IronGuys Law Enforcement Ministries
"WORDS OF WISDOM"
By Police Chaplains
"God Brings Order, Not Confusion"
By
Doni Daudel
Chaplain, Beaumont (CA) Police Department
“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints..”
1Corinthians 14:33
After his conversion, Paul sought one thing and one thing only; the preaching and glorifying of Christ. In these verses Paul speaks of two kinds of people. Those who preach Christ to bring Him glory and further His kingdom and those who preach Christ out of selfish ambition and to make Paul’s life worse. Paul always addressed false teachers and heretical teaching. Here it appears the teaching is accurate but those teaching are hoping to make Paul’s situation worse and more painful. Paul didn’t care about the motive behind the teaching. All he cared about was Christ was being preached and glorified and in this he rejoiced!
Paul exhibits the character trait all leaders should have. Paul never looked to grow or build a kingdom for himself. Paul never had a “competitive spirit” when it came to preaching the gospel. Paul wasn’t trying to build a “mega church” so he could say “Look what I have done..!” Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified..1Cor 2:2” That was Paul’s heart, desire, passion and ministry. Paul determined in his heart and mind that he would serve and glorify Christ wherever he was and in any circumstance, and leave the results in Gods hands. As long as Christ was lifted up, Paul could and would rejoice!
Are we like Paul? Do we care only that Christ and the truth of His gospel is being preached? If the church down the road explodes with people, will we pray for Gods blessings on that church and its leaders or will we grumble and complain that their church has grown more in size than ours? The devil wants us to focus on our kingdom, not Gods. The devil wants us to be in fierce competition against other churches instead of coming together as one body to honor and glorify Christ. The sad truth is the devil is succeeding in dividing the church through arrogance and selfish pride. It’s time to change the lense and make Jesus Christ and glorifying Him our only focus. Instead of praying against other churches and their leaders, pray for God to bless and lead them in righteousness as they tend His sheep. When our focus is solely on Christ and His glory, we won’t care how that happens. And we, like Paul, will be able to say, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”