You’ve heard the saying, the end justify the means. You sit in a planning meeting and hear all we need is to get those numbers up. We need to lift that profit margin. Get more people involved in our ministry. Raise the tithing bar. You are a bit nervous about how to go about this. But someone asks, what does it matter how we get things done if we get them done? If the end goal is to fulfil the great commission does it matter how we get there? If the aim is to send out workers does it matter how we recruit people? If we want to resource mission work do the means we use matter if missionaries have something in their pockets?
Sometimes the questions are a bit more subtle than that? If the end goal is to disciple people do my own personal interests matter? Say I earn a living and grow my status while building the kingdom. Can I use my competitiveness to get more people involved in Gospel ministry? Use my jealousy to fuel more initiatives for the Gospel? These are difficult questions to deal with. Questions that confront our motives at a deeper level. Questions we might need to ask more frequently.
But however we answer those questions James in his letter tells us motives actually matter. We cannot do God’s work with evil motives. To our surprise, he says we could be doing the devil’s work in the name of fulfilling the great commission. More than that he says motives will shape the end goal more than we imagine. Listen to this;
14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
Just think about the implication of these verses. James is saying if our motives are wrong then our work is fueled by earthly, unspiritual and demonic interests. The power is from Satan, not God. In addition, he says we won’t get the results we hoped for. The end goal will be disorder and evil practice. This means if I train people because of my desire to make a name for myself that will affect how I train them. God might still work despite my actions but my means and attitude will still shape the end result. If we send missionaries to build our profile as a church then we might do a good job on the one hand but the results won’t be as pure as we might imagine. If we train people to outdo another entity or redirect resources our way then our results will be tainted. For those involved in one on one discipleship, the effects are even worse. We will raise disciple-makers who are jealous, competitive and selfish. We will use the word of God and talk about Jesus but under the surface, we will have created a monstrously demonic “Gospel” army.
We need to evaluate not only where we want to go but also what gets us there. James says Gospel faith is not something we leave in our minds, it ought to flow into our hearts and shape our actions. Our faith in Jesus needs to inform what we do with our lives. But that’s not the end, we need to lay down our selfish intentions to be shaped by Gospel motivations. If we truly seek to do God’s work then we have to use God’s means and attitude. Our motivations cannot be earthly and expect the fruit to be spiritual. What we sow in our motivation is what we reap among those we disciple. If we want to build God’s kingdom, reach more with the Gospel and disciple our young people we need to use God’s means. We need God’s grace and godly attitude to fulfil God’s mission. In conclusion James says:
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
This might slow our speed and call us to do more soul-searching but it will guarantee faithfulness in our discipleship. In the end, we will not only do more but we will build better godly foundations. We won’t just have Gospel workers who can teach others but those who are considerate in their conduct. Men and women full of mercy and bearing good fruit in their lives. Sincere pastors. Peace-loving husbands. Submissive wives. Impartial teachers. Motives matter because we need God’s means to do God’s work. And the way to do this is to ensure we are sitting to be discipled even as we disciple others. We need to submit ourselves to rebuke and correction from the word and the church fellowship. We must constantly evaluate what is in our hearts and lay it down at the cross. We need to kill sin in us before we infect others with our idols.
Our society has become very good at knowing exactly what course, program and service to use to instill change. You struggle with something and they tell you attend that meeting, do that training, join that group. You struggle with anger, well there’s this group that can help. You are not good with money, well I know exactly the program you need. You are having problems with your relationships? What about attend this service. You can’t read or pray? Try this course. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when that’s exactly what it’ll take.
But while there are times this is true, I think most of the times change happens slowly and gradually.
But I think all this has made us believe that change will take a miracle and something out there to make it happen. That it’ll involve a special attention and a whole other group of people. Sometimes it almost sounds impossible to change unless a revolution happens. But while there are times this is true, I think most of the times change happens slowly and gradually. You might need a course or program to become aware of what you need to work on. A conversation with a friend might go a long way. And a program might expose an area where you need to pay close attention. But it’ll take deliberate daily initiative to make it happen. In the end a program or social group won’t change you. It’ll probably not involve a miracle or a revival but start with little daily habits.
