Serving Our Community And Potential Neglect of the Gospel

Church Ministries that serve our communities are important and necessary, living out the love of Christ by being His hands and feet in our communities.  However, there is a danger that serving in these ministries, for many Christians can become an excuse to neglect the hard work of evangelism.  Why? Their reason is serving can often seem easier and much more humanly rewarding than having a hard Gospel conversation with people in our communities.  When a community ministry is up and running for many years, whilst there is no spiritual fruit, there becomes a problem.  Church renewal expert Paul Borden warns,

"Ministries to the community are important, but if they are not done properly and strategically, they don't cause congregations to grow and often eventually hasten their demise."1

Let's not forget that the main ministry in the life of a Christian is leading people to Christ and discipling them in Christ, this means seeking out Gospel conversations, regardless of how I feel.  Gospel ministry seeks to serve the people of our communities who diverse needs, however, their most import need is spiritual reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. Any Christian who does not obey the command of Jesus to make disciples are living in disobedience. My concern is that there will be many who will come before Christ after this life who will be turned away because Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commands," Jn 14:15.

As your church serves your community make sure the Gospel is central to all that is said and done. If a community program has been functioning for years with no Gospel fruit, though it may be a good ministry, either the program needs to be shut down or a new focus needs to be thought through in order to become more effective, Gospel-centered.   When individuals are changed by the power of the Gospel, our communities change!  Our communities begin to reconcile, forgive, love, serve and come together, looking more like Jesus everyday!

Gospel ministry must have a balance of love in action along with speaking the truth, in words, sharing the truth of one's problem of sin and the need for reconciling people to God, through belief in Christ's work on the cross to bring reconciliation on our behalf.  Otherwise, we end up meeting temporal needs at the demise of eternal needs.

1. Paul Borden, Make or Break Your Church in 365 Days, 2012, p. 126.

The Power of Prayer: Mark 9:14-29

Read Mark 9:14-29

I was reading through Mark 9 today and came across this unique story where the disciples of Jesus were trying to cast out a demon from a demon-possessed boy.  However, they could not succeed.  The boy's father said to Jesus, “I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”  It makes me wonder if the disciples had success in the past in this ministry or did they assume when they saw Jesus cast out demons in his ministry with a command that this was enough for them to give it a go as well?  Whatever their past experience, they tried to cast out this demon and were completely unsuccessful, much to this poor father’s dismay and despair. 

It made me ponder the fact that there are often times of struggle in our lives as Christians when we attempt ministry for God, to do what we perceive as God’s good work.  Often, it is with a deep heart of compassion, seeing a need we try to make a difference the lives of others, whether it is people in our community, our brothers and sisters in the church, or even in our own lives, yet we find that we are banging our heads against the wall, there is no real progress or worse yet, none at all.  Yet there is still sickness, pain, challenges, hurt that need healing, hope or reconciliation.   In our world, our communities, our churches, our homes, our lives we find brokenness.  Brokenness in our bodies, mental health, emotions, relationships, communities in so many ways.  Sometimes are feel hopeless as I try to have an impact for Christ, and like the disciples, there seems to be no change, no healing, no power.  Do you feel hopeless and helpless as a Christian seeking to serve God in your life and community?   Jesus rebuked his disciples for their lack of belief, saying, “You unbelieving generation… how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?”

Honestly, my belief in God’s power is sometimes shallow.  Do you find that there are times in your own life when your belief in God’s power shallow?

I feel the sting of Jesus rebuke, because the fact is, there are many times I try to do things myself, or there are some situations that humanly speaking seem impossible to see change, or sometimes it is a simple is assuming that God will work in a situation but I forget to lay the situation before his throne in believing prayer and petition.  Do you feel the sting of Jesus rebuke?

However, there is so much hope in this Mark 9 passage, even in Jesus rebuke.  Why? There answer is found in Jesus response.  Jesus says, “This kind [demon] can come out only by prayer.”  The answer to seeing this boy healed and released from the power of this demon, and Jesus' challenge to the disciples work for the Lord is found in believing prayer.  Jesus is reminding the disciples that the power to do God’s work comes from God himself.  He is the power by which change is brought, where lives are changed and healed.  We often see Jesus throughout his ministry, though he had all authority to heal as God Incarnate, spending much time in prayer, living for us an example that we must replicate in our own ministries and our service for Christ which means we must have as our  foundation believing prayer (Mt.14:23; Mk 1:35; 6:46; Lk 5:16; 9:18).  The principle that is being taught here is that sustained and focused prayer before God which is essential to bringing any kind of hope, change, healing, restoration, reconciliation and more.

The fact is there are some pressures, challenges, hurts, relationship problems, healing in the body, mind, and soul, some ministry victories that will only take place and truly changed through committed believing prayer before our holy, awesome, all-powerful God!  As James, the brother of Jesus said, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective,” Js 5:16.  Obviously, James must have experienced this truth first-hand and passed in along to the church for our encouragement and edification.  Why would he say this if it wasn’t true?  Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us move ahead, pursuing righteousness and holiness whilst engaged in prayer as part of our daily routine as much as possible.  May God use us in this generation to bring him glory, starting with holding firmly to the throne of our Lord and God through Christ!  As we do, let us come before him with boldness as we are taught, “Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” Hb 4:16.  I am pumped!