Thoughts on Romans 15 - Part 4

 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ   Rom. 15:14-19

           Paul has singlehandedly (there were some minor players like Apollos and Phillip) taken the "full gospel" to the Gentiles in such a fashion that, as we will see in the upcoming passage, he has run out of unreached people groups. If there was anyone who had a right to receive praise or an award for Gospel service, it was Paul. Yet he said he can't boast or take credit but only speak of what Christ has done through him.

        It's football season and this is the time of year where stars of the game are interviewed after the game, and many times give praise to God. Unbelievers must get sick of this and guys like Aaron Rodgers mock that God would care who won a game especially when there are believers on both sides, but how can they do anything less. Any time we take credit for some ability or platform that God has given us, it is nothing less than plagiarism.

        The Dove Awards given yearly to excellence in Christian music, got some extra press this year when the top artist in Christian music, Forrest Frank decided not to attend and his social media post explained that he thought it was wrong to receive an award for music and abilities that God has given him. I feared when it happened that other artists might be offended because it made them look bad for going or there would be a mass exodus of artists attending. Neither happened (well, maybe one artist was offended) but what did happen was amazing. Every single artist transferred all the praise and glory to Christ, and it was the most worshipful Dove Awards that I've ever seen.

       Francis Chan stated that he left his mega church and took his family to Asia because he loved the adulation that he was getting too much. However we choose to handle man's praise, the important thing is the right mindset of I would be nothing except for Christ. Paul calls himself the chief of sinners and God even needed to give him a "thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble. Let's not seek praise from men but rather praise from God.