As an associate pastor during seminary and then church planter/lead pastor after seminary, there were several days when I questioned my impact on and value to our church. I imagine that each of us has experienced similar questions during our ministries. After much self-reflection, I inevitably returned to two truths: God’s call upon my life and the truth of God’s Word.
I knew without a doubt that God called me away from an engineering/management career into Gospel ministry. Sometimes, that is all it took to refocus on God and away from self. Did God place a call upon you and your life? If so, then stay the course regardless of the circumstances. At other times, I needed the reassurance of God’s Word to reset my heart and mind back on His call upon my life. In times like these, I am frequently drawn to the words of Paul and his ministry experience.
Our church is reading through the Bible this year, and recently, one of the daily readings was from Acts 18. There is not space in this article to do an in-depth analysis of this chapter, but I was intrigued by the clause in verse 5, “Paul was occupied with the word…” (ESV) The context of this verse is that prior to Silas and Timothy arriving in Corinth, Paul was dividing his days between tent-making and proclaiming the Gospel in the synagogue with little fruit. After they arrived, presumably with a monetary gift from the churches in Macedonia, Paul “devoted himself exclusively to preaching.” (NIV)
The verb in this clause (συνειχετο) is an imperfect tense (continuous past action) and probably a passive voice (subject, Paul, being acted upon), although the NIV translates the verb as a middle voice (“Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching”). Various English translations render this verb in a myriad of ways: “was occupied” (ESV), “was pressed” (KJV), “was compelled” (NKJV), “was constrained” (ASV), “became wholly absorbed” (NET). LOGOS Bible software word analysis suggests that the primary meaning of the verb in the Acts passage is “was seized.” Many modern translations render the dative noun (τω λογω) as “with, to, by the word.” In other words in the passive voice, “the word” is the agent that is acting on the subject, Paul, to bring about the action of the verb. So a possible translation of the clause using the Greek grammar is, “Paul was continually being seized by the Word.”
So how does this information shed light on my previous statement that sometimes I needed God’s Word to reset my heart and mind on His call upon my life and ministry? As I reflect on Acts 18:5, I am reminded that even in the middle of doing ministry, Paul needed a reset. Yes, he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade Jews and Gentiles to come to faith in Jesus Christ; but something happened when Silas and Timothy arrived in Corinth that caused his heart and his life to be seized, occupied, compelled, wholly absorbed by God’s Word.
Whether it was a great report and/or a monetary gift from the churches in Macedonia, Paul went from just doing ministry to being consumed by the Word of God. As a result, Paul appears to be even bolder in proclaiming the Gospel (18:6). It seems that even the fruit of his ministry increased (18:8). I usually do not associate fear as a part of Paul’s thoughts and emotions. To me he appears as fearless and confident. However, in Acts 18:9-10, the Lord said to him, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” (ESV) Paul needed the assurance of God’s Word that he was making a difference and would have an impact on the city where he preached and ministered. God’s Word seized Paul and reset his heart, mind and ministry back on the call of being the apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 1:16).
God clearly wanted to encourage Paul and empower him to persevere in his ministry at Corinth. Friends came alongside him (18:2, 5, 7), a new avenue of ministry opened up when the attendees at the synagogue rejected the Gospel (18:7), some Jews and many Corinthian nationals believed (18:8), but the greatest encouragement was the word that came from the Lord in verses 9 and10. Let us not grow weary in doing ministry (2 Thess. 3:13). Let us not forget that God will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). Let us not only look at our own situation but remember those in need of the Gospel (Phil. 2:4).
Possibly a more familiar passage than Acts 18:5 is 2 Corinthians 5:14, which utilizes the same verb, “For Christ’s love compels us…” (NIV) or “For the love of Christ controls us…” (ESV) Other English translations render the verb “constrains,” “urges,” “completely dominates,” and “overwhelms.” Have circumstances become the focus of our thoughts? Or are our lives and thoughts completely dominated by Christ’s love for us and by the Word of God?
All of us, from time to time, have moments in our life and ministry where we need a fresh word from the Lord to encourage, reassure, or reset our perspective. We need to be seized by the Word. One such instance in my life occurred after a surgical procedure in which recovery was not progressing as I had anticipated. In my mind, I thought I would never recover. Never get back to normal. I was distraught, discouraged, and probably depressed. I was at the end of my rope. My wife and parents were with me, helping with the recovery process, but that just was not enough. I finally asked my dad to just sit with me and read the Psalms. It was not immediate, but slowly my mood and perspective changed. The Word was consuming me, occupying me. Recovery was still a long process, but I now had a different outlook.
Growing up, one of my favorite cartoons was Charlie Brown and Peanuts. Pigpen was a late addition by Charles Schulz and only intended as a cameo character. Schulz stated he received more mail asking, “Where’s Pigpen?” when he wrote him out of the comic strip, probably because so many people identified with the character. He eventually placed him back as a permanent figure. Pigpen was always pictured with an individual dust cloud encasing him at school, at the playground, and at home. I think too often, Christ-followers only see and focus on the dust cloud (circumstances of life and ministry) that surrounds them. We forget that God has a totally different view of our situation and its outcome. We need a reset every once in a while. As Acts 18:5 states, we need to be consumed, occupied, seized by God’s Word, to enable us to fulfill His call upon our lives and ministries.
Steve Veteto is Director of Rocky Mounatin Campus of Gateway Seminary.
