But to Minister

My approach was to start and run a cell phone business first, and then use the proceeds to fund the ministry which I had just launched in 2003. Not bad thinking. But this approach was wrong. I got trapped in a cycle of borrowing time and treasure to scale the business, in order to stay solvent (a business is either growing or dying). The business became my obsession and there was no time left for the ministry. I had put the cart before the horse. The ministry began to thrive when I realized that I had to minister (serve) first, locally, no matter how small, and then from this place of ministry, contentedly, seek the Lord on how I can minister to more people. Adopting this approach, God revealed the industry I had to undertake to fund the ministry.

The Case for Ministry
Humans are called to be sons/ daughters of God, and they are called to minister (serve). How you minister may differ from how your neighbor ministers but ultimately, you are either serving something or someone. God or mammon. Jesus said you can’t do both. Consider the husband who won’t serve his wife but would readily sweep the floor of the female loan officer whose loan he relies on to keep his fledgling car business going. If he had knowledge, he won’t idolize his business , but instead, see it as a conduit to minister to his family. This is for that. Overtime, those lines blur, and the work becomes ministry. This gives him the overwhelming fulfillment that only ministry can confer. He is not only remunerated for ministry, but especially gets to experience, that ministry is of itself, a reward.

Not to be Ministered Unto, But to Minister
You minister (serve), neither from a place of inferiority, nor from a place of superiority. You minister from a place of rest – having entered the Lord’s rest, and seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Ministry then becomes the focus that informs your resource gathering. It compels you to labor so that others can rid themselves of their restlessness. The King of glory came down to earth and found it inoffensive to wash the feet of sinful fishermen. But to minister. How about you?