People Matter to God
People matter to God. Christ died for people. Ministry in the early church was a high-touch, relationally-intensive, people-driven ministry. They were devoted to one another. They cared for each another, sharing their resources and time together and encouraging each other.
Paul’s Ministry Was About People
Think about it. When the Apostle Paul wrote his letters, he never mentioned activities; he talked about people. He wrote to people that he loved and addressed their fears and problems. He invested in people with his time and effort and energy.
A Church That Turned the World Upside Down
The church at Thessalonica was a church that Paul planted on his second missionary journey. He entered the city and immediately began preaching about Jesus in the synagogue with great success. Many people believed the gospel, including Jews and many devout Greeks. They formed a church that met in Jason’s house (Acts 17.1-9). But the Jews in the city became jealous of Paul and created a riot. Dragging Jason before the city authorities, they said, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also…” (Acts 17.6).
The Power of a Relational Investment
Although Paul and Silas had to leave the city, God was mightily at work and the church began to grow, making disciples and sharing the gospel. Paul later wrote a letter to this church he loved.
“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere.” I Thessalonians 1.4-8
Love Like a Parent
This tiny house church that started in the furnace of controversy had grown to be one of the most influential churches in the region. Notice, though, as you read this letter that Paul wrote to that church, he doesn’t discuss ministry strategy or new growth initiatives. He writes about his love for them.
“We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves because you had become very dear to us” (I Thessalonians 2.7-8).
Paul is saying, “We loved you like crazy and when we came to you, we were protective of you, like a young mom nursing and caring for her children. And we didn’t just come to you with the message of the gospel, we gave our whole selves to you because we loved you so much.”
Can you feel how much Paul loved them? He keeps going. “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom” (I Thessalonians 2.11-12).
He said, “Not only were we like a nurturing mother to you, we were also like a loving father to you. We instructed you, taught you, modeled the life of Christ before you and challenged you to live your life for God and his kingdom.” Nurture and discipline. Care and challenge. Paul invested his life and his heart heavily in these people, and over time his love for them had not diminished.
Separated in Body, United in Heart
“But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you – I, Paul, again and again – but Satan hindered us” (I Thessalonians 2.17-18).
Can you hear the longing in his heart to be with these people? He talks like a parent that has been torn from his children and his heart breaks because he can’t be with them. I remember the day Liz and I took our oldest daughter off to college for the first time. We moved her stuff into the dorm room and spent the day decorating and shopping. Then the time came when we had to say goodbye. The drive home was long and hard. There were lots of tears cried that night.
Over the next several weeks, I couldn’t wait until I could see her again. I was constantly thinking about her. How is she doing? Are things ok? Is she making it without us? When can I see her next? That’s what I hear when I read Paul’s letter. These people were on his heart and on his mind and he couldn’t wait to see them again. Then he writes these powerful words.
The Pastor’s Heart
“For what is our hope and joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy” (I Thessalonians 2.19-20). Did you get that? Paul said that when he stands before Christ one day, his hope and joy and reward for ministry is simply going to be the fact that they are in heaven with him. Them in heaven will make all his efforts and struggles worth it.
Do You Love Your People Like That?
Let me ask you a really important question. Do you love your people like that? Are you nurturing them like a mother and challenging them like a father? Are you brokenhearted when you are away from them and all the while you are thinking and praying for them? Is your joy and hope and reward tied up in the lives of people you are loving and leading? For many pastors, the answer to these questions is simply…no.
Ministry Without Love Becomes Frustration
When the pastor becomes a disconnected leader of programs and initiatives without any real personal investment in the people he is leading, ministry becomes a frustration. We must never forget that our job is to invest our lives in people. That’s how Paul did it. And that is how Jesus did it.
Jesus’ Final Night: A Model of Love
On the night before his death, Jesus was reflecting on the three plus years he had invested in his men. He had plucked them out of virtual obscurity; tax collectors, fishermen, political zealots, and businessmen.
Over that time he had poured his life into them. He loved them. He challenged them. He rebuked them and pushed them. He encouraged them and protected them. And now he was about to leave them.
John 13.1 says, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Jesus loved them. He loved them enough to invest his life in them. He loved them enough to wash their feet that night. And he loved them enough to endure the cross.
Love and Investment Go Hand in Hand
I’m convinced that there is a direct relationship between love and investment. If a pastor invests little, he loves little. If a pastor pours his life into the people in his church: training, investing, encouraging, and challenging them, then his love for them will be huge.
I remember a seasoned pastor told me one time when I was just getting into the ministry, “Son, always keep the desk between you and the people.” I thought it was bad advice then, and I know it is horrible advice now. Jesus didn’t do ministry that way.
Paul didn’t do ministry that way. Can you be hurt if you put your heart out there? Yes. Will you be let down and disappointed? Yes. But if you don’t, you will eventually lose the joy in ministry altogether.
The joy in ministry is found in your personal investment in the lives of people and in watching them invest in others to the glory of God! That’s what keeps you going in ministry over the long haul.
This blog features an excerpt from one of our books, Bold Moves.
