ACTS "The Right Approach to Ministry"- Acts 20:17-21 - Part 1

Brett Meador: The first thing that Paul says: "You know what manner I've been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord."
Kurt (Guest): On today's word, Pastor Brett Meador observing Paul's approach to ministry. The mistake some pastors think they're serving a church, the lost, the unsaved. No. You see, I was fortunate enough as a young minister to have a mentor come to me and say, "Brett, whatever you do, don't serve the people, don't serve this, that, or the other thing. Your job is to serve the Lord." Paul exhorted the church elders at Ephesus in Acts Chapter 20 with a ministry model that remains just as relevant for today. As Pastor Brett Meador examines his guidelines for effective ministry in today's world, we explore why these principles apply to all of us, learn how to put his instructions into practice, and see why this is essential as we seek to share the gospel.
Brett Meador: A mother went into her son's bedroom and said, "Son, it's time to get up. It's Sunday morning. You've got to go to church." The son grabbed the pillow and stuck it over his head. He said, "I don't want to go to church. First, the people don't like me, the sermons are boring, and people are mean to me. I don't want to go." The mom said, "You've got to go, son. First, people love you, they don't hate you. Secondly, the sermons are really good. Thirdly, you're the pastor." Pastors—that is, like a senior pastor of a church—that's an endangered species, as it turns out. Did you know right now the average time that a church goes pastorless in our country is two years? If there's a pastor that resigns or quits, they go for two years before they find, on average, someone to replace them. Did you know that most pastors burn out in two years? The average pastor lasts two years in the ministry before burning out in some way, shape, or form. An estimated 15,000 churches will close in America this year. Can you believe that? I didn't even know there were 15,000 churches, but there's a lot of churches in America. They're saying about 15,000 of them will close, and that's following the trend which is on an upward swing. A lot of pastors say some of the main reasons why they get out—one of the big ones, 80% of pastors—believe the pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. Many pastors' children do not attend church now because of what the church has done to their parents. That's what they say. I have some theories on that myself. I think sometimes kids that are pastors' kids—there's an idiom for that, PKs—it's a negative thing. I think PKs can be that because sometimes they think they see their dad, their pastor dad, be one thing in the pulpit and another thing at home. He's at church, "Hey, God bless you," then he goes home and kicks the dogs and yells at his wife and stuff like that. I think the kids see the hypocrisy. I think there's a lot of other problems with that, but at the same time, there's a lot of reasons why people are saying, "Yeah, whatever, I don't want to be a pastor." I think there's a problem right now with people being willing to step up to the ministry that they're called to. When I look at that, I realize that's a problem. Those statistics, by the way, are from Fuller Institute, George Barna, and Lifeway. I think I was really called to the ministry, and probably the number one reason I know I was called is because I love being in the ministry so much. I've never really thought I should quit. I've never got to the point where I think, "I'm really tired of this and bored of this." I've been doing this for a long time. I've been in ministry on a clergy level, where I'm a paid staff of a church, for 40 years. I feel like I've got the greatest job in the world. I love being a pastor. I think part of that is because I'm really called. I think the Lord's called me to do something. Honestly, the stuff you see me do, like preaching and teaching, that's the fun stuff. I do that for free. I work in the week time running, being a part of leading this church. It's a big deal. There's a lot of people, a lot of staff and leadership and volunteers. It's a full-time job, and I love that too. But the preaching of the gospel and doing what I do like right this minute, this is the fun part. The problem is ministry is something you need to be called to, and the question is: what are you called to? I know what I'm called to, but did you know if you're a Christian and you believe in Christ, you are an ordained minister of God? Brett, speak for yourself. You're an ordained minister. I'm not an ordained minister. Yes, you are. How do I know that? Well, the Bible says that. Jesus said that. Brett, I don't know. I've never received an ordination. We tend to make bigger things out of stuff that we probably should be careful about. Most of you think, "Well, if you're an ordained minister, you have some kind of certificate from a church denomination, and if you're licensed and ordained." That process did happen for me. I started ministry volunteering. I was a volunteer when I was a little kid. I started when I was eight. I was the kid hauling