Finding Direction in Ministry

I admit to being taken aback by the tone of some of the ministry books coming out. To me, the mark of a good ministry book is the amount of focus given to rightly divided biblical truth. Am I seeing God... His beauty... His worthiness ... His infinite love and power ... what He asks of us ... the attitude and methods He requires for me to serve Him in the manner He desires? Am I being encouraged to maintain a humble attitude, a God-dependence, a self-denying manner of giving of my "self" to God and others? 

Unfortunately, many young ministry authors are choosing instead to play the "blame game"... who's fault is it? You may be familiar with this type of approach. Everything pretty much boils down to sheer failure on the part of the previous generation of parents and/or church members. The idea of a young, relatively inexperienced author setting himself up as the repository of knowledge and then proceeding to inform his audience about (1) how faithful believers of the previous generation did it all wrong, and (2) how he, the author, has the answer all of them missed, is incredibly audacious, no matter how skilled, insightful or creative he might be. Let me point out a few biblical truths we should never forget.

Truth #1: The parents and Christians of the previous generation, and the one before them, and the one before them, and so on, succeeded or failed as they remained true to God's revealed truth in Scripture. If you really want to be a godly parent or a godly servant of the Lord, then you need to really know God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Know His Word, obey it and teach it. Deny "self." Let the beauty of Christ increasingly shine forth in your attitudes, your words, your priorities and your actions.

Truth #2: Every generation has blind spots ... yours will, too. As each individual believer submits himself to the truth of God's Word, he will be renewed in his mind, which will result in a lifelong process of "putting off" wrong thinking and "putting on" God-honoring thinking.

Truth #3: The power to reach people for God, whether they are your children or those whom you minister to, resides with God. He is the One at work, He is the One calling, He is the One justifying, He is the One sanctifying ...  that He may receive all the glory. Don't be fooled into thinking it's your ideas, your skills, your abilities, your insight. You'll never survive a lifetime of faithful service if you mess this one up.

Truth #4: Developing an outlook, a worldview, a chronic attitude of finding fault will kill your own spiritual growth. Jesus wants you to keep your eyes on Him, not on the real or imagined shortcomings of others. He wants you to edify people using His Word. He wants to use you to build them up, to help them grow spiritually, to promote the unity of the body, to love the unlovely. Did you know the Greek word variously translated "exhort/ beseech/ encourage/ comfort" appears some 111 times in the New Testament? Do you want to know HOW to love, HOW to comfort, HOW to teach, HOW to impact the lives of others? Come alongside and shed the truths of God's Word into their lives! Scripture commands it again ... and again ... and again. Pray for them without ceasing. Keep your eyes upon Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. Abide in the vine. Abide in the Word. That's how God says He wants you to minister. It may not sell books, but it will honor the God whom you serve.