Little practices, both healthy and unhealthy, can impact the effectiveness of the ministry God has called you to.
By Kate Downing
If you’re trying to improve your golf swing, pickleball serve, or sourdough starter, you should spend some time evaluating your practices. Foot placement, hip rotation, rise time—all these little things can impact the effectiveness of your craft. In the same way, little practices, both healthy and unhealthy, can impact the effectiveness of the ministry God has called you to.
So, take a few minutes away from the golf simulator or the seemingly endless stretch and folds of sourdough to evaluate yourself against these four healthy and unhealthy practices of ministry.
Healthy practice #1: Maximizing events
Maximizing events means making them more effective in accomplishing the mission. Before planning or executing your next event, take two steps to maximize it: set event goals and filter event plans.
Sample event goals:
This event should provide…
- Spiritual growth opportunities for those attending.
- Methods for godly community building among peers, leaders, and attendees.
- A clear pathway for attendees to connect back into the church.
- An occasion for others to utilize their gifts by serving.
Sample filter for event plans:
- Am I doing this because it has always been done?
- Will this meet the needs of my current church members, students, or families?
- Is this the right time in the yearly calendar for this event to happen?
- Does this event meet our goals?
Intentionality in setting goals and filtering plans can help maximize events, allowing God to be glorified and saving you from wasted time and effort.
Healthy practice #2: Recruiting to your weaknesses
A baseball team don’t need a roster full of pitchers, and the church doesn’t need a leadership full of you. Look at your team (staff or volunteers). Do they look, sound, think, and work like you? Or do you see diversity in perspective, background, weakness, and strengths? All too often leaders isolate themselves from others with different giftings because pride has convinced them those with other giftings are competition.
“All too often leaders isolate themselves from others with different giftings because pride has convinced them those with other giftings are competition.” — Kate Downing Share on XWe are all created with different strengths and weaknesses in order that we might come together as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:19-20).
As you build your team, consider your weaknesses. Are you creative? Recruit logical thinkers who help ground you. Are you a dreamer? Recruit organizers who can create a plan to accomplish those dreams. Are you an introvert? Recruit extroverts who can help carry the weight of the relational demands of ministry.
Hire, enlist, and recruit those who can fill the gap of your weakness.
Healthy practice #3: Multiplying yourself
Whether it’s a flat tire on the way to church or incredible numerical growth in the ministry, you won’t always be able to be there, know the name, or solve the problem. Like Jesus raised up and sent out His disciples to assist Him in the work (Matthew 10), you are called to raise up and send out others to do the same.
Multiplying yourself in others looks like bringing them along as you counsel, make visits, and write messages. It requires you to delegate responsibilities and therefore overcome the lie that your worth is found in your accomplishments.
God has not called you to build your kingdom but His. Multiplying yourself in others by equipping the saints to do the work (Ephesians 4:12) is one of the best ways to guard against building a kingdom for your own glory.
Multiplying yourself in others will multiply your effectiveness and divide the effort.
Healthy practice #4: Communicating well
Whether it is from a stage or through email, communication is key to accomplishing the work of the ministry, but it’s often the thing least practiced. Sermon preparation quickly falls down the list of to-dos until Saturday afternoon, and the intention to send a weekly email to volunteers never becomes a reality. Communicating well can be summed up in four C’s:
- Consistent timing – Plan time to plan time. If you do not schedule time to write, study, or send, your communication will be poor at best.
- Concise wording and formatting – Unprepared messaging is long messaging. No one wants to read a long email or listen to a long sermon. Consolidating your words will focus your ideas and allow you to communicate more clearly.
- Celebratory messaging – Celebrate what you want repeated. Celebrate to spur people to action. Celebrate to reveal the work of God.
- Careful attention to detail – Remember, you are communicating to CEOs, PhDs, experts in their fields, parents who care deeply for their kids, and those who are looking for any reason to distrust you, so communicate with professionalism.
Unhealthy practice #1: Competing to win
If it’s your church’s softball league, compete like your life depends on it. However, if it’s how you stack up against other leaders, ministries, and churches, a competitive attitude can be detrimental to you and your ministry’s effectiveness.
Competition can become fertile ground for discouragement when you’re not “winning” and pride when you are. The basis of competition is that there’s a winner and a loser.
“Competition can become fertile ground for discouragement when you’re not “winning” and pride when you are.” — Kate Downing Share on XWhen you’re competing with your church’s kids ministry for volunteers or the pastor down the street for views on YouTube, the unified attitude Paul calls us to in Philippians 2:2-5 takes a back seat to the need for victory.
Are you more motivated by the desire to win or the call to faithfulness?
Unhealthy practice #2: Playing favorites
Have you been tempted to spend a little extra time listening to the opinions of the “big giver” or motivated to attend every one of the senior pastor’s kid’s football games? Have you felt the need to spend all your time with the squeaky wheels or those with big and unending problems? Whether it’s with the fun or the infuriating, the life-givers or the life-drainers, you are called to minister without partiality.
In James 2:9-10, James warns against partiality and compares it with the sin of adultery and murder. Favoritism is no joke and therefore must be guarded against.
Check the motive behind the time you spend with certain people and the energy you pour out. Is it to please people, to feel important, or to better your standing?
Unhealthy practice #3: Standing on rooftops
In 2 Samuel 11, King David chose not to go to war with his men and instead found himself with free time that turned into temptation that turned into blatant sin. The act of standing on his roof the night he saw Bathsheba was not sinful, but it swiftly led to sin.
Standing on rooftops can look like:
- Staying up later than you should scrolling social media.
- Believing that the movie or TV show scenes you “fast-forward through” don’t still affect your mind and heart.
- Messaging with someone who is not your spouse in an emotionally significant way.
- Compromising or justifying “small” things.
In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul tells us he disciplined his body so that he would not be disqualified. Are there any places where you are undisciplined and allow your brain, heart, or body to linger that could lead to sin and disqualification? Are you standing on rooftops?
Unhealthy practice #4: Owning the ministry
Own your mistakes; own your style; just don’t try to own the ministry. When you begin to believe someone else’s walk with God is dependent on you or the future of the church is reliant on your efforts, a mindset of ownership takes root.
“Own your mistakes; own your style; just don’t try to own the ministry.” — Kate Downing Share on XHowever, you are not called to be an owner of the people and ministry God has entrusted to you. You are called to be a steward of God’s people and His ministry (1 Corinthians 4:1-2).
Owners are averse to change. Stewards are willing to do what is best for the ones they are stewarding even at the expense of their comfort.
Owners believe they know better than their leadership. Stewards are teachable and open to correction.
Owners think more highly of themselves, their abilities, and their importance than they should. Stewards walk in humility.
Owners have a savior complex. Stewards understand there is only one Savior and His name is Jesus Christ.
Are you living under the pressure and responsibility of everything relying on you, or are you walking in the joy of your God-given role as steward?
There’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). If one of more of these unhealthy practices brought conviction, take a moment to confess it before God.
As you evaluate yourself against these four healthy and unhealthy practices, take heart knowing that just like your swing, your serve, and your sourdough, you can always improve to the glory of God.
For permission to republish this article, contact Marissa Postell Sullivan.
