Successful Ministry

Success can be measured in many ways and from many different standards.  There are times that ministry success may be measured in the size of a building, the number of people who attend that particular ministry, or even the size of a budget for a particular ministry.  But is it possible that true success should be measured through our recognition and dependence on Christ to be the leader and director of our ministry?  After all it was Christ who gave His life that we might have a message to declare.  If we would be honest with ourselves we would realize that we don't have a message outside of the message of Christ.  Christ is the MESSAGE and He gives us the awesome privilege to share that message with sinful humanity.  We must be careful and not allow carnal or fleshly attitudes to attach itself to our ministry efforts (and I am not just referring to preaching, singing, teaching, etc.) so that we fall into the trap of taking credit for those things that have been accomplished.  Pride in who we are or pride in what we have accomplished can lead to the downfall of not only the ministry effort but it can contribute to the demise of our personal relationship with Christ.  I believe the Apostle Paul showed us the appropriate way to be successful in ministry.  On many occasions He made sure that he kept pointing people to Christ and away from himself.  Although history reveals that Paul was "successful" in his Apostleship I believe that he was always careful in making sure that the credit and recognition was given to Christ.  I desire for my life to reflect the greatness of God that is at work and not just recognize the human contributions to the process of ministry.  There are times that we recognize the human side of ministry and fail to recognize the Divine side of ministry.  We will all fail without the Divine side of ministry being evident in our attempts to reach people with the message of the Gospel.

Warren Wiersbe shares his definition of ministry: "Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God."  I think the key words of that statement are contained in the portion that reads: "...divine resources meet human needs..."  We must remember that we can not meet the needs of our fellow human beings but Christ can.  Can you sense and feel the involvement of Christ in your life?  If not, then you need to turn from yourself and turn to Christ and allow Him to have complete and full sway over your life.