all the chairs and setting up tables and doing whatever I could. I remember at 11, they let me run the sound. Can you believe that? At 12, I was running sound one service, and I started teaching Sunday school another service. I just go from the sound booth to the first-grade classroom, and I was only 12 years old. I was a year and a half older than the sixth graders, and I was teaching the Sunday school class of sixth graders. I loved teaching the Bible and doing that. Five years later, I just kept teaching. They made me the children's pastor of a large church. Thousands of people. I was the children's pastor from nursery through sixth grade. A few years after that, they made me an elder in the church. Nineteen years old, I was an elder in the church. I was a younger elder, but I'm really thankful for that. I was able to jump right into ministry and being a part of church leadership, and I really am thankful for that. It really was preparing me for so much that the Lord had ahead of my life. So, at 19, I became licensed and ordained. Licensing means you can marry and bury people, and I started marrying and burying a lot of people. That licensing is more recognized by the State of Oregon. Anyway, I became a licensed and ordained minister. If you're a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ and you're saved by the grace of God, congratulations. You're the minister. You're an ordained minister of God. How do I know that? It's not me. It's the Bible. Remember what Jesus said? Jesus said—and let's talk about who he's talking to—he's talking to not guys that even have the Holy Spirit breathed upon them yet. These are just fishermen from Galilee. These are guys that are not professional ministers. They're not paid clergymen. These are volunteers at best, and they almost know nothing. What does Jesus say? He says to them, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you." Notice the word ordained there. "Ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain. That whatsoever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you." This is so great. If you're a disciple of Christ, which I believe anyone who is saved, that's something you need to be: a disciple. What is a disciple? That's a follower of Jesus, one who's being trained by Jesus. What did Jesus say to his disciples that day? He said, "You didn't choose me, but I chose you and have ordained you" to do what? The word ordained is an interesting word. This word ordination, we've puffed it up, like, "Oh, you're an ordained minister." For me, ordination was to be recognized by the church as a lifelong pastor, someone called to the ministry. I appreciated that. I got a certificate of ordination from my church, and I went through the studies and all the things that were required to become an ordained minister. I appreciate that. But really, ordination's more simple. It's Jesus, and what does the word ordination mean in the Greek? The word is tithemi, which means to set, put, place, to make, fix, or establish. I believe your NIV or ESV, the newer translations, say "appointed". Jesus says, "And I have appointed you, ordained you, that you should go forth and do what? Bring forth fruit." Now, this isn't just any fruit, because some of you say, "I'm an ordained minister, and I'm going to bring forth fruit. I have a career. I make lots of money. I've got a business. Fruit." It's not that kind of fruit, because that's the fruit that perishes. The fruit that Jesus is talking about is spiritual fruit. Good fruit that's spiritual fruit. As an ordained minister of God, you're going to bring forth fruit, and it's defined when it says, "And that your fruit should remain." The idea is that it's going to last for eternity. What are you called to as a Christian when Christ ordains you? What are you supposed to be doing? You're supposed to be bringing forth spiritual fruit. How spiritually fruitful are you personally? Are you sharing the gospel? Are you leading people to Christ? Are you being a light and an example? Is there fruit that's evident in your life? Because Christ said, "I've chosen you and have ordained you that you and I, that we should bring forth fruit." It's an eternal fruit that's going to last even in heaven. Then it goes and says—and people take this part of the Bible out of context all the time—it says, "That whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you." Everyone says, "Oh, ask whatever you want in the name of Christ to the Father, then he'll give it." In Jesus' name, I claim a Ferrari. Well, that's dumb. That's not the context of what this is talking about. This is saying when it comes to you bearing fruit and being ordained in ministry to serve and bring forth fruit, you can ask the Lord's help. Whatever you ask in the context of this, of your ministry that God's given to you to be effective in ministry, you can ask, and the Lord, the Father says, "I'll give it to you if you're wanting to bring forth good fruit." What a beautiful thing. Guess what? You're all ordained ministers if you're a disciple of Jesus, if you're saved, if you're a Christian. Brett, are you saying I have to go up and start a