8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What Paul is talking about here has another immediate parallel in parenthood. Mothers and fathers have do a ton of hard work behind the scenes to make things stable for their children. The kids, especially little kids, are often oblivious of this. They get up in the morning and have a fridge full of food to eat and a closet full of clean clothes to wear. They play in a warm house or go to school and learn a bunch of new things with their friends. They don\u2019t see the part where mom and dad stayed up until 12:00 the night before doing laundry, washing dishes, and fixing the toilet. They don\u2019t realize that mom made about 15 different phone calls during the week to arrange rides for them, to talk to their teacher about trouble with their homework, and get a hold of the right kind of asthma medication for their little brother. They are only vaguely aware that dad has been getting up at 5:00 AM every day to work overtime and pay off extra medical bills. They are just bumbling through childhood. Eventually as they mature they become more aware that all this is happening on the back channel.<\/p>\n
The same is true for church communities. You may not realize this, but your pastors do a lot of work to keep everything glued together. Now, I can legitimately draw attention to this fact because I\u2019m not one of your pastors. Ha! I\u2019m a member of this congregation, of this community and I get to help out with music and occasionally even preaching on a Sunday morning. But I\u2019m not a pastor. I\u2019m not an elder. Kim, and Loren, and Luke are, and to some degree there is also Kirk, Nick, Martin, Bret, and Geoff. Eh, who are these people anyway? Who cares? Well, that\u2019s actually the usual attitude about these things. Being a parent can be a rather thankless job at times and being a pastor is the same way.<\/p>\n
In the modern west, especially in America, who is given the most respect and honor? The guy or gal that makes the most money! Turn on the TV, who do see? Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, LeBron James, George Clooney. They\u2019ve got the mad skills to bring in the bucks and live like kings. If you read the news much at all, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen an article or chart like this before:<\/p>\n![\"pastoring-meme\"](\"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/wp-content\/uploads\/pastoring-meme.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n