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For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Paul indicates that one of the ways that God tests our hearts is through our preaching of the Gospel. Of course, when I use the term, "preaching," I don't necessarily mean someone who stands behind a pulpit in Sundays. This applies to all Christians who mutually share the stewardship of being heralds of God's Gospel. And I am inclined to believe that this is the very reason that God tests our hearts. We have been given the responsibility to share our faith and cultivate the church. This cannot be something to which we are indifferent! If it's worth being tested over by the Holy Spirit, then it's worth taking very seriously. Additionally, we have been COMMANDED to share our faith according to Matthew 28:19-20.

There are several ways that God tests our hearts concerning our sharing the Gospel. One, theological. We cannot share a watered-down Gospel or, conversely, a loveless Gospel of legalism. Two, our motives must be right. We cannot share the Gospel, as Paul said, out of any impure motive or any attempt to deceive. One might ask how it is possible to share the Gospel out of impure motive. The sad truth is that the Gospel has become an industry in America. As a friend of mine always says, "preaching is better than working." And there are many who entered the ministry because it is the easier path.

Imagine that! Jesus Christ calls the path of the Kingdom of God the "narrow path," but in the west it is the easier, more luxurious lifestyle! It has become the easy way out for anyone who can gather even a smattering of a crowd and has any inclination toward public speaking. Sad indeed.

But there are those who preach in such a way to stroke their own insecure egos and to attain a position of authority in people's lives. This, as well, is sinful. Peter taught his elders to avoid shepherding out of selfish ambition.

All of us - not just "full-time elders" - have a tremendous responsibility to avoid at all costs egocentric ministry. As the Bible teaches us, there is a particularly harsh penalty for "wolves in sheep's clothing."