Bipolar
By Grant Gaines
The word “bipolar” is a term that describes a mental illness which is characterized by dramatic and unpredictable mood swings. According to WebMD, minor symptoms of bipolar disorder may include excessive happiness, excitement, irritability, restlessness, increased energy, less need for sleep, racing thoughts, high sex drive, and a tendency to make grand and unattainable plans1.
These radical swings of emotion which are often brought about without cause or warning are a pretty good illustration of ministry. I don’t mean to say that your personal ministry should not be described as “bipolar” where one moment you’re on fire for the Lord and the next moment you’re in a valley depending on the surrounding circumstances of any given moment. Instead, I believe the term “bipolar” gives us an incredibly accurate picture of what our followers will look like as we live a life of ministry for Christ. Let me explain by telling you a story from Acts 14.
Paul and his missionary companion Barnabas had just entered the town of Lystra when they saw a man who was paralyzed from birth. After preaching the Gospel of Christ, Paul saw this crippled man and, “called out, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ At that, the man jumped up and began to walk” (Acts 14:10, NIV). Talk about a dramatic closing to your message! Maybe Paul should have moved that demonstration up into his introduction so he could really grab his audience’s attention from the get-go!
Regardless, the crowd who was listening to Paul definitely took note of this miraculous work and quickly began to, “…shout in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them” (Acts 14:11-13, NIV). That is a pretty dramatic reaction to listening to one sermon and seeing one miracle, wouldn’t you agree?
Up to this point in the story we see just one emotion-joy. But as we keep on reading the story we quickly see the true bipolar nature of this crowd.
After Paul and Barnabas adamantly pleaded with the crowd to not sacrifice animals to them because they were only messengers, not Messiahs, Acts 14:19 (NIV) tells us, “Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.”
That happened quickly! One moment the crowd is doing everything they can to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas because they thought they were gods and then within the span of one short verse, the crowd decided that they should stone them instead of offering sacrifices to them. Talk about a swing of emotions!
While we may not run into the problem of having those we are pouring into spiritually try to sacrifice animals to us or try to stone us to death, we can still certainly learn a thing or two from this story. Just as those who suffer from being bipolar will radically swing from one emotional extreme to the other, we must be aware that our pupils in the faith will often do the same. You can never make everyone happy. There will always be those people who give you too much credit and there will always be those people who give you too much blame.
But rather than allowing these emotional highs and lows to get into our heads and cripple our ministry, we must follow the example of Paul in this story. He didn’t let the praise or criticism of get in the way of what God sent him to do. Rather, Acts 14:20 (NIV) tells us, “But after the disciples had gathered around [Paul], he got up and went back into the city….”
Despite being stoned to the point where the crowd thought he was dead, Paul marched right back into that same city to continue preaching the Gospel. Paul’s life was a real-life proverb as he time and time again lived out the truth in Proverbs 24:16 (NIV) which says, “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again…” All this was possible because Paul didn’t have his hope in man, but in God.
Paul kept his eyes on God and the mission of the Gospel as his foremost priority. That’s how Paul was able to weather the ups and downs of his unfaithful followers. That’s how he was able to write thirteen letters that we now include in our New Testament and benefit from every day. And finally, that is how Paul was able to truthfully say at the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7, NIV).
The praises and criticism of men come and go, but the Word of the Lord stands forever (1 Peter 1:25). Proverbs 29:25 (NIV) tells us that, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” The bottom line is this: if you put all your satisfaction and hope in what others think of you, you’re going to be disappointed because we as humans are fickle. However, if you put your trust in the Lord and let Him be the audience you seek to please, you will be unshakable (Psalms 16:8).
Are you building your foundation on the approval of others or the Word of God?
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©Grant Gaines 2013
