Four things to keep in mind while ministering
By Rob Wiltshire
On Sunday I made a mistake. I played the wrong video.
We have been going through a sermon series from Erwin McManus via video link, and Sunday was to be the last week of the series.
While we were going through worship I had this strange feeling something wasn’t right with the video. So I went up the back to the production team a couple of times to make sure all was well. Which they informed me it was.
But then the video started…
Right from the start I knew something wasn’t right, it didn’t look right, sound right, and was terrifyingly familiar.
I sat there watching it for the first couple of minutes trying to work out what was going on before I turned to the person sitting next to me and asked; “Have we already played this video during this series?” to which they replied, “no.”
So I sat there watching the video for a little longer until I realised we were playing a video from a sermon series by Erwin that was different to the series we had been watching for the last four weeks.
That was bad enough, but it got worse.
The video was so familiar it wasn’t funny. But I kept shrugging that off as; it’s only familiar because I have proof watched it. But no, I was wrong.
About quarter of the way through the video my heart stopped beating as I realised we had played this very video already at church in the past.
Panic kicked in as I started have hot flushes and a sick feeling in my stomach.
Perhaps the worst part of this feeling was we were only about quarter of the way through the video when I became aware of this. Which meant I had another half hour of torture, watching a video from the wrong series, that we had already played at church on another occasion.
When the video ended I got up and offered people an opportunity to respond to the message, which just further heightened my anxiety. Throughout this series there has been a large amount of people respond to message when given the opportunity, but with this message, no one, not a single person responded.
I struggled to close the service in prayer as my mind was bouncing around with thoughts of how I’d destroyed everything. However, when I started to connect with people after the service, the same story kept repeating with people saying; “that message really spoke to me.”
Despite my feelings, my thoughts. Despite my playing the wrong video, Jesus turned up, Jesus ministered to people, Jesus challenged people to step out and into His leading.
As leaders, we spend so much time piecing together what God has whispered to us to present to people. We work diligently to piece it together to be as impactful as it can in order to help people encounter Jesus.
But at the end, life change doesn’t come about by good programs, great series, great thoughts, great anything. Life change comes about by people experiencing and choosing to follow Gods presence.
Four things to keep in mind while ministering
1. We are not the creators of Gods presence
We have this thought at times as leaders that unless it goes the way I believe it should go people won’t encounter God, and God won’t show up.
Now I understand none of us believe that, but we sure do act like that at times.
Unless the lightings right, people won’t connect with God. If the music stops and starts and there is not a seamless flow to it, people will disconnect from Gods presence. Unless the right lyrics, words, etc. are used people won’t connect with God.
I whole-heartedly believe in using everything we can at our disposal to minister to people. I believe in lighting, good music, good communicating, etc. But we need to keep in mind, that all of that is just a tool, and is not the precursor to Gods presence.
2. God uses whatever he has at his disposal to reach people.
There is a story in Acts 17 where Paul is reasoning with the people of Athens, and pleading with them to turn to God.
Acts 17:22 — NKJV
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
Did you notice what Paul is saying? This UNKNOWN GOD whom you worship is THE God.
Most of us would be too preoccupied trying to tell the people they were wrong. But Paul takes their language and custom, and reveals to them God.
God has far more tools in his tool belt than we ever choose to ask him about.
3. Excellence is for God, but excellence is not God
I have a slight struggle with being a perfectionist. I am constantly striving to do better, and I’m rarely satisfied with how it’s being done.
I struggle when something is done half-heartedly, specifically when it comes to ministry. We are doing this for God, and in doing it we are presenting to people God.
Anyone that struggles with what I am talking about I assume would walk the same path as me, of blurring the lines between the god of excellence and the God who is excellent.
Excellence doesn’t cause God to show up, hunger does.
If we truly want God to turn up in our ministries, services, homes, etc. then it’s not excellence that should be our driving force, its hunger.
Excellence is not bad, but excellence is not god… it’s for God. And God can show up with or without it.
4. God can do it better than you
This one follows on from the last.
If you are a perfectionist, chances are you end up doing a lot of things yourself because you can do it better than others. Or at least that’s what you believe.
You want it done a particular way, and you aren’t happy unless it’s done that way.
The problem with having a team is… every person has a slightly different way of doing things.
So we need to breathe, and trust God in them.
If God can use a donkey to talk to Balaam, I’m sure he can use the person on your team that does it differently to you.
Bill Johnson has been quoted as saying; “God can win with a pair of two’s.” If you are not into card games, a pair of two’s is about as bad a hand as you can get.
That person may do it differently to you, but God through them can still do it better than you.