Ministry in a Time of Crisis
by Joel Stephen Williams
“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Thomas Paine published those words on December 23, 1776, in his pamphlet, The American Crisis. They reverberate in our American souls well over two centuries later, especially as we live in a time where we face more than one crisis. How should we do ministry in a time of crisis? When we are discouraged to the point of despair, what should we do? There is no single wise or correct answer to that question. Hopefully the following will be sound advice to guide those who are striving to “live peaceably with all” and to do “what is noble in the sight of all” (Romans 12:17–18).
The writer of Ecclesiastes, the Teacher, witnessed many injustices in life. “In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evildoing” (Ecclesiastes 7:15). “There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people who are treated according to the conduct of the wicked, and there are wicked people who are treated according to the conduct of the righteous” (Ecclesiastes 8:14). “Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed—with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power” (Ecclesiastes 4:1). But even though life frequently did not seem to be fair, the Teacher still believed that there was a moral compass for the universe that should be heeded. The Teacher did not give up to despair. He declared, “Though sinners do evil a hundred times and prolong their lives, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they stand in fear before him, but it will not be well with the wicked, neither will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God” (Ecclesiastes 8:12–13).
James Russell Lowell was involved in the movement to abolish slavery. He was the editor of an abolitionist newspaper and he also wrote poetry to express his views. His poem, “The Present Crisis,” is probably his best-known work. The NAACP named its newsletter, The Crisis, after it. The lyrics have been set to music in a dramatic hymn, Once to Every Man and Nation. Martin Luther King, Jr. often quoted from “The Present Crisis” in his speeches. 1 I was introduced to this majestic poem by Dr. W. B. West in his New Testament class on the book of Revelation. The Christians of the early church were persecuted by the Roman Empire and in danger of losing heart, but the apostle John encouraged them because Jesus Christ was still Lord. W. B. West drew a parallel between Lowell encouraging those in the fight against slavery not to lose heart and the apostle John doing the same in the book of Revelation for persecuted Christians. Consider these lines from Lowell’s poem.
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
The writer to the Hebrews pointed Christians of his day to the example of Jesus as one who suffered hostility. He did not want his readers to lose heart: “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1–3).
The apostle John declared the same truth: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). So, when we are confronted with a crisis and are discouraged, and when some of our brothers and sisters are suffering hostility or injustice, the biblical message is that God is still there. He knows what it is like to suffer; Jesus endured the cross. So, do not lose heart. God approves of justice and mercy. It will be well with those who fear and obey him.
1James Russell Lowell, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Russell_Lowell
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