Last year I reached the 10 year milestone of full time vocational "gospel ministry." Further still, I vividly recall being licensed in the "gospel ministry" at the age of 17. Nearly 20 years later, that term has taken on a whole new meaning for me.

I remember sitting in a seminary classroom hearing the professor state the importance of the first 10 years serving the local church full time. It is during that time that statistics prove fall out, burn out, or conviction to press on. Much is learned in 10 years of boots on the ground experience. 

As I reflect back over the last 10 years, one thing stands out above all the rest. It is not a celebration that somehow "I made it" or a list of practical ideas that "worked." What I have learned the most in the last 10 years is the utmost necessity to be faithful to preach the Word of God. I have served in a number of different locations during this time and have felt anguish over having the right methods or programs to get people to church and to keep them there. That was a mistake! 

We live in a very pragmatic world. We operate by procedures and systems. Pastors are often encouraged to attend the latest leadership and church growth seminars to gain insight and apply those methods to their local context. We believe that in some strange way if we can just manufacture what someone else is doing it will work for us. Our leadership lessons are often gleaned from the business world and we end up bringing too much "business" into the church. This plethora of ideas and systems is seeking to rob the local church of her spiritual identity. The church begins to look more like the latest business model than the church in Acts. For too long, I fell for much of this mindset. 

I am thankful that over the last few years God has been working on my heart in this area. He has been showing me that if we will just return to his word and plead for his spirit then he brings the increase, both in number and maturity, that the church needs. I once heard John Macarthur state that early on in the life of Grace Community Church they made a commitment to just preach the word. That was their primary focus above all else and God brought the increase. I believe this is how it's supposed to be, not because it's worked for Macarthur but because it is evident in scripture. 

In the book of Acts, the disciples made a priority to preach the word and spend time in prayer. In Acts 6 they call the first deacons as a result of ministry complaints and impending disunity. These deacons were to serve the tables and help the disciples meet the needs of the church while the disciples focused on the task that Jesus had given them to proclaim the Gospel and spend time in prayer for the people of God. What was the result of that? Verse 7 states that 3 things resulted from this approach: the word of God spread, the number of disciples increased, and many priests became obedient to the will of God. Wow! A commitment to preach God's Word faithfully led to increase beyond human imagination. In fact, the early church was birthed out of a commitment to preach the Gospel. Jesus told Peter that upon his confession the church would be built and the powers of hell would not prevail against it. Why do we think we need more? The Gospel is sufficient to accomplish the plans of God within his church. 

What we need in the church today is not more business models. We don't need better policies or programs to get people in the doors. I believe in outreach and evangelism but it must not be founded upon a pragmatic mindset. We need more prayer and less business as usual. We need preachers committed to spend time in prayer, study of the word, and a bold conviction to preach the word week in and week out. We need more faithful discipleship where depth matters more than numbers. We need ministry that flows from changed lives in the pew. We need to study the book of Acts more and business models less. We need greater allegiance to Jesus, the head of the church, and less fear of man. We need Matthew 18 when disunity begins to rear its head. We need an Acts 6 approach to the deaconing of the word and serving tables. We need a Romans 12 definition of worship and hospitality. We need a Matthew 28 vision to missions that begins with each of our next door neighbors and extends globally. Our individual homes need to be seen as missional headquarters for the communities in which we live. We need a fresh dependence on the Holy Spirit of God. 

What we need in the church today is a return to true Gospel ministry. When I was 17 I did not understand what that phrase meant but now I do. Gospel ministry is a commitment to the sufficiency of the Gospel and the Bible in the life of the church. I make it my aim to repent of times where I lost track, stand firm to be faithful in the days ahead, and invest in the next generation of preachers to lead well in this way. 

The Gospel has always been the only way from start to finish. Let's be faithful to Gospel Ministry.