Ministry Philosophy

In my newsletter I took a short excerpt from this paper. For those of you who are interested, here is the complete version:

First of all, what is ministry? Is it preaching, counseling, singing, teaching? It can be all these things and more. And yet, it’s possible to preach without ministering; it’s possible to sing without ministering; and it’s possible to minister without doing any of these things. So what is ministry? In 2 Corinthians 3:18 – 4:1 Paul says that our ministry is to be reflections of God in the world: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.” Later, in 2 Corinthians 5: 18-20 Paul says that we also have the ministry of reconciliation: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” This passage seems to point out that ministry is not only for pastors, church elders or those considered leaders in the church. It is not just for Sunday school teachers, choir members or those who have been trained at Bible colleges or gone to seminary. Ministry is for everyone who goes by the name of Christian. It is a part of living in relationship with God. If we are truly being indwelt and transformed by the Holy Spirit, then we can not help reflecting God’s glory and, in the process, calling others to reconciliation with God.

The first focus of ministry must be on our own relationship with God. It becomes obvious that ministry is not something that we can do in our own strength and power. Just as the moon can not shine on its own without the sun, we can not reflect God’s glory through our own efforts at righteousness or ministry. In ministry, our focus is not to be on making other people right with God, but rather in positioning ourselves in such a way that God can shine on us and that his glory can then spill over into other’s lives. It is not a matter of coming up with the right words, but a matter of allowing God to speak through us. It is not a matter of cleansing ourselves so that God can use us, it is a matter of allowing him to transform us as he will. We must allow God to work in us before we can expect him to work through us. We must be reconciled with God and experience an authentic relationship with Him before we are able to encourage others to be reconciled with God and to be in relationship with Him. It is only by allowing God to work through us that people can catch even a glimpse of who God truly is and who he wants to be in their lives. We must love God with all that we are before we love our neighbors as ourselves; for if we do not know God, how can we reflect his glory or help others to know Him? Prayer, knowledge of scripture, and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us is more important than having “work” to do. Ministry is not something we do only on Sundays, during counseling sessions, or through preaching and teaching. It is a way of life that is rooted in Christ Jesus. As Jesus says in John 15: 4 – 5: “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

The second focus of ministry must be on telling others what we have learned of God. We are not to be silent. If we hide our light under a bushel, it is more than likely that the flame will go out. If we do not share God’s glory with others, its light may well flicker and die in our own lives. Giving testimony to God’s transforming power not only makes it more real to us and others, it also encourages us to continue walking in faith. If we have walked with God through our own sorrows and hardships, if we have seen his transforming power in our own lives, if we have heard his voice and learned to trust it; then we have something to offer to others who are in sorrow, are in need of cleansing, or are in search of direction. From the reality of our own experiences, we can speak into other’s lives and become true ministers of reconciliation between them and God.

So what is the purpose of ministry? If we are followers of Christ then our purpose must be the same as his. At the beginning of his ministry he stood in the synagogue and read these words from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4: 18-19) In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” From Jesus’ words it appears that the purpose of our ministry is to preach good news -- the good news of reconciliation to God and new life in him. It is to proclaim freedom -- both from the spiritual enslavement of sin and from physical enslavement to human masters. It is to give sight to the spiritually blind that they may see the truth and no longer be blinded by Satan, the father of lies. It is to release the oppressed from their unnecessary guilt, their spiritual and physical poverty, injustice, etc. It is to proclaim the Lord’s favor -- to let people know that he is not an angry, vengeful god, but that he is ready to accept them into his family as brothers and sisters with Christ. In short, the purpose of our ministry is to help others to live life to the full, to bring them out of the darkness of spiritual death and into the radiance of Christ Jesus our Lord.

But one might ask, how is this ministry accomplished? What must I do to minister to others? In one sense the answer to this question is very easy – you must do whatever the Lord asks of you. But at the same time this presents another difficulty – how do I know what he asks? It is easy to look at what someone else is doing and to see our ministry as lacking in comparison or to feel inadequate for the task of ministry (especially the up-front styles such as preaching and teaching). However, there are as many ways of ministering as there are people. God uses our unique gifts, experiences, cultures, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. The ministry he has for each of us is one that only we may do. Sometimes it may look similar to what other people are doing, but because we are each unique members of the body of Christ, our ministries will be uniquely fitted to each of us. One might preach, another teach, another serve, another give money, another pray. But that’s just on Monday. On Tuesday God may ask each one to minister in completely different ways based on the people they are interacting with and the situations they are in. This is why it is so important to maintain our relationship with God through prayer, fasting, reading of scripture, worship and other spiritual disciplines. We must learn to hear his voice, sense his direction, and allow him to work through us if we are to be effective ministers in the situations he has placed us in.

Finally, ministry comes out of weakness. According to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, Christ’s power is made perfect in our weakness. Other people must know that without God we are nothing. It is only because of His grace and His spirit that we are able to be of any help to others. Spiritual pride (or any form of pride for that matter) has no place in ministry. We do not preach ourselves, but Christ crucified. We do not minister so that our greatness and righteousness can be seen, but so that God’s glory might shine forth. Ministry is a continually humbling experience as we realize over and over again that we have nothing to offer, only God can fill the needs that others have.