Success in Ministry

This volume looks to be a nice companion book to this monumental work by John Piper.

I say “monumental” not because the book is somehow a definitive work of scholarship. But I say that because the book is so very important for properly understanding the gospel ministry. The standards by which the world judges success is not the standard by which success is judged in the church. Success in the church is spiritual, as the church is a spiritual entity. And thus it can not be quantified by numbers, reports, or stats. To be sure, in the church there will be visible fruit. Sinners we would expect to be saved and the saints to be sanctified. But, again, these are not things which lend themselves to statistical reports.

Reading through the OT has been illuminating in this regard. Especially as I read through 2 Kings. This is the book of the downfall of Israel. Their kings – in both Judah and Israel – lead their people into idolatry and paganism. For this God eventually banishes his people into exile (granted, thanks to Hezekiah, it takes Judah a little longer to end up in exile than Israel).

But, what the rest of the OT teaches us is that he also preserves for himself a remnant. The numbers are few, but they are faithful. And, really, that is what matters at the end of the day. Not the numbers, but faithfulness to our Lord.

I think about our situation here in America. Sometimes I feel like we are a part of the remnant. Granted, there are many churches out there that are faithful and also are large. Praise the Lord! But here is the question with which I want to challenge all pastors and ministerial students:

“Can you be content with serving a small ministry faithfully for your entire earthly life?” If not, you’re already a recipe for burnout.

I think a lot of guys come out of seminary with visions of grandeur. To be sure, it is appropriate to pray that we would be used to bear much fruit in the kingdom. But that raises the question, doesn’t it: What does it mean to bear much fruit? Does it mean a huge church with an impressive building and all sorts of programs?

I think the answer is: “it may, but not necessarily.”

Being the remnant often times does not mean being big, but small and faithful. Making strides – slowly but surely. Being content to see a convert to Christ once in while, to see a believer come to understand the doctrines of grace for the first time, to see the elderly comforted as you read them Scripture on their death bed, and seeing the suffering cling closer to Christ.

Anyway, pick up Hughes and Piper and read them. Finally, there are some resources out there for true pastoral theology. All those other “how to grow your church” books can be thrown out (or sold on Ebay!), and feast your souls on what it means to be a faithful minister of God’s remnant.

James J. Cassidy is the pastor of Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Ringoes, NJ. He also serves as Vice President of Reformed Forum and is a PhD candidate at Westminster Theological Seminary. This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 9:41 am and is filed under Miscellany. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.