“A 21st-Century Checkup For Ministry” (Part 1)

When you feel “stuck” in your ministry, remember the four-man team mentioned in Acts 16:1-8. What a gifted team of church planters: Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy. They were eager for a fresh start in ministry. Many of us know the feeling. There’s something exciting about a change in ministry. But for these four, all they experienced were roadblocks (Acts 16:6-8). They were stuck. But then one night God broke through. Paul’s Macedonian vision charted their future course. The weeks that followed for them challenge us with seven heart-searching questions that flow out of this ministry-changing vision. Today I want to share two of those questions with more to follow this week.

Do we have a workable vision statement? (Acts 16:9). Oftentimes when God closes a door, He is about to open an amazing window of opportunity. For Paul and the team, it was a new continent (Europe), a new country (Macedonia), a new city (Philippi), and a new culture (Roman). Vision energizes a church that may have been drifting for months or even years. Finally there is focus. Paul’s team was on that boat across the Aegean, with the wind at their back and ready for the new chapter in their service for the Lord. So the first question is: Do you have a brief, clear, workable, exciting vision statement for your ministry?

Is that vision shared broadly? (Acts 16:10). There’s a biblical pattern that surfaces when we trace the style of biblical leaders. Paul shared the essence of the vision with his team, and off they went to Europe. Nehemiah shared the vision of repairing broken walls with a few men (Neh. 2) and the job was done in 52 days. When a stone is thrown into a placid pond, ripples form in concentric circles. That’s the way a vision is shared. From leader to board to church family the vision is repeated until everyone is on the same page and it becomes “our” vision!

On Wednesday, more questions will be explored. In the meantime, would you consider commenting on your experience of a fresh start or of vision casting?