HONOR & CALLING

23SEP26 | Evg. Salvatore Frisella  | @FRISELLAHQ

Relationships: Honor Up, Honor Down, Honor All Around

This theme has been running around in my spirit this week. The big theme right now is relationships: honor up, honor down, and honor all around.

How do we conduct ourselves? How do we become good and effective overseers (leaders who provide spiritual care and direction) in whatever gifts and callings God has given us

Your calling will shape the way you serve. If you are called to be an evangelist (someone who publicly shares the gospel), you are going to have a different “flavor” than a pastor who is called to oversee other pastors.

I have a friend who is a pastor to pastors. His whole calling is to train other pastors in the country where he lives. He is not even in America.

Our callings are different, but there are certain universal biblical principles that every believer needs to embrace, regardless of our particular gifts and callings.

That is part of what Redemption Corps Training Center is going to be about: training people for the work of ministry.

Whether someone is called to be a prophet, an evangelist, a music minister, or a help minister, we need to understand what the Bible says about serving God and serving people.

Not Everyone Is Called to the Pulpit

Most people will probably be help ministers (people who serve others in practical and spiritual ways).

Some people may think they are called to the pulpit, but there may come a day when they stand before the Lord and realize, “You know what? I am not called to the pulpit after all.”

And they may actually be happy about it!

Not relieved in a negative way, but joyful because they have finally discovered what God really created them to do.

I feel called to be an entrepreneur and to start this business. And if you know me, you know I always talk about how being called to be an entrepreneur, a doctor, a lawyer, or a police officer can be just as holy as being called to be a prophet.

Why?

Because faithfulness to God is what matters.

Paul said:

“For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

— 2 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV

We do not need to compare our calling with somebody else’s calling.

God May Put You on a Unique Road

God has put me on a very unique road compared with many of my friends.

I don’t know anyone else doing exactly what I believe God is showing me concerning how Redemption Corps will be birthed and what we will eventually do.

I’m not saying nobody else like that exists. I’m simply saying I don’t know them.

So I cannot constantly look at other people and say, “That’s what I’m supposed to do.”

I can look at other people and say, “God, is there something here that You want me to learn?”

Maybe I should adopt a particular protocol (an established way of doing something). Maybe I should adopt a particular way of operating. Maybe I should take part of what someone else is doing and adapt it to the highways and byways (the people and places that may be outside traditional church settings).

There is nothing wrong with learning from other people.

But eventually, you have to become what God has fashioned you to be.

Some People Are Fashioned for the Highways and Byways

There are certain people who are specifically fashioned for certain assignments.

If you need your creature comforts (the familiar comforts and conveniences that make you feel secure), you probably should not sign up for Redemption Corps.

Because when a tornado tears through a neighborhood, we are going to scramble our teams to get there.

We are going to help save lives.

We are going to minister to people.

We are going to bring practical help as well as spiritual ministry.

Jesus will be on our lips.

We are not going to be the quiet missionary who never says anything.

But we are not going to be the loud, demonstrative missionary either.

We are going to be clothed in honesty, humility, and honor.

We are going to be an ever-present help.

When Ministry Becomes Territory

There may be churches that complain about us because we become a street presence in their ZIP code.

Someone might say, “Hey, this is our territory!”

Well, what have you done for the past twenty years?

If you have not reached those people, and someone else comes along and serves them, is that really stealing your people?

I remember hearing a brother say something that always made me laugh. Someone accused him of stealing church members because he was an evangelist who planted a church.

His response was basically, “Maybe if they weren’t so anemic, they could fit through the fence.”

The picture is funny, but there is a serious point underneath it.

If sheep are well-fed, they should be spiritually strong.

And what is the responsibility of a pastor?

Pastors Are Called to Feed the Sheep

God says:

“I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

— Jeremiah 3:15 NKJV

A shepherd (a spiritual leader who cares for God’s people) is supposed to feed the sheep.

If your sheep are full of knowledge and understanding, they should know how to walk by faith.

They should know how to operate according to Scripture.

They should be spiritually supplied.

That is part of the responsibility of spiritual leadership.

Don’t Leave Voids in Relationships

This principle applies to marriage, too.

Kristen and I have been working on some material around this because relationships are a major theme in my spirit right now.

