What Makes a Ministry?

Introduction

How do we rate the effectiveness of a church or a ministry?

If we want to know how effective a ministry is, we have to use these three questions as our metrics.

Is God changing hearts?

Is God Getting the Glory?

Is God’s Truth Being Revealed?

I. Is God Changing Hearts?

A ministry that doesn’t change the heart of the people isn’t a ministry at all.

That’s why, when we think about the ministries that are out there, we have to be very careful in making sure that they are bearing fruit by bringing people closer to Jesus in a meaningful way.

We also have to take an evaluation of ourselves within the church to ensure that what we are doing is for the purpose of changing the hearts of men and women by showing them Jesus and bringing them closer to Him.

Paul writes here and says that the proof of his apostleship is found in the lives of the people at the Corinthian church. He tells them that their changed hearts and their continued pursuit of all the things that are holy is the mark of a man called by God to be an apostle.

Therefore, the first question we should be asking if we want to determine our success is, “Is God Changing Hearts”. The answer to that will be revealed if our people are exhibiting fruitful living, confidence in God, and living their life in the Spirit of God.

A. Fruitful Living

2 Corinthians 3:1–3 NKJV

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

Paul is being questioned and his ministry is being scrutinized by men who he describes as peddlers of God’s word.

So, he beings by asking two rhetorical questions. First, he asks, “Why am I explaining my ministry? Do I need to commend myself again to win your approval?” Then, he asks, “Or do I need to go get a letter from others and prove that I am Paul, called by God as an apostle?”

When asks them if he needs letters of commendation, he is referring to the credentials of those that claim to be important and from God, but clearly don’t have God’s anointing or call on their life.

These men that are trying to discredit Paul would have these letters of commendations from other leaders and other churches and they would carry them to churches that didn’t know them.

Well, if you remember anything about the Corinthian church, they didn’t care about actual fruit, but they cared about titles and status. So, naturally, men who are not apostles were coming into the church, and they began teaching that the people needed grace and works in order to please God.

The Importance of Fruit

The Bible makes it clear that we cannot accomplish anything on our own, but that we need the blessing of the Holy Spirit, which comes from Jesus, Who was given by God.

There are all kinds of metrics that we could use to signify that we are a successful church, but the only metric that matters is, “are we bearing fruit”?

What does it mean to bear fruit?

To bear fruit means to experience spiritual transformation so that we are constantly producing transformation in the life of others through the power of our Lord Jesus.

Matthew 7:16–20 NKJV

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Well, what are the good fruits?

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

How do we bear this fruit?

John 15:5 NKJV

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Therefore, men and women who do not have a steadfast reliance on Jesus Christ will never bear good fruit.

Such is the life of the church. When a church ceases to produce fruit, that means that they have removed Jesus from all that they do, and they do everything for themselves.

For, Jesus said, “When you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”

Who Produces Fruit?

It is not people that produce fruit, but it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that produces fruit in us and through us.

2 Corinthians 3:3 NKJV

clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

These men who are teaching in the Corinthian church and trying to discredit Paul are telling the church that true Christianity is found in obedience to the law of Moses.

That’s why Paul says that true fruit doesn’t come from words written on tablets of stone, but that fruitful ministry comes by the Spirit of the living God and is produced out of a changed heart.

That is, giving people a bunch of rules and regulations to follow can never produce real life change. But that real life change, and real ministry impact comes when the Holy Spirit ministers to our hearts.

Bearing fruit is a matter of the heart which is transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Not only does having a changed heart mean that we produce fruit, it means that we have confidence in God.

B. Confidence in God

2 Corinthians 3:4 NKJV

And we have such trust through Christ toward God.

Paul says, “I am not bragging on myself, but I am acknowledging that every good thing that is being produced comes directly from God.”

What he’s doing is drawing a distinction between himself and the ones that are trying to discredit his ministry. He is saying that they have confidence in themselves and their ability to keep the law of Moses. Then, about himself, he is saying that his confidence comes from God through Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,

Reliance on God Not on Numbers

Think back to the arguments that they were having when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. They were arguing over who was producing the most, who had the most followers, and who had the most baptisms.