church or preach? No. Just because you're an ordained minister... and by the way, the word minister is another word that's been puffed up too much. Does anybody know what the real word, the definition of minister, is? What is that? Servant. Servant. And the word servant in the Bible always comes from the word translated doulos, which means slave. That's the real beginning. Somewhere along history, when a guy became a minister of the gospel, that became, "Whoa, he's a person in the community that should be esteemed." That's not the original intention. Pastors were always meant to be servants. Serving, working. I'm always amazed how I observe some of the pastors that burn out. It's a little weird because not only are they not really serving, they're being served, and they're taking a six-month sabbatical and they're doing their thing, and there's not as much serving, and then they burn out. I'm like, "What? No." I think we're all called to be servants, doulos, which is a bondslave. We'll get into that a little bit more later, but more importantly, and I'm so thankful for our volunteers here, it makes Athey Creek run, actually. But at the same time, the real service begins when you walk out of this building. When you go to work tomorrow and go to school tomorrow, that's when your ministry game is on. What Athey Creek, what we want to be, is a place where you can come and be recharged and refreshed and ready to roll to leave here. So, wherever you go tomorrow, whether it's work or school or your neighborhood, or if you're a stay-at-home mom, you've got your little congregation right there. Game on. Your ministry needs to be bringing forth good fruit. You are ordained, tithemi. The Lord has set you in that place. He's put you in that place, established you there to bring forth good fruit. You might say, "Brett, that's great, good for you that you're a minister and you love it, but I'm not sure I know what to do." One of the things that we've been studying in the book of Acts is we've been watching Paul the Apostle, and he's ministering. Man, he's going from town to town, loving on people, preaching the gospel. He's going through all kinds of troubles and trials, but he's there because he's wanting to share the good news. That's one of the main ministries you all have: to share the gospel. That is repentance—that we repent of our sin and believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, who died on the cross for the sins of the world. That's your number one ministry. Brett, that's your job. You're supposed to preach the gospel. I'll do that, but do you understand all the people that you engage during the week will never set foot in a church? You're the only person, maybe, that is a Christian around some of those people. You're in the sea of cubicles. Where's the nearest Christian in your sea of cubicles? Are you the lone Christian? The Lord has ordained you to be in that place. He's fixed you there to be a light in a very dark world. Well, Paul, he ministers to the people. Then what happens here is Paul, after seeing the whole town of Ephesus—which was a completely pagan city—it turned upside down. We saw the silversmith, Demetrius, was furious because nobody was buying their little Diana goddesses anymore. So, they caused a riot in the city, saying, "This Paul, he is causing trouble. Our financial situation, nobody's buying our idols anymore." Paul had literally changed the whole city by preaching the gospel from house to house. In these houses, they didn't have a church building like the Athey Creek building here. They just had houses. So, Paul would go from house to house, and he set up elders in each house. From house to house, there were elders. These elders, they were laypeople. They were not professional clergymen. They were just volunteers saying, "We'll lead what the Lord's doing, the church here in Ephesus." So, there was a bunch of elders that were established by Paul's ministry. Then our story here, and where we come to our text, Paul then calls all these elders to come and visit him in Miletus. He goes to Miletus, and these elders come, and Paul says something that's going to be super important for you and me. You are like those elders who are not professionals, but they're just called and ordained to bring forth good fruit. Paul's going to give them a little lesson on how to minister to people. How do you minister? How do you become effective in ministry? There's podcasts that will try to tell you this. There's books that have been written that attempt to give you their two cents' worth. But this is Paul the Apostle saying, "Here's how I came to you in Ephesus before you were even Christians. You were all pagans, and I came. Here's how I ministered to you guys." This is a treasure trove for anybody who wants to be a good minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's right here. It's here in Acts Chapter 20, verses 17 through 21. Let's take a look. It says in Acts 20:17: "And from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, 'You know, from the first day that I came into Asia'"—that's Asia Minor, Turkey—"'after that manner which