Though I had professed my faith in Jesus years before, I really began doing ministry during my time in college. The Lord had really worked on my heart, and I realized that Jesus gave a command that started with "Go" and focused on "making disciples." That realization shaped what our college ministry was all about. Our heart was to see the people in Tuscaloosa come to knowledge of Jesus Christ. We wanted non-believers to hear about Jesus and trust in Him. We wanted believers to hear about Jesus and trust Him more. Then, everyone would love Jesus so much that each of us would "go" out and "make disciples". As we began learning how to follow Jesus, we could multiply and teach others how to follow Jesus. When I moved to Dallas it was the same thing. I would try to grow as a disciple, and compel those around me to do the same. The more we grow to be like Christ, the more God is glorified through our lives. The more we help others grow in Christ, the more God is glorified in their lives.
Over my years in and after seminary, I have been a part of many discussions about ministry strategy. I found one of the biggest desires and cries for churches is that they would experience growth. So all of a sudden, everything the church does revolves around how to get the church to grow numerically. And in the back of my mind lingers the question, "Isn't it God who gives the growth?" I get it. Larger numbers means more worshipers which means more glory to God. And don't get me wrong, I want to see more and more worshipers gather in our church. But growth is an evidence of faithful ministry, it is not the goal. If we focus to hard on growth, we begin to focus more on how many we can get in the door rather than how many hearts have truly been transformed. And then we begin caring more about our church, rather than caring more about Christ's church. My focus can easily shift to simply wanting more people so that our church will look more godly, rather than simply just wanting people to be brought from death to life through the Good News of the Gospel. The goal is to bring glory to God, and we do so by testifying about who He is and how to get to Him through Jesus.
See, we all want growth. But the problem is we are not responsible for growth. We have absolutely no power to save anyone's soul. So all we can possibly due is run to the one who can, and plead that He would save our brothers and sisters and make Him known to them. A farmer ultimately has no control over what comes out of the ground. His job is just to scatter the seed as faithfully as possible, and to water and nourish the seed. After he does that, he just hopes. He hopes the rain will come and God will bless His labor. If we are being made more and more into the image of Jesus, then we are becoming more and more submissive to God's will. So the more I grow as a disciple, the more I am realizing my utter need and dependence upon God. I can't save people and I can't make people grow. But I can beg God to do so. And I can do everything I possibly can to make sure people have a knowledge of who Jesus is. And then I can hope and pray that the Holy Spirit moves. And as we see with farmers, if you work hard and our faithful there is usually fruit of your labor because God is gracious.
I pray that everyone involved in our student ministry would have their hearts unified in seeing students have their lives transformed through trusting in Jesus Christ. It's ultimately not about the size of the youth group or if the students are going to our church. The more important thing is do they know Jesus. And if our heart and desire is simply to grow in Christ and see others grow as well, then God will be glorified through our ministry.
Over my years in and after seminary, I have been a part of many discussions about ministry strategy. I found one of the biggest desires and cries for churches is that they would experience growth. So all of a sudden, everything the church does revolves around how to get the church to grow numerically. And in the back of my mind lingers the question, "Isn't it God who gives the growth?" I get it. Larger numbers means more worshipers which means more glory to God. And don't get me wrong, I want to see more and more worshipers gather in our church. But growth is an evidence of faithful ministry, it is not the goal. If we focus to hard on growth, we begin to focus more on how many we can get in the door rather than how many hearts have truly been transformed. And then we begin caring more about our church, rather than caring more about Christ's church. My focus can easily shift to simply wanting more people so that our church will look more godly, rather than simply just wanting people to be brought from death to life through the Good News of the Gospel. The goal is to bring glory to God, and we do so by testifying about who He is and how to get to Him through Jesus.
See, we all want growth. But the problem is we are not responsible for growth. We have absolutely no power to save anyone's soul. So all we can possibly due is run to the one who can, and plead that He would save our brothers and sisters and make Him known to them. A farmer ultimately has no control over what comes out of the ground. His job is just to scatter the seed as faithfully as possible, and to water and nourish the seed. After he does that, he just hopes. He hopes the rain will come and God will bless His labor. If we are being made more and more into the image of Jesus, then we are becoming more and more submissive to God's will. So the more I grow as a disciple, the more I am realizing my utter need and dependence upon God. I can't save people and I can't make people grow. But I can beg God to do so. And I can do everything I possibly can to make sure people have a knowledge of who Jesus is. And then I can hope and pray that the Holy Spirit moves. And as we see with farmers, if you work hard and our faithful there is usually fruit of your labor because God is gracious.
I pray that everyone involved in our student ministry would have their hearts unified in seeing students have their lives transformed through trusting in Jesus Christ. It's ultimately not about the size of the youth group or if the students are going to our church. The more important thing is do they know Jesus. And if our heart and desire is simply to grow in Christ and see others grow as well, then God will be glorified through our ministry.