MINISTRY MEANS LOVE

God first laid this blogpost on my heart in Feb 2021. And since then, there have been many times when I thought about writing it. But last night, God clearly gave me the title and then the content came pouring out in under 20 minutes.

I share this to glorify Him who gives me everything I have, including these learnings over close to 20 years of intentional discipleship.

 

Ministry is anything you do for Jesus with love. In the early years of following Christ, I thought that ministry meant what people did to lead me to Christ: lead a Bible study, worship God with music, listen and counsel people. As the years passed, I also wanted to do that, and I wanted to go really big for Christ. I wanted to do something grand, visible and reach many thousands of souls for Him. But through the last 20 years, God has redirected me consistently: “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers/sisters, that you do unto me”. And “whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” Every time I wanted to do something bold and big for Jesus, He asked me to do something small and invisible for Him. It took me years to understand that true ministry is whatever is done for Jesus out of love. So, it doesn’t have to be a thing with a brand, website, structure and systems. It can be anything Jesus is asking you to do for Him: including caring for a spouse having a hard time, being patient with the elderly when they ask the same question for the 1000^th time, sacrificing sleep for infants, showing restraint with difficult people.

“We can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

 

Indispensable? You are definitely not. God can easily find someone better than you to do what He's asked you to do, so we should never take anything He asks us to do for granted and we should serve him with an attitude of gratitude for being called into His service.

 

No man can live as an island. Ministry is a not a one man show. It's loving and serving God in community. God may have called you to do something alone or you may feel very alone in what God has called you to do. But God will be glorified more if you do that very lonesome service in community with Christ’s body: both giving and receiving love.

 

Institutions set up for ministry can become hindrances to ministry. Don't be afraid to leave the institution for the ministry. Too many great saints disobeyed direct orders from their parents who they were subject to or heads of the institutions they had committed to, in order to obey God in what He asked them to do. The opposite is also true, that many great saints have stayed put in very difficult institutions because God had asked them to. The decision about staying or leaving is a decision you have to make with God because only He can tell you what He needs you to do in His service. The point I'm making is don’t get so invested in sustaining and protecting any institution that you disregard God's will and His instructions to you. Institutions that were set up in Jesus's name are His to protect, not yours. Let the Boss be the Boss and let us be His servants. Remember, that the head of the world's largest institution i.e the Catholic Church is Jesus, not the Pope. If He can handle His Church, He can handle whatever will happen to any institution you belong to. 

 

Sex always comes up. We are sexual beings and we cannot pretend that we are not. Keep clear, Godly boundaries with everyone. No private meetings or phone calls with members of the opposite sex. If privacy is needed, couples should minister together or males minister to males and females to females. Modern confessionals have glass doors through which you can see the face of the priest but not the face of the person making their confession.

 

Temptations come more vociferously when responsibility increases. So, the more people you serve in Jesus’ name, the deeper your foundation of personal prayer life has to be. If you have a busy day, start it with an hour of personal prayer. If you have a really busy day, make it two hours. Soak yourself in Christ before you go anywhere to do anything in Him.

 

Regular breaks are critical. Find a weekly day off especially if you work extra hard on Sundays. God instituted the day of rest right from Adam’s time because it's part of his perfect plan for our humanity. Don't think you are smarter than God and can work 7 days a week without it hurting you. Working around the clock, even for God, especially for God, can open many doors to temptation and sin. Schedule annual holidays or sabbaticals every 7 years if possible. Don’t deny your humanity. God needs you to be human to glorify Himself through you.

 

You cannot pour from an empty cup. So, take whatever God is giving you today: His presence, His peace, His grace, His wisdom to endure trials and suffering, the lessons He teaches you along the way. And then give to others only from the overflow. Otherwise, you are doing them a disservice by giving from your own limited stock of everything good instead of giving from an overflow of God's abundant stock of everything good.  

 

 

Money matters. Easiest ministries to run are the ones that don't need money. But everything does. Transparency and accountability are critical. Even if you are dealing in double digit numbers. It's God's money, not yours. So treat it with responsibility. Don’t use the money given to you for God’s work for your team’s picnics or cushy travel. 

 

Everything takes time. It's God's timing that counts, not yours.

Go at God's pace: slower if He says slower. Faster if He says faster.

He’s the Boss. It’s His kingdom business. So, He has every right to tell you what to do and when to do it. If you think it’s taking too long, there’s a reason for it. And God knows best when to open doors and when to shut them.

 

Ask and you shall receive. As a homemaker, I often do not have disposable income to spend on others. Once during the pandemic, in my prayer time, I felt the Lord leading me to gift 12 mangoes to some specific people. I searched for some money I had saved to buy them. But before I could buy them, a neighbour arrived at my door with 12 mangoes (for free). If you think God is asking you to serve Him or others in a particular way, do not hesitate to ask Him for anything you need to do that: grace, energy, time, resources, contacts, money, favour, etc. He has all this sticked in abundance and He has already budgeted for everything you can possibly need for life and godliness.

 

Never say NO to God. I forget who wrote this dangerous prayer: Lord, give me the grace to say YES to whatever you ask me to do next without knowing what it is you will ask me. If you say No to something God is asking you to do, you will be the one who misses out on the most.

Stay anonymous at best, low key if you have to go public. Too many ministries have stopped being fruitful because it has become all about positioning and protecting the face of the ministry. All glory should go to God alone, not you. If God wants to make a spectacle out of you for His glory, He is fully able to do it at your funeral also. He doesn’t need you to do it for him.

 

 

Lavish yourself on Jesus. Give him yourself like the woman pouring oil on his feet. Hold nothing back. Especially when no one is watching you, do your very best at every task you do for Jesus.

 

Obey orders from God at all costs. Even you make a fool of yourself or alienate your allies. We have lost many good friends and relatives due to our obedience to God. In the moment, it was very painful. But in retrospect, it was completely worth it.

 

Very easy to love strangers, be kind and go the extra mile for them. Because they don’t know who you really are, you can keep up the mask with them for short durations. Try being patient everyday with that person you live with who drives you crazy. That matters to God. Mother Teresa again: “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” If every child in the world grew up in a Godly, loving family, there would be no need for any ministries or NGOs. Forgot who said this: don’t let your house sit in darkness while you use your light to shine up the street. Keep your priorities in the right order: God, vocation, dependents, work/ministry.

 

Every little thing matters to God. The most fruitful thing you did today in the service of God may be that smile you offered a lonely person, not the deal you cracked, the money you saved, the blogpost you published. We have no idea what the eternal implications of our obedience are for other people’s souls. So, listen to the Holy Spirit and do the small things well.

 

 

Bottom line: If you are wondering what ministry to participate in or lead for Jesus, remember this: ministry means love. You do not need any approvals from Church higher ups, any permissions from local governance, any cooperation from your family members to LOVE IN JESUS’ NAME AND STRENGTH.