God’s process for developing a minister starts with a call: When God calls you, He first makes you a servant. He places you in service to the very thing you desire to become or the ministry you aspire to.
Service is essential before ministry begins: Your ministry won’t start—and cannot start—until you serve. “Until He does that, you haven’t started and cannot start, and you will never start.”
Submission to authority is a key test: After serving, you must pass the test of authority by submitting to it. Respect for authority (and the anointing on others) is crucial.
God develops you Himself: When God takes responsibility for your development as a minister, it goes beyond natural abilities (e.g., being a great preacher or excellent in expository teaching). He builds character, humility, and spiritual maturity from the inside.
But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it (Numbers 14:24).
When God wanted to train and raise the children of Israel after bringing them out of Egypt, He used Moses. Why? The answer is simple: He needed somebody with a different mentality from what the children of Israel had. The children of Israel had the slave mentality, but Moses was different. He had been a prince in Pharaoh’s palace. You couldn’t take that away from him. Even though he had become a shepherd in the desert, he was a prince inside him; his mindset was that of a prince.
When he saw the strange sight of a bush burning, and yet the thicket wasn’t consumed, he didn’t run away terrified. Instead, he said, “…I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt” (Exodus 3:3). He was fearless. Two other Bible characters, after Moses, with a similar mindset, are Joshua and Caleb. They had the mentality of champions; they thought as victors.
When they were sent to spy out the land God had promised the children of Israel, they didn’t deny that there were giants in the land. Howbeit, they saw the giants as “bread.” Their mentality was different. Whereas the other ten spies gave a faithless response when asked to describe the land, Joshua’s and Caleb’s response was from a standpoint of faith, inspired by a mindset of victory. This is what the Word of God does in your life; it gives you a different mindset, the mentality of victory and excellence.
The Word of God causes you to think and act right, because it’s the wisdom of God; it’s a force that propels you to do the will of God. The Word of God produces in you the wisdom (Greek: “Phronesis”) of the righteous (Luke 1:17).
Some Christians, even though they’ve been made righteous, aren’t functioning with the wisdom of the righteous. They have a “carry-over” from the world. And that’s been their bane.
Don’t think sickness; don’t think poverty; renew your mind with the Word, and keep declaring what God says about you, irrespective of circumstances. That’s the wisdom of the righteous!
There’s a difference between your thinking process and your mindset. What’s a mindset? It’s a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you interpret and respond to situations.
Each one of us has a mindset, but the important thing is the origin of your mindset. The Word of God must frame and shape your mental attitude and disposition to life; otherwise, you’re sunk. Studying and meditating on the Word of God will give you a peculiar mindset; the mindset of the righteous.
Having the mindset of the righteous isn’t a gift; you have to develop it.
You can’t pray and say, “I receive a mindset”; no, it doesn’t work that way. You have to suffuse and inundate yourself with the Word, studying and meditating on it daily. Then, you’d find that your thinking processes have been altered; your mental attitude and mental appreciation of things have improved. Whereas you used to think defeat, poverty, sickness, etc., you’d discover you’ve given up those thoughts of negativity, and received divine thoughts of love, victory, faith, dominion, health, and strength.
Maybe you have heard it expressed in frustration, “My ministry would really grow if…” After which comes a variety of reasons (read this as a list of hindrances) that a ministry is stunted in growth.
Some reasons are better than others, but ultimately, they are usually not the real issue. Some of the ways that I have heard others finish this sentence are:
My ministry would really grow if…
We had more money.
We had more members.
We had a better location.
We had cool music and lighting.
We could get __(insert the name of a popular community leader here)__ to come to our church.
Would those things help? Maybe, but maybe not. So what is the real issue? Leadership.
Even if you had more money, more members, a better location, newer technology, or popular members, you still might not grow. Unfortunately, there is no “magic formula” for growing your church, but good leadership will help more than any other factor. What are the things that a leader must remember when trying to grow their ministry?
Things to remember when trying to grow a ministry: It’s not about a number.
It is easy for leaders to focus on numbers as the measure of success for their ministry. When this happens, leaders have lost sight of what really matters in ministry. The purpose of any ministry is basic–to reach the lost and equip believers. While we all desire for most people to participate, what we are doing is more important than just a number.
We are investing in the lives of people who will do great things because of the way that God is working in their hearts! We are committed to spending time among the lost so that they can understand the life-changing message of the Gospel.
Don’t focus on how many seats are empty; focus on the ones that are filled. Build relationships, equip, and empower the ones you have to fulfill the purpose. Be faithful with the ones God has given you. When you do, He may just bless you with more.
Invest in training leaders.
You are a leader, and you are probably good at what you do. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be in the position that you have. However, you may not be leveraging your position in the most productive way.
The Bible teaches us that God appointed leaders in the church “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). Are you equipping God’s people to serve, or are you doing all the work? If you are doing all the work, then you are doing church wrong.
Stop it.
Sit down for an hour or two and come up with a plan to start training leaders in your church. Include instruction and hands-on responsibility. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
You cannot do everything, and you definitely cannot do everything well. Find people who do what you cannot do better, then invest in training them and equipping them to be a leader in that area.
Some people don’t do this because they see it as a threat to their leadership. It’s not, get over it.
If you are training leaders to make the ministry better, it not only makes the ministry better but also makes you look more competent as you grow the ministry reach of your church.
Do everything with excellence.
Anything we do for God deserves our very best (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17, 23). Don’t slack off just because your ministry is small. Do everything with excellence when you are small, and you will be ready for growth.
Always doing the work of ministry with excellence builds a culture of excellence. It also builds an expectation and a track record so that people will feel more comfortable inviting their friends.
Some don’t invite their friends because they are not sure if this is going to be a good or bad week.
If you are constantly working toward excellence in all you do, they don’t have that worry and are more likely to invite a friend to come with them. If you let your resolve for excellence slip, you will surely see a decline in your ministry.
Ultimately, there is not ONE BIG THING that you can do to grow your ministry. It comes down to doing a lot of small things well.
-GSW-