It’s rare to find someone who truly cares and flips the switch on or off.
It’s rare to find someone who makes a profound difference in the life of another who is doing it just 9 to 5.
It’s rare to encounter someone who is impacting others who is doing it simply for the paycheck.
True impact comes not only from what is conveyed in words but certainly in how we live and comport ourselves. Conveying truth happens when we live out what we’ve received and internalized. This is especially true in the Gospel ministry.
A call to lead in ministry is a sobering proposition or should be anyway. It is more than a mere leadership position laden with the opportunity and responsibility to stand in front of people or speak in public. It is more than brow-beating a group because they’re not conforming to what you believe to be true about God’s Word. Maxwell has said that leadership is influence. We see this throughout the Word of God and especially in the New Testament. I think of Paul’s admonition to Timothy, “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions…” This was more than a passing moment on a Sunday or midweek service time. This was more than a desiccated effort to help. Paul’s was a life that was fervid and alive with God’s power. His was a life that had experienced such a radical transformation and received such intense personal investment that he could not help but do the same from someone else.
The Gospel ministry is a wondrous and marvelous aim. It’s not mine. Nor is it yours. It is entrusted to us by our Lord and Saviour. This alone should compel us to steward ourselves and propagate this ministry forward with care and exuberance. However, this does not happen by default and by nature, we always fall back into the default. We become overwhelmed with problems and people. We become stultified with the routine of ministry. We become complacent in our administration of His Word and the care of His people. These have a compounding effect so as to stifle the very heartbeat that once so passionately constrained us forward for His honor and glory.
Thus, we become frustrated. Burned out. Disillusioned. But we dare not lay this charge at the feet of Christ. All we can do is look in the mirror and reluctantly accept complete responsibility for our dismal failure. Ministry is not the end goal. Christ is. Too often we become so infatuated with what God is doing that we forget we are simply vessels and servants to this means. When we deign to bear the responsibility to create the growth or bear the fruit we have crossed into the realm that is beyond our capacity and that threatens to undermine the very charge that we have been given. When we attempt to bear the immense burdens that we are faced with on daily basis in ministry, nothing to say of our own insufferable burdens we have, we take upon ourselves a task for which we were neither called nor created. Ministry is not being capable of carrying every single burden and problem that we encounter. Ministry is simply to inculcate the eternal truths of God’s Word to hearts that are ready and willing to receive.
This does not happen by rote. This does not happen by osmosis but rather by steadfast application. Determination. Persistence. Intention. And this does not happen solely because I went to Bible school or was ordained. Having all the answers is no prerequisite for ministry. Rather, it’s in the humble admission that I don’t have all the answers but I aim only to point to the One who does that we begin to comprehend our role in His Work. It’s being vulnerable to show people that you’re struggling too. You don’t have it all together. Certainly, this must be done with wisdom and dignity, but there’s no point in assuming any airs. People can see through fake in an instant. Ministry is an overflow of what the Spirit is teaching me through His Word. Hurting hearts are not seeking some answer you learned in Bible school. They’re not interested in how well you did on your term paper or thesis. Sometimes, they don’t want answers at all. They need a listening ear. An open heart. A compassionate friend. I must be willing to allow the overflow of my walk with Christ to be the source of ministerial encouragement and strength. I don’t have to have all the answers. But I do need to make sure that I am attuned to the One who provides them.
I believe this is why Paul admonished Timothy to take heed to himself. Ensure that your walk is right. Without it, I am nothing. I have to be taking in far more than I am giving out. This is not always easy. But it must be the precedent. When it is not, we run dry and have nothing to offer. Or worse–we simply continue to attempt to minister when we ourselves need to be ministered to. Christ did not come to be ministered to, He came to minister. But you and I are not Jesus. We need to tend to our heart. On a daily, sometimes momentary, basis. It is only through the abundance of God’s grace given to us through His Word that we can find the strength to help those the Great Shepherd has given us to love and help. We only find it in the overflow and abundance of His Word working in and through our lives.
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