The progress of people!

Philippians 1:24‭-‬25
Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith,

I will remain in the flesh for your progress – These were the words of Apostle Paul. These must be the words of every genuine minister of the gospel.

How do you measure the success of a minister? Not by His progress in life, His finances or His status in society. I don’t mean that ministers of God must be poor. I believe all God’s people (including ministers) must prosper in every area of their lives and be a blessing. You measure a minister’s success by the progress of the people that the Lord has assigned to him.

You can look at the children and measure the success of the parents. You can look at a wife and measure the success of the husband. You can look at any company and its employees and measure the success of the CEO. You can look at a church and measure the success of a pastor.

Minister of God, your success is measured by the furtherance and advancement of your people. It’s never measured by your own progress.

When people struggle at every point in their lives, this is a picture of a poor leader. A minister must always remember why Jesus, the Head of the Church has called, anointed and sent him.

Ephesians 4:12‭-‬14
for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

These verses perfectly explains the very purpose of ministers. You are sent to edify and equip the body of Christ. As a minister of God, the Lord has deposited in you an Anointing, an Empowerment, an Endowment through which people will be edified and equipped. The Body of Christ needs these ministers for their own equipping and edifying. Minister of God, the body of Christ needs YOU!

I Corinthians 3:12‭-‬15
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Your work will be tested by fire. If your work endures, you will receive a reward. The work no matter how big, if it doesn’t last, what’s the use?

The Lord is interested in quality.

Some ministers run after numbers. The assumption is, the more numbers I have, the more successful I am. Nothing wrong with having great numbers. It’s a wonderful thing when the Lord adds more number of people to your ministry. But as a minister, your focus is to build people up spiritually and prepare them to a point where,

1. Each member has a close fellowship with Jesus and is rooted and grounded in God’s word.
2. Each member knows who they are in Christ.
3. Each member understands what they have in Christ and how to appropriate it.
4. Each member knows how to exercise their authority in Jesus Christ.
5. Each member stands firm in the midst of trials and persecutions.
6. Each member realizes their place in the body of Christ, the call of God on their lives and becomes completely focused in fulfilling his/her God ordained purpose.
7. Each members knows how to let love govern their lives and develops a strong character.

If this is not seen in our members, we can’t say we are successful in ministry. The Apostle Paul said, I am here for your progress – your spiritual advancement. Your work of ministry – the people you minster to – is your crown. As ministers of God, we have this huge responsibility on our shoulders.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, the Anointing in us and the gifts in us, we can and we must take the body of Christ from where it is to where it should be – the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

We must be passionate about the progress of our people. This is why we are sent. For this purpose, we keep teaching, reminding, rebuking, correcting, encouraging and strengthening our people.

Colossians 1:28
Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

As ministers, we pray fervently for the people the Lord has assigned to us so we can present every person perfect in Christ Jesus. We live in a way that is honourable and worthy of Christ so our people can follow our example.

Minister of God, remember you are anointed. You are called and sent by Jesus, the Head of the church. Maintain a close fellowship with Jesus and you will fulfill your work and your work will endure the fire and stand the tests of time.

God bless you!