Here is what Paul wrote to them

1 Corinthians 3:6 NKJV

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

We have to be careful that we don’t measure our success or failure as a church based on the increase that we get.

Because we don’t get to decide what God does here and who He chooses to give us. That is God’s business and His alone.

For, Paul planted and Apollos watered, but it was God who saved.

And again, he reiterates that he and his other ministers are not sufficient of themselves, but that God is the one Who ultimately makes them sufficient.

This is not a call to apathy and relaxation…

This is a sobering reminder that our job is not to produce anything, but to abide in the presence of God and then allow Him to accomplish His work.

Numbers can be a metric of success….but they can also be a metric for false teachings.

There are buildings all over America that have untold numbers of people, and they call themselves churches, but they are peddlers of God’s word. They are exploiting God’s word for their own profit and for their own status.

On the other hand, I want to show you in the Bible exactly what sound preaching and Godly living can do to a place…

John 6:61–66 NKJV

When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

Just because people are coming doesn’t mean that you are doing things right. And just because people are leaving doesn’t mean that you are doing things wrong.

Because God doesn’t require production from us in the sense that we do the producing…

What God requires from us is that we are faithful to do what He has called us to do and then leave the results up to Him.

This is the major flaw in the thinking of those men who were questioning Paul. They were placing the emphasis on their ability to produce those things that are good instead of allowing God to produce those things which are good.

And when we try to produce those things which are good, we bear bad fruit. But, when we abide in the Lord Jesus, and we walk with Him daily, then we bear good fruit because He produces it through us.

True ministry changes hearts, and people with changed hearts produce fruit, their confidence is in God and God alone…

C. Live Life in the Spirit

2 Corinthians 3:5–6 NKJV

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

That is, we were never made to accomplish anything by ourselves because it only produces death. But when we accomplish things by the Holy Spirit, He gives life.

This Applies to Our Salvation

The Bible says that we were dead in our sin, but that when God saves us, He imparts His Holy Spirit to us and we have life.

John 3:5–6 NKJV

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

That is, unless the Holy Spirit lives in us, we are still dead in sin. But when we are born again in the Spirit, we have new life.

This Applies to Our Ability to Witness

Acts 1:8 NKJV

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The only way to bring others to life is to do so by the power and the witness of the Holy Spirit. It’s not my words that save a person, but it is God’s word and the conviction of the Holy Spirit that brings people to salvation.

This Applies to Our Work in the Church

Philippians 2:13 NKJV

for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

The word translated “work” in Philippians 2 is meant to convey to us that the inner working of God is our divine and active energy to accomplish His will.

Without the energizing of the Holy Spirit, we cannot accomplish the will of God that gives life...but we will be reduced to the accomplishments of the flesh which kills.

The first question that we should ask ourselves when we are determining success is, “Are we changing hearts?” We measure that by fruit, by confidence in God, and our reliance on the Holy Spirit.

II. Is God Getting the Glory?

We’ve already proved that God is the reason that we can accomplish anything that we accomplish.

Yet, another reason for Paul originally writing the church at Corinth is that they were taking the spiritual gifts that God gave them, and they were using them to steal His glory.

We must be careful not to take the gifts that God has given the church and begin to see them as our possessions. They do not belong to us. Whether those things are spiritual or material, everything that we have in our possession belongs to God and He alone ought to get the glory.

How can we answer the question, “Is God Getting the Glory?”

A. Examine What their Faith is In

2 Corinthians 3:7–8 NKJV

But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

When Moses came down from the mountain with the 10 commandments, the Bible says that his face was shining with the presence of God, and that the people were afraid to come near him.

Exodus 34:29 NKJV

Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.

Moses, for a time, displayed the glory of God. And, for a time, the 10 commandments displayed the glory of God. But there was a time when Moses’s face stopped shining, and there is now a time when the reliance on the law is not shining.

