Ministry Mythbusting: God gives the increase
February 15, 2011 ~
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While it’s true that our ministries won’t grow without the work of God’s Spirit, we can never blame a lack of success in ministry on God.
Ministry leaders often use this phrase to communicate that although a certain ministry is stagnant or dead, it’s nobody’s fault, God just needs to give more increase. On the surface this sounds like a biblical statement proclaiming the sovereignty of God in ministry, but let’s look closer.
The verbiage comes from 1 Corinthians 3:6. Let me first say that the passage is not about God’s sovereignty in ministry as much as it’s about giving God the credit for ministry. With that out of the way, is it true that a ministry can fail or be ineffective because of a lack of God’s blessing or power?
I think the answer is no. If we follow God’s plan for ministry, observable success will always follow. People will either be embracing God or rejecting Him but there will not be stagnation, apathy, or lack of movement.
The bottom line is, God’s always going to be doing His part. He never takes a break from blessing His Word or working in people’s lives. So if our ministry is floundering, we can’t go blaming God and excusing ourselves. We need to suck it up and make changes to be more effective.
Ministry leaders often use this phrase to communicate that although a certain ministry is stagnant or dead, it’s nobody’s fault, God just needs to give more increase. On the surface this sounds like a biblical statement proclaiming the sovereignty of God in ministry, but let’s look closer.
The verbiage comes from 1 Corinthians 3:6. Let me first say that the passage is not about God’s sovereignty in ministry as much as it’s about giving God the credit for ministry. With that out of the way, is it true that a ministry can fail or be ineffective because of a lack of God’s blessing or power?
I think the answer is no. If we follow God’s plan for ministry, observable success will always follow. People will either be embracing God or rejecting Him but there will not be stagnation, apathy, or lack of movement.
The bottom line is, God’s always going to be doing His part. He never takes a break from blessing His Word or working in people’s lives. So if our ministry is floundering, we can’t go blaming God and excusing ourselves. We need to suck it up and make changes to be more effective.
BUSTED
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