Pursuing Biblical Ministry

 

I attended a massive conference for pastors in the Chicago area during my twenties. Thousands of pastors were there to learn how to build a large church. The pastor was a commanding speaker, and most everyone was awed by his success. It was not my first time being captivated by the megachurch and its many different ministries.

However, on this occasion, he shared some principles he said guided his life, but I came away questioning what he had to say. He shared a principle called the “Carbon Copy Principle.” For many years he had been teaching that every person should try to be who they were meant to be but recently, he had come to believe that was wrong. Now he thought every person should find a suitable model and carbon copy their life to that model. I certainly got the impression that the best copy was the man speaking to us.

That was hard to swallow, but what came next was even harder to digest. The speaker told of his overwhelming duty to preach the gospel. He shared a personal conversation with his young son to demonstrate his uncompromising commitment to Christ. Very dramatically, he began, “Son, you know we have been to a lot of baseball games together, but daddy has been to the last one because daddy now has to do what God wants him to do.” The dramatic illustration had the opposite effect on me than intended. It was overly dramatic and lacked authenticity.

It took a while for me to sort out the impressive presentations and the significant following of this man from what was really being said. When I finally did, Mr. Carbon Copy Principle went into the trash. I determined I wanted to make my family a priority, not an add-on to my ministry. That same day I decided to prioritize being rather than doing. Incidentally, sadly, that son’s life turned out to be a disaster. And by the way, that megachurch has gone through a series of scandals over the years.

I have found that pursuing a biblical ministry often conflicts with the successful ministries that people flock after. Usually, there are several warning signs when judging a ministry’s authenticity. 1). Is the leader an authoritarian? Is it his way or the highway? 2). Do the leader and the ministry control the information their people receive? Do they assert we are right and everybody else is wrong? 3). Is there a lack of accountability? Without accountability, we are more prone to take the wrong path. 4.) Is there humility? Without humility, pride and arrogance lead the way. 5). Is there a priority to put marriage and family first, even above the ministry? If there isn’t, the family will suffer. (6. Is there authenticity? Are these people for real? If they are not, stay away from them!

The ministry with the most people and talent may not be the most biblical. These benchmarks have helped me judge between the real and not real through the years.

Building Blocks for Success

Imagine how it feels to send your college student off to a faraway place; then you know how Paul felt when he sent Timothy to Ephesus. Timothy was contemplating giving up when Paul told him to stay (1 Tim 1:3). Ephesus had been no picnic; Timothy avoided confrontation because it was in his nature. Some of the older men were looking down their noses at young Timothy. Paul sent him five building blocks for a fruitful ministry in his first letter. The way would be through personal godliness, through the Word, through giftedness, through diligence, and through balance.

Paul urged Timothy to pursue godliness in his life, and the apostle detailed five aspects of how that picture would look: speech, life, love, faith, and purity. Our speech no doubt is the most challenging aspect of our self-discipline. Solomon said, “The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse” (Prov 10:32). That kind of control is what Timothy needed in his work in his own life. Secondly, Timothy needed to work on his day-to-day life. There was to be no secular versus sacred. All of life was to be sacred. His life was to bear witness to his faith. Thirdly, his love was to be the kind of love Paul described in his letter to the Corinthians: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor 13:4-5). Fourthly, his faith was to be real—the kind that Jesus described in his parable of the faithful servants: “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty'" (Luke 17:10). Faith was to be responsive without expecting some reward. It was to be real and from the heart. Lastly, purity has to be the kind that comes from God. If it is self-generated, it will be like this: “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin” (Ps 32:2).  When it comes from God, it will be like this: “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep” (Ps 36:5-6).

The second building block was the importance of God’s Word in Timothy’s ministry and work. It was to be center of what he did. God’s Word has to be front and center, or we will get lost in the maze of voices in this world.

The third building block is giftedness. We all have been given gifts, and we are to use them for the benefit of God’s glory and others. Our gifts were given to be used and not to be kept hidden.

The fourth building block is diligence. Diligence is staying at it and doing the best we know how. There is no place for laziness in God’s work. We are to persevere without giving up.

The fifth building block is balance. Life has to have a balance to work right—a balance between our biblical doctrine and beliefs and the application of those beliefs. That balance works when we live in the grace that allows us to forgive and be forgiven.

