This document serves as the philosophical foundation for my approach to pastoral ministry. In it I will identify, according to my understanding of Scripture, the church’s foundation, purpose, and activities. With this ministry philosophy in place, the church and its leadership may be more focused, discerning, efficient, and effective in carrying out its purposes and choosing its various programs and ministries.
The Foundation of the Church
No structure or edifice can be erected securely upon an improper foundation. This is just as true for the church. Formulating a philosophy of ministry must necessarily begin by laying the proper foundation upon which the functions and activities of the church rest. If these are missing, modified, or replaced with other foundations, the entire paradigm for church ministry is affected.
The foundational elements for the church revolve naturally around the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 3:11). This message is predicated on the church’s three-fold vision: a proper view of God, man, and Scripture (Rom 10:2–5). When these are present within the church, a foundation is laid upon which the purposes and activities of the church can effectively operate. When these elements are skewed, however, it inevitably leads to ministry which exalts man instead of God, pleases man instead of God, and fears man instead of God, all while neglecting the very revelation of God by which He speaks to His people and meets man’s ultimate needs. In due course, such a ministry derails into triviality and becomes preoccupied with ministerial efforts which the Lord will characterize as “wood, hay, [and] straw,” rather than “gold, silver, [and] precious stones” (1 Cor 3:12). The church, then, must work to maintain a proper view of God, man, and Scripture so as to stabilize its efforts towards the ultimate goal of glorifying God.
The Purpose of the Church
The church has a three-fold function in the world. These three functions demonstrate the three core relational directions of the church, first to God, next to believers, and then to unbelievers. The activities in which the church is engaged are derived from these three functions.
Exalt the Lord
As should be obvious, this function emerges out of a proper view of God. “To worship God,” writes Robert Saucy, “is thus to ascribe to Him the supreme worth to which He alone is worthy.”[1] This worship springs from a right understanding of God revealed in Scripture and is based on the believer’s heart-felt response to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, while the local church congregation will contain those who have not believed the gospel (Matt 13:24–30), only true believers, justified by God through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, sanctified by God for service to Him, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, are capable of offering the kind of worship God accepts: “the giving of oneself completely to God in the actions and attitudes of life.”[2]
Worship acts as an important screen for everything in which the church is engaged, for it requires the church to frame its activities around this core purpose. Even well-meaning activities can draw the hearts of believers away from worshipping God, so that there lacks within the church a holy reverence and fear which is characteristic of true worship (Ps 96:9). Therefore, it is imperative that a church recognize and develop the priority of worship in everything it does.
Evangelize the Lost
It has been rightly stated that the ultimate priority of the church is worship, not evangelism (Deut 6:4–9; Matt 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). At the same time, the former is the driving force of the latter. As John Piper comments, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”[3] The Old Testament carried a “centripetal” form of evangelism, by which the sanctified existence of Israel in its own land was to draw the nations to worship Yahweh, mediating God’s revelation, salvation, and purposes to man. With the birth of the church, a fundamental shift took place. Evangelism became “centrifugal,” and the Great Commission (Matt 28:18–20; cf. Acts 1:8) became the mandate for a new people of God who would temporarily take on the priestly and sanctified function of Israel, this time mediating the message of salvation to man by taking the message to the world.[4]
Thus, the church’s call and purpose is, in part, to evangelize the lost, just as it has always been for God’s people. This takes place to a certain degree in the local gathering of the church, for the New Testament assumes that there will be unbelievers in the church (1 Cor 14:23; cf. Matt 13:24–30). Yet for the church, evangelism truly happens not when the church gathers but when it scatters (i.e., centrifugal missions). A church that relies upon an “attraction model” of evangelism betrays a fundamental flaw in its missionary strategy. Consequently, rather than seeking how it can attract the world to itself, the church must seek how best to take the gospel out to the world.
Edify the Saints
The church is by necessity a working community, a group of redeemed sinners who have been supernaturally gifted by the Holy Spirit to minister to one another (1 Cor 12:4–31a). This function interacts inherently with the other functions. In order to worship in truth and witness effectively, the church must be operating as a mature body, with a diversity of individual believers working in a unified way to build up the church into “a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). Thus a church must evaluate its ministries and programs in light of how they advance the maturation of the church, both at the corporate level (Eph 4:12–16) as well as the individual (Col 1:28).
