The beginning step is for one to live by God’s grace. Christianity is based more on faith than on seeing. The bible talks about how by faith people do please God. God’s word says that it is not by strength but rather by the spirit of God. It also adds that the people of God shall live because of faith. I strongly agree that as a Christian you need to acknowledge the God’s grace.
Personally, I have realized that though you may not be as competent in carrying out duties yet when you trust in God He gives you the supernatural ability to work much better. The church needs to encourage the member to live by the God’s grace by trusting more on God than in their own abilities
Bonding with your people is the second point. God made humans in His likeness and image so that He could fellowship with them. This simply implies that we being in the nature of God should be people who relate well with others since our creator loves fellowship. Relating well with people leads to formation of bonds.
As a Christian that is serving God, you will only be able to know people very well after bonding well with them. This leads to creation of a good rapport between you. Through knowing people, they with time do develop confidence in you and can start opening up to you and even start sharing with you on issues that do affect them
Personally when people do share with me I use my God given abilities to just counsel them according to the bible and to encourage them by assuring them that God is watching over them and knows what they are going through. At the end of it all I realize that I am fulfilling the purpose of God over my life by being an instrument He can use to reach his people.
The third point is where one is supposed to exercise gift evoking leadership. I believe that God created all people as leaders in different ways. However, at some point, people have never exploited their leadership potentials. As leaders when we are anywhere and things seem not to be working out we need not just sit back in our places of comfort and wait for others to give solutions. As life-giving pastors or Christians, we should step out and exercise the leadership gifts that God has given us.
Personally, I am a pro-active individual, I use this ability to ensure that every time I am a participant in any activity I don’t wait for things to move from bad to worse before I move in. If Christians embraced this notion then there would be more order in the church. This is because if everyone is a leader in their own way there would no be shifting of blame as people will learn to own up responsibilities.
The fourth point talks of people being lifelong pastors. We as Christians can at times be compared to shepherds who have a mandate over the flocks that they do tend. Being a pastor should not be viewed as any type of career that earns one cash for a good living. It should on contrary be seen as a calling from God that should remain as long as one is still living.
As a pastor-to-be, I purpose to remain a pastor for the rest of my life because I strongly feel that with the dawning of every new day so do there come more responsibilities on me to take care of God’s people. This can not be a temporary event but rather a lifetime. Even after I retire from the position I still will not stop playing the role of being a pastor to people. For them, I will remain the pastor to whom they look up to.
The fifth habit for effective ministry is having something to say and saying it well. One should not lack something to say as a servant in God’s kingdom. You should always have something to say so that when opportunities avail themselves you do not squander them but rather utilize them very well.
In the bible many people that met Jesus never lacked what to say, for example, the blind man at the well, told Jesus that he wanted to receive his sight back and he received exactly that. Personally, I always purpose to know what I really want so that when opportunities arise I do not miss out.
The sixth habit for effective ministry is for one to be the good steward of time. Time will never wait for any man and it is said to be a precious commodity. God likes people who are well organized especially regarding time. In Proverbs, we are encouraged to copy the ants that gather their food in good time and store them well so that in seasons of scarcity they may not lack anything.
As Christians, we should be good planners so that we do things at the right time. Personally, I endeavor to be a good master over time. I manage this through having a diary and planning my schedules early enough so as to minimize time loss. By being a good manager of time you do also make people appreciate you more because they know that you are an organized person.
Picking the battles we fight wisely and fighting them well is described as the seventh point. We should not rush to engage in every battle that comes before us. We have to be strategic in what we do. Even the Israelites in the bible, never just rushed for a battle unless God had first given them the go-ahead.
When confronted with situations I usually do not just plunge myself in them but do take time to seek counsel from God even as I think deeply about the consequences that do come along. I then do weigh the options as I try forging the best way forward. I then do lay down strategies that will help me emerge a victor at the end of it all.
The eighth point according to Lowell is that one should not just be prophetic but pastoral as well. Being pastoral only is not enough but you also need divine revelation to enable you to lead the church well. Issues relating to God are very complex and thus by your own human understanding, you may struggle very much to know what God really requires of you especially when you are undertaking His assignments.
As a pastor, I do really need divine revelation from God to know the right direction to follow. This is necessitated by the fact that in this time and age there are many things happening that affect the Christian lifestyle. It thus would be very hard for one to specify what a Christian should or should not do unless you have the divine revelation.
The ninth habit to effective leadership is for one to respect boundaries. One needs to have well-set boundaries in their Christian life if they are to remain effective. The bible says that you are to remain either cold or warm, God says that He detests lukewarm people and that He will spit them out of His mouth.
Lack of clear set boundaries leads to much compromise in Christian principles thus rendering the Christian faith ineffective. Personally, I have clearly outlined what is befitting and non-befitting for a Christian so as to avoid getting myself in compromising situations. For example, with alcohol no matter the amount is taken its consumption shall always remain sinful to me.
Growing in God’s grace is the last point that is discussed in effective ministry. God detests Christians who do not want to grow, we should endeavor to grow and become better by day in God’s grace. Paul in his letters asks whether people will sin for grace to abound. We should not be that way, if anything we should make use of grace to ensure that we live right with God and strive to grow in the issue regarding Christian matter.
By God’s grace I appreciate that though am not good enough, God is giving me chance to become better by striving to overcome the weakness that I struggle with. I also do pray and even fast as I meditate on God’s word. With time I find myself growing in issues concerning God’s grace.
References
Habits for Effective Ministry: A Guide for Life-Giving Pastors” by Larry O. Erdahl