The Noise of Ministry-ish Things

Let the reader beware, when Paul warns of what gets in love’s way, he could easily be talking about ministry things from 1 Corinthains 13:1-3:

If…

• Preaching/teaching

  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
  

• Prophecy

  And if I have prophetic powers…

  Understanding and knowledge

  Understand all mysteries and all knowledge…
  

• Faith

  If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains….
  

• Generosity

  If I give away all I have…
  

• Martyrdom

  If I deliver up my body to be burned…

…Then

• I am an noisy gong.

• I am a clanging cymbal.

• I am nothing.

• I gain nothing.

Any expressions of ministry could actually mean we, ourselves, are nothing.

What if we imagined an out of body experience where we watched our ministry moments of each day. Do you hear an annoying cymbal or a life-emptying servant?