Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome
AGROS Ministries is now updated and improved. Please visit us at www.smallChurch.com!
Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome
AGROS Ministries is now updated and improved. Please visit us at www.smallChurch.com!
Hughes, Kent & Barbara. Liberating the Ministry from the Success Syndrome.Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.1987.
Feelings of despair are usually the result of our own false expectations with regard to ministry. Through our experiences in ministry and seminary, we develop expectations regarding ministry that are usually not accurate reflections of the fact that “ministry is messy”. The way that we start in ministry can set us up for expectations that lead us to despair.
Principle = Are your expectations realistic?
It is easy to focus on the success of other ministries and to compare ourselves by ourselves. We are surrounded by the message that things produce growth. We assume that if we do the right things, we will produce the right results. We have adopted a “Christian Humanism” for the church. Pragmatism becomes the deciding factor, and the main problem with pragmatism is that it works. When we adopt pragmatism as a standard, we shift the focus from Christ to men and from biblical guidelines to secular thinking.
Principle = Is your focus on God’s guidelines for ministry, or man’s?
God evaluates ministry according to faithfulness to God & His Word, not the desires and wishes of mankind. Two key elements of faithfulness are obedience and diligence. We must be students of the Word and applying the things that we do know. It is an oxymoron to talk of a lazy faithful servant. We must be diligent in our faithfulness in the ministry that God places us.
Principle = Are you a faithful servant? (1 Corinthians 4:2)
Our culture defines success by position and power. The focus becomes what I can gain for myself in this world or ministry. Our self-serve society is reflected in the way the church has changed its focus from the world to themselves. One key to a servant’s heart is a proper focus on the cross. The Pastor serves through preaching, administration, “ruling through humble service”, and counseling. We are like Christ when we serve others. Principle = Do you possess a servant’s heart? (Matthew 20:25-28) Chapter 5 The highest priority in our lives must be a total love for God. Using love as a guideline for success means a test that is qualitative rather than quantitative. This type of test keeps us from comparing ourselves to other ministries since we cannot accurately judge the motives of another ministry. This type of thinking also helps us focus and direct ministry into the focus that God has for this world. To have a total love for God requires that we love, serve and spend time with God.
Principle = Do you really love God with your whole being? (Matthew 22:37,38)
True ministry can only function in the context of faith. Faith in God believes that God exists and that God rewards his people. We must believe that God is sovereign and that he is in control of all circumstances. When we focus on who God is (Creator, Sustainer, Goal, Lover of my Soul) and what He did (on the cross), we can better place our current circumstances in a proper perspective.
Principle = Are you a person of faith? (Hebrews 11:6)
True ministry must involve prayer. We must pray because of what prayer does to us as believers. Prayer is the surrender and cooperation of my will to God. Prayer will also affect the church since it is the true power of ministry. Christ set the example for us in ministry by spending a tremendous amount of time in prayer. When Christ was most pressured in ministry he withdrew and prayed. Prayer is the power behind the action of the Christian doing battle with Satan in Ephesians 6.
Principle = Are you a person of prayer? (Ephesians 6:18)
True ministry involves holiness. It must be understood that a call to ministry is a call to holiness, which brings high spiritual expectations. It is very easy in ministry to become desensitized to your own personal spiritual state. In those situations God becomes very unreal to us and seems to fade from view. We must protect our lives and ministries from the pervasive influences that cause God to fade from view. God’s Word is the standard for sin, not the culture in which we live. Principle = Are you holy in your life and ministry? (Leviticus 19:2) Chapter 9 True ministry is impacted by attitudes. Two predominate attitudes that characterize failure in ministry are negativism and jealousy. We must be careful not to develop a Joshua-like complex regarding ministerial jealousy. We must also guard against always seeing the negatives and problems of a situation. We can focus on the promises of God or the giants in the land. Too many times we focus on the giants rather that a Giant God.
Principle = Is your attitude one which sees potential or problems? (1 Corinthians 12:26)
God is interested in us playing the part that He has given to us. We are to play that part to the best of our ability and for the glory of God. Success is fulfilling our God given role, not numbers or positions of power.
Principle = Are you successful according to God’s standards for ministry?
God’s plans are “known” plans. They have been crafted from eternity past and they are continual because God is planning for us. God has never had a thoughtless action toward you. These plans have been settled and they do not change. God’s plans are therefore adequate for my life. He has nothing in those plans but good. He may afflict me, but He will never do me evil.
Principle = God’s plans are for my welfare. (Jeremiah 29:11)
The call to ministry is one of the highest calls which can never be downplayed or minimized. The minister did not select his vocation, he was selected by God. To be called to the ministry is indeed a special position of honor. Isaiah saw a vision of God’s holiness and his unholiness. He asked for forgiveness and followed God in obedience. Principle = Because God has called you, He will also empower you. (1 Thessalonians 5:24) Chapter 13 God takes great delight in using ordinary people in ministry. Andrew is a great example of someone who was ordinary, but used in an extraordinary way. A great Christian paradox is that weakness brings strength. Throughout history God used nobodies because of their unusual dependence upon Him. He only uses somebody when they renounce their dependence on their natural resources and abilities. We must be grateful for our ordinariness, our strengths, and our call to ministry.
Principle = God delights in using your ordinary abilities for His glory. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
We must encourage each other in ministry. When physically exhausted, it is easy to succumb to discouragement. Another key contributing factor to discouragement was the pressure and fear. A heart that ministers is more susceptible to depression and discouragement. We must cultivate friendships by being friendly and allow people to minister to us when we need ministry.
Principle = God wants us to encourage one another. (2 Corinthians 7:6)
Ministry involves rewards that we often forget in our “business” of service. Heaven is a real place of true joy and happiness. God rewards those who live for Him. Believers will participate in the splendor of heaven, not just be witnesses to it. While “God scatters ages, we hoard hours . . . we need eternity burned into our eyeballs.”
Principle = God will reward those who serve Him faithfully. (Romans 8:18)
The Pastor’s Wife The Pastor’s wife must first be a wife! She is a helper to him. She needs to pray for her husband. She must listen and ask questions to deepen their relationship. She must remember the provisions of God and be a student of the scriptures. Humor is essential to their relationship. She must encourage him and make home and family the main priority.
Principle = She needs to encourage his love for God, and a love for truth. She needs to help him be a man of principle and evaluate his success from a biblical perspective.
The Congregation The congregation misunderstand that the pastor’s calling is uniquely absorbing. This is not a vocation that he chose, but he willing pursued it. The pastor deals with life and death issues and rarely has enough time to fulfill all the demands of a given week. It is easy for a pastor to develop a messiah complex , a preoccupied mind, or overwork. The pastorate is difficult due to many factors: he is opposed by Satan, the demands are great, he is the CEO of a volunteer organization, counselor, preacher, and the “fish bowl” existence for him and his family.
Principle = The pastor is vulnerable because of his love for his people, his very public life, and his humanity. The church can encourage the pastor by: living biblically successful lives, personally committing to help him know true success, not expecting him to be involved in everything, providing for him and his family adequately, loving his family, and treating him with respect.
Conclusion PRAY FOR YOUR PASTOR!
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