AP

AN OPEN DOOR

When you think of “a wide door for effective ministry,” what comes to mind? Rapid growth? Full financial provision? An encouraging community?

How about a riot and a city full of adversaries?

Like every pastor, I like ministry to be easy. I like my comfort. I like to serve on my own schedule. I want ministry to be like a swaying hammock on a sun-drenched day in a gentle ocean breeze. I like to be physically safe, financially well-compensated, and personally respected. But what happens when you’re physically threatened, financially destitute, or publicly slandered for the sake of Christ and his gospel? Does that mean you should leave? Pursue another calling? Has Christ withdrawn his blessing from your ministry?

Not according to Paul.

Paul’s ministry in the city of Ephesus bore much fruit. When he arrived, he “entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). Paul’s preaching among his fellow Jews divided the saved from the lost, and when “some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them” (Acts 19:9). Paul “took the disciples with him, reasoning daily” (Acts 19:9) in a rented lecture hall, teaching for two years, such that “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). In fact, “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (Acts 19:20).

But eventually, Paul made plans to leave Ephesus:

Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while (Acts 19:21-22).

During this brief time in which Paul parted from Timothy and Erastus, a riot consumed Ephesus. The idolatrous worship of Artemis was a boon to the silversmiths, whose manufacture of idols “brought no little business to the craftsmen” (Acts 19:24). Paul’s preaching of Christ in public and in private for two years led so many idolators to become worshippers of Christ that the trade in silver idols suffered a financial and reputational hit (Acts 19:27). A silversmith named Demetrius instigated a riot, which terrorized Ephesus for hours (Acts 19:28-34). An unspecified period of time after the riot ended, Paul left for Macedonia (Acts 20:1) as he previously had planned (Acts 19:21).

But sometime before he left Ephesus for Macedonia, Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, telling them of his plan to visit them soon:

I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries (1 Corinthians 16:5-9).

After Paul left Ephesus, he travelled through Macedonia to Greece, where Corinth was located, and he stayed there for three months (Acts 20:3). After he left Greece, he travelled back through Macedonia to Philippi, and while there he celebrated Passover (Acts 20:6). But Paul had written in 1 Corinthians 16:5-9 that he wanted to remain in Ephesus until Pentecost, which comes fifty days after Passover. Paul therefore must have stayed in Ephesus through Pentecost as he planned, leaving some months thereafter, such that he travelled through Macedonia, stayed three months in Greece, and celebrated Passover the following year in Philippi.

You may be thinking: “That’s interesting, but why are you telling me this?” Here’s why: When Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16:9, “I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries,” he had just endured a riot. The silversmith’s union wanted his head. Opponents of Christianity had nearly torn the city apart.

How did Paul interpret those events? Not the way we often do. If I were to face the violent opposition that Paul had endured, I might say: “The opposition here is getting thick. That must mean that God is no longer blessing the ministry here. I think I’ll move on.” We are far too prone to interpret antagonism toward the gospel as evidence that God has withdrawn his blessing from the work.

But so far from believing that a riot should compel him to leave Ephesus, Paul doubled down and stayed longer, for he knew that “a wide door for effective work” stood open to him (1 Corinthians 16:9). Why did Paul think that way? Maybe he remembered something we tend to forget: Where the Holy Spirit labours most profitably, there also our Adversary opposes most fiercely. The presence of “many adversaries,” rather than intimidating Paul, emboldened him, for the presence of these adversaries proved to him that the Lord was powerfully at work!

So, what does an “open door” look like to you? A swaying hammock? How do you think about opposition to your ministry? Is it proof that Christ has withdrawn his blessing? How do you respond to adversaries? Will you leave the work to find something more comfortable? I pray not.

Adversaries gather against a faithful gospel ministry like moths gather to a flame. The presence of such adversaries must not chase you away, but ought instead to encourage you that your Lord is at work in your ministry, for fruit-bearing ministries attract the brunt of our Adversary’s attacks. So, remember Paul’s word to the Philippian church, and know that it rings true for you as well:

[I]t has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have (Philippians 1:29-30).

Hammock-lovers need not apply.

As you labour in the face of many adversaries, remember that Christ himself will overcome all opposition and will cause his work to prosper. He will build his church (Matthew 16:18), and neither the gates of hell nor the adversaries of the gospel will ever overcome him.

Rev. Dr Russell St John is senior pastor of Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church (St Louis) and Adjunct Lecturer in Homiletics at Covenant Seminary.