Philosophy of Ministry – Video’s Attached
LaMar Herndon’s Philosophy of Ministry
My personal philosophy of ministry has a two-fold approach to it. There is my personal philosophy of ministry as a child of God, and then vocationally as a pastor relative to Christ’s church.
Let us begin with my personal philosophy of ministry as a Christian. If there is a driving force in my life, it is that of being a life-long learner, enjoying the pursuit of knowledge in many academic arenas. As a believer, it is my desire to grow spiritually through the avenues of prayer, study, and counsel.This necessitates the pursuit of knowledge and the wise application of it to my life. The purpose of study however, is to produce life change in a visible, tangible way. If I am not growing personally in my relationship with Christ, I will also be failing in my responsibilities to Jesus Christ, and to my family as a husband and father. In this respect, how could I hope to successfully lead God’s people and his church helping people/inquirers to cross the line of faith, from unbelief to belief, and ultimately penetrate the marketplace of life with the message of Jesus Christ in a culturally relevant manner?
John Maxwell has stated quite succinctly, “If you a leader and no one is following guess what, you are not a leader.” Spiritual leadership begins in the home and carries over into the church. Maxwell has also stated “It takes a leader to know a leader, grow a leader, and show a leader.” The goal here is to stay on the current and cutting edge as a child of God and as a minister, necessitating constant spiritual growth and renewal. As I continually seek to have my personal philosophy of ministry in place, it will carry/spill over into my professional philosophy of ministry. Our ministry is a personal reflection of our heart and mind, attitudes and values, reflected in pubic for all to view and question.
The passion and goal of my professional philosophy of ministry is many fold. It too begins with the importance of being a life-long learner. It is imperative for a minister in the Church and society today to be aware of the sociological, philosophical, and cultural ideologies and context in which we find ourselves living, in order to successfully pastor and lead the body of Christ. Not only must we be biblically literate and knowledgeable, humble and empathetic, visionary and continually learning; but we must be able to lead people to cross that line of faith into a personal relationship with Jesus. Then we must assist them to grow and mature as they discover their spiritual giftedness, begin to minister within the body of Christ and live out their lives out in the marketplace of life with a Christian worldview. As they do this, they establish relationships with inquirer’s which ultimately sees them crossing the line of faith at which point the cycle repeats itself repeatedly. This is what being contextually missional in our community looks like. This is how evangelism takes place.
As I understand the New Testament role of a pastor, my primary responsibility is to enable Christ’s church to become an Acts 2 model church. As I understand it, the pastor’s primary responsibility is to study the Word to preach, teach, instruct, mentor and ultimately lead the people of God. This being stated, a pastor needs to lead by example. Our Lord does not desire for us remain behind study walls, but to go out ourselves into the marketplace and put into practice what we challenge our people to live out. This is where we personally apply the concept of “teaching with impact for life change” to our own lives.
A pastor is to supply the vision for the church and keep it in front of the people constantly so they never deviate from God’s distinct purpose for that local body of believers. The laity is to become the ministering body of Christ, utilizing their spiritual gifts, talents, and heart to carry out the ministry of the church and the Great Commission. God’s people are to be equipped, empowered, and authorized to do the work of the church, as it is not the staff’s responsibility to grow the church alone, rather it is a joint effort of all God’s people in that local church. As Rick Warren has stated in his books “The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church,” it will take everyone working together to advance the kingdom.
The church and ministry, much less the Christian walk, is no place for egos. These need to be checked at the door, and dealt with spiritually. As a pastor, and as the church grows, it is my personal philosophy and goal to surround myself with the sharpest people possible in a staff and leadership position. I do not have to be the smartest, sharpest, most creative, best communicator among the leadership. While I will try to be the best leader I can be to successfully lead the church, in order for people to fully develop into all that Christ wants them to be, and to impact our world for Christ, our people need to have the best available people to lead them in our church leadership positions.
The church today, in order to successfully reach the second generation of unchurched people, must present inquirers with the opportunity to build relationships with believers in the marketplace of life, so that with time and as trust is established, opportunities present themselves so that these people cross the line of faith into a relationship with Jesus. We must as believers have our Christian worldview in place.
Today’s church must understand the context of the community it is in, as this can vary from locale to locale across our nation and world. We must seek to become a church that presents the truths of God’s word unapologetically, yet in a current and relevant way so that people can walk out the door and apply it to their lives directly. We must utilize today’s high technology and incorporate it into our worship and teaching services. The worship in music must be contemporary and upbeat, high impact, and it must be done well. We need to incorporate drama and the arts in our services as well as in the design of our buildings, so that we truly are culturally sensitive and relevant. Our messages must be applicable to real life, utilizing the technology of today, incorporating music, video clips, and drama, as part of the teaching experience. We need to determine as a church to be a church of excellence or as Dr. Stan Toler refers to in his book, “The Five Star Church.”
Because people are relationally oriented, and after studying small groups, viewing and evaluating churches that have developed and experienced exponential growth over the last 25-30 years, I am convinced that becoming a church of small groups is the best way to grow up the up the body of Christ. The way that a church of small groups is philosophically and administratively designed and implemented allows for maximum growth. It does this by, as the body of Christ grows spiritually and numerically, to divide and multiply creating new small groups. Thus, the laws of spiritual multiplication take place. Over time, this allows for the exponential growth that some have experienced. With our God, all things are possible, as he know no limits except those imposed on him by us.
I hope that in these preceding paragraphs one will begin to get a feel for my heart and professional philosophy of ministry that defines who I am and what I am committed to as a minister/pastor. I long to pastor a body of believers who have determined to impact their local world in a contextually relevant way, and that ultimately becomes a church and a people who move beyond their local boundaries to impact a region and then the world through our ministries and outreach. I desire to pastor a church that sets no boundaries on God, the Holy Spirit, and the ultimate size and scope of his church.
God in the past thirty years past has done some incredible things in churches all across America, and is still on the throne and capable of doing even greater things. As I look at churches today such as Willow Creek and Bill Hybels; Rick Warren and Saddleback, North Point Community Church and Andy Stanley, John Burke and Gateway Church, LifeChurch and Craig Groeschel, and Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill; and I am confident that some of the best days for the church may lie ahead of us yet. The generations we are attempting to reach hold such great potential if we can help them bridge the gap spiritually in their lives. We have unprecedented opportunities to reach people today because of the advances in technology, if we will only be wise and as the title of Tony Campolo’s book, “Carpe Diem” suggests, seize the day, the moment, the opportunity that Christ has set before us.
As a minister, I am a conservative SBC minister and I am in agreement with the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message. I am conservative in my theology, yet progressive in my methodology. I believe as Dr. Thom S. Rainer states in his book “Surprising Insights from the Unchurched” that people are looking for churches who preach the truths of God’s Word in an uncompromising way. We need to understand that those who were formerly the unchurched state that the teaching of doctrinal truths is important, and if we will simply be faithful to God and his Word, he will be faithful to grow us both spiritually and numerically in unbelievable ways. In this, we give him all the glory.
May all churches today become a worshipping community, a witnessing community, and a working community of believer’s. If we do so, we will successfully reach the unchurched for Jesus Christ.
Be the Church,
LaMar
