Archive for the 'Leadership' Category
Three Reasons Why Ministers Should Be Hard Workers
Church members and the American public have various perceptions about ministers. Some believe that ministers are not hard workers. Those of us who serve in local churches hear people say: “You guys only work one day a week!”
Ministers have challenging jobs. In many ways, ministers are never truly away from the office. Technology has only raised the intensity of their never-ending job. Weddings, funerals, emergencies, and responsibilities on Sundays prevent ministers from having weekends. Yet, with these realities and many more that I did not list, ministers should never be excused from working hard.
Three reasons why I believe ministers should be hard workers:
1. The Bible Charges Ministers to Work Hard
When Paul was instructing Timothy on the life of being a minister, he talks about the minister being like a soldier, an athlete, and a hardworking farmer. (2 Timothy 2) Unquestionably, we must be equipped like soldiers for the battles of ministry and persevere like athletes as we lead people, but we must also be like a hardworking farmer who works until he sees the harvest.
Humbly, ministers should be known to be hard workers. We cannot claim to be spiritual men if we do not work hard. Laziness should never exist in the life of the minister. Laziness should not be permitted or excused by anyone.
2. The Gospel Calls Ministers to Exhaust Themselves
I will never forget a conversation I shared with Jim Cymbala, pastor of the great Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York. He asked me to preach for him on a Sunday. It was a marvelous experience. I cannot recall how many services I preached, but it was several. I witnessed Pastor Cymbala lead worship during those services, pouring himself out in prayer and ministry, and leading his people diligently. At the close of the day I asked him, “Pastor, how do you do this each week, plus most of the time you are preaching as well?” He responded to me, “Ronnie, the Gospel calls me to exhaust myself daily for my people.”
Pastor Cymbala was 100% correct! The Gospel of Jesus Christ calls every minister to exhaust himself for others. Even when we are weak physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, the Gospel calls us to exhaust ourselves. People are lost and hopeless without Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer. We must give ourselves away until complete exhaustion to advance this Gospel message and strive to reach person in the world.
3. The Testimony Challenges Ministers to Excel Before Others
A minister’s testimony becomes stronger before others when he works hard. Conversely, nothing lowers the testimony of a minister than when he is lazy. A lazy minister hurts himself not only in the eyes of his people, but he also hurts the testimony of his peers.
As ministers, we represent Jesus Christ. We are called to be a living testimony of Christ and His Gospel. Our work ethic either lends credibility to the Gospel and the church or it discredits it before the world.
While each minister can have hobbies and sports they enjoy, we should never become more dominated with them than we are with the consuming passion of our calling to advance the Gospel to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Guest Post | Pray More, Sow More by Nick Floyd
Today, RonnieFloyd.com welcomes guest writer, Dr. Nick Floyd. Dr. Floyd is a Teaching Pastor at Cross Church.
For the past six months, our staff has consistently had the conversation of how we are going to reach more people. Time and time again, I am drawn back to the simple Scriptural principle of reaping and sowing. This principle goes far beyond ministry and can be viewed in light of your marriage, parenting, business, and beyond. For our purposes today, I want to look at this principle in light of ministry.
In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul was speaking about this principle in relation to their spiritual lives. He says in Galatians 6:8, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” In speaking to the Corinthian church, he wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) In other words, sometimes there are multiple people who have a role to play in the sowing process but its ultimately God who gives the growth.
When you think about ministry, it is filled with opportunities for discouragement because of a lack of “reaping.” Maybe attendance is down, you’re not seeing as many people saved and baptized, small groups aren’t what you want them to be, or some other aspect of the ministry just isn’t where it should be. Many times in our frustration we look to the lack of “reaping” when really our hearts and minds should be drawn to the “sowing.” I realize there are all different opinions on measurement and metrics within the church. One helpful thing that numbers do for us is that they can bring light to our sowing strategy. If we’re not reaping what we want to see, we must check to see what we’re really sowing. Let’s say you are unhappy with how your church is discipling people. Think about your sowing. Do we have an intentionality problem? Do we have a systems issue? What can we do to try to take people deeper in their walk with Jesus?
A simple motto our staff has come up with is, “Pray more, sow more.” We believe this is the key to church ministry. If we want to see our evangelism increase, it happens through prayer and good, old-fashioned sowing. If we want to see a specific ministry grow, it happens through prayer and sowing. We believe these run parallel and are not to be left alone.
We are in a spiritual line of work. I’m sure you’ve had times where you have preached a clear Gospel message or a compelling sermon on church membership only to see nothing happen during the invitation or throughout the next week. We are helpless individuals without the Spirit of God. We can’t see anyone saved, baptized, or discipled without the power of the Spirit of God working in their lives. That’s why prayer is the key component in all of ministry. We need God to do what only He can do.
The Bible rightly connects prayer to action. The Bible never commands us to only pray about making disciples, but to go and make disciples as we walk dependently upon the Spirit. In ministry, praying but never sowing is not Biblical. Sowing without prayer is hopeless. Praying more and sowing more is the path to seeing God move. Sometimes there are seasons of sowing; don’t be discouraged. Sometimes there are seasons of reaping; be thankful.
One thing I have asked our staff to do this week is to come up with an intentional strategy for prayer and sowing in their specific ministries. We are about half way through our church year and want to finish the year strong in making disciples. Will you join us on the journey of more prayer and more sowing?
Dr. Nick Floyd
Teaching Pastor, Cross Church
@nickfloyd8
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.