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Successful Ministry - 3
Successful When No One Knows
You can be successful today when few people know anything about your ministry.
You are successful when you:
- Live daily with integrity.
- Pursue Christ with all your heart.
- Preach your best sermon to a very small crowd.
- Visit the sick in the hospital.
- Cry with the parents who just lost a child.
- Forgive the church member who wronged you.
- Give privately to someone in need.
If your ministry ever becomes “well known” and people call you an overnight success, you can thank God privately that they couldn’t be further from the truth. Deep down, you’ll know you’ve been seeking God for years and serving Him faithfully when few people were watching.
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I love this. I’ve served a church of 3000 members, led a chapel of 120 people in Iraq, and now I serve a church of about 400 in worship. This post is SOOO true. I am most faithful/successful when I seek to please Christ in ministry. I fail when I try to create something big, catchy or earthy. The Jesus stuff usually ends up exploding in success while my stuff fails. Go figure…
Craig: I think one of the hardest things to do but one of the most satisfying is to maintain doing all the above things “in the dark/relative obscurity.” When the heart yearns for more than anonymity God may very well call us to labor in small venues (maybe even our whole ministry life). And as hard as it may be…if that is where God called that is where fulfillment is found. Great post. Love the suggestions.
Great post!
I think success is doing all these when you’re “small” and CONTINUE to do them when you’re “big”. The problem usually is that pastors of “big” churches can forget to do the very things that brought God’s blessings
If we seek a large congregation we will never be satisfied…but if we seek to grow congregates we will find true satisfaction!!
Thank you Craig for these profound truths…this message must be heard by the small church leader. You are encouraging and uplifting many in rural, small and medium size churches.
Great Post Craig!!
Thanks Craig for the encouragement. Integrity is all about what we do when no one else is around. In the private corners of our heart, what is the true meaning of success? Is it always searching for the next “great” thing? I am sure that I am not the only person who deals with the definition of success in a small town, small church environment. Stay true to God’s direction for your particular ministry. Again, thanks for the good words and hope that others will be blessed by them!
Thanks for encouraging us and reminding us that what we do matters even if no one really knows our name. Sometimes it can get discouraging to be compared to really large churches and you can feel like a failure. All I really want is to know that what I do matters for the Kingdom. Some days that knowledge seems far away.
Craig,
It is refreshing to hear from a “prominent” pastor who still advocates hospital visitation. So many seem to have assigned this ministry to their associates. I am reminded that “Brothers, We Are Not Professionals.”
Keep up the ministry in small places!
As a pastor of a small church plant I feel like I’m under the microscope at times both by my own expectations and others. Great advice. Thanks!
I just want to be the best leader I can be so that God can use me as he sees fit. Church of 100, 200, or 2000.
Reminds me of the ole Illustration of what Spurgeon said to one of his students …”your congregation is just the size you want to give an account for when the Lord comes again …”
Craig, your sharing on Swerve has become a part of my daily read and keeps on richly blessing me. Me and a few of my friends in ministry have been grappling with these very things. Just, a big thank you! God give you great personal and spiritual strength as you lead.
Noah Kaye
http://www.noahkaye.com
Thanks for your reminder. For me I know that the many years that I have been doing the things that you listed has prepared me for what I am facing today. I consider it a honor and a blessing to serve others in a private way. To God be the glory.
You know who came to mind while I read your post Craig? Ananias. We get a very small glimpse of this man in Acts, but we get a huge picture of his enormous faith and his obedience to the Lord. He’s not one of the 12, and he didn’t write a single book in scripture so he might easily be overlooked. But it was this one man with a very small part in the story who did one thing that changed everything.
Craig,
Well said! Thanks for your encouragement!
Good stuff and so true. I remember when my father first told me I was successful. It was when he noticed that I was honestly pursuing God with all my heart and loving people unconditionally. This made a huge impact on my life.
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That was a great reminder! Thanks! We are sometimes found guilty in this. Many try to do ministry because they wanted to be known. Let’s just do things for the Lord who knows everything and everyone!