The Privilege and Responsibilities of Ministry

 The Privilege and Responsibilities of Ministry

Study Text: 1 Timothy 1: 11 - 12

Introduction:

                                                                                                        

-   Ministry is an awesome privilege and it is also a weighty responsibility.

-   Finishing well and staying faithful to the end is the most important thing, but that will only happen by the grace of a faithful God.

-    Painfully, many of God’s servants stumble and fall after years of ministry, discrediting the message and the Saviour they once served. 

-   The lives of those who have remained faithful have positive impact in other people  as much as their preaching.

-   Their lives are a tremendous encouragement and motivation for others to continue faithfully to the end.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3:14.

-   Ministry was a great privilege to Paul: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service”

-  We have an “active enemy”, the Devil, who is determined to cause us to stumble and make a mess of our lives and the ministry. 1 Peter 5:8

 

1.  The Pitfalls in Ministry.

-   Here are a number of the most common pitfalls by Christian leaders:

1. Diluting the Sound Doctrine 

-  This may be the most common pitfall of all. It is so easy to digress from the great Scriptural truths of the faith:

 -   Of what it means to be a child of God.

 -  Of the majesty and greatness of the God we serve. 

-   Of the privilege that is ours to serve Him.  

-   Of His love and grace. 

-   When we have turned from the truth to falsehood, ministry then becomes a business rather than a  calling.

-     It has been well said, “To keep a right focus, we must preach the gospel to ourselves every day!”

-   Have you lost the first love of your relationship with Jesus and His call upon your life? Do you have a passion for Christ and for ministry, or are you just going through the motions?

2. Unhealthy Relationship with Christ.

–    There is a  tendency for those of us in the Lord’s service to neglect our own spiritual well-being and as such, we fail to cultivate and prioritize our personal walk with the Lord. 

-  Remember the story of “Martha” in Luke 10 – she was so anxious in her serving the Lord, that she forgot the most important thing – sitting at Jesus feet and listening to His Word Luke 10:38-42. 

-  No amount of activity in the King’s service will make up for neglect of the King Himself. Activity for God cannot make up for lack of a relationship with Him.

-   At all costs, we must be “intentional” about eliminating the unnecessary noise and clutter in our lives, and finding a quiet heart, so that we can actively pursue intimacy with God.

-  Do you have a vital, growing, intimate love relationship with Christ? Are you cultivating God’s presence through daily times in the Word and prayer?

3. Hypocritical  Living and Preaching.

-    Sadly, many servants in ministry are the last ones to deal with their own spiritual needs.  What compounds the problem is that we are so easily deceived. 

-  James, tells us that it is foolish self-deception to listen to the Word and not do it James 1:22.

-  To live a life that is inconsistent with what we proclaim is to risk the spiritual sinkholes that inevitably result when what is under the surface is unable to support the message we claim to believe and the public image we portray.

-  The message must be part of ourselves, before God’s message can liberate other souls, the liberation must be real in you.

-   Is your private lifestyle consistent with what you proclaim to others? Can you say as the apostle Paul said, “Be imitators of me, follow my example” (1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17)?

4.  Dependence on Natural Gift.

-   There is a danger of relying on our natural gifts and abilities. And the more gifted we are, the greater the potential danger because we are fairly confident in our strong suits, we tend to rely upon them.

-    Conversely, we oftentimes rely on man-made tools, techniques, programs, and resources, even though, in and of themselves, they are powerless to spiritually impact people’s lives. Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5; Ps 127:1) 

– When we are not “abiding in Christ” (i.e., being intimately connected and fully dependent upon Him), our efforts will not accomplish anything spiritually.

-    When we come to the place where we are no longer utterly dependent on the grace and power of God to enable us to effectively minister to people’s lives, we will cease to have a spiritual impact upon people’s lives.