Discipleship is Slow and Messy
I’m always amazed by the life of Jesus’ disciples in the Gospel accounts. Though these guys walk with God literally speaking, for three years still they struggle with the same things we do today. There’s unbelief, love of money, desire to be great, fear, impatience, lack of self control, struggle with prayer and the list continues. It takes them three years to get who Jesus is and start getting why he came. Even then only after persecution do they go out of their comfort zone to proclaim his kingdom. It takes them the addition of Paul to get how big the scope of Jesus kingdom is. And I believe the journey of sanctification needed to continue happening. Change didn’t just happen or take a miracle although they saw and did many. It was slow and sometimes even tiring to Jesus.
Other times it’ll look like we are going three steps ahead and four backwards. Sometimes we won’t realize how much we have changed until we look back.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit came in for this very purpose. That he would remind these forgetful and fearful bunch of disciples about Jesus and what he had accomplished for them. The ministry of the Spirit would then be a lifetime work in the hearts and lives of believers. If that’s what it took for the first disciples then you know you need more than a miracle, more than a revival. Actually with God’s spirit you need to start with the little daily habits before sanctification is complete. Change will be slow, sometimes even hard to put a finger on it. Other times it’ll look like we are going three steps ahead and four backwards. Sometimes we won’t realize how much we have changed until we look back. It’ll be easy to assume something out there will fix our situation. But to our suprise it’ll take the word of God applied deliberately to our daily lives especially those daily habits. It’ll start small before it gets big but in the end we’ll be surprised what has become of us.
Our obsession with revivals and conferences make us believe change will be instant.
Think Small to See Big Changes
I think we set ourselves up as believers when we imagine we’ll wake up one day being the person we admire. Our obsession with revivals and conferences make us believe change will be instant. That I will attend a meeting and be a totally different person tomorrow. That’s how we sell out events, come and your life will never be the same again. And again I want to be careful here, sometimes that’s the trigger we need. Sometimes we need to get away from all the distractions and our comfort zone. But in the end it won’t be an event that changes us, it will be what follows. It’ll be the direction our lives takes that sees us grow or soon shrink back.
Think about how you became a Christian. For those with an impressive story of having been an absolutely terrible person before we met Jesus it’s amazing to see what he was able to accomplish in us and through us. The day our lives took a turn from rebellion to obedience is one we can recall vividly. We know the day, the preacher and perhaps the clothes we were wearing. But the truth is, it was the first of the many that has brought us transformation. The Spirit opened our eyes then but the process of change and transformation took time and sometimes we faced real temptations to return to that former way of life. It was the first day of the many days needed for sanctification.
What seems small and almost inconsequential has brought about unimaginable change in us.
Actually if we looked carefully we’d see God has been fixing us one problem at a time. It’s been the small sins that the world thinks less about that he’s been killing with his word by his Spirit. One by one and sometimes returning back to those that had only fainted he’s made us different. With a service here, a fellowship there and a conversation with a brother he’s made us aware of what is ailing us. Then by the power of his word he has convicted us of our sin and when we yield to the Spirit he’s worked on that area. What seems small and almost inconsequential has brought about unimaginable change in us. You want to see real change in your life? Take small steps and you’ll see big changes in time.
Start with the Little Daily Habits
Our lives can be summarised by our daily choices. There will be days that are very significant. Days when our walk with the Lord feels so close and so intimate. When we are reading the word and praying for hours. Days we can’t believe people still struggle with sin. Days when our fellowship is on fire. Days when we are truly obeying Jesus and his great commission. But there are others that we wish we slept through and woke up the following day or weekend. Days when we feel everything is going wrong in and around us. Days when we find ourselves falling on the same sins we repented of. Days when we regret words we’ve used. Days when fellowship goes out of hand. When friends betray and our hearts are broken. Days when we miss the words to pray.
If we want to see real change in our lives it’ll have to start with our small daily habits.
The good thing is all these things happen for a season. The good and the bad don’t last. The difference is the daily habits we keep. If we insist on fellowship not matter what happens then we’ll be amazed what it can do. Sometimes I have gone for a fellowship meeting when every fibre in me wanted to just stay at home. To my suprise it was exactly what I needed. Sometimes you lack the words to pray at the beginning but as you start you find yourself getting them and enjoying that time. After COVID there’s always a temptation to say today I’m feeling tired or unwell maybe I should stay indooru and watch something online. But the day you pull yourself out of that sofa you find you not only needed to go out but you had one of the best conversations after church. Someone said something that uplifted your spirit.
