I’ve made many foolish blunders, committed far too many sins, and been shockingly slow to grasp the obvious during my ministry. The main reason, of course, has been the me in my ministry! It would have been a great help to be told some essential truths about ministry I should have known. Here are five of them.
As you will quickly see, they are all fairly obvious ways in which the gospel I believe and teach should have been shaping my ministry. I’m setting them out here just in case I’m not the only slow learner involved in gospel ministry. Here’s some reasons why I need to remind myself of the gospel every day:
It’s Not About Me
The fact that my ministry often puts me up the front makes it too easy for the regulars to put me on a pedestal and for me to feel comfortable being there. The gospel is the best antidote to this folly because the gospel is the word of Christ (Col 3:16) about the work of Christ (1 Cor 15:3–5) and the worth of Christ (2 Cor 4:4). Telling people the gospel means directing them to him (Col 1:28) and away from me (2 Cor 4:5). And I need that as much as they do.
It’s Hard to Stay Motivated
On yet another dreary wet Monday, how do I pick myself up off the canvas ready to have another go? My little pep-talks work only for a very short time; I need something that will keep me going over the long haul. One of the deepest motives that will keep working no matter what is gratitude generated by the gospel of grace. One of the truest and best motivations is love for him in response to his love for me—the amazing love the gospel placards (Gal 2:20; 3:1). If he was willing to do that for me (2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13), how could I even think of giving up?
It’s Easy to Be Driven by Wrong Motives
The gospel of God’s grace should put a stop to me chasing after brownie points: “no merit of my own I claim, but wholly trust in Jesus’ name.” Yet it’s quite possible for me, while insisting that nobody can be justified by works of the law, to keep trying to be justified by my works of ministry! My ministry mustn’t be about proving (to myself? to other people?) that I matter. I don’t need and couldn’t have any greater significance than being one of God’s chosen and deeply loved children (Col 3:12; 1 Pet 2:9–10).
I’m Always in Danger From My Sins
Even though I live in the realm of God’s grace I must not let my guard down. Part of my sin is believing that my sin isn’t really all that bad. The gospel points me to the greatest of all wonders and horrors: I am forever free from condemnation only because, in the person of his incarnate Son, God turned his righteous anger at my sins upon himself (Rom 4:25; 8:1–4, 32). I need the reality check of the gospel every day, exposing the loathsome character of my sins, even those I count as ‘not very bad sins’, by reminding me of the price my God the Son paid for them.
It’s Hard to Keep Plugging Away
A lifetime of ministry work is a marathon and not a hundred-metre sprint. Where do I get the perseverance I need? By paying attention to the gospel, that directs our hearts “into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance” (2 Thess 3:5). The Lord Jesus “endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. We should “consider him”, so we do “not grow weary and lose heart” (Heb 12:2–3). Grit grows best in the soil of grace. Yes, there’s a cost to ministry and sometimes it can be almost too hard to bear. But even that is as nothing in comparison with the cost of my salvation. Unless I train myself to look at my struggles through the lens of the gospel, I will end up wallowing in self-pity too easily and too often. Given what the Lord Jesus endured for me, I should see it as a privilege to wear some battle-scars for him (2 Tim 2:3).
The only safe place to be in my ministry is where the gospel takes me: at the foot of the cross and the entrance to the empty tomb.
