familybush.com

A college student asked me “What is your philosophy of ministry?” as a part of an assignment. This is what I came up with:

What is my philosophy of ministry? Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure what a philosophy of ministry was. I googled it to see what I could come up with. I got a lot of stuff. Mostly churchy sounding stuff that didn’t resonate. Best I can tell, a philosophy of ministry is a statement that indicates what one feels are the key elements on which to focus in the Christian life and the manner in which those elements ought to be developed and nurtured. So, that’s what I’m going to base my answer on . . .

Ok. I thought about it for a while and figured something out. I don’t really have one. Not officially anyway. I hope that doesn’t make you flunk your paper. Actually, I do have one, but it’s pretty simple and I definitely don’t have it framed above my mantel. I guess I could sum it up best with this: Follow Jesus (Yeah, I know. It’s too simplistic. I get told that a lot.). I might even flesh it out a bit more to this: Follow Jesus: Love God, Love People.

I don’t have some big philosophy of ministry, I think, because I doubt Jesus had one written on a scroll and hidden in his tunic. I don’t think he consulted his Philosophy of Ministry every morning to make sure that he was on the right track. Nope. Definitely not. He did what God asked of him. That’s it. Obedience. And, if that meant healing tons of sick people, then that’s what he did. Or, if it meant slinging tables and money all over the temple and driving the people out with a whip, then that’s what he did.

Yeah, I know. That’s dumb. You’ve got to have principles and strategy and alliteration to guide you. I mean, to depend on the Holy Spirit on a day to day basis is ludicrous.

Do I sound super-pious? Well, I’m not. I go days making decisions based on my selfishness rather than direction from Jesus. But, some days I do hear him and obey him. And, it’s amazing. So, that’s what I’m aiming for. Direction from Jesus not a philosophy.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this. That’s cool. I know I don’t have it all figured out. I scrawled that out in about five minutes, shooting from the hip (heart). Just thought it might provoke you to some introspection.