I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time for me to quit the ministry. Since launching The Bridge, I’ve been doing ministry full-time. I’ve come to the realization of something I’ve always known intellectually. My main responsibility, as a pastor, is not to do “ministry,” but equip others to do it. This means I must give ministry away. Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers [Not to do ministry, but...] for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. When pastors are busy doing ministry, two things happen: 1) those that are called to do the ministry miss out on ministry opportunities because the pastor is filling the slots himself and 2) the people aren’t equipped to do ministry because the pastor doesn’t have enough time to develop his leaders due to his ministerial busyness. My wife and I looked at this passage during our time with God yesterday. The reality hit me like a ton of bricks. There’s a domino effect in that passage: leaders equip body which leads to body being built up which leads to maturity which leads to believers not being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. In the book of Acts, the apostles refused to neglect the preaching of the word of God and prayer in order to wait on tables. They didn’t even entertain the thought. If you had to make a choice between neglecting an area, which one would you choose? Waiting on a table or the preaching of God’s Word and prayer? If you neglect the tables, people will get angry and frustrated because it appears to be an urgent need. It’s easy to neglect adequate sermon prep and prayer because God is not going to screem at you like the neglected widows. Yet, this practice will hinder you from achieving your potential as a leader and weaken your voice as a prophet and proclaimer of God’s Word. We always preach and lead best when we carry less.
