The believers who comforts a pastor, The pastor who makes the believers to be in sorrow

“But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.  Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it--I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while -- yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Corinthians 7:6-10).

                There are many believers who need comfort around us.  They are all desperately in need of comfort when we think of their suffering, loneliness, sickness, pain, hurt and even they are in the crossroads of life and death.  However, it seems that somehow we don't include our pastor among those people.  Maybe it's because we think 'Our pastor is good at faith.  So I am sure he will be okay.’  But we must remember that even Apostle Paul was a servant of God in need of comfort (2 Cor. 7:6).

In 2 Corinthians 7:6-7, we can see Paul being comforted.  Let us think about how he got comforted in three ways:

First, Paul was comforted by the coming of Titus.

Look at 2 Corinthians 7:6 – “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.”  The God of comfort (v. 6) comforted Paul by causing Titus, Paul's partner and fellow worker (8:23), to come to Paul after visiting the Corinthian church (7:6).  Likewise, we the pastors can be comforted by through our partner and fellow worker like Titus.  In particular, rather than being comforted by what the fellow worker did for us, the pastor, our partner and fellow worker can comfort us just by seeing coming to us and by being with us.

Second, Paul was comforted by knowing that Titus was comforted by the Corinthian church saints.

Look at 2 Corinthians 7:7 – “and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.”  We, the pastor, are comforted when we hear that our partner and fellow worker like Titus is comforted by our church saints.  We are comforted when our church members are comforting each other, just as a grandpa is comforted by his grandchildren when he finds his beloved son is comforted by his grandchildren.

Third, Paul was comforted by the news about the Corinthian church from Titus that made him rejoice even more.

Look at 2 Corinthians 2:7 – “and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.”  The Titus' message to Paul was that the Corinthian church saints received the Paul’s letter, respected and honored it (“your longing”), realized their sins through Apostle Paul’s admonition (“your mourning”) and exerted their zeal to serve the apostle with all their heart (“your zeal”) (Park).  So Paul was comforted by Titus and the Corinthian church saints.  The same is true with us, the pastors.  We should also be comforted by our church members.  Just as Paul was comforted with the good news he heard through Titus, we should be comforted by hearing the good news about our church members.  What is the good news to us?  The good news is that the church members respect and honor our admonition, they realize their sins through our admonition, and they are eager to serve us with all their hearts.  Are you church members comforting your pastor like this?

There are some believers around us who need to be in sorrow.  When we think of the believers who are sinning against God by disobeying the Word of God and follow the habits of the old sinful nature, they are all desperately in need to be in sorrow.  But for some reason, there aren't many pastors who are making them to be in sorrow.  Maybe it's because the pastors are afraid of reproving them.  Perhaps the pastors are not reproving them because they are afraid that the church members won’t come to church anymore because they are tempted by the pastors’ admonition.  But we must remember that Apostle Paul made the Corinthian church saints who were sinning to be in sorrow (v. 8).  In 2 Corinthians 7:8-10, we see Paul making the Corinthian church saints to be in sorrow.  How did Paul make them to be in sorrow?  He did so by sending them the letter of admonition about the sins that the Corinthian church saints were committing against God.  So Paul regretted it (v. 8) as if a father regrets after reproving his beloved children.  But he didn’t regret any more because he saw that the letter caused them sorrow only for a while (v. 8).  Rather, Paul rejoiced (v. 9).  The reason is because the Corinthian church saints were made sorrowful to the point of repentance (v. 9).  This is the sorrow that is according to the will of God (vv. 9, 10).  Unlike the sorrow of the world that produces death, the sorrow according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation (v. 10).  God caused the Corinthian church saints to be sorrowful to the point of repentance according to the will of God, causing them to be longing, mourning, fearing, to be in zeal, and avenging of wrong so that eventually they demonstrated themselves to be innocent in the matter (v. 11).  Isn’t this the sorrow that is according to the will of God?  Wasn’t this beneficial sorrow that made the Corinthian church saints to be earnest, to acknowledge their sins and asked for forgiveness, regard themselves as a cause of suffering and thus indignation, to fear God, to long for the Paul’s coming, to zeal about correcting their wrongs, and to willing to receive punishment for their own sins?  This sorrow wasn’t a loss (v. 9).  Rather, it is beneficial to the Christian life of the members of the church, so we pastors should make them to be in sorrow.  It is no regret for the pastors to admonish their church members to repent their sins.  On the contrary, while we are earnestly praying to God for the church members, repentance must take place because that is the sorrow according to the will of God.  Are your pastors making your church members to be in sorrow?