So you want to be in ministry? Many people today want to do ministry to simply play church, get the perks or catch the limelight. People like that will find that to enter ministry with those desires will mean ultimate disappointment.
Ministry is not about simply playing church by putting together a gathering, singing songs and putting together a sermon. People in ministry find that there are not a whole lot of perks in it, at least not any that can be taken without rocking the boat. And sooner or later, the limelight can be more destructive than enjoyable if taken with the wrong attitude. So you want to be in ministry?
I don’t think there will ever be a spiritual leader or pastor like Jesus Christ. While the formal church was formed only after Christ ascended back into heaven, it’s without a shadow of a doubt that ministry here on earth began and only continues to flourish because of what Jesus has done and what He continues to do through churches today.
Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18, “…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” One way He does that is by giving us leaders today the basic and foundational ministry work that all ministries must have. Here are three ministry practices that Jesus never left out and that we should never leave out as well.
Preaching and teaching
Much of Jesus’ time was spent teaching and preaching to crowds in the Synagogues, in open mountains and even on shorelines. Almost everywhere Jesus went, He preached a message of repentance and redemption, and all of His teachings remain to be the foundation upon which our faith and basis of living is built up on.
In the same way, ministries today must never give up preaching Christ and the Word of God. When a ministry fails to preach Christ, we fail to preach true transformation and true redemption.
Discipleship
Jesus spent a lot of time ministering to the crowds, but He also spent just as much or probably even more time discipling individuals. He focused on teaching the twelve who followed Him and even others who approached Him for personal coaching and teaching such as Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman and Zacchaeus.
While the word discipleship never appears in the Bible, it is evident that God values the building up of disciples through relational and focused mentoring and leadership development. Matthew 28:19 instructs us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Set the captives free
What set Jesus apart from all the other religious activities that happened during the day was the barrage of signs and wonders that followed His work that brought freedom from sickness, sin and bondage. Healing, deliverance and miracles were almost a staple to Jesus and it was almost expected to see miracles when people followed Him.
God gives us the same power through the Holy Spirit and even promises in John 14:12, ““Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”