One of the things we repeatedly talk about is this:

If you leave a void, the devil will try to fill it.

When one spouse shuts down and leaves a void in the relationship, something else can move into that empty space.

The same principle can apply to spiritual leadership.

If leadership refuses to establish biblical order, people will eventually become confused about who is responsible for what.

That is why we will establish and ordain elders (recognized spiritual leaders who help oversee and care for the church) in Redemption Corps.

Biblical Leadership Should Be Clear

I don’t want a situation where someone walks into a church and asks:

“Who’s the pastor?”

And the answer is:

“Oh, we’re all brothers.”

“Well, who is the senior pastor?”

“Well, technically we have one.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m a staff member.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, we’re not really sure.”

Then someone asks:

“Why should I listen to you?”

We don’t do titles just for the sake of titles, but we also don’t pretend biblical leadership structures don’t exist.

Look at the Bible.

Don’t rewrite the Bible.

The Bible gives us patterns for leadership, authority, ministry, elders, pastors, apostles, prophets, and the functioning of the church.

We need to take those patterns seriously.

Don’t Rebuild the Church Around Human Reactions

Sometimes people say, “We’re going to do things differently because a lot of people have been hurt by religion.”

I understand that people have been hurt.

But our response to bad ministry cannot be to abandon biblical patterns.

We don’t throw out Scripture because someone misused Scripture.

We don’t reject authority because someone abused authority.

We don’t reject church leadership because someone was a bad leader.

And we don’t rewrite the church because someone becomes uncomfortable when the Holy Spirit moves.

There needs to be a return to the Word of God.

Jesus said:

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?”

— Luke 6:46 NKJV

The goal is not creativity.

The goal is obedience.

Empty Your Cup and Go Back to the Bible

I have talked with people who were raised in Catholicism and then later learned about the Protestant movement (the historic Christian movement that separated from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation).

There were legitimate problems that needed to be confronted because certain church practices and doctrines had moved away from Scripture.

But even when reform happens, people can sometimes continue building their new system in the image of the old system.

They remove certain things, but they keep other structures simply because that is what they know.

So sometimes you have to empty your cup.

You have to wipe the slate clean.

Go back to the Bible.

Look at the way Jesus operated.

Look at the way the apostles operated.

Look at the way Paul instructed the churches.

Look at the way the early believers gathered.

And then build from there.

There is no need for creative license when Scripture has already given us the pattern.

Don’t Silence the Holy Spirit Because People Are Uncomfortable

We should not rewrite church simply because someone is uncomfortable hearing tongues (speaking in a spiritual language) or because someone gives a prophecy (a Spirit-inspired message intended to strengthen, encourage, or comfort believers).

Paul wrote:

“Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.”

— 1 Corinthians 14:39 NKJV

Everything should be done biblically and in an orderly way.

But order does not mean shutting down the Holy Spirit.

I remember watching a church in my younger years, back in the 1980s, gradually move away from the Word of God because of complaints about the Holy Spirit moving in the meetings.

I remember a pastor getting into trouble because, during a midweek meeting, he cast a demon out of a woman.

The problem was not that the Bible had no place for that kind of ministry.

The problem was that people became uncomfortable with it.

When church leadership becomes more committed to people’s traditions than to the Word of God, something has gone wrong.

Wood, Hay, and Stubble

Paul gives us a serious warning about the quality of what we build:

“Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”

— 1 Corinthians 3:13 NKJV

And Paul continues:

“If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

— 1 Corinthians 3:15 NKJV

That is the picture of wood, hay, and stubble. You can spend forty years building something and still discover that much of what you built did not have eternal value. Time alone does not prove that a ministry is biblical. Longevity does not automatically equal fruitfulness. We need to ask:

What kind of fruit are we producing?

Jesus said:

“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

— John 15:8 NKJV

Don’t Blame God for Bad Ministry

I know people who walked away from God because of bad ministry. Someone experienced religious abuse, hypocrisy, confusion, or spiritual manipulation, and they concluded that God must be the problem. But we have to separate God from what people did in God’s name. Don’t blame God for what the devil did. And don’t blame God for leaders who were not faithful to His Word. Jesus is not responsible for bad ministry simply because someone used His name while doing it. There is mercy when people respond out of ignorance. Paul himself gives us an example.

He wrote:

“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.”

