The danger of putting too much weight on what we do

Our society is always searching for significance.  We are constantly encourage to make our mark, told from a young age to dream big.  But that has a number of dangerous side effects, one of which I think plagues us in ministry.

I wonder if it leads us to place too much significance on our ministry.  I'm not saying it isn't significant, it is, it is an immense privilege to be called upon to teach the Bible, it is a serious thing, it is a glorious thing.  It is a tremendous calling to be called to pastor others, to guide them, to shepherd and care for them through life and towards eternal life.  It is a phenomenal responsibility and joy to be called to share the gospel with others.

But I wonder sometimes if we fall into the trap of putting too much weight on our role in God's kingdom.  It's there when we think "If we don't do it no one will."  "Or if this doesn't work as we want it too just think of the damage done to God's kingdom."  Or to view a set back as defeat.  Now the desire behind those thoughts is a good one, we want to see people won and wedded to Christ.  We want to see God's kingdom advance.  But we do not want that more than God does.

When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray he teaches them to pray "your kingdom come, your will be done..."  The challenge of the prayer is to align our thinking with God who is immeasurably more concerned about his kingdom than I am even in my best moments.  God's sovereignty means he will do that often in ways that I find surprising.  What I see as a closed door God sees as a means of grace.  What I see as damaging the kingdom, may do so to the visible eye temporarily but God will work it for his peoples good and his glory.

That truth must liberate me from being crushed by set backs, and it challenges me to trust in God's faithfulness and rule even over the things where I struggle to see it.  It calls me to find my place in God's kingdom not try to mould God's will to my vision of God's kingdom.

What does a significant ministry look like?

I'm becoming a little bit worried by conversations, articles, tweets etc which seem to be advocating gospel ministry on a sliding scale of significance.  Now my issue isn't with the idea of significance in terms of strategy.  After all Paul ministers where it is strategically significant in terms of main cities which served as conduits through which the gospel could be heard and then carried to the surrounding towns and villages.  No, my issue with people talking about the significance of gospel ministry in terms of its value.  Discussions of some ministries being more significant, (i.e. valuable), than others because of the perceived value of who they are reaching (e.g. the more affluent, connected, wealthy, intelligent).

My worry is that we are aping the world and its techniques and values, effectively looking for celebrity endorsement, or often in our case the endorsement of intelligence or beauty or perceived value in society.  So what does significant ministry look like?

It's interesting when you take a quick survey of bible characters and think about how many would be valued as having a significant ministry by evangelicals today.  Elijah - great high but followed by a crashing low and still the king and people don't repent and change long term, Isaiah - sent with a message to a people who would not listen and change, Jeremiah - stuck in a pit in response to his words.  I could go on in the Old Testament but I won't.  In the New Testament fascinatingly we see the value placed on what today we would consider less significant ministry - Tabitha in Acts, the women who supported Jesus who are consistently recognised in the gospels, alongside the Paul's and the Peter's.

So today; is ministry among students more significant than among alcoholics or the illiterate?  Is ministry among London business people more significant than a toddler group with under 4s in Rotherham?  Possibly if we are talking about the potential strategic impact (thought I'd want to emphasis only possibly not certainly) but definitely not if we are talking about its value, whether it is worth doing.

We live in an age that is constantly seeking significance (value) but we must not seek a ministry which people perceive as of significant in terms of value simply to massage our fragile ego, neither must we defend our less well thought of ministry in order to bolster our ego.  The gospel values all people, it doesn't weigh their significance in terms of value.  We need to be more careful in the language we use so that we don't confuse the two.