Jesus also had an effective approach to ministry, hence he was very successful. His approach, as also considered in this work, was prayer. He had constant communion and fellowship with God; from which he derived wisdom, instruction and direction. He alluded that he could do nothing by himself, except what he saw his Father doing (John 5:19).
In Jesus’ first public sermon delivered in a synagogue at Nazareth, he announced his manifesto with its interests clearly cantered on the poor, captives, blind and oppressed (Luke 4:18-19). This reveals that Jesus has deep concern for the poor and cares about their troubles.
Luke tells us that Jesus went for a dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and there he challenged the normal practice of His time, which is still common today: our love to identify with the rich, powerful and famous people of the society, while not having anything to do with indigents and mendicants. Jesus spoke favourably of the poor, crippled, lame and blind, and in this way he made a profound declaration of his affection for this group of people.
“Then he turned to his host. ‘When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,’ he said, ‘don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and the rich neighbours. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you (Luke 12:12-14 NLT).
This scripture clearly shows that Jesus has a perspective on the helpless that perfectly agrees with the Scripture of Old Testament. Proverbs 19:17 says, “When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the LORD, and the LORD will pay you back” (GNB) .This means that the lowly of the society are people much close to the heart of God. Therefore, to care for them implies caring for God himself.
Personally, my hesitation to serve the poor is usually because I don’t know where to start. The needs are so great around me, but my resources are few. However, since God wants us to care for the needy, I will simply give whatever I have to help the poor, and I will extend a hand of care and affection to as many as I meet who are hurting or relegated to a zero status.
It is amazing that as important and busy as Jesus was, he still had time to care and assess the potentials in kids. “Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said, ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me” (Mark 9:36-37 NLT). This is instructive for me. I usually get so busy with activities and very fast to achieve goals that I starve my little niece and nephew and other kids in the neighbourhood of a warm embrace, and other times I don’t even give them attention because they don’t seem to matter. But if Jesus could find time to take a child in his arms, then activities shouldn’t be an excuse for me. Moreover, Jesus said that whoever receives one child like this in his name has received him. Ultimately, it means that Jesus is pleased when we please kids who are around us.
On another occasion, some children were brought to Jesus so that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the parents! The disciples may have concluded that Jesus was busy and was up to important things; therefore, it was no time for kids, but to our surprise, Jesus responded differently; ”Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children” (Matthew 19:14 NLT).
I am beginning to see that no aspect of ministry should exempt children. Whatever activity, event or program the church is doing, there should be a place to take kids in. If Jesus Christ, who is our Lord, did not make distinctions in ministry towards children then it is inappropriate of us, his followers, to make these distinctions. When the church is running events and programs, planning committees can ingeniously figure out a way to take kids in. After all, they are deserving of our attention because they will be the future pastors, missionaries, teachers, writers, statesmen, industrialists and investors.
“Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! (Luke15:1-2).
According to Old Testament law, religious leaders in Israel were always careful to stay clean. Therefore they avoided certain people like the tax-collectors who were reputed for extortion and fraud. But because Jesus came to offer salvation to sinners, and to show that God loves them, he didn’t worry about accusations and sanctions that could result from associating with these people.
This observation of the character of Christ touches my heart. It reminds me that my elder brother Rev. Sam would not have become a reverend today had his pastor friend Shiloh not patiently followed up on him even when Sam was backslidden. Rev. Sam now lives a transformed Christian life and he is affecting lives of very many people to the glory of God. The character of Christ teaches me that I can associate and befriend sinners and bad boys, and trust God to use me to influence their lives to His glory. After all, the light which we are would be of no use if we do not reach out to people cloaked in the darkness.
Mark tells us that Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and he began to observe how the multitude was putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large amounts, but contrary to what was expected of Jesus, he disapproved of the offerings of the rich. Instead, he spoke favourably of the offering of the poor widow; he promoted her and showed his acceptance for her meagre giving.
“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on’”(Mark 12:43-44 NLT).
If Jesus disregarded the rich because they had not given in proportion to their riches and commended a poor widow who had nothing more than two small coins, then it is expedient that in ministry should I have the courage to vehemently disapprove of any acts that do not glorify God, not minding whether the doer is the biggest giver in the church. And I must give fair commendation to the poor and ordinary people when they are obedient to God, not minding whether the rich would be offended by such mention.
Different people hold different views as to the approach or method of Jesus to ministry. However, of a most significant note was his constant dependence on the Father, and he achieved this through living a prayerful life. John writes, “So Jesus explained, ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does” (John 5:19 NLT)
It was through prayer that Jesus received instructions that formulated his approach to ministry. Two critical turning points in the ministry of Jesus were initiated only after he had duly prayed. The first was just before his ministry launched out. Mark hints that Jesus went to pray when he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he spent forty day and forty nights fasting and obviously praying too (Mark 4:1-2). He found this necessary before beginning ministry because it was in prayer and communion with God that he would receive instructions for ministry.
A second turning point in his ministry was when he chose the twelve disciples. Jesus embarked on a night-long prayer so as to be able to choose the right people by the wisdom of God: “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles...” (Luke 6:12-13).
Also, when Jesus performed the land-mark miracle of feeding the five thousand, he sent the people away and went up on a hill to pray (Matthew 14:21). In keeping with his method, Jesus withdrew in a boat and headed for a lonely place when he heard of the death of John; obviously he went to pray and this was shortly before he fed the five thousand (Matthew 14:13).
Jesus’ approach to ministry is amazing and if I must succeed in ministry, then I have to adopt it and do the same. I need to constantly commune with the Father, and depend on him for instructions and directions as to what to do in ministry and how to do it. Prayer is the only tried and true approach to ministry: prayer for wisdom, understanding and direction, and Jesus recommends it to us (Matthew 26:41, Mark 6:31).
Finally, Jesus’ character and approach to ministry are very important areas from which today’s minister can draw helpful lessons that can help in effective execution of God’s work. Jesus had a disposition to attend to the lowly, befriend them and to promote their cause. These are areas of ministry that God wants us to give adequate attention to. (Isaiah 1:17; Psalm 82:3).
How about prayer? Can we succeed in ministry without it? This was Jesus’ approach, and the first thing he did before initiating any critical move in his ministry. It is Sidlow Baxter’s quote which reads, “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, and despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” Obviously, when we pray, things happen in our ministries, and we succeed in doing God.’
Coleman, Robert E., The Master Plan of Evangelism, 3rd Edition, Michigan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1993.
Hunt, John P.T., Notes on the Life of Christ, 2007 Revision.
“Jesus as Praying: Taking time alone with God,” http://www.jesuscentral.com/ji/jesus-parables-teachings/jesus-example/jesus-praying.php ,accessed 19 April 2009.
Life Application Study Bible, NLT, 2nd Edition, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2007.
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