The Activities of the Church
Having laid the foundational elements of the church and its purposes, I will now discuss briefly the activities of the church which represent how these purposes are worked out in the day to day operation of the church. Many of these activities will be realized in the main corporate worship of the church on Sunday morning. [5] Others will characterize other aspects of the church’s daily life. Within these activities I will offer suggestions on various programs which may be implemented. Programs, however, are specific to the time, culture, and current needs of the people and may change throughout the life of the church. These activities, from which they are derived, however, must not.
Prayer
Prayer intersects with each function of the church. It constitutes one of the purest forms of spiritual worship (1 Thess 5:17), forms the heartbeat of the church’s evangelistic efforts (1 Tim 2:1ff.), and expresses the edifying ministry of the church (Acts 6:4; Jas 5:16). Therefore, prayer must saturate every ministry. It must have a dominant position in the church’s corporate worship under the direction of godly leadership (1 Tim 2:8). And it should be present in other venues where the church can engage in extended prayer, such as small group and mid-week prayer meetings, at which time all believers are encouraged to offer up prayers (Acts 1:14).
Praise
The principle form of praise found in Scripture is singing, by which believers offer up adoration and thanksgiving to God while simultaneously admonishing and teaching one another, all in diverse forms and styles (e.g., “songs, hymns, and spiritual songs”; Eph 5:18; Col 3:16). Thus the music ministry of a church must have as its focus the facilitation of true worship and edification.[6] The issue of style is but secondary to content. To serve as a vehicle for worship, musical content must be biblical, painting an accurate and lofty portrait of the person and work of God. To serve as a vehicle for edification, it must be theologically rich so as to instruct and admonish believers in the faith. Style, merely assisting these two functions, should be appropriate to the content and must help rather than hinder corporate participation. This approach allows for a variety of styles and genres (“songs, hymns, and spiritual songs…”). I will, however, note that historic Christian hymns provide an excellent framework for rich theological content and a healthy connection with the historic Christian faith. Therefore, care should be taken not to neglect these important expressions of Christian worship for the sake of contemporary style.
Ministry of the Word
As “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15), the local church must be profoundly concerned with the ministry of the word of God. This ministry naturally takes various forms.
First is the ministry of the Word through public reading (1 Tim 4:13), a practice which provides exposure of the Scriptures both to the church as a corporate body (forming greater unity) and to attending unbelievers who may be unfamiliar with the Bible.
Second is the ministry of the Word through preaching (2 Tim 4:2; cf. 1 Tim 4:13; 6:2), the central element of the church’s corporate gathering.[7] Under this ministry, all three purposes of the church intersect. As worship, preaching offers the church “a true vision of the greatness of God” which is the “fuel of worship.”[8] As evangelism, preaching offers to any unbelievers who may be present the message of salvation by grace through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. As edification, preaching offers the believer the guiding principles for the perfection of their faith (Phil 1:6) and for their equipping for good works (2 Tim 3:17). These three aspects of preaching can be fulfilled only through the systematic exposition of Scripture, wherein a gifted teacher expounds the meaning of the text—whether consecutively, topically, thematically, theologically, textually, or even biographically[9]—and connects that meaning to the lives of his people. This is the dominant feature of Sunday morning worship, but it can also mark other ministries.
Third is the ministry of the Word through teaching and equipping (1 Tim 4:11; 6:2). This form of ministry need not be connected with the corporate worship of the church, and may differ from preaching in its ultimate goal.[10] This may take a variety of forms, including Sunday school classes, Bible studies, equipping classes, training seminars, Church retreats, men’s and women’s ministry, leadership training, etc.
Fourth is the ministry of the Word through counseling. This forms the backbone of biblical discipleship (Matt 28:19). In this, application of Scripture is made on an individual level so as to “present every man complete in Christ” (Col 1:28; cf. Acts 20:31; Rom 15:14). The church must exhibit a trust in the sufficiency of Scripture for this task (rather than adopting secular or integrationist approaches). Likewise, it must not relegate this duty to the realm of “professionals,” (i.e., pastors alone) but must have confidence that all believers equipped with the Word of God and properly trained are competent to carry out this duty (Rom 15:14).
Giving
Giving is an important element in the continuance of the church’s ministry and constitutes an key aspect of true worship (2 Cor 9:13). Through giving, the believer expresses a heart of sacrifice (2 Cor 8:3–5), a trust in God’s provision (2 Cor 9:6, 10–11), and a love for the ministry (2 Cor 9:8–15). This is also a necessary activity of the church, since the financial support of the saints provides directly for those in need (1 Cor 16:1), for the work of missionaries (Phil 4:15–20), and for the support of the church’s leaders (1 Tim 5:17–18).
