A word from heaven.

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Gauge of ministry success

Have you ever asked yourself what is a good guage of success in ministry. Some say its having successfully having discipled someone, some says its hitting goals, some say its growing the group, some says its bringing people closer to God.

I believe that all these things are great but today i really want to focus on one gauge of success in ministry:

People have to be truely better off because of your ministry and your work with them.

I really believe that this is a powerful guage at the end of the day.

Sometimes we are very caught up with goals and we push our people to evangelise and work hard. Nothing wrong with that. But that cannot be happening all year round.

Sometimes we are very caught up in your people rising up and learning the skills needed to be a shepherd or a careleader. Nothing wrong with that. But we can't stop here.

My question to you today, are people around us, truely better off becasue of our work in them? Are we just trying to keep them in church? Are we just trying to win a camp so that they need to work hard? Are we making them effective evangelistic machines but lousy Christ followers? Are we just trying to "Christianize" them?

We need to add value to other's life. We need to learn that church is not everything when it comes to a Christian life. In fact, an average Christian spends less then 4 hours a week in church.

Leaders, learn to look beyond just our people's church life.

Look at their family life. How are they spending enough time with their parents? Are they taking up enough responsibilities at home as they grow? Are they helping out with household chores?

Look at their skills. Are they constant looking to improve themselves to make themselve more attractive in the market place? Are they learning things like piano, driving, language lessons, IT etc.

Look at their market place skills.. How can they do better to go for the promotion? How should they sturdy harder to get better grades? How are they managing their finances? Are they saving enough?

Look at their people skills. This is so important. How are they coping with people outside of church? Some of us are so "churched" that we find it hard to relate to people outside of church.

All these things come to help us be holistic leaders. To truely make our people's life better, not just their church life.

Whether people around me are believers or not, i make sure that when they are around me, i will add value to their lives. Its not difficult to me because it is simply a result of my journey with God.

I find it so amazing and exciting to share about what i learn about God in church to my friends outside. I care for the people, not the church building. I care for the people I shepherd, not the shepherding system. I love those around me not becasue they are my sheep or in my care but because God loves them.

My question to you again, are people's life around you truely better off because of you?

Regards,

Jie Hui

Labels: Leadership

The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

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Tuesday, July 22, 2008