I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.'" "'And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.'" By the way, these elders come to Paul. They love this. They love Paul. They come, and we're going to see where they hug him and kiss him on the neck. "Please don't leave us. We want you to stay with us, please." Paul's like, "No, I've got work to do, sorry. Probably won't see you again, but God bless you." But he loved them. They loved him. This is like a lovefest that's happening. The reason I say that is because these elders didn't hear verse 18 and say, "Well, that's not really true, Paul." What do you mean? Remember in verse 18, it says Paul starts with, "You know." "You guys know that when I came to you from the very first day, what manner I've been with you at all seasons." In other words, he was there for more than two years. Paul's able to say with confidence, "You guys know what kind of ministry I did with you guys." Then he enumerates the ministry he did. That's what we're going to look at here in a second. But not one elder said, "Well, Paul, you really weren't all of that." Nobody challenges him because what Paul's going to say is absolutely true. He actually did minister in this way. It's our goal to look at Paul's seven attributes of his character, characteristics of his ministry that I think you and I would do well to note. In fact, this would be worth memorizing. Because, guess what? You're ordained. "Well, what do I do? How do I minister to people?" Seven things of how to minister. Then also we end with what you're supposed to minister. It's all right here in these few verses. So, let's go with that. The first thing that Paul says: "You know what manner I've been with you," verse 19, "serving the Lord." Stop right there. This is giant. Number one on your list, if you're taking down notes: number one, serving the Lord. This idea of serving the Lord, when you're ordained into the ministry, this is the most fundamental goof I see people in ministry make all the time. Whether you're a layman volunteer or a professional pastor. In fact, I think this might be why so many pastors are bailing out of the ministry because they don't get this part. Question as a guy called to the ministry in the clergy pastor staff level pastor, who am I serving? Well, the mistake is some pastors think they're serving, like if it were me, serving Athey Creek. Am I serving Athey Creek? Nope. I don't look at it that way. Am I serving the lost that are unsaved in Portland? Nope. You see, I was fortunate enough as a young minister to have a mentor come to me and say, "Brett, whatever you do, don't serve the people, don't serve the church, don't serve this, that, or the other thing. Your job is to serve the Lord." I thought, "Well, aren't we supposed to have a servant heart toward the congregation?" No, he said, "Listen, if you're serving the Lord, then do whatever the Lord calls you to do. And if that is to serve the Lord by serving this congregation, that's the key." But the reason he was giving me this admonition was because of something he'd already known that I didn't. What do you do when you're serving people for the purpose of serving people, and the people end up hating you? What happens there? Well, that's called "church hurt." It's a term that people really popularized this last 10 years. When people hate you—you've poured your life into them—consider Jeremiah the prophet. Question: how many people actually listened to or did anything Jeremiah ever said in his 42 years of ministry? I've been at it for 40 years. For 42 years, Jeremiah did heartbreaking, heavy-duty, life-threatening work. How many people listened? Zero. Not one person in 42 years ever listened to, did anything Jeremiah ever said or did. You say, "Well, he was a failure." Well, I think not. Why was Jeremiah not a failure? Well, he wrote his prophecy of Jeremiah, the book there. Guess who Jesus quoted more than any other prophet of the Old Testament? Jeremiah's the one Jesus quoted more than any other prophet. You might say Jonah was the most productive. He just walked into the city and half-heartedly said, "Repent, whatever," and the whole city repented. Mr. Success. But really, Jesus didn't quote a lot of Jonah. But it was Jeremiah who was serving the Lord, and so he stuck with it. He didn't bail out of ministry. My mentor said, "Hey, Brett, when you're ministering to this classroom of kids, it's okay to love these kids and care about them, but don't do it for the purpose of serving them. You need to be serving Christ because what happens if this youth group, some of these kids blow off your messages and some don't get saved?" "What if some of these kids later on become drug addicted and move in a direction of their life that's so heartbreaking and sad?" You know what's interesting is that happened. I've gone to jails and bailed out old youth group kids from my youth group from jail. There's been international news on some of my old youth group kids of horrifying things they did that were criminal. That's disheartening. Didn't I teach them all those years in Sunday school? What happened? But I realize I've got to be faithful to the one I'm serving. