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Let’s recover Christ’s pattern for ministry
He will come again as the King of glory! In between the first coming of Christ and His soon return in His second coming, we are to “occupy till He comes”. That is, we are to diligently serve Christ and His kingdom till He comes. In serving Christ, we are to be productive. We are to bear fruit; lasting fruit.
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But for the Christian churches to do effective and fruitful church ministry, it must be done “the Jesus way”. The churches and christian fellowships must recover Christ’s pattern of doing Gospel ministry.
The Apostle Paul gives the following sound and strong counsel to the overseers and believers in Philippi; and to the church leaders and church members in general: “pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example” (Philippians 3:17 NLT). Indeed, the Apostle Paul instructs: “you should imitate me just as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). It is clear that the
Apostle Paul calls on the overseers, and us, the church leaders, and Christian leaders to do church ministry according to the pattern of Christ in ministry. The work of the church is not ours. It is Christ’s work. And Christ’s work, must be done in Christ’s way, and in Christ’s power.
We will bring up a few essential things in Christ’s pattern for ministry. First, Christ’s pattern was to focus on prayer from the beginning of His public life- at His baptism, in His 40 days personal prayer and fasting retreat in the wilderness; just before He selected His 12 disciples, at His transfiguration on the mountain, in His regular withdrawal for personal and private prayer, and in His classic example of prayer and ministry in the garden of Gethsemane.
He prayed on the cross. He prayed over His disciples after the resurrection. It is amazing Christ carries on a prayer ministry for us in Heaven: “Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honour at God’s right hand pleading for us”. (Romans 8:34 NLT).
Prayer was a critical focus in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. And He taught His disciples to practise fervent, persistent prayer. Prayer must be our major focus too!
But what was the content and purpose of the prayer of the Lord Jesus? We have an example in His Gethsemane prayer! The church must recover a prayer pattern which agrees with Bible content, is Christ-centered and is God glorifying! It must be a pattern of prayer that changes us, to make our will agree with the will of God.
Second, Christ’s pattern of ministry is to focus on the spiritual formation of His followers. He invites people to come and join Him on a journey of spiritual transformation; and to build them up to have the capacity to join Him in doing God’s mission.
These followers, Jesus, will help to know Him better and experience new life in Him (see John 12:11; Mark 4:41; John 6:40). Jesus focuses on transforming these followers into people of Christ-like character; and to equip them to be able to effectively and fruitfully serve Christ and His kingdom.
These are followers who would seek first the kingdom of God and live morally pure and righteous lives. (see Matthew 6:33). They are the salt and light of their communities and nation (Matthew 5:13-1b). The Church in Ghana must recover the supreme focus of seeking first the kingdom of God, helping people to experience new life in Christ and teaching them to live godly lifestyles of integrity into every department of life.
Thirdly, a very important focus in Christ’s pattern of ministry is that He used the structure of Small Group Life. Pastor Rick Warren says the first thing Jesus did in public ministry was to form a Small Group of 12 people. In Jesus’s great focus in ministry, we find Him on a spiritual journey with a Small Group of people to transform them and equip them for God’s kingdom service.
In fact, in the Early Church, the church ministry of the Apostles flourished in raising “little Christs” or true Christ-like believers, and to tremendously impact society, using the Small Group Life structure (Acts 2:41-47). It is reported that worldwide, the churches that went on and carried out Biblically healthy church life ministry during COVID-19 pandemic, were the churches that had in place strong Small Group Life structure.
The Church in Ghana is yet to find church congregations operating extremely well, the Small Group structure in church ministry. Spiritual growth happens best in the context of Small Group Life; where people support one another on a journey together to “grow in every way and more like Christ”. (Ephesians 4:14 NLT).
It has been said that the practise of the Biblical pattern of Church Small Group Life is God’s prescription for church renewal, healthy church growth and impact, and relevance to society. The Church in Ghana must recover the practice of Biblical Small Group Life, as an essential structure for church renewal and growth.
In conclusion, the supreme ministry focus of Christ and the Apostles in the Early Church is to see changed lives; transformation, metamorphosis, and Christ-likeness. And only after that, followed by the transformed people, living differently, godly lifestyles of genuine love for people and selflessly serving people. The transformed believers are equipped to effectively serve Christ and His kingdom.
Are we following Christ’s pattern in Church ministry work? Are there results of changed lives as a regular feature; literally daily seeing people seeking to unite with Christ in new life? Is Christ-like character and God’s kingdom values what the church impacts the communities and the nation with? Is there an ongoing sound and Biblical moral and spiritual revolution happening through your church? Or have we strayed from Christ’s pattern for church ministry?
We the church leaders, Christian leaders, and church members need to recover Christ’s pattern for church ministry; and joyfully reap the harvest of church renewal and Biblical church growth in our nation and the nations.
(The author is a consultant in authentic Christian Spirituality and Discipleship and former CEO of Scripture Union)
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