offer a lesson on work ethic However, if preaching and teaching are labors worthy of reward cf.

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First timothy 5 17 Why are they not sufficient examples for the thessalonians? Since paul could undoubtedly work diligently as an apostle while refraining from physical labor

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There must be some illegitimacy in accepting payment for his ministry Indeed there is

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The preceding epistle to the thessalonians clarifies the matter Contrasting a pretext for greed first thessalonians 2 5 with paul's statement that we worked night and day first thessalonians 2 9 cf.

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Second thessalonians 3 8 To receive payment from converts would be greedy and therefore lazy contrary to the diligence required of god's servants

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Sincere diligence demands foregoing ministerial reciprocity Paul's ethic appears again as examples in his parting message to ephesus

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I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel You yourselves know that these hands minister to my necessities and to those who are with me

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And all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way We must help the weak and remember the words of the lord.

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Jesus how he himself said It is more blessed to give than to receive acts 20 33 to 35

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The apostle pits manual labor ministering to his own needs against covetousness in other words

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Sincere diligence in the work of ministry requires the rejection of unmediated payment

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He identifies anything else as greed furthermore He must help the weak by ministering freely to minister for pay would not be sufficient

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By rejecting support in contexts where it would constitute direct payment Paul sets an example of hard work

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However, this example is not grounded in arbitrary illustrative toil But in the sincere diligence required by the dorian principle

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Sincere partnership Finally returning to first corinthians 9

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Paul selectively refuses financial support so that he may be a partner in the work of the gospel

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He gives priority to this motivation when he chooses to summarize his concerns with the following words

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I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I may become a fellow partaker of it first corinthians 9 23

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NASB The greek word for fellow partaker here derives from koinonia the word used to refer to partnership and philippians

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In this verse many translations speak of the gospel and sharing in its blessings however

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This elaboration shifts the focus from the proclamation of the gospel to the rewards of the gospel and potentially misses the point of paul's argument

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Having stated his sincere desire for the salvation of others He does not suddenly reveal that he is primarily concerned for his own salvation or that he hopes to benefit as his converts do

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Here and in the following context he speaks of sharing in the gospel as a minister of it

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Describing himself as an athlete striving for a reward in verses 24 through 27

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Paul does not imagine himself Meriting the gift of salvation but winning the special prize due to faithful ministers cf first corinthians 3 14

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In first corinthians 9 23 It is best to see paul as sharing in the work of the gospel

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The preceding context confirms this The apostle has explained that causing another to stumble is to oppose the gospel

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But here he offers the alternative To lead one to salvation is to be its partner furthermore

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This use of the word gospel without an attendant verb frequently indicates the proclamation of the gospel

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Romans 1 1 1st corinthians 9 14 2nd corinthians 2 12 10 14 galatians 2 7 philippians 2 22 4 15 and the words of one pair of commentators

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Paul's overriding allegiance is as a partner of the gospel On many occasions

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Paul rejects financial support so that he might sincerely partner in the work of ministry Other times his reception of funds does not compromise that goal

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On those occasions those who support him are his partners cf philippians 4 15

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Evidencing the notion of co -labor this passage reveals paul's motivation of sincerity

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Rather than only putting on the appearance of a fellow worker He selectively accepts support so he might engage in sincere partnership conclusion notion

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Notions of earnestness and veracity resound behind all of paul's explicit motivations for rejecting payment

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The apostle operates as a sincere servant a sincere apostle a sincere father and a sincere partner

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To wholeheartedly do what he has been called to do and genuinely be what he has been called to be

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He must reject ministerial reciprocity Sincerity propels the dorian principle