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TOWARD AN EFFECTIVE MINISTRY
Chapter 2
EFFECTIVE
I
have glorified thee on the earth:
I
have finished the work which thou gavest
me to do.
John 17:4 KJV
If
the servant is truly as his Lord, then it follows that when he arrives at the
end of his journey on earth he should be able to say as the Master did, "I
have accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do." The apostle Paul
was not embarrassed to say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith." Paul had been given a job to do. He did
it, and now he was ready to go on.
If
we were to be told quite clearly by the Lord that we have only a few months left
in this world of flesh and blood, would we not be inclined to panic?
"Please, Lord, not yet! I haven't done anything. I haven't been
effective... give me some more time!"
Please
understand that I am not talking about salvation. Salvation is a gift and can be
received in a split second. Any person who desires salvation needs only to turn
away from the old ways of self and throw his life on the mercy of the Lamb,
trusting his death and resurrection, relying on his ever‑present Spirit...
and the new life of a child of God has begun.
But
now that you are God's child there is work to be done. The redemption of this
world, bought and paid for by the blood of the Iamb, only becomes reality
through us. We are the salt, the light, the aroma of Christ to God among men.
"You did not choose me, I chose you, and appointed you that you should go
and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain."
Is
there such a thing as being saved and useless? How long are we allowed to be
ineffective servants and still remain servants? What will the master do when he
calls us to account for what we did with the talent he gave us and all we can do
is dig it up? To be saved and ineffective is meaningless. Does not our Lord
himself say that every branch in him that bears no fruit is cut off and thrown
into the fire?
Paul
may have experienced a considerable amount of suffering, pain and anguish in his
ministry... but Paul was never plagued by doubts about his effectiveness. Paul
knew that he was accomplishing something. In the very midst of numberless
problems, disappointments and failures, Paul knew that he was bearing fruit.
For
all the weeping our Lord did over the hardness of Jerusalem's heart, he never
shed a tear over a
lack of effectiveness. Jesus, the
Son of Man, knew that he was effective. John the Baptist had his doubts, the
disciples were not always sure... but Jesus knew.
"My meat is to do the will of him
who
sent me and to accomplish his work...
Go
and tell John again the things which
you
see and hear. The blind receive their sight,
the
lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the
deaf
hear, the dead are raised up and the
poor
have good news preached to them."
There
is no reason why we can't be equally certain, day‑after‑day, that we
are doing the work we've been given to do and that we are effective... things
are getting done... fruit is being borne. There is no reason for us to forever
be up in the air and in doubt about these things. Do you think the laborers in
the vineyard were having nervous breakdowns about their calling, forever
wondering if they were in the right vineyard? Having an identity crisis with
every bunch of grapes they pick? Do you think that the servant who comes in from
the field, girds himself and makes supper for his master has time to indulge in
soul‑searching as to whether he should really have been working in the
field that day? And when we sit around and agonize as to whether we're in the
right place in the kingdom it's a sure sign that we are not effectively doing
the job we've already been given. We are destroying our own effectiveness by
doubting our call. Actually we are doubting the faithfulness of the One who
sent us forth and has promised to be our guide.
On
the evening of that day, the first day of the
week,
the
doors being shut where the disciples were,
for fear
of
the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them
and said
to
them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this he
showed
them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
were
glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them
again,
"Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me,
even
so I send you." And when he had said this, he
breathed
on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy
Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven;
if
you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
..."As
the Father has sent me, so I send you." Now if he, Jesus, sent me, how can
I be anything but effective? If he ordained me to go and bring forth fruit, how
can it be any other way? This ought to be our rock bottom confidence ...that in
the name of Jesus and in the power of his Spirit we shall turn men and women
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.
We
don't hire somebody to do this for us ...nor do we send another in our place. We
are to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the city set upon a
hill, beginning where we are. If we are faithful where we are and the time comes
when our Lord wants us in China or Pakistan or Egypt, he will make it clear. We
are to know that we are servants of the living God, ambassadors of the
Messiah... and we labor in the place where he puts us, knowing that our labor is
effective.
Then
why do so many of us feel so useless so much of the time? Because we take our
eyes off the One who called us and the work he called us to do and fix them on
other men. We compare ourselves with them, measure ourselves against them, and
soon we're caught up in their work instead of our own. This leads to three
diseases which undermine our effectiveness as servants of the Lord:
1.
The
Celebrity Syndrome.
In this set of symptoms the Kingdom of God is distorted into a Christian
Hollywood where the common folk fulfil their lives vicariously by following the
activities of the stars. You turn on your Christian radio station and find out
what Christian celebrities will be passing through town this week. Then you buy
your ticket for the latest Christian rock concert, or make reservations at the
Hilton where a well known brother will speak at the Christian Businessmen's
Supper Club. Or you run to a meeting where Sister Total will speak on Christian
Womanhood and will also autograph copies of her latest book.
These
may be dedicated, committed people. But they are being used by Satan at least to
this extent: they are allowing themselves to be portrayed as more important
...their ministry and work as of more value than that of the numerous unknown
people who faithfully serve. Our Lord relentlessly teaches that this is not to
happen among us. The greatest among us must be the least ...the leader as one
who is a lowly servant ...as a slave.
There
is no such thing as a Christian celebrity.
Those who allow themselves to be cast in that role are robbing glory from
the living God. There is only one big name among us ...the name of Jesus ...the
One who made himself the lowest of all. You will never take your work
seriously, (the work Jesus himself gave you to do), nor will you do it
effectively so long as your mind is dazzled by any name other than the name of
the lowliest man who ever walked this earth.
2.
Be on guard against the Success Syndrome. Voices are being
raised right now which say in effect that if you really get hold of the
gospel from the right end, everything you touch will turn to success.
We need to note the difference between bearing fruit and being a success. You were called and ordained to bear fruit for the Kingdom
of God .... and you will. But the
way of bearing fruit is not the way of success, but
the way of death.
"Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and
dies, it remains alone. But
if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; but
he
who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
You
are going to be falling into the ground and dying every day.
You are going to fail in the eyes of men again and again. And you will willingly lose your life as you walk a path that takes you
through devastating problems,
tosses and turns you on waves of disruptive circumstances. And in the process
you will bear much fruit that the Father may be glorified.
3.
Watch out for the "Christian Heavy" Syndrome. These are
the folks on the other end of the spectrum who spurn big names and would
rather spit than be a success. But what a production they make out of
their "total commitment to the Lord." It's as if they are the only
ones in the world who really love Jesus ....as if they are the sole preservers
of the New Testament Christianity ...they are the only true believers left. If
you get caught up in their world you will never bear any lasting fruit. You will
be far too busy being really heavy... really serious ...and weeping over
everyone else's apostasy.
Jesus
said to them again, "Peace be with you.
As the
Father
has sent me, even so I send you." And
when
he
had said this, he breathed on them and
said to them,
"Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the
sins of any,
they
are forgiven; if you retain the
sins of any, they are
retained."
If
you have met Jesus alive from the dead ...if he has given you his peace ...if he
has breathed on you and told you to receive the Holy Spirit, be sure of this: he
has sent you to do what the Father sent Him to do. Jesus has sent you to touch
lives with forgiveness in his name ...to warn the impenitent of judgment in his
name ...to lay down your life in his name ...You can do that every day wherever
you are. And you can know that as you do, you are effective ...you will bear
fruit.
When
the end comes may we be able to say to the Father though the Son,
"I
have glorified thee on earth, I have accomplished
the
work thou gavest me to do."
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