My Philosophy in Ministry
As you can probably tell there are a
few words that are incredibly important to me.
Where I go they go. They are
Whatever, Wherever, Whenever, and Whoever.
Whatever:
It
is my desire that everyone would grow to a point of faith, obedience, and trust
to say “whatever” to God. As Peter
stepped out of the boat to walk on water, it didn’t matter what was in the
way. Peter was going to be obedient,
even if it meant walking on water. It is
my passion to see students and adults alike to say, “Whatever it is Lord, I
will do it.” Some would say this is the hardest thing to say to God but I would
say it is simply the first.
Wherever:
To
say “Wherever God” is to simply add Isaiah 6 and the Great Commission
together. God brought Isaiah to a point
in his life where he gave up everything and said “yes” to God. The Trinity asked in Isaiah's presence, “Who
will go for Us?” Without knowing any
details about the mission Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me.” He essentially said, “Wherever you, Lord,
want me to go I will go.” Some might say
this would be the hardest thing to say to God but I would say you’re focused on
the mere costs.
Whenever:
To
say “whenever” to God’s call requires the next level of willingness to put
aside our schedules, plans, and arrangements.
Saying “whenever” doesn't mean having no plans of our own. It means when God calls, because He is Lord,
we choose His plans over ours because His ways are higher than our ways and His
plans are greater than ours. Some might
say this would be the most challenging thing to say to God but I would say
their focused on ordinary scheduling.
Whoever
I
would contend that saying “whoever” to God’s call is the most difficult out of
the four. Saying “whoever” means whoever
God sends you to or sends to you, you are faithful in not only showing them the
Gospel by your actions but also sharing with them the Gospel by your words. This is the most difficult because, like
Jonah, we all have prejudices we must overcome before love can be
expressed. Saying “whoever” means you
understand that God loves everyone and Jesus died so that anyone might have
forgiveness of their sins. “Whatever,”
“wherever,” and “whenever” are reflected by our faith, hope, and love of God while
our love of our neighbor is reflected in saying “whoever.”
I believe the Great Commission of
both the Church as Jesus’ body and the Christian its members is satisfied when
all four words are lived out. Missing
one of them reveals a certain level not of immaturity but incompleteness. Just as the Body of Christ (the Church) is
incomplete when its members are absent, so is the Christian when one of these
words is absent. I believe these words
fulfill the Great Commission, the 1st and 2nd greatest
commandments, as well as all other teachings of the Old Testament, Jesus, and
his disciples.
