What You Must Kill So That Your Ministry Can Live

Shortly before J.I. Packer died, he was asked what his final message to the church would be. His four-word response was spot on: “Glorify Christ every way.” When you add in six words from Philippians 2:3—“Do nothing out of selfish ambition”—you have the formula for a successful life of ministry. Embolden, underline, and italicize the word “nothing,” meditate on it, and don’t deviate from it, and you’ll have a fairly solid platform for ministry.

As one who is on the older end of life (63), having seen many rise and many fall; many succeed who I kind of wish wouldn’t have, and many work from a relatively small platform that I think should be increased a hundredfold but they continue to labor primarily in quiet, I’ve arrived at a few conclusions about ministry, notoriety, and service.

I’ve preached in some of the nation’s largest churches, and likely some of the world’s smallest (about 30 in an Italian church last year). As doors open and close at this point in my life, God has increasingly challenged me to think about opportunities through a different grid than my “natural man” would have me. For however long God grants me not just life but the ability to minister (J.I. Packer’s last couple of years were quiet ones, ministry-wise, due to health issues), I must be (and I hope, you will be) vigilant about killing pride and selfish ambition. Pride and selfish ambition must die if true ministry is to live.