Fruit of the Spirit

What do you think is the best way to identify a Christian? Would it be by the way they talk or by their look? It’s neither! We are Christ followers when we have the fruits of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul lists them: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). Nine incredible ways to know that God is at work in our lives. They are fruits that God produces as a result of our surrendered lives to him. They come from him and are a part of him.

Love is what God has shown to each of us. As this fruit grows, he helps us love others. It’s not hard to love people who are nice to us, but it is difficult to love people who are mean to us. What is so remarkable about this fruit is that it loves unconditionally.

Joy is the fruit that enables us to enjoy life. God gives us the ability to have joy in the middle of sorrow. It’s a joy that comes from the Lord, and it gives us strength to endure trials as Jesus did. Joy enables us to enjoy our life with those around us by helping us to be flexible instead of rigid.

Peace is the ability to trust God with all the anxieties of life. How people long for this precious commodity and can’t find it. It comes from God, and the world can’t take it away from us.

Patience is the ability to wait for the right time. We are all by default impatient, especially with others. When this fruit is present, we demonstrate patience with others. Good things do come to those who wait.

Kindness is the quality of being kind and doing kind acts to others. God gives us a kind heart, and kindness flows out of it.

Goodness is what is on the inside of us. It is what makes up our character. It is not what we do, so much as who we are. Goodness is the navigating system that guides us.

Faithfulness determines how reliable we are. When you are living around faithful people, you grow, as opposed to shriveling up around unreliable people.

Gentleness is power under control. It should not be confused with weakness. God is gentle, and to have this fruit is to be like Him. Jesus was so gentle with bruised hearts and spirits that were barely flickering with life (Isa 42:3). His words and actions conveyed kindness and gentleness. Gentle people have an “unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Pet 3:3-4).

Self-control is really the basket that holds all the other fruits. Without self-control we have no patience, no love, joy, peace or any other fruit. Solomon said: “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city” (Prov 16:32). Self-control demonstrates the Spirit of Christ in our lives, and it enables us to choose God’s will over our own will.

Learning About Humility

C.S. Lewis said that pride was far more difficult to deal with in the Christian life than other sin like anger or greed. Pride is a powerful force that blinds us. The only effective antidote against pride is humility. That may be why Jesus often taught about humility. Once, when Jesus noticed how the guests were conniving to get the places of honor at the table at a prominent event, he told them a parable (Luke 14:1-14). The story Jesus told sounds like instruction in social etiquette, but it’s really about having the right kind of attitude in life. The first part of the story is about how not to seat yourself. Let’s imagine the scene as the guests arrive. They look the place over and see where they want to sit. One proud guest says to himself, “That is my seat,” and of course he takes it. People watch as he takes the seat, and he says to himself—“They are thinking he must be really important.”

The problem is that is not how the host sees it.  Then suddenly the proud guest looks up, and there is the host. The host asks him to move because he has reserved that seat for someone more important. His embarrassment knows no limit. The second part of the story is about how to seat yourself so this kind of thing doesn’t happen to you. Jesus says look for the lowest seat, and then it won’t be a problem when the host asks you to move up.

Jesus lived out humility, and in so doing he demonstrated it is possible to overcome pride. Jesus summed up everything with these words: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11). Jesus hated the pride that pre­tends to be humble. He wants the real thing. If we want authenticity, then let us strive to be like Jesus.

Once when I was working at my computer, one of my little granddaughters was sitting in my lap. She was digging in my shirt pocket. As I looked out of the corner of my eye, I watched the stuff all being extracted piece by piece from my pocket. She examined each piece very meticulously; my glasses, my pens, my papers, and I thought that was all I had, but she kept putting her little hand deep into my pocket. I didn’t pay much attention because I thought she had pretty well cleaned me out. After a few minutes I noticed she was rather quiet and wasn’t fidgeting. I looked down at her, and she had found a toothpick and had it in the corner of her mouth exactly the way I do. She was imitating me. The one thing we want to do is learn to imitate Christ and not this world. We want to learn to imitate him and not the people around us. We also want to live in such a way that those who are watching us will be imitating Christ when they imitate us.