Know Your Role: The Depth & Breath of a Ministry.

While we can control our obedience and effort in preaching the gospel, we cannot control the outcome of how people receive and respond to it.

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. | 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 (ESV)

Regardless how hard we work, we can never control how people respond to the gospel. This is why the church must never make any attempts to soften the message of the gospel in order to reach the unsaved world. The only thing that is lost, when a church attempts to remove the offenses of the gospel, is the conviction which comes from the divinely inspired words.

Therefore the primary concern of the church and its people needs to be their faithfulness in ministry, namely how hard they are working to know and then proclaim the truth as it has been revealed in scripture. The rest is up to God. While we can control our obedience and effort in preaching the gospel, we cannot control the outcome of how people receive and respond to it. That is the work of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, take heart Christians and joyfully hope with all hope that if you take care of the depth of your ministry, God will take care of the breath of your ministry.

For His Glory,

Jason