Put People at the Heart of Ministry

 

By James R Henderson

People were at the heart of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Wherever he went, whatever he did in His ministry, He touched the lives of others and let their lives touch Him.

Jesus did not do ministry for the sake of ministry, as if it were some assigned task, but ministry to others flowed from Him because that was who He was – a ministering servant, someone who lived a life of caring involvement. The condition of people affected Him emotionally - Matthew 9:36 records that Jesus was “moved with compassion” for the harassed, weary multitudes, and, with that thought in mind, He went on to say, “the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (v. 37-38).

Why do we do ministry or participate in mission? Is it because we feel we should? We are God’s labourers and fellow workers, and therefore are divinely obliged to do so? Or we feel commanded to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19)? So what we do is a result of some kind of scriptural pressure of injunction? Perhaps these ideas have a place, maybe as a starting point. But our motivation must, through Christ, be transformed, albeit gradually, from being duty-driven to being compassion-driven.

Our ministries can be more cantered on activity than on people, and we can think, erroneously, that congregational activity is ministry. Planning meetings, co-ordination discussions, getting church business in some semblance of order – all these may be useful, but if that is all your congregation centres around and there is no orientation or clear movement towards people and fulfilling their joy, it is not ministry.

Perhaps at times, there needs to a brief focus on paperwork, manuals, etc., that can be reference guides for various processes and procedures. But let’s remember to equip the saints for the work of ministry to people, not for the work of in-house bureaucracy.

There is routine and exceptional physical work that is part of any ministry, and some of us are especially gifted in those areas. Sometimes a ministry may bring us into little contact with people (for example, I know of one group of Christians that regularly cleans the wards of a poorly funded hospital when no one is in the ward), but, even then, the motivation can be compassion.

How do we put people at the heart our ministries? There is no formulaic answer for such a spiritual issue, although there are books that seek to address methodology in programmatic ways. Such books may have interesting ideas, but let’s remember that the core of ministry is spiritual, and be careful not to apply physical answers to spiritual problems.

There are, however, some spiritual principles to remember as we seek to transform our motivation for ministry from a results-focused, duty-driven task towards a relationship-focused, compassion-driven desire.

For example, follow the pattern of the ministry of Christ – He put people first. How they felt mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually mattered to Him. He entered into their joy and shared in their suffering. Pray that God the Father would grant you the mind of Christ, which was motivated by compassion.

Remember that God sees people as His greatest asset, which is why He seeks to save us and to use us for his great work. How do we view people? Is winning them for Christ just a means to the end of our pleasing God? Or do we view them as God views them – precious people whom we want to serve with compassion and for the joy of having them share salvation with us?

Remember ministry and mission are about relationships, not about tasks. Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you into Christ-centred relationships with those to whom you seek to minister.

Put people at the heart of your ministry.