Difficulty in Ministry caused by ourselves or People

Dr Charles Swindoll
Difficult 

People who make ministry difficult

2 Tim 3 - The Last Days

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud,abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

2 Cor 11 - 

Difficult People:-
Abel & Cain
Abraham & Lot
Esau & Jacob
Joseph & all his brothers
Moses & People who

WOE TO YOU ! X7 said Jesus

We have to deal with people who despire, disrespect, conspire, doubt, envy of your success, shut you down in your weakness. This is REAL! 

TIPS TO WORK WITH PEOPLE
1) Be cautious of the one you endorse for leadership
Look for qualities 1 Tim 3.

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseerdesires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach,faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

8 In the same way, deacons[b] are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

11 In the same way, the women[c] are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. 13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

2) Find people who can keep confidence

3) Watch out for those who play a significant role in your call to your ministry

4) Keep distance from opposite sex

5) Don't take money from anyone for personal  

6) Some people not just difficult but may be dangerous 

7) When you are targetted by enemy, some do not have you at heart

8) When hiring or releasing someone from ministry, do not manipulate the situation
Talk no one into leaving or talk no one from leaving a ministry
Someone needs leaving, release them at Minute 46. Holding on them when it has not worked it not going to do good.

9) When you are led to lead a ministry, do not expect anyone to understand you
They do not undersand why you need to leave. Just move on

10) If you are married, your relationship with your spouse is the most important relationship in your life. You spouse's opinion is more important than the others
No higher priority than to cultivate your marital relationship. 

Things we do to make ministry difficult

2 Tim 4:7

 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Fought in Greek is AGONA, we get Agony from it. 

The good fight that I have "agonised".

Paul brought a lo of "stuff" into his Christian ministry. He has to fight his own "demons", likewise, it is the same with us.

2 Cor 4:1-6

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

With every ministry, special mercy is needed. Since we have this ministry, we have received mercy. Therefore, we do not lose heart, we do not quit, we do not give up. We will have  mercy to deal with the people and face many challenges.

V2 In every ministry, the same three things must be rejected. 

We have renounced = forbidden

1) Shameful things

2) Deceiveful things, Craftiness

Cunning - lack of sincerity, lack of integrity. We are who we say we are. Not walking on craftiness.

3) We dont corrupt sacred things, adulterating the Word of God.

Simple Sincerity - a true mark of Christian. Rare even more those in ministry.

Simple Sincerity can impact a ministry.

V 2 and 5 Through every ministry, a convenient example must be modelled.

By living out the truth, by setting forth the truth, for Jesus' sake.

I Cor 11 

Things we should remember:-

1) We cannot control everything.

2) We cannot fix everyone. People have to take care of themself.

3) We cannot be some body we are not and get away with it.

4) We cannot meet everybody's expectations.

5) We cannot run away from difficult issues. We need to ask God to handle it.

6) We cannot concern ourselves with who gets the credit. Learn to give credits to God's faithful servants. Very few things are done solo.

7) We cannot like criticism gets to us.