Ordinances
The practice of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are critical to the life of the church. Not only must they be practiced in obedience to the command of Christ (Matt 28:18–20; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24–25), but they constitute a formative aspect of the church’s public testimony. The frequency of baptism is based upon the conversion and integration of new believers and the church’s ability to provide a venue for baptism. For the Lord’s Supper, such an important time of fellowship for the church requires more frequent celebration. At the least, the church should celebrate this ordinance on a monthly basis, yet closer intervals are even more beneficial. If possible, the church should make efforts to provide opportunities for extended fellowship around the Lord’s Table, rather than limiting its celebration to the tail end of Sunday morning worship.
There is no inherent need to restrict the administration of these ordinances to ordained clergy alone. The priesthood of all believers undermines the idea that the church laity is somehow unfit to administer the sacraments.[11] Rather, the church must emphasize who partakes of these ordinances. Clearly, the Scriptures limit both ordinances to those who evidence a genuine faith in Jesus Christ (Matt 28:19; Acts 2:38, 41; 1 Cor 11:27–32). The participation of children in this event must be decided on an individual basis. Likewise, those officiating over either ordinance must make sufficient effort to ensure that those who participate are genuine believers. For this reason, the involvement of discerning leaders is necessary though their administration of the ordinances themselves is not required.
Evangelism and Missions
Evangelism is disseminated in two broad spheres. At the local level, the primary aim is to foster church growth. To do this, the church can engage in local outreach ministries such as door-to-door and street evangelism, outreach events and services, campus ministries, and prison and rehab ministries, as well as financially support local missions organizations. Within the church, children’s and youth ministry should be viewed as primarily avenues for evangelism rather than edification. At the global level, the church must work to eventually send out missionaries at the regional, national, and international levels (Acts 1:8) for the purpose of planting new churches. It can also cooperate with and financially support missions agencies and other local churches in ministry endeavors.
Discipleship
The goal of evangelism is to “make disciples of the nations” (Matt 28:19). The church should not only expect the conversion of souls but the ongoing growth of believers to maturity in Christ. It is a necessity, then, that the church works to incorporate new believers into the life and body of the church by producing methods for actualizing discipleship (Acts 2:47; 9:31). Men’s, women’s, and family ministries are the core means that foster discipleship in the local church. Particularly, the church should emphasize the development of men’s ministry which can effectively reach into the family. Along with their evangelistic purposes, children, youth, and college ministries may also serve as discipleship venues, particularly when coupled with godly leadership who emulate Christlikeness to these younger generations. The church should seek to implement small group ministries or Bible studies, which can create venues for deeper growth and service. It could also seek opportunities for connecting believers for individual mentoring.
Fellowship
As the “household of God” (1 Tim 3:15), the church is to share together in a common life. This is the context in which all the “one another’s” of the New Testament are practically applied (e.g., Rom 14:19; 15:14; Gal 6:2; Col 3:13; 1 Thess 4:18; Titus 1:13; Heb 10:25; Jas 5:16),[12] summed up in “an intimate feeling for and understanding of one another” so that “what is experienced by one is to be experienced by all.”[13] Outside of the ministry of the Word, fellowship is the primary means by which the church is to be edified, and provides a rich venue for the exercising of spiritual gifts of service. The church must make a concerted effort to foster genuine fellowship within the body through the provision of opportunities such as small groups, Bible studies, and most importantly, the Lord’s Supper, which stands at the center of the church’s fellowship.[14] In this context, the ministry of the word may not necessarily be as prominent as in other venues. The church must seek to provide opportunities for believers not only to sit under the teaching of Scripture but also to connect life-on-life to other believers, where together they can learn how best to integrate that teaching in daily and corporate life.
Membership
Membership is perhaps the one thing lacking in churches today which could make their discipleship and fellowship ministries that much more effective. Membership within the local church demands the believer’s loyalty, holds him accountable, focuses his service, and deepens his fellowship. In turn, membership brings greater solidarity within the church and allows the leadership of the church to shepherd their flock more effectively. Therefore, the church must make the advantages of membership more than simply voting rights in church polity: membership involves responsibilities.[15] This may involve limiting certain ministry opportunities only to members, or even revoking membership from those who consistently lack a commitment to the church. Regardless, membership requires baptism and good standing in the church, and a committed to the church’s purposes and submission to its leaders. In this respect, great care must be exercised when taking in members from other churches so that church membership as a principle is honored rather than undermined and perpetual “church hopping” is stifled.