If we want to see real change in our lives it’ll have to start with our small daily habits. Perhaps we don’t need to start with reading 5 chapters and praying for 3 hours in the morning. We might find reading and meditating on small portions of the word every day brings such a change in us. A commitment to start every day with 5 minutes of prayer might do us more good than an overnight kesha once in a while. A commitment to work on an area of need every day is what we need. You struggle with anger, what about not responding immediately when someone says something that offends you today. If you start with taking the time to think things over then you might find there was no cause to be angry. You struggle with Bible reading, what about starting with those small portions with a title in most Bibles. Sometimes it’s like 2 or 3 verses. You struggle with talking to people after church. Coming Sunday just talk to one of them who looks more like you. Chances are they want someone to talk to them. Start with the little spiritual habits and you’ll be amazed where you land in the long run.
And don’t let anyone tell you God only works through instant miracles. Most of the times he works through our little daily mundane choices.
Even Writing this Took Time
Let me let you in on a secret. It’s taken me a whole week to write this article. I got the idea last weekend and wrote the title down. Later I thought of a way to start that I kept changing. I paused a day to think if it would make sense or cause more trouble. Then I went ahead with the first two paragraphs, then the body and later the last part. Finally I needed some editing time before sleeping on it once more. Now there are times I write in one sitting then leave it to simmer to post later. Other times I do everything but then I delete the whole thing. What am I saying? Things don’t happen in an instant. It’s only Hollywood that communicates that though we know how long it takes them behind the scenes. If we took time to work on ourselves and what we believe one step at a time we would be amazed what God accomplishes in us and through us. And don’t let anyone tell you God only works through instant miracles. Most of the times he works through our little daily mundane choices. He works through that unimpressive fellowship and through our daily spiritual habits.
Many Christians spend a good part of their early years wrestling with the question of their unique gifting. This is especially the case where the church has overemphasized the place of gifts more than the place of character and service. I remember sharing with a friend that I was thinking about Christian ministry back in college and the first thing they asked was what’s my gifting. According to them, Gospel ministry was for those who knew their specific ministry gifts.
But I think this question isn’t just important to those considering full-time Christian ministry but one that explains service in our local churches. You see if people wait to discover their specific gifts so they can serve then you are going to have a lot of people on the waiting list. Someone will argue I cannot teach so I can’t join children or youth ministry. Another will say I’m not good with people so I can’t do welcoming and hospitality. Or I’m not as good as the song leader so the music team isn’t for me.
This inward-looking question will in the end keep you away from service and you’ll not actually discover what you can do for the body of Christ. But here I want to suggest you avail yourself first and let your specific gift if you only have one be discovered later. Because the gift is from the Spirit and for his church then begin by rolling your sleeves to do anything that your hands find to do for the church family. I’ll give 3 reasons as we reflect on this.
Jesus is calling Disciples not Gifted Professionals When Jesus called his first disciples he didn’t sit them through an interview process to know how good they would serve him. He called anyone who would come to him. Coming to follow him, being with him, and obeying his calling was more important than what they could do for him later, see Mark 3:14. It wasn’t until later that he would send them out in the great commission yet they did serve him by being there with him. They were with him from the beginning, they walked with him and served alongside him without titles. You can say they were his errand boys but who wouldn’t want to be Christ’s errand boy.
What I’m saying here is that the body of Christ needs people who are willing and ready to roll their sleeves and do the work. It needs those available to serve in any and every way not just those with specific gifting and experience. The church needs people to be available in what is called the ministry of presence and to fill in the gaps as they notice them. And it’s only when you are available and ready to serve that the church can then discover your specific gifts not when you sit and wait.
When I did my first apprenticeship I didn’t know what was my specific gift but that meant I was available for anything. I was given an admin job which I wouldn’t have availed myself for before but it was the best ministry I have ever done. That’s where I actually learned how to write as I prepared weekly briefs. Then I tried youth ministry which was at first scary and then it became something I cherish today. I went on to welcoming which I always thought wasn’t for me only to realize how strategic it is. In the end, I wasn’t concerned about my specific ministry gift but was looking for where there was a need. I realized if you are willing to serve then you can have all the gifts to choose from.
