Foundations

Thu 19 Aug 2010 Filed in: My Life | Grief Notes
Bit by bit I’m meandering though Matt’s papers. I sort slowly. I don’t want to miss anything, and so I tend to read almost everything. That tendency, along with my grief-limited tolerance for sorting stuff, slows the process down, but occasionally there are rich rewards along the way. In a notebook that almost got tossed was a Matt-generated list of foundations for his ministry that came out of a day of prayer. (There was also a collection of fascinating TAG quotes that some TAG alumni would just as soon I don’t share, but that’s another topic....)

Whether written or not and whether consciously decided or not, most of us involved in ministry accept the constraints of some set of principles that guide our ministry and by which we evaluate our success. Matt’s seems to be the kind of list that creates a foundation for effective and principled ministry. How do you think he did?

  1. God will be in absolute control of all ministry decisions.
  2. I will spend required time before Him to seek His face and will.
  3. People are more important to me than programs; therefor I gladly alter programs as God works in people.
  4. I will be a God-pleaser first, man-pleaser second, and pray I do both lots.
  5. Ministry will never be limited to my strengths or abilities but blessed by His infinite resources.
  6. People will see Jesus Christ at all events - not optional - not a sermon but His love.
  7. Advancing the kingdom of God is more important than the numbers of any group or church.
  8. My spiritual walk will take precedence over ministry stuff because that’s how tone is set.
  9. I will commit to and pour into the lives of a ministry staff; I can’t do it all by myself.
  10. My foundations of ministry are non-negotiable with man but open to direction from God.

Hmmm, maybe I need to edit and revise my own list . . . .