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. That way, you don't get burnout when people may or may not listen to you. If I would have kept going based on success, I would not be here today. I remember when we first started Athey Creek years ago. I told you my story: 12-year-old teaching Sunday school, 17-year-old children's pastor, 19-year-old ordained license, and I did that till I was 30. Licensed, ordained minister. Did over 500 weddings by the time I moved to Portland when I was 30 years old. Started Athey Creek. But would I have done that if I only based on my success? The funny thing about Athey Creek, the original Athey Creek, I came up here for a whole summer teaching the book of Daniel. We started with six, then went to eight, then went to 12, then went to two. Then went to three and then back to two. The incredible shrinking ministry. Now, if I would have gone on those numbers, I would have been like, "I think we're not starting a church up here in the Portland area." But the Lord just kept stirring our hearts. Man, if I could have a buck for every time I started some Bible study that nobody ever showed up to. If you're a young dude and you're saying, "I want to be a pastor and I'm going to have a Wednesday night Bible study like Pastor Brett, that's what I'm going to do." Can I just say you need to have about 50 failures before you actually get the Bible study where people actually show up. But the Lord stirs things up. I wasn't serving to try to have as many people as possible. I was saying, "I just need to be faithful to what God has called me to do." My fulfillment is not going to be necessarily in my success of numbers or how many people are saved, even. You're not serving a church, a ministry, or an organization. You've got to consider it: I am serving the Lord in a way that is going to be pleasing to him, the Lord himself. So, the problem is you'll be let down in ministry. No wonder so many people have "church hurt." They're serving and they're wanting a pat on the back and they're wanting accolades and they want position. No, I kind of hope that if you volunteer, you're not looking for a pat on the back, but you're serving the Lord. That's sustainable. I just need to be faithful like Jeremiah in serving the Lord.
Kurt (Guest): Pastor Brett Meador illustrating how it's our faithfulness to the one we are serving, the Lord Jesus, that is to be our focus as ministers of the gospel. And there's more we'll be learning from this message titled "The Right Approach to Ministry" next time on Today's Word. And I'd invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here in a moment. If you missed any portion of our time today, you'll find all of his messages online at todayswordradio.com. Today's Word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church in the Portland, Oregon area, where Pastor Brett Meador's senior pastor. Each day, Pastor Brett will dive deep into God's word with a verse-by-verse look into scripture. We invite you to find out more by going to todayswordradio.com. That's todayswordradio.com. Okay, Pastor Brett is with me now. You know, with Today's Word Radio being heard nationwide, coast to coast, including on SiriusXM, there might be some folks who would like to help support this radio program. Brett, if someone wanted to help, how can they do that?
Brett Meador: You know, Kurt, first of all, I want to say how grateful we are for every person who listens, prays, shares the program, and supports this ministry. Today's Word Radio exists for really one primary purpose: to take the word of God to as many people as possible, to point them to Jesus Christ. We're just so thankful that these Bible teachings are now reaching people across the country. But that outreach is funded by Christians who stood with us in support. So, for anyone who feels led by the Lord to support Today's Word Radio, you can visit our website, find information about giving there. Support isn't really just limited to finances. You can pray for the ministry, you can tell a friend about the program, you can maybe share an episode with someone who needs encouragement. All of those things help the word of God reach more ears. Paul spoke of believers who were partners with him in the gospel. That's how we view those who stand with us in Today's Word Radio. You greatly help us when we're sharing the hope of Jesus to our radio audience. So, thank you. We never take support for granted.
Kurt (Guest): That's very true, Pastor Brett. We do appreciate our radio listeners who help support Today's Word Radio through prayer, financial support, and sharing this program with others. Friend, if you feel led to support Today's Word Radio financially, you can do that by visiting our website at todayswordradio.com. Just click on the link that says "Give". Again, todayswordradio.com and click the link "Give". Well, that's all the time we have. Next time, Pastor Brett will reflect on various New Testament disciples who all thought of themselves as servants of the Lord by choice, and the Apostle Paul had some thoughts on that. Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.