Church Discipline
The church must not only preach but also “enforce a biblical standard of holiness.”[16] Disciplining unrepentant believers is a necessary aspect, and must be practiced for the good of the church and the sinning believer. This practice should be done with great caution and humility, and strictly according to the guidelines set forth in Scripture (Matt 18:15–17; 1 Cor 5:1–11; Gal 6:1; 2 Thess 3:6–15; 1 Tim 1:20; 5:19–20; Titus 3:9–11). Above all, every effort should be made on the part of the church and its leadership to restore the sinning brother and should view his exclusion from the church’s fellowship as a last—but necessary—resort.
Service
As members of Christ’s body, each believer has been especially gifted by the Holy Spirit for service in that body. It is thus incumbent upon every believer to exercise his or her spiritual gift for the edification of the church (1 Cor 12:7; 14:5, 12, 26). This need not (though it may) involve an official ministry in the church. A careful distinction must be made at this point between the service of believers and of unbelievers. Though unbelievers undoubtedly engage in service within the church, sometimes unbeknownst to the corporate body and leadership, only believers are endowed with Spirit-empowered gift(s). Thus the unbeliever’s service will not be rendered under the power of the Spirit and will result in little to no edification for the body (of which he is not a part). The church’s leadership must exercise extreme caution at this point. Unrestricted service on the part of the unbeliever may result in (1) confusion for others, who may not know his spiritual condition,[17] and (2) self-deception and condemnation for the unbeliever, who may feel his service is acceptable to God, or even satisfactory to compensate for his unbelief (i.e., an attempt at self-justification).
[1] Robert L. Saucy, The Church in God’s Program (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1972), 166.
[2] Ibid, 170.
[3] John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 43.
[4] George W. Peters, A Biblical Theology of Mission (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), 21.
[5] The corporate worship of the church on Sunday morning is not listed as a separate activity in this section because, in my mind, such an activity is so central to the church that it need not be mentioned. I assume (and insist) that the church meet on Sunday morning. Whether or not the church meets at others times for corporate worship (e.g., Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, etc.) is determined by the individual needs and abilities of the church.
[6] Paul S. Jones, Singing and Making Music: Issues in Church Music Today (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006), 5.
[7] Robert Saucy writes, “The importance of the Word in the midst of the church appears in the report of the early believers that they were ‘continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching’ (Acts 2:42, NASB). As Israel’s worship began with the hearing of God (cf. Deu 6:4), so church worship begins with listening to the voice of God through His Word, for it is in His Word that God comes to His people, to address them, and hold conversation with them. Through the Word the obedience of faith in engendered (Ro 10:17; Jn 17:20). Saucy, The Church in God’s Program, 178.
[8] John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2003), 82.
[9] Richard L. Holland, “Preaching the Bible the Way God Wrote It: The Advantages of Verse-By-Verse Exposition of the Scriptures” (Seminar, 2007 Shepherds’ Conference, Sun Valley, CA, March 7, 2007).
[10] Though not a hard and fast dichotomy, preaching aims primarily to appeal to the listener’s will and calls for a desired response. Teaching, on the other hand, lacks the overt exhortative element of preaching and aims to equip the believer for effective ministry through, among other things, the impartation of knowledge.
[11] Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Eldership, rev. ed. (Littleton, CO: Lewis & Roth Publishers, 1995.), 112.
[12] John MacArthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008) 121.
[13] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 1048.
[14] Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry, 6th ed. (London: Seeley, Burnside and Seeley, 1844), 464; Saucy, The Church in God’s Program, 225–26.
[15] Mark Dever suggests five responsibilities entailed in membership: (1) regular attendance, (2) especially regular communion participation, (3) consist attendence in members meetings, (4) regular prayer, (5) regular giving. Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, rev. ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 161.
[16] MacArthur, The Master’s Plan, 265.
[17] This is particularly true for children, who are inclined to look at all adults as models for faith and who may not have the means of discerning genuine faith from forgery. Also, this scenario may serve to undermine the testimony of a church if an unbeliever serving in some public capacity (e.g., greeter, usher, etc.) falls into sin and brings reproach upon the body.
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