— Acts 26:9 NKJV

Paul had been violently opposing the followers of Jesus before his conversion (turning to Christ in faith). Yet God showed him mercy and eventually used him greatly. So we need to be careful about judging people who were wounded by bad ministry. Sometimes they are not rejecting Jesus. They are reacting to what someone did while claiming to represent Jesus.

The Stumbling Block Should Be the Cross

There is a legitimate stumbling block (something in the gospel that confronts a person’s sinful or self-centered way of life). That stumbling block should be Christ and His cross, not our religious traditions.

Paul said:

“And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.”

— Galatians 5:11 NKJV

The cross confronts us. The gospel calls us to repentance (turning away from sin and turning toward God). The gospel calls us to surrender. The gospel calls us to faith in Jesus. But we should not add unnecessary religious barriers to the gospel. If someone rejects Christ because of Christ, that is one thing. If someone rejects Christ because of our bad behavior, our traditions, or our fleshly religious systems, that is something else.

Paul Corrected Peter

We also need to understand that biblical honor does not mean refusing to correct someone. Paul confronted Peter when Peter was acting hypocritically toward Gentile believers.

Paul wrote:

“Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed.”

— Galatians 2:11 NKJV

Peter had been eating with Gentile believers. Then certain people connected with James arrived, and Peter withdrew from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who were associated with the circumcision group. Paul saw the hypocrisy and confronted him.

The Bible says:

“And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.”

— Galatians 2:13 NKJV

Paul’s correction was not about personal hatred. It was about protecting the truth of the gospel. He was exercising godly authority (authority submitted to God and His Word).

Correction Does Not Mean Strife

But don’t take that and start correcting everybody. Some people love arguments. They love fighting. They have a spirit of strife (a pattern of constant conflict and division). That’s not what Paul was demonstrating. There is a difference between righteous correction and simply enjoying confrontation. We also need to recognize the relationship between Paul and Peter. An apostle was talking to another apostle. They were peers in ministry. They loved one another. Peter did not spend the rest of his life hating Paul because Paul corrected him. In fact, Peter later spoke about Paul with respect.

Peter wrote:

“Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.”

— 2 Peter 3:15 NKJV

That is what healthy correction can look like. You can correct someone and still love them. You can receive correction and still love the person who corrected you.

Honor and Authority Must Work Together

This brings us back to our main theme:

Honor up. Honor down. Honor all around. 

Honor does not mean pretending something is right when it is wrong. Honor does not mean refusing to correct an elder. Honor does not mean submitting to something that violates Scripture. And authority does not mean becoming controlling. Biblical authority is supposed to serve. Jesus demonstrated this kind of leadership when He taught His disciples:

“And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.”

— Matthew 20:27 NKJV

Kingdom leadership is different from worldly leadership. We lead by serving. We correct because we love. We establish order because people matter. We honor people because they were created by God. And we remain submitted to the Word because Jesus is Lord.

Learn From Others Without Becoming Someone Else

So, as we move forward with Redemption Corps, I want us to remember this: We can learn from everybody without becoming everybody. We can adopt good practices without copying another person’s calling. We can honor other ministries without trying to become another ministry. We can receive wisdom without surrendering our identity. God has a unique assignment for every believer. Your assignment may be the pulpit. It may be business. It may be medicine. It may be law enforcement. It may be education. It may be practical service. It may be evangelism. It may be helping behind the scenes. Whatever God has called you to do, do it faithfully.

Paul said:

“But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.”

— 1 Corinthians 7:7 NKJV

The question is not, “Does my calling look like somebody else’s?” The question is: “Am I being faithful to what God has entrusted to me?”

Build What God Asked You to Build

We don’t need to compete with one another. We don’t need to copy one another. We don’t need to create religious systems to make people comfortable. And we don’t need to reject biblical authority because somebody abused it. 

We need to go back to the Word. We need to look at Jesus. We need to look at the apostles. We need to walk in humility. We need to honor one another. We need to serve people. And we need to build according to God’s pattern. Because at the end of the day, our work will be tested.

The question will not simply be how long we worked. The question will be what we built. May we build something that survives the fire. May we build something that produces biblical fruit. And may everything we do point people back to Jesus.

Peace and love, as you work out your own salvation in Jesus’ holy name.

Amen.