In today’s text, Paul begins a long, extended discussion of the privileges of Christian ministry. Extending all the way through chapter 7, Paul has a lot to say about the blessings of serving God.

One writer describes this section of the book as “the finest exposition of all sides of the Christian ministry in existence, one that reveals the wealth of Paul’s nature and his mature grasp of the great things in service for Christ.”^[1]

Of course, Paul was an apostle, and that was a unique position. He experienced both great privileges and great persecution in his service for Christ. None of us are apostles, but we too can experience the blessings and privileges of Christian service.

Some people pursue the Christian ministry as a full-time occupation; they have the privileges and obligations of vocational Christian ministry—e.g., pastors, missionaries. I hope that some of the young people in our church would consider pursuing the ministry as a vocation. There are great privileges in Christian ministry, but of course, there are also great obligations and potential problems. But in this passage, Paul focuses on the blessings of the ministry.

Every Christian ought to be involved in ministry or service of some kind. Whether you do it as a vocation or as a volunteer, anyone involved in Christian ministry should see it as a privilege and a blessing.

Let’s consider several of the things that Paul mentions as privileges of Christian service.

^[1] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), 2 Co 2:14.