In my previous book, Doing the Works of Jesus: Becoming a Disciple Who Loves, certain principles were presented that were fundamental to Jesus’ ministry. It is helpful to remind ourselves of these principles, but more than that, it is important for us to make them a vital part of our lifestyle.
Outside the Walls of the Church
We saw that most of the significant events in Jesus’ ministry happened outside of the “church” meetings of his day. Jesus was not in a meeting when he performed his first miracle, or when he called his disciples to follow Him, or when he gave the Sermon on the Mount, or when He healed vast numbers of people. Neither was Jesus in a meeting when He experienced the most important events that mark the foundation of the Christian faith—dying on the cross and being raised from the dead.
If it was true for Jesus that most of the significant events in His life and ministry happened outside of “church” meetings, then we should expect the same to be true in our lives. Jesus exhorted us to “Look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest right now” (John 4:35 NIRV). Fields are not found inside of buildings. We will not find fields in our church meetings. In order to look at the fields, we have to leave the meetings and go out.
“Go! I am sending you **out **…”—Luke 10:3 (NIV)
In-Between Scheduled Events
It is also important to note that very few of the significant events in Jesus’ ministry were scheduled. Many of these events happened as Jesus was passing through, going from one place to another.
For example, Jesus was only passing through Samaria when he met the woman at the well. Some might call this a “chance encounter,” but it resulted in revival coming to the entire city of Sychar.
In another example, a woman’s son was raised from the dead in Luke 7 when he was carried out at the same time as Jesus was walking by the funeral party.
Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead after her father interrupted Jesus’ progress and begged Jesus to come to his house. Then, on the way to Jairus’ house, Jesus experienced another interruption when the woman with the issue of blood was healed when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.
Bartimaeus received his sight when Jesus passed by the place where he was sitting by the side of the road.
Zacchaeus was saved after Jesus called to him as He was passing by.
In each of these situations, and many others, Jesus was on his way to go somewhere else when this “interruption” in His schedule happened.
What we begin to realize is that we may schedule events that we consider significant, but God causes divine appointments to happen during the times in-between these scheduled events that many times turn out to be the real significant events in our lives. We must recognize that God works in the “in-between” times. God works in interruptions.
Be Alert to Interruptions
Interruptions in our schedules are often God’s divine appointments in disguise. In reality, these may be the most important events in our day. These “interruptions” may be the events God purposed for us before we were born. So, we must change the way we view interruptions. In order to view them correctly, as God’s divine appointments, we must retrain ourselves to welcome interruptions as appointments with destiny.
In addition, as we retrain ourselves to recognize the significance of interruptions, we must retrain ourselves to be more “in the moment” and alert to the realization that these God-ordained appointments may occur at any time, without warning and without any hint that signals their eternal significance. We must be ready to welcome interruptions, even when they come at the most inconvenient moments, even when they come with bad attitudes, with inappropriate actions, and in unexpected ways that might otherwise offend us.
Focus on Needs
Each of the ministry encounters that Jesus experienced was different and unique, but there is something that all of His ministry encounters had in common. The “golden thread” that seemed to connect all of Jesus’ ministry encounters was that He always met people at their point of need. As we become more sensitive and alert to recognize God’s divine appointments in the course of our daily lives, we should direct the focus of our ministry on those people we encounter who have needs. These people we encounter may be strangers to us, like the man who was helped by the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, or they may be family members within our own households. As Mother Teresa exhorted us:
“Love begins by taking care of the closest ones—the ones at home.”
Preparation
In order for our ministry to be most effective, we must prepare. We must be equipped through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said to the early disciples, “you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 AMP).
The baptism of the Holy Spirit was not just for the those who were present on the day of Pentecost. It is for us as well, as Peter declared, “For God’s promise of the Holy Spirit is for you and your families, for those yet to be born and for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38-40 TPT)
The exciting thing about this promise of the Holy Spirit is that it also implies that we are being prepared for ministries of great power. Why would it be necessary for the disciples to wait in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit for ministry if all they were going to do was pass out Gospel tracts and talk to people about Jesus? No, the disciples were being prepared for much more than that! The disciples were being prepared to operate in ministries of power with world-changing impact!
In God’s mind, evangelism was never intended to be limited to passing out Gospel tracts and presenting persuasive arguments to people. God’s ministry is a ministry of supernatural power. As Paul said, “my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4 NASB).
If we are to be God’s ministers on earth, we must be prepared to demonstrate His love and His supernatural power everywhere we go. That is why the baptism of the Holy Spirit is essential to our preparation. The early disciples could not fulfill their ministries without it, and neither can we.
Training is also vital so that we will know what to do and what not to do. Then training must be put into action through practice. Through training, we learn the important principles of ministry, but it is through practice that we learn how to apply those principles.
As we apply the principles of ministry in practice, and build up a history of successful ministry experiences, we will develop confidence, not only in our own ministry skills, but we will develop an assurance that God will be with us when we go out to minister. This confidence will allow us to step out in faith, as Jesus did, and accomplish great things for God.
“I can assure you that whoever believes in me will do the same things I have done. And they will do even greater things than I have done, because I am going to the Father.”—John 14:12 (ERV)
After we have been equipped and trained; gained practice and confidence, what God needs from us then is our availability. We must put ourselves in situations where ministry can occur. If we want God to use us in ministry, we must desire it. We must get off the couch. We must place ourselves in situations to be used in ministry. Remarkable things begin to happen when we simply step out and place ourselves in positions where ministry can occur! God shows up, and we begin to partner with God and see amazing results!
That is what Jesus did. After His baptism, Jesus “went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him” (Acts 10:38 AMP).
Beyond Prophetic Evangelism
For years I’ve been involved in what might be called prophetic evangelism. The term “Prophetic Evangelism” means many things to many people. In my experience it involves going outside the walls of the Church and reaching out to people using the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help reconcile them to God.
It is a wonderful ministry of reconciliation that I am very grateful for, but I believe there is more available to us. I believe there is much more that has already been promised to us if we believe and are willing to contend for it.
Instead of limiting ourselves to “Prophetic Evangelism”, let us focus on doing the works of Jesus. In fact, that is just a starting point for us. The promise of Jesus is that we will start there, and then we will even experience “greater works”. Let’s look at the ministry of Jesus as a starting point.
With this focus in mind, take time to examine some of the ministry encounters that Jesus experienced. As we take a closer look at what Jesus did, it is my prayer that we will receive greater wisdom to do the works of Jesus and to enter into the greater works that He promised us in John 14:12!
”Whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ ought to walk just as he walked.”—1 John 2:6 (NRSV)
