The Joys of Ministry

The concept of 2 Timothy 2.2 has always been a fascinating to me. I love what has divinely established as the means by which the faith is transmitted: faithful men entrusting faithful men who will entrust faithful men with the good word. But it was only recently that this passage became very personal to me.

The internship at Northside has taught me many things about preaching and people. The longer I am here, the more I realize how difficult it will be to leave. Kim and I form deeper and stronger bonds with people everyday. One couple in particular has become our very good friends. We spend a lot of time with them talking about this, that, and the church.

The husband has for some time been working on his Christian walk. He came to the conclusion that he wanted to do more for Jesus and therefore determined to do something about it. About the same time, Kim and I arrived in Wichita and began “feeling the pulse” of Northside; finding out who the leaders are and working on developing relationships with people. It truly is amazing the way God works: I was looking for people to mature and he was seeking maturity. We hit it off immediately.

It was not long until God sent the husband someone seeking Jesus. It was the perfect opportunity for growth: one to enter into Christ and the other to grow deeper into Christ. However, the husband, realizing his own weakness, could not on his own disciple this seeker. It had been so long since he had even been close to talking to someone about Jesus and his skills were atrophied. He turned to me for help.

I have had these evangelism tools in my possession for a long time (even before Sunset). To be quite honest, I had forgotten all about them until I opened a bible I had not picked up in a long time and rediscovered them. They were just what the doctor (or Great Physician) ordered. I put them in the husband’s hands and walked him through them step by step. Start here, then move to this, explain this like this, have your prospect read the verses himself out loud, etc. Then, prepared with the word, he went to work.

It did not take long at all. With fertile soil, the prospect received the word with a glad heart. And one week ago, Kyle was baptized into Christ. It was a day of rejoicing which Kim and I shared with our friends.

I believe God has built into equipping a joy that goes beyond words. Not only do I rejoice over the addition of the recent baptism, but also I rejoice with my friend. He sat me down one night and expressed his heart felt appreciation for me. He said that was the first adult bible study he had with anyone ever. He thanked me and told me that my coming to Northside has really helped to light a fire under him. My heart welled with joy that I could help my friend mature in his faith and I praise God for sending me to Northside.

At Sunset we talked about the pitfalls of ministry; and to be sure those things need to be addressed. But there was not much conversation about the joys of ministry (that I remember). I guess some things just have to be experienced.