Service is the end of Gifting We can all agree that if the most gifted pastor doesn’t use their gift to serve the body of Christ then it’s a useless gift. They may talk about how good they are with the microphone but that benefits no one. Jesus didn’t call his disciples to display their abilities but to roll their sleeves and work for his church. It’s not our unique abilities that matter but our preparedness to serve and to do it wholeheartedly. It’s actually as we give ourselves fully to whichever area of ministry that is available that we discover what we can do best for King Jesus.
I find people who label themselves with a particular gift early on close the door for service too early. They are content with being evangelists when they haven’t tried hospitality. They pride themselves on their preaching skills without ever discovering the beauty of children’s ministry. They walk around with empty titles when their local church needs them to be available and do whatever is needed. It’s good to clarify that I’m not against discovering our unique gifts early on but I think service is bigger than us and our specific gifts. Because the gift belongs to the church then our availability to serve God’s people is what matters not what we do specifically. In time we may realize a unique need and our ability and decide to concentrate on one or two areas of service but we should always be ready for whatever the master calls us to do.
The Kingdom is bigger than my Gifting It’s not a surprise that there are countless ministries built around a specific person and their unique gifting. It’s actually very human to rally people behind what we believe and are good at. And it’s not always wrong or premeditated that it happens like that. But we need to be careful if our churches and ministries draw and produce people who are just like us. We may be the most charismatic preacher or the most organized administrator and the most welcoming guy but we must be ready to have and grow many who are unlike us and yet fit for the kingdom of God. Let them come and discover the endless opportunities there are to serve the Lord.
God’s church needs all kinds of servants for all kinds of ministry for the benefit of the whole body. I think it’s a tragedy if everyone in a team thinks and serves like everyone else. Worse if we only think there are only 5 ways or so one can serve the church family. In time this would bring competition and complacency if there are only a few areas that all can do. But the way God has constituted his church is that we find all kinds of people with all kinds of abilities and opportunities to serve in the kingdom of God. The better way to view the church isn’t checking everyone’s gift in order of priority but seeing everyone as a unique gift to the local church. I think if we all set aside titles and abilities we would realize just how much we are needed in the kingdom. We would see beyond us and the vast harvest all around us. We wouldn’t shy from service on account of specific gifting instead we would discover just how gifted we are as a church.
Conclusion In this article, I have argued that being available is better than being gifted. Yes, I would rather you try to service and fail if anyone ever can fail at service instead of waiting to be good to serve. More than that I think we need to realize that Christian gifts are not qualifications for a CV but opportunities to serve. They are actually not your gift but they belong to the church. In the end, service is what matters not how well we score in a certain area of ministry.
Many people live and die without knowing their unique gifts yet toil so hard for Jesus. And when we come to him the words welcome good and faithful servants is what will matter, see Matthew 25:23. I believe that in heaven we’ll find people who were totally unknown and unappreciated in their diligent service yet are regarded highly by the one who knew their good works without a title. Friends, it’s better to be an errand boy for King Jesus than wait to be recognized by your gifting here on earth.
What really struck me from the last few days of the ministry training course last week was the emphasis that came out on the future, eternity, our great Hope.
I’d never noticed what Fidel brought home so powerfully from 2 Tim. 4:1-2 that the number one reason to preach the word is the return of Christ. We are preaching in the last days a gospel of eternal life in view of the coming Day (cf. 2 Tim. 1:1, 10, 18; 2:10; 3:1; 4:8).
We found that the reason to put to death our ungodly desires (Col. 3:5) is because Christ, who is our life, is about to appear and we will be glorified with him (Col. 3:4).
Sammy reminded us from Job that the end comes at the end, and in the same session one of the apprentices very movingly shared how she had been through times when she desired to depart and be with Christ more than cling to this life. This in turn resonated very strongly with the account we read from John Paton’s autobiography:
At last the child literally longed to be away, not for rest, or freedom from pain — for of that he had very little — but, as he himself always put it, “to see Jesus.”
How badly do we need this powerful injection of eternity into our Christian lives and churches?
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