Transcript
Ben Fallon: Paul, you share a story in your book, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, that has gotten people upset or at least confused. So, I'm about to read an abridged version of that in a second, but we've had questions like this from Navid who asked, “What happened with Sam and his friend? Was he able to effectively support him?” Or straight up rebuke from Angelica who wrote, “I don't agree with your advice to this man. His need was immediate. You can push him out of his comfort zone another time when things are calm. Bad comforting from you.” So, I'm going to ask you to provide a bit more context of the story. But first, let me read the story for those listeners who are not familiar.
Sam called me in a panic. He was a member of the church I was pastoring many years ago, a godly man, a good husband and father, a hardworking employee and a regular volunteer in the activities of our church. One of Sam's friends, a brother in Christ, but not a member of our church, had just called Sam also in a panic. Sam's friend was going through a very challenging season in his marriage and his wife had just asked him to leave. Sam, trying to support this couple, contacted me, who was his pastor, for help. He said, “Paul, can I bring my friend to your house so you can counsel him?” Sam asked. Before Sam could say anything else, I replied, “Isn't God's love amazing? God cares about this man and put one of his children, you, in his life. God also cares about you, Sam, and has given you an opportunity to be an instrument in his hands.” The phone went quiet. So, I continued, “I am persuaded that God never gets a wrong address and he intends to use you in this man's life. Let me pray for you right now that God will fill your mind with his wisdom and fill your mouth with his words.” When I finished praying, Sam started to object, “But Paul, I don't think I'm able; Paul…” I interrupted, “I'll continue to pray for you tonight and I will call you in the morning. I am so encouraged by your ministry to this man.” I said, “Goodbye,” and hung up the phone.
That's the end of the story. Paul, do you remember that story and can you justify or give us more context for your response to Sam in that moment?
Paul Tripp: Oh yes, absolutely! I know it very well and that person is still a friend that I have occasional contact with. I want to say first, “I'm not offended at all by this question. I think everything that I do and say in life and ministry should be held up to the high standard of the Word of God.” I think I'm capable of being insensitive. I can't say, after all my years of ministry, that I have no ministry regrets; I have a ton of ministry regrets. That's why I'm thankful for the forgiveness of Jesus so I don't have to carry that as a burden. So, I'm not offended by this question at all, and I think it's important for people to ask those questions. I think it's important to revisit those moments.
So, I want to start first by the motivation of my heart and then put this in context. Let me read the motivating principle for me from Scripture; this is Ephesians 4:11-17. This is talking about Christ.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by the craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Now here's the principle, the way that the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, thinks about the church of Jesus Christ. The preachers and teachers are not actually the ministers of the church. I think it's a misnomer to call a pastor ‘a minister.’ You should call him an ‘equipper’ because by God's plan, that person would be the one who equips the members of the church to do the work of ministry. So that's my model. I'm thinking about that all the time. How can I encourage a ministry lifestyle, a ministry commitment, a ministry spirit, in the lives of the people of my church so they won't just be Christian consumers? I think there's a tremendous amount of Christian consumerism in America. It's sort of like evangelical Macy's. It's like going to a department store. I go there; I have no real involvement or participation, and if I don't get what I want, I go somewhere else. That's not a biblical model of the church. And so that's the background. That's my theology of the church, that I want to encourage God's people to take up the work of ministry to which God has called them.
So now the context here, and I think this is very, very important. I would never do this, what I did, with a man I didn't know. That would be dangerous and unloving. I knew this man, and there are a couple things that I knew about him that were motivating me. First, he was a mature Christian. This was not just a baby Christian who I just sort of threw to the fire. I would never do that. This is a mature man that I knew had already, in his toolbox, everything he needed to minister to this couple. So that's the first thing.
The second thing is this man had been talking to me a lot about his hunger to be in regular full-time ministry. He sensed the call of God to that. And actually, he did end up in full-time ministry and has had a ministry life for many years. So, this is a mature Christian who was hungry for ministry. I knew that God had answered his prayer. He had been praying for ministry opportunities. Now, he was thinking more formal church ministry opportunities, but I knew exactly what was happening. God had answered his prayer by bringing these needy people in his way.
Listen, if you want to learn how to be a good pastor, not a good preacher, a good pastor, just house messed up people for six months. And you will know whether you have a pastor's heart or not. This was exactly what this man needed. It was a beautiful answer of prayer in his life. Was it easy? No! Was it comfortable? No! Was it unexpected? No! But it was exactly what he needed, exactly what he was hungry for, and a direct answer to prayer.
Now in not relieving this man from this ministry opportunity, I need to say this very clearly. “I was not and did not abandon this man.” I would never do this; I was his pastor. I loved this man; I would never, never do that. When I got off the phone, I got off the phone with a commitment to stand with this man. During this time, I called him almost every day with advice and encouragement, and he called me regularly with questions about how he should handle something and what he should do next. He did not feel abandoned; he knew that I was standing with him.
It is important to say, that at the end of the time where these people finally got back on their feet and were able to move on with their life, this man came to me and told me how deeply thankful he was for what I had done. He said, “I probably would have never, never taken that opportunity if you hadn't pushed me into it.” And he said, “I'm not thankful so much, Paul,” he said this very clearly, “for what God did through us.” He said, “I'm thankful for what God did in us as we stepped into this ministry,” he said, “We are changed people!” And I have a much more realistic understanding of what ministry is about.
I want to say one more thing that I deeply believe. When it comes to ministry, I don't believe God ever gets a wrong address. God didn't, two hours later, think, “Oh, I should have never put these people next to this man. Oh, I've made a great mistake. Oh, I need to bail him out.” That couple came to that man by God's plan. He was the right man for the right time. And the result was very good in the lives of those people and in his life. And that was part of God preparing him for a life of ministry. He had been chosen by God to be an instrument of God's grace. He just needed a nudge because his natural instinct was to be overwhelmed and run.
I want to say one final thing, and this is hard for us, but encouraging at the same time; “God never calls us because we're able; he calls us because he is able!” Who's the able instrument in Scripture? Moses? No! He wanted to get out of the job. Gideon? Gideon was scared to death! Elijah? Elijah wanted to die! The Apostle Paul? He was a murderer! Peter? Denied Jesus! I'm naming what we would call the great heroes of our faith. None of them were prepared. None of them were able. All of them wanted to escape. They were called, not because they had independent ability, but because they were children of God, and God never calls us without enabling us to do what he's called us to do. He never sends us without going with us.
BF: That story is found in the second chapter of Paul's second book, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. In it, you'll find a very helpful model called “Love, Know, Speak, Do,” that helps you to be an effective tool of redemption in the life of another person that God has called you to disciple or mentor. You can learn more about that book at paultripp.com/instruments.
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