Essential Activity of Christian Ministry
WHAT IS THE ESSENTIAL ACTIVITY OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY:
To Make a Disciple who worships Jesus
Keith Travis
Discipleship Ministries 500
Dr. Dale Mort
January 22, 2013
When one considers the question, “What is the essential activity of Christian ministry”, the first thing that must be accomplished is to truly understand and define what we mean by essential activity. As anyone who has been involved in any type of leadership role in ministry knows, there can be a huge amount of activities going on that are termed “ministry”. For many in leadership, the problem isn’t finding activities, the problem is finding the right activities for their unique ministry. One example may be that it probably isn’t a good idea to have a ministry to reach inner city children in the farmlands of Iowa. Leaders must decide what activities are best suited for them specifically. With that being said, one thing that should be shared among any ministry in any setting, during any time in history past, present or future is that there should be the essential activity of Christian Ministry. Whether the ministry involves social justice, education of some sort, church services, etc…, the end purpose is not only to have a full belly or smarter people or cleaner buildings (although this is all that may happen many times), the end result is to hopefully, by some means, if only a few out of hundreds, become disciples who worship Jesus! This, I believe, is what defines the aspect of essential activity. It’s the one thing that should be marked out as the overall goal of our labor. Sure, there will be secondary goals that are really important, but what is that one thing that makes a difference to God’s Kingdom and has eternal ramifications? The answer is what defines the essential activity of Christian ministry. The question must then be asked, “How do we know we are actually making disciples who worship Jesus in the context of Christian ministry?” It is entirely possible to be well meaning and
To Make a Disciple who worships Jesus
Keith Travis
Discipleship Ministries 500
Dr. Dale Mort
January 22, 2013
When one considers the question, “What is the essential activity of Christian ministry”, the first thing that must be accomplished is to truly understand and define what we mean by essential activity. As anyone who has been involved in any type of leadership role in ministry knows, there can be a huge amount of activities going on that are termed “ministry”. For many in leadership, the problem isn’t finding activities, the problem is finding the right activities for their unique ministry. One example may be that it probably isn’t a good idea to have a ministry to reach inner city children in the farmlands of Iowa. Leaders must decide what activities are best suited for them specifically. With that being said, one thing that should be shared among any ministry in any setting, during any time in history past, present or future is that there should be the essential activity of Christian Ministry. Whether the ministry involves social justice, education of some sort, church services, etc…, the end purpose is not only to have a full belly or smarter people or cleaner buildings (although this is all that may happen many times), the end result is to hopefully, by some means, if only a few out of hundreds, become disciples who worship Jesus! This, I believe, is what defines the aspect of essential activity. It’s the one thing that should be marked out as the overall goal of our labor. Sure, there will be secondary goals that are really important, but what is that one thing that makes a difference to God’s Kingdom and has eternal ramifications? The answer is what defines the essential activity of Christian ministry. The question must then be asked, “How do we know we are actually making disciples who worship Jesus in the context of Christian ministry?” It is entirely possible to be well meaning and
Bibliography: Barna, George, Growing True Disciples. (Colorado: Waterbrook Press, 2001) Gangel, Kenneth & Hendricks, Howard, “The Christian Educator’s Handbook on Teaching” Hendricks, Howard, “Teaching to Change Lives” (Sisters: Multnomah Pub., 1987) Hull, Bill, “The Complete Book of Discipleship: On being and Making followers of Christ” (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2006) Mitchell, Dr. Michael R., Leading, Teaching, and Making Disciples. (Indiana: CrossBooks, 2010) Smither, Edward, Augustine as Mentor [ 4 ]. Mitchell, Dr. Michael R., Leading, Teaching, and Making Disciples. (Indiana: CrossBooks, 2010) 226 [ 5 ] [ 6 ]. Hendricks, Howard, “Teaching to Change Lives” (Sisters: Multnomah Pub., 1987) 20 [ 7 ] [ 8 ]. Hull, Bill, “The Complete Book of Discipleship: On being and Making followers of Christ” (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2006) 35 [ 9 ] [ 10 ]. Gangel, Kenneth & Hendricks, Howard, “The Christian Educator’s Handbook on Teaching”. (Grand Rapids, Baker, 1996) 307 [ 11 ]