SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY

 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  (Philippians 4:13)

When Paul penned these words, his ministry would not have seemed very successful by man’s standard.  He wasn’t preaching to throngs.  There was no denominational platform to laud his ability.  The trappings of accomplishment were absent.  He was in jail!  His congregation was some Roman guards and fellow prisoners—and some of those were the dregs of society—vile and violent men.

Yet, there was no whining!  In the midst of difficult ministry, there is unbridled joy that the Apostle expresses.  He was in submission to the sovereignty of God.  Paul knew his station in life in the present season was appointed by the Lord, so he didn’t chafe in his chains, but rattled them in celebration with hands uplifted victoriously!

He claims that he can do everything God has called him to do.  There were supernatural resources available.  The limitations of his surroundings and the harsh conditions of his circumstances could not hinder the Almighty from working in and through him.  The outward situation was irrelevant.  What mattered was being faithful and fervent in duty.

Maybe you feel your present place of ministry is much like a prison cell.  The place where you labor is small and confining.  The people you minister to seem uncaring and unresponsive to your message.  How could we possibly be successful in such a ministry?  A better question would be, “With God on our side, how can we possibly not be successful?”  Remember, it is His standard of measurement and not man’s that matters. 

Some more words written from that cell to a different church are these, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23).  Should we find ourselves turning on the lights, putting a roll of paper towels in the men’s restroom, teaching a Sunday School class, listening to Mrs. Jones complain about being cold (or hot) right before the worship service begins, and then pouring ourselves out in preaching to a people that sit there like stones—the only movement in the service being as people close their Bibles, grab their coats, and head out the door to the café as quickly as possible—you can be absolutely successful!

Have you given yourself wholeheartedly to the work of the Lord?  Have you rendered service to Him as a delight rather than a drudgery?  Are you working to please Him or to get a pat on the back from man?  He appreciates what we do in loving service for His cause, whether anyone else does.  God will reward us in eternity whether there is any recognition on earth.  A man of God must be liberated from the bondage of people-pleasing, by being chained to the Master’s will.

Be thankful that everywhere you go and whatever you do that you are a soldier of the Conquering King!  Paul put it this way,

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.  For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?  For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.  (2 Corinthians 2:14-17)

Being true to diffuse the Gospel wherever we labor is our duty.  The response is up to them.  Some will receive our ministry as the sweet smell of Heaven’s bouquets, while others will reject our message as the sulfurous stench of Hell’s blast-furnace.  One thing is certain—we will have an impact.  God’s Word always accomplishes its purpose, as he promised.  Some are helped by it and some are hardened by it, but none are unchanged from it.  That is God’s promise in Isaiah 55:11,

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Do we feel insufficient for such a responsibility?  We should, because we are—if dependent on our own feeble resources.  But Paul would go on to say, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”  (2 Cor.3:5-6)

We are not peddling the Word of God—not some hireling who hawks a product, cleverly packaged for a church consumer culture, for our profit.  There must be sincerity in our manner, integrity in our message and eternity for our motivation—and that is successful ministry!