“But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus.”—Ephesians 4:20–21 (NKJV)
Very simply, Jesus is our ultimate model for ministry. In fact, one of the very first commands Jesus gave was “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” in Matthew 4:19 (ESV).
His ministry model was continued in the ministry of the disciples as detailed in the book of Acts and in the epistles. As the Apostle Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV)
We must strive to understand the ways of God, not just His acts.
“He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.”—Psalm 103:7 (NKJV)
We must understand how God works, not just what He does, so that we can fully cooperate with Him.
The Ministry Focus:
Meet People at Their Point of Need
Jesus’ first recorded words, after returning from His temptation in the wilderness to begin His ministry, may be seen as a defining statement for the focus of His ministry.
“Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, And he looked at Jesus as He walked along, and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God! The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Him. But Jesus turned, and as He saw them following Him, He said to them, What are you looking for? [And what is it you wish?]”—John 1:35–40 (AMP)
At first glance, it is difficult to find patterns in Jesus’ ministry encounters with people. It seems as if every encounter was different and unique, with no convenient formulas that would be easy for us to follow, but there is one thing that all of Jesus’ ministry encounters had in common. Jesus always met people at their point of need.
He made every encounter personally relevant to them, addressing the needs and desires they each had at that particular time in their lives.
Many evangelistic approaches encourage us to steer every encounter toward salvation, but salvation may not be what that person sees as his most pressing need. It’s more difficult to convince someone of his need for salvation if he’s not sure where his next meal is coming from, for instance.
If we continue to force the salvation issue, and even lead the person in a “sinner’s prayer,” after we leave, the person’s focus will most likely return to his most pressing need, and the relationship with Jesus will be tossed aside and thrown out of his life, just as you would toss useless clutter out of your house.
“Suppose a brother or sister has no clothes or food. Suppose one of you says to them, ‘Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well.’ And you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done?”—James 2:15–16 (NIRV)
As I think back on situations at my workplace when I was able to lead people into a salvation experience, each salvation occurred because the individuals expressed genuine needs, and I was able to connect them with what God had already provided to meet those needs.
When one person was lonely and feeling betrayed by her friends, I told her that Jesus is a friend who “sticks closer than a brother,” whose love never wavers for us.
When others felt unsafe and needed assurance of protection, I described the protection that God offers us as our Shield, our Fortress, our Deliverer.
When another individual expressed a need for stability and security, I described Jesus, who promises never to leave or forsake us.
As I think back about the fifteen people I led to salvation at my workplace, I realize I had not approached any of them with a salvation message. I had not approached them at all! I had simply responded to a genuine need that each one expressed. As I described what Jesus had already provided to meet their particular need, salvation was easy. It came very naturally. There was never a hard-sell salvation message. It wasn’t necessary. When people saw that God had real answers to meet their needs, they accepted Him eagerly.
