Moment With The Master
“Minsters”
Categories: Mission WorkWho then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." (1 Corinthians 3:5-6)
On February 19, 1945 more than 70,000 American Marines from 3rd, 4th, and 5th Divisions landed on the beaches of Iwo Jima. Awaiting them were 22,000 Japanese soldiers ready to die. Among the Americans were the boys of Easy Company. Six of those soldiers would leave an image on the pages of history that has become a symbol of American heroism and courage.
The picture of the famous raising of the American flag on top of Mt. Suribachi has appeared hundreds of times in magazines, newspapers, and history books. However, the story behind the picture had an interesting twist and an important lesson. The flag that was in Joe Rosenthal’s famous picture was nothing more than a replacement. The original flag was removed and preserved for safekeeping and these six soldiers raised a second flag. Furthermore, their climb to the top of Mt. Suribachi was without resistance from the enemy. When the picture was first printed in newspapers in America it was embellished with fanciful stories of how they reached the top of Mt Suribachi in the midst of a fiery battle. Such was far from the truth. While all six soldiers were indeed heroes as were all the men who fought in the war, the raising of that flag on Suirbachi was nothing out of the ordinary. The three soldiers who returned home deemed themselves ordinary men with a job to do.
In the scripture above Paul, the great soldier of the cross, views himself in the same way. He was an ordinary man with a job to do. “Who is Paul…but ministers by whom you believed?” Paul said, we had a mission and we fulfilled it, but it is God who gives the increase and deserves the honor! We too must remember our humble task. We are just ministers, just servants. Our mission is to hide behind the cross. It is to teach Christ crucified and give the glory to God!
By George Slover
