{"id":587,"date":"2018-09-04T11:36:08","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T11:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=587"},"modified":"2018-09-04T11:36:08","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T11:36:08","slug":"4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html","title":{"rendered":"4 Keys to Making Your “Sacrifice” For the Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"shane-rounce-615895-unsplash\"When you look in the pages of the New Testament, you’ll see that the Apostle Paul made incredible sacrifices (2 Corinthians 11:23-28<\/a>) to advance the Kingdom of God. What was it that gave him the mindset to make such sacrifices? We get four keys in an\u00a0earlier letter\u00a0(1 Corinthians 4:1-12<\/a>):<\/p>\n

<\/b>1. Know your <\/b><\/span>place.\u00a0<\/b><\/span>This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants\u00a0of Christ and as those entrusted\u00a0with the mysteries\u00a0God has revealed.<\/em>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>1 Corinthians 4:1<\/span><\/p>\n

The term \u201cservants\u201d is a unique word. In the original Greek it\u2019s a nautical term meaning \u201cunder rower.\u201d On the galleys that would prowl the Mediterranean powered by oars, Paul was saying he was one of the slaves down in the hull of the ship. Paul knew his place. Paul didn\u2019t think too highly of himself or that he was above having to sacrifice for the Kingdom. He knew his place.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>2. Understand your <\/b><\/span>duty.<\/b><\/span> <\/b>Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>1 Corinthians 4:2<\/span><\/p>\n

The word here is the word for \u201csteward,\u201d which is where we get the word stewardship from. Think of it this way: let\u2019s say that you and your spouse are being smart and putting away a portion of your income for retirement. You invest your money with a money manager, who is a steward of your finances.\u00a0His job is to be trusted with the money, invest it wisely, and give you back more than you initially gave him. But if your money manager never returns your calls, he keeps giving you different numbers on how much your investment is worth now but he says, \u201cjust invest more money and everything will be good,\u201d how likely are you to do that? If he can\u2019t prove faithful and properly invest what you\u2019ve already given him, why in the world would you give him more? <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Paul is saying here. Our duty is to be a steward of the intellect, the talents, the resources, the time, the energy that God gave us. Our duty is to be a good steward, to invest what God has given us to advance the Kingdom. But too many waste the potential God has given them by being poor stewards and get mad when God won\u2019t give them any more.\u00a0<\/span>Understand your duty. Everything you\u2019ve been given by God isn\u2019t for your enjoyment and leisure; it\u2019s to advance the Kingdom of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>3. Recognize to whom you\u2019re <\/b><\/span>accountable.\u00a0<\/b><\/span>I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0My conscience\u00a0is clear, but that does not make me innocent.\u00a0It is the Lord who judges me.<\/span>\u00a0Therefore judge nothing\u00a0before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.\u00a0He will bring to light\u00a0what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. <\/span><\/em>1 Corinthian 4:3-5<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul recognizes that ultimately he is accountable to one person: God. That\u2019s why the opinions and praise of men had such little sway over him, why he was okay being at the end of the procession, subject to the scorn and ridicule of mankind: they weren\u2019t his ultimate audience. God was.<\/span><\/p>\n

If we\u2019re fools for Christ, that\u2019s okay because we are ultimately accountable to God, not to man. For too many Christians, we\u2019re unwilling to make the sacrifice because we\u2019re afraid of what other people might say. Paul was much more afraid of what God would say than what others would say. It was that perspective that gave Paul the power and freedom to make the sacrifices necessary to advance the Kingdom in Corinth.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>4. Make the <\/b><\/span>\u201csacrifice\u201d.\u00a0<\/b><\/span>For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die\u00a0in the arena. We have been made a spectacle\u00a0to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.\u00a0<\/span>We are fools for Christ,\u00a0but you are so wise in Christ!\u00a0We are weak, but you are strong!\u00a0You are honored, we are dishonored!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>We work hard with our own hands.<\/em>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>1 Corinthians 4:9-12<\/span><\/p>\n

