#4 – Your Ministry Methods
People are GOING to question how you do things…no matter how you do them. (BTW…they questioned the ministry methods of Jesus! I would say if people aren’t asking questions and getting offended then you are not being like Christ!)
(A little more on the above thought—Jesus was ALWAYS healing on the Sabbath, which was considered to be a “sin” in that society. Think about that…there were people who actually accused Jesus of sin because His ministry methods didn’t match up with their personal preferences. Hmmmm.)
- If you preach line by line, verse by verse then some people are going to prefer that you be more of a topical teacher.
- If you preach topical messages some people will scream that you need to exegete the text!
- If you use “secular” music then some people will scream you are “loving the world.”
- If you use all “Christian” music then some people will scream that you are not relating to people outside of the church.
- If you dress up then some people will say that you make them feel uncomfortable because they don’t really have any “church clothes.”
- If you wear jeans and a T-shirt then some will say that “you aren’t giving God your best!”
What I am saying is this…there is NO WAY that a ministry leader can please every single person coming in the doors! I once told a pastor, “You could stand at the back of your church this Sunday and give away $100 bills and SOMEONE would hate you for it!”
What you’ve GOT to do is figure out God’s unique calling on your life…and then DO IT with no apologies. If you and I are not being true to the call God has placed on our lives then we are basically slapping His grace in the face and saying to Him by our actions, “People’s opinions are more important than Yours!”
(I once heard Craig Groeschel say, “Becoming obsessed with what people think about me is the quickest way to forget what God thinks about me.”)
Peter had a calling to reach the Jews…Paul had a call to reach the Gentiles…so their ministry styles looked different while their goals were the same.
In the Christian world we allow our difference to divide us rather than develop us—sad.
How can the Lord called you to preach? What has He told you about the music style in your church? How has He told you to staff the church?
These questions MUST be answered because, if you don’t answer them…someone will. AND then you will find yourself being a church that, in and effort to please everyone, reaches no one!
Your ministry style WILL be questioned…but the ULTIMATE One who we answer to is Jesus. It is His church…His ministry…and HE will ask the final set of questions one day!
Be who HE called you to be! Do ministry how HE called you to do it. You just can’t go wrong this way!