There is a connection between the work of ministry and the
Holy Spirit in the life of the believer to fulfill the Great Commission
mandate. The Spirit energizes His people and His church with the gifts. It is
our responsibility to be in active partnership with the Spirit to identify and
understand these gifts. Each person is given at least one gift, but there are
times when there is a lack of evidence
of a gift/s because of adverse circumstances. God expects a return on His
investment with each believer becoming fruit-full. These gifts are important
both individually and corporately. Within the church, the top three gifts
(based on importance in accomplishing God’s purposes) are (1) The
Evangelist/Apostle – He or she will pioneer the cause; (2) Preaching; (3)
Teaching. It is important that every church devotes resources to gift
identification, development and deployment. This is why Paul told Timothy not
to “neglect the gift” within him (1 Timothy 4:14).
Another key component of the church is the role of Prayer.
Robertson McQuilkin said it well as he referred to the Holy Spirit as “the One
with the knowledge of all factors involved in any situation. He alone has the
wisdom to make the right decisions and the power to carry through the decision”
(101). Why then would not the church/individuals pray? After all, there is a
promise behind the command to seeking God – He promises that we will find Him.
Christ through His Spirit aloe provides salvation, sanctification, renewal,
guidance, provision and power (102).
Of course, the gifted believers have an awesome task of
sharing God’s message with the world. God’s desire is to redeem mankind and
creation unto Himself. Through Evangelism, we “persuade men and women to accept
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior” (114). God’s goal is creation. He expects us
to reach people both near and far. He has called us to be ‘witnesses’. Within
the church, McQuilkin describes three evangelism related levels of
gifting: All believers are called to be
witnesses – share God’s message in their sphere of influence. Then there are
those who go out with the message – the ‘sent ones’. But then there are those
who have the gift of evangelism – these are the closers who lead people to make
that commitment. We need all these gifts working in unity within the church.
Tied very closely with the material by Mike McDaniel, the
Incarnational missional strategy is mentioned as the model for effective
outreach. The church has engaged in missions over the years, but the trend toward
short term, non-committed missions trips can be ineffective. The message may be
shared, but there needs to be an Apostolic gifting to pioneer the mission. This
means giving of time and resources within the culture. Paul’s adaptation of the
Incarnational model was mentioned – He spent enough time within a community
learning the culture, their language, establishing churches, organizing
leadership and giving oversight. Short term missions can be short-sighted and
may not result in the goal of getting church plants to become self-sustaining,
self-governing and self-propagating.
Lastly, I am humbled to learn more about giving to God and His
work. McQuilkin described 5 levels of giving. My biggest takeaway is that the
work of the kingdom is best achieved through Faith. God’s kingdom is not
advanced through fleshly methods and channels. His is a spiritual kingdom and
requires the application of spiritual principles. Not the least of which is the
commitment to giving and the management of God’s resources. My relationship
with my possessions is a clear indicator of my faith, love and spiritual
maturity (151). I have some work to do here.
Ref:
Study based upon Robert McQuilkin, The Five Smooth Stones:
Essential Principles For Biblical Ministry, B&H Publishing Group, 2007.
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Written by Kevin A. Hall.
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