I put the word \u201csacrifice\u201d in quotations because what Paul did was a sacrifice only if you looked at it from a worldly, human perspective.\u00a0<\/span>But if you look at it from a heavenly perspective, in light of what Jesus sacrificed for our sins, what Paul did wasn\u2019t a sacrifice; he was simply following in the footsteps of his savior. If you looked at what he gave up in regards to worldly prestige, riches and leisure, it was definitely a sacrifice. But if you looked at it from the perspective of the treasures in heaven that he was storing up, Paul wasn\u2019t making a sacrifice at all. In fact, in light of eternal rewards he was making the smartest play and the wisest investment. <\/span><\/p>\n

So in the end, Paul made a sacrifice, but it wasn\u2019t really that much of a sacrifice, because he had the right mindset, which gave him the perspective needed to make the \u201csacrifice.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you look in the pages of the New Testament, you’ll see that the Apostle Paul made incredible sacrifices (2 Corinthians 11:23-28) to advance the Kingdom of God. What was it that gave him the mindset to make such sacrifices? We get four keys in an\u00a0earlier letter\u00a0(1 Corinthians 4:1-12): 1. Know your place.\u00a0This, then, is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31,314,156,315],"class_list":["post-587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-next-steps","tag-bible","tag-kingdom","tag-paul","tag-sacrifice"],"yoast_head":"\n4 Keys to Making Your "Sacrifice" For the Kingdom - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Apostle Paul had a very specific mindset that allowed him to make the sacrifices he made for the Kingdom. Here's a glimpse.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 Keys to Making Your "Sacrifice" For the Kingdom - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Apostle Paul had a very specific mindset that allowed him to make the sacrifices he made for the Kingdom. Here's a glimpse.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-04T11:36:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/shane-rounce-615895-unsplash-300x169.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"4 Keys to Making Your \"Sacrifice\" For the Kingdom - Next Steps","description":"The Apostle Paul had a very specific mindset that allowed him to make the sacrifices he made for the Kingdom. Here's a glimpse.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"4 Keys to Making Your \"Sacrifice\" For the Kingdom - Next Steps","og_description":"The Apostle Paul had a very specific mindset that allowed him to make the sacrifices he made for the Kingdom. Here's a glimpse.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html","og_site_name":"Next Steps","article_author":"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern","article_published_time":"2018-09-04T11:36:08+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/shane-rounce-615895-unsplash-300x169.jpg"}],"author":"Josh Daffern","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@joshdaffern","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html","name":"4 Keys to Making Your \"Sacrifice\" For the Kingdom - Next Steps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/shane-rounce-615895-unsplash-300x169.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-04T11:36:08+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-04T11:36:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#\/schema\/person\/8ac2e15479ad6a320d2082837203cb7c"},"description":"The Apostle Paul had a very specific mindset that allowed him to make the sacrifices he made for the Kingdom. Here's a glimpse.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/shane-rounce-615895-unsplash-300x169.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/shane-rounce-615895-unsplash-300x169.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/4-keys-making-sacrifice-kingdom.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"4 Keys to Making Your “Sacrifice” For the Kingdom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/","name":"Next Steps","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Josh Daffern","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#\/schema\/person\/8ac2e15479ad6a320d2082837203cb7c","name":"Josh Daffern","description":"Born and raised in California, Josh graduated college from California Baptist University and spent two years as a missionary in Africa before coming back to America and finding the love of his life (Robin). Josh graduated from New Orleans Seminary with a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. Josh has been involved in full-time ministry for over twenty years. He enjoys hiking, beach volleyball, reading, playing anything competitive, and rough-housing with his kids. Josh, his gorgeous wife Robin, his outrageously handsome boys Zeke, Shepherd and Lincoln and his princess Elle, live in northern Virginia. Josh also blogs on Patheos as New Wineskins: an Apologist for the Modern Church and you can find links to all his content on joshdaffern.com. Enjoy the blog!","sameAs":["http:\/\/joshdaffern.com","facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern","https:\/\/x.com\/joshdaffern"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/author\/jdaffern"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":589,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions\/589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}