The First 3 Things to do to Build a New Ministry
There I sat pondering one question. My boxes of books were unpacked and placed on the shelves. My hard-earned diploma lay on the counter as nothing more than a loose sheet of paper, and I sat swallowed up by my newly acquired oversized desk chair on my first day at my first church wondering, “What do I do now?” A small whisper began and has continued for over thirty years since that day. In fact, along the way, I even began to understand the whisper and obey it. “Look at Jesus for your model”, was all HE said.
So, where did Jesus start? What did HE do first? Let’s take a look:
Jesus’ ministry begins in Matthew 3 with HIM going to John to be baptized when “all the people” were going to be baptized. This is the famous interaction where John questions the plan. In that moment Jesus says (Matthew 3:15), “…it is fitting…”. Other translations say, “proper, way to fulfill righteousness, do all that God requires”, etc. Some scholars say that this could be translated, “It’s the right thing to do.”
Ministry could be framed as the work of telling people the right thing to do. But that’s not where Jesus begins and I think it’s significant to take note:
Jesus doesn’t begin with telling others the right thing to do
but with doing the right thing.
The first thing to do when beginning a new ministry is to remember that I’m the first person that I need to preach the Gospel to. I need to lead myself, before I seek to lead others. My schedule may fill rapidly and very few bosses will say, “make sure you’re abiding in Jesus.” At the end of it, ministry isn’t what we do but what God supernaturally does through us. Hence, abiding takes priority over running events, proclaiming Good News, or making disciple makers. Jesus, not success (measured by any metrics), must be my daily starting point and ending point.
At His baptism, the Father proclaims 3 things to Jesus about His identity. From His baptism, Jesus is driven into the desert by God, where the Devil attacks His identity.
The second thing that I wish I had done from the start in full-time ministry is to go deeper into my identity in Christ. Discovering that I am not what parents say about me, be it good or bad. I am not the large number of students celebrating my events or leaving my ministry. I am not the responses to my newest sermon series or victories at middle school dodgeball. My identity is declared and defined by God. Like Jesus, I will by faith believe. And if I don’t, a million voices will happily give me a false identity.
“Wait, wait, wait!” you may be saying. “Look, this is all well and fine, but I need practical stuff! I’m at a new ministry, and I need some actual ministry advice on what to DO. I know all about listening to Jesus, but…” Do you?
What’s the first thing a baby does when it’s born? Think about it. At what point will a person stop doing it? When will they outgrow it? The first thing a baby does is something every person will do throughout their life and literally be the very last thing they do.
BREATHE
Why are these the very first things Jesus did? What is He modeling to us? Because abiding in Jesus is our breathing, and it is only then that we find the glorious freedom of knowing who and whose we are.
So, what’s the third thing Jesus does? After leaving the desert, Jesus returned to John and began to invite people into a relationship with HIM where HE reveals HIS identity and reframes their identity as they believe in him. One thing I see here that I’d strongly encourage young ministry leaders to delve into is this:
Jesus doesn’t jump in and start building a ministry,
HE invites people in and starts building ministers.
HE frames up from the beginning what HE’s going to be about. In fact, we see here, at the very beginning, what will be HIS life work – making disciples. Before big events, amazing sermons, and cool miracles, HE recognizes it’s about people.
I wish all those years ago someone had helped me look at Jesus and see that it’s all about making disciples, not about running a great ministry. It’s not about rallying people to build programs but leveraging programs to build people. Oh, the freedom it brings to understand what we are trying to do. It changes everything when we really understand that whether the sermon is a home run or the worst, whether the event has record-setting numbers or barely any attendance – I can still walk with people in a relationship and help them become disciple makers.
I’m still learning to “look at Jesus for my model”, but like Farmers Insurance, “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.” And now, more than ever, I’m convinced Jesus is modeling to me how to be a disciple maker and how to build a disciple-making ministry. So, whatever HE does first at HIS new ministry, I’m gonna be really interested in when I’m at a new ministry. Now, of course, there are many more things Jesus does and models after these three, but that’s for another blog.
If you’re new to ministry—or if you simply want to start again on the right foundation—begin with these three things:
- Build a real relationship with Jesus.
- Let that relationship define you more than any title, accomplishment, or failure.
- Grow in clarity about what you’re called to build and develop the skills to build it well.
And one more thing—spoiler alert: You’re not building a ministry. You’re building people.
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