The reason that there is no glory to be found in worshipping people or the works of people, is because all things that are in the flesh are passing away, but the Spirit of God gives us eternal life through the work of our Lord Jesus, when He died on that cross to satisfy God and fulfilled the law so that we can be saved.

That is why we must examine our faith, to ensure that we are not placing our faith in anything but God and God alone.

Where is it that we misplace our faith?

We Tend to put Faith in Our Efforts

When we don’t consider God, and when we try to do things the way that we want to do them, we return to the power of the flesh instead of living by our faith in God.

How do we do that?

We do it by being overly concerned with buildings.

I’m not against a building project. I think that they are vital and necessary, and I also believe that unkempt and run down buildings are a hinderance to the gospel of Jesus.

However, I also want you to remember that new buildings don’t transform lives. The transformation of the heart comes when we effectively minister to those around us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There are lots of churches with big beautiful buildings, but the people inside are mean and ugly, empty of the Holy Spirit, and they are not concerned with reaching the lost, they’re just concerned with maintaining what they have.

We do it by being overly reliant on financial security.

I believe that we ought to be financial managers and faithful stewards. But most of the time, when God calls us to do something, He won’t provide what we need until we take the first initial steps of faith.

Think of when Joshua crossed the Jordan. It wasn’t until the leaders got their feet wet that the river stopped flowing.

It wasn’t until Moses struck the rock that the water flowed.

It wasn’t until Peter stepped out of the boat that he was able to walk on water.

Just the same, we cannot fully receive the blessings of God until we are able to release our financial security in faith.

But quickly, this doesn’t apply to matters of the flesh, this only applies to matters of faith. When we spend to fulfill the flesh, we will lose it. When we freely give to fulfill the will of God, we will always have it.

We do it by being overly concerned with the charisma of our personalities.

What this means is that we think we can get the right “image” or the right “preacher” to bring in the people. But it’s not the preacher or the image that gives the increase.

The only person that gives the increase is God and the spiritual power of our church doesn’t come from our efforts or resources, but it comes from a transforming encounter with God.

Not only do we tend to put our faith in our efforts…

We Tend To Put Our Faith in Our Faith

We like to think of faith as some kind of abstract idea and something that keeps us grounded in times of need. But faith by itself doesn’t mean anything, because it is not our faith that is important, but it is the object of our faith that is important.

When we experience hard times, I think it’s popular or common to say, “I just don’t have the faith to overcome this.”

But the reason that we don’t have the faith to overcome is because our faith is in the wrong object.

When we move from having faith in our own ability to overcome, to having faith in God’s ability to overcome, then our faith becomes something real.

There was a father and his little boy trying to cross a busy street. They were pretty far back in the crowd and they get to the curb and step out into the road, but as soon as they do the light starts flashing and they’re not going to make it.

So the dad says to his son, “Hold on!” And he picks up his son and holds him on his chest while he crosses the road.

When they get to the other side of the road, dad puts him down and says, “Are you good?” And the little boy says, “Yeah dad! Thank goodness I didn’t let you go or we wouldn’t have made it!”

That’s how we are with God. While we think that we are the one holding onto Him, He’s the one that’s got us in His arms. He’s not going to drop us or leave us behind.

So then, our faith ought not be in our own efforts, and it ought not be in our ability to have faith…but our faith ought to be in God and God alone.

To ensure that God is getting the glory, we have examine our faith.

B. Examine their Understanding God’s Righteousness

2 Corinthians 3:9–11 NKJV

For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

When we make our righteousness conditional on how well we behave then we are returning to the bondage of the law.

The Bible describes the bondage of the law as a glory that has faded.

The reason that is has faded is because the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives outshines anything that we could ever achieve on our own.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So, it’s a fact that when Jesus saves us, He makes us completely righteous. That means that He makes us perfect before God.

Paul addresses this because the false prophets are saying that righteousness is conditional on our behavior. But righteousness is not conditional on how we behave, righteousness is a reality that faith in Jesus brings.

How does understanding this bring God the glory?

Because it takes the emphasis off of ourselves and our own efforts, and it brings us back to the reality that the only reason we can do anything good is because God saved us.