-   This happens when we get to the place where we live as if we can “do ministry” without God. It is helpful at this point to remind ourselves of Paul’s words to the Church at Corinth – “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. . . and in the power of the Spirit, that your faith might not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God”  1 Corinthians 2:3-5.

 -  What is there about your life and ministry that cannot be explained apart from the Spirit of God? How does your life evidence a dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit?

5. Neglecting the Path of Humility.

–   We all face the danger of pride: becoming self-absorbed, and  self-centered.

-  We can become proud of what we know, do  and achieve, and what people say about us and as such, we become blind to our own shortcomings and less willing to solicit the input of others. 

 -    Know that your strength lies wholly in God and not in yourself, remain humble  even when God is blessing and using you most. God’s favor is neither the work of your hands nor the price of your own worth.

-     Do you have a servant’s heart and a teachable spirit? Do you esteem others as more important than yourself, and are you amazed that God would use you?

6. Loss of Zeal for Progress.

– This is the danger of “walking by sight rather than by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7), or resting on our laurels, of becoming content with what we have seen God do in the past. As a result, we no longer seek and trust Him for God-sized things. 

-  We can come to the place where we no longer exercise faith, we are content to just keep the machine going. After years of fruitful ministry many leaders find themselves being tempted to just settle for what is,  rather than continuing to “step out in faith” and attempt something so impossible that unless God is in it, it is doomed to fail.

-  Are you seeking God for fresh vision and opportunities to glorify Him? What are you believing God for that only He can do? Are you praying “God’s will be done”?

7. Serving Without Love.

 – The two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, and to love others as ourselves. If these are the greatest commandments, then what would be the “greatest sins”? — to love God with less than all our being, and to fail to love others.

-   Scripture reveals a God who loves His people passionately and who grieves when His people reject Him and pursue other loves. How will the world know the love of this passionate God if they don’t see us loving Him and others? 

-    It is easy (natural) to become annoyed with difficult people we encounter in ministry, to see them as obstacles. When we become filled with the love of Christ, we will want to love those difficult people to maturity and see them restored. We will want to lay down our lives for others (1 John 3:16; Romans 15:1-3; Philippians 2:4-8). 

-  If our service doesn’t spring out of a love for God and a love for people, it is worthless. The apostle Paul says, “Though we have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, if we do not have love, we are nothing”  1 Corinthians 13:2.

-  Is your service motivated by genuine love for God? Do the things God values motivate you? Do you genuinely love others by looking out after their interests?  Philippians 2:4.

8.  Seeking Comfort and Convenience.

-   The longer we are in the race, the greater is the risk of growing weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:13).

-   This occurs when we fail to draw our energy from the God’s Spirit within us. We are also more vulnerable, after years of faithful service, of wanting to let up and enjoy the good life we’ve worked so hard to attain; we start to feel a sense of entitlement, that we deserve greater comfort and convenience in exchange for all we’ve sacrificed over the years. 

-       David decided to rest up at home for awhile (2 Samuel 11:1). The fact of the mtter is, the battle needed David as much as David needed the battle – it was during this“coasting time” that he committed adultery with Bathsheba. 

-  There is danger ahead when we lack vigilance and let our guard down (2 Timothy 2:3-4). 

-  Are you self-seeking or self-denying? Are you surrendering your “right” to comfort and convenience?

-  As believers, we are all on a “journey” to that city whose maker is God, and He has put into our hands an incredible treasure – the ministry of the gospel to those we have been called to serve.

-   If the hand of God was not on us during this journey, we would not make it.  The good news is, God Himself is accompanying us, going within us and alongside us, in front of and behind us, to deal with every enemy we confront along the way. 

-   Soon we’ll be at the heavenly temple and stand in the presence of our Great High Priest – the joy of that moment will make every burden here on earth seem as nothing and then to hear Him utter those long awaited words, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master”  Matthew 25:21, 23. 

-   May God keep His hand on us and keep us faithful – all the way to the finish line. 

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