Sometimes Gospel ministry can feel like a performance. On a Sunday morning the preacher is staring before a congregation of individuals from all walks of life and with all kinds of troubles and joys. A number had an amazing week and couldn’t wait for Sunday. Others can’t wait to leave. Some already think highly of him. Some not so much. Some are excited and expecting to hear from the Lord. Others are there out of practice or even begrudgingly. A few want some wisdom, others need encouragement, some a stern rebuke and others just want the experience. Which of these should the preacher focus on? The excited or the troubled? Those who like him or the critics? Those needing encouragement or rebuke.
But shift focus and think about the young minister starting out in Gospel ministry. He has those he looks up to and wants their approval. There’s his colleagues who want things done in a particular way. There’s someone else who wants to have them on their corner. Parents who want their children molded in a particular way. A council of elders with certain expectations. Who is he going to focus on? Who should he please? And what happens when he soon realizes he can’t please everyone? Worse, the ministry society almost expects him to figure all this out on his own. Other times he’s expected to follow a “spiritual father” almost blindly.
If you are like me it feels bad when you can’t please the people who matter. Worse when they don’t even recognise the efforts you put in behind closed doors. Though approval isn’t everything we all crave it humanly speaking. But maybe that’s because we easily forget who called us and whose approval we should be seeking in the first place. In Gospel ministry unlike other professions our boss isn’t ultimately the one who signs the cheque but the Lord who called us. In our ministry showbiz, God is the one audience we should seek to please. He’s the boss. And as Jesus says, he who sees in secret will reward us accordingly, see Matthew 6:6. If you could have the perfect boss he’d never give you the help and approval that God supplies through his word and prayer.
We should therefore as often as possible remind ourselves of our calling and look up to the boss. Only then will we stop breaking our hearts when earthly bosses don’t appreciate our efforts as we expect. More than that, we will be motivated to work for him both in public and in private. We’ll be content to serve our heavenly master even when the limelights are elsewhere. We’ll do more than the 8-5 job and do it with joy because our boss is always watching. But also remember while earthly bosses can easily hustle us and take all the credit this boss knows how to deal with us because he’s also our Father and Saviour. He’s the one Isaiah says, a bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, see Isaiah 42:2.
So dear Gospel minister, make sure you are looking to please your main audience. Be careful not to look around and ruin your life chasing the approval of man. Yes, as custodians of God’s grace you ought to do the job given and fulfill your ministry under the supervision of your earthly master. In all your efforts you have to be respectful and serve them as one serving the Lord, see Colossians 3:23-24. But don’t forget it’s actually God you are serving, not man. His approval, and his alone, is what counts. Looking for this kind of approval from an earthly master, even a good one, is problematic. I know it’s far better when the people I work with look up to God and not me. Sadly, I can forget that for myself. May the Lord help us!
A life in time to Preach 