When everyone speaks well of you or as they are sometimes known Big Time Charlies

There is a breed of minister who is loved by everyone and I fear that the problem is at epidemic proportions. So in the last few months I've heard a few ministers being described as 'A brilliant preacher! No one in his church has a bad word to say about him'. There is also the minister who served for decades in a congregation whom everyone loved, being followed by someone who makes some changes or addresses a problem that's been known about for a long while and it all hits the proverbial fan. I daresay that the better known you become on the circuit the greater the danger.

I have become convinced from preaching through 2 Corinthians that, if everyone in the church you are serving thinks you're doing a great job, a lovely man and a brilliant preacher, something is very, very wrong. It's certainly not a ministry that Paul had. Great preachers who actually don't get under the skin of anyone aren't great preachers. We all love the quiet life and yet faithful ministry and preaching should always have an edge and a challenge. Decisions have to be made in congregational life which will not be popular; not everyone will agree and yet the decisions still have to be made by elders. Admonishing and rebuking will need to be done in every church family and, if it's not done, whatever is going on cannot be described as a faithful ministry.

'Woe to you when all men speak well of you' Luke 6:26