There is nothing that we can do to overcome God’s grace, and there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s grace…it is a gift given by Him through the blood of Jesus. And when the blood of Jesus washes over us, we become the righteousness of God.

To measure the success of any ministry, find out if hearts are being changed, find out if God is getting all the glory…

III. Is God’s Truth Being Revealed?

God is a God of truth. And if truth is not clearly presented, then nothing else matters.

Because if truth is not being presented, and if truth is not being applied, then that is a clear indication that Jesus is no where to be found. For the Bible says…

John 14:6 NKJV

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

If truth is not the emphasis, then Jesus is not the emphasis.

So, a successful ministry will have clear biblical teaching, will be free of blinding legalism, and the freedom of Jesus will be freely revealed.

A. Clear Biblical Teaching

2 Corinthians 3:12–13 NKJV

Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.

Moses had the praise of the people…and they followed him because he had the glory of God on his face. But when the glory began to fade, he covered his face so that the people couldn’t see.

And when Moses covered his face he denied the people the opportunity to see that the glory of the law was fading away and the the glory of Jesus Christ was coming.

But now Jesus has been revealed, and there is nothing in this Bible that needs to be hidden. Because I have confidence in Jesus Christ, I can have confidence in His word.

And if I can have confidence in His word, then I can boldly proclaim the message of the gospel.

What Does Clear Biblical Teaching Do?

1. It Protects the Flock

Acts 20:27–30 NKJV

For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

When we fail to know and to teach the Word of God, we leave our church vulnerable to all kinds of false teachings. The Word of God is both our offense and defense against the attacks of satan and his ministers of darkness.

2. It Nourishes the Flock

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

A church cannot be properly equipped to complete the work of God unless it clearly and consistently is nourished by the sound teaching of the Word of God.

3. It Increases the Faith of the Flock

Romans 10:17 NKJV

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

When we sit under clear and intentional preaching and teaching, our faith in increased. The preaching event is designed to teach you, and it is designed to encourage you, and it is designed to transform you. And by doing these things, your faith ought to be increased.

All of these reasons are why it is vital for me to spend the time I do in preparation, and why it is vital for the people of God to come with their ears and hearts wide open.

If clear Biblical teaching protects, nourishes, and increases the faith of the flock…

We need more people who can clearly teach God’s Word

It is a great honor to stand behind a pulpit. But it’s also a great honor to sit in the chair of a teacher. And that doesn’t matter if we are teaching children or if we are teaching other adults.

I want you to know that every Sunday morning at 9:45 we are working to protect the flock, nourish the flock, and to increase the faith of the flock.

It is no small task to be a Sunday School teacher or discipleship leader. It is a task that the health and success of our church hinges on.

So, to know if God’s truth is supreme, examine if a church has clear biblical teaching.

B. Ensure they are free of blinding legalism

2 Corinthians 3:14–15 NKJV

But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

Legalism is what happens when there is an abundance of knowledge but an absence of the Holy Spirit.

The heart of the legalist knows the law of God, they know the standards of God, they know the facts of God, but they don’t understand the truth of God.

And the reason that they cannot understand the truth of God is because God is not in them. If God was in them, the veil would be lifted and they would be able to understand spiritual things instead of being limited to earthly things.

2 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV

Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Then, instead of living by the letter of the law, they begin to live in the grace of God.

C. Free From the Bondage of Sin

A ministry that is effective will be made up of a people that free from the bondage of sin.

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 NKJV

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When v. 18 talks about a “mirror”, it is talking about the Word of God

James 1:22–25 NKJV

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

That is, God’s word is made to transform us.

Legalism keeps us afraid…liberalism keeps us trapped…but the freedom found in Jesus Christ sets us free to accomplish His work His way.

Then, when we live in His freedom, we can get some things done. Because it is the power of God that works in us and through us…not the power of the flesh.

Conclusion

The success of a ministry is found in hearts that are being changed, the glory that God is receiving, and the truth that is being declared.

If a ministry has these three things, they are a success and they are in line with God’s will.