PROPHETIC WORDS

THE CALL BACK TO BUILDING PEOPLE

by Lyn Packer

August 2021.

God has been speaking to me and reminding me lately of the need to check that the foundations on which we are building and ministering are good. One aspect of that is the pressure that is in Christianity at this time to be ‘seen to have a ministry’ and to have one that is seen as ‘successful’. There is a very real temptation being presented to Christians in this season, encouraging them to seek to turn their gifts into a ministry, build a website, and give their ministry a recognisable brand. While these things aren’t bad in themselves, they can become bad if they become our primary focus and the reason for using our gifts.

God is reminding us afresh that all ministry is primarily about serving people and building people up so that they are established in Him and can stand strong, not about building a 'ministry' or making a name for ourselves, and that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given for the good of others, not for self-promotion. 1 Cor 12:4-7 tells us, “4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6 and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do. 7 The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.”

As part of the discussion the Lord and I have been having, He reminded me about a prophetic dream I had. Several years ago, my husband and I were about to embark on pioneering a new ministry endeavour that had the potential to impact and minister to a huge amount of people. One night I had a dream about it. In the dream I was excited about the ministry and was sharing with others about it. Then someone that I knew and respected walked over to me in the dream and, seeking to put me in my place and belittle me, said scornfully, "You don't have what it takes to build a ministry!" I was shocked at the vehemence of the attack and was initially dumb-struck, and then I was surprised at what came out of my mouth in reply. My reply was, "I may not have what it takes to build a ministry, but I have what it takes to build people."

The person who spoke so disparagingly to me in this dream represented the voice of intimidation, and also temptation. The kind of ministry the person in the dream referred to was one that would be seen by others to be successful. The comment was said to cause me to try and prove that ‘I have what it takes’, to pursue building a successful ministry, and to make plans to influence as many as possible and to build something that others looked at and judged as being successful. God was warning me that this temptation would present itself.

That temptation has presented itself to me several times since then, to get me to switch focus from ministering to build up people, to ministering to build up the ministry. It has sought to side-track me into focusing my energy and time in majorly promoting our ministry so that people would see it and be drawn to it, so that it would have bigger reach and impact. I have had to remind myself several times of the answer I gave in the dream, that no matter whether the new ministry endeavour became big or stayed small my call was to build people, to use my gifts, knowledge, and skills to help them become all they could be. That has been the inner compass and goal I have fallen back on in all that I do in ministry.

God may call us to make use of social media, or build a website so that people can see what we offer as a way of helping them, but He is reminding us that building a ministry, or enticing others to our ministry, should never be our central focus. This, my precious brothers and sisters, is not the way of the Kingdom of Heaven, and having a big, well-known ministry does not always indicate success in God’s eyes. We need to ask afresh, are we looking to build something that man sees as successful, or are we looking to minister to people and build them up? Are we ministering to bolster our ego and satisfy our need for significance? We may start out with the dream of a big ministry, or we can start out with pure motives but get enticed by the dream of a big ministry along the way; either way they are wrong motives. The Lord is speaking to us and calling us afresh – whatever your ministry, check that your heart motive is pure. Are you looking to build people or to build a ministry?

There is a fresh call from the Lord going out to bring us back to the heart of the gospel of the Kingdom, the reconciliation of people back to God, to build them up, encourage them, and set them firmly in place in the Kingdom with the right foundations. This will enable them to achieve all that God has for them, not to just use their gifts to build their ministry. In doing this we may end up having a large or small reach of influence, but the size is not the important thing. Loving people, letting them know they are seen loved and appreciated for who they are, not what they can bring to our ministry, and helping them achieve what God has for them – that's what ministry is really all about! Let's make sure that we have this as our core, our heart intent, our call!

PRAYER POINTS

Pray for cleansing of heart motives in ministry, that we would not be drawn into the temptation to put building a ministry before building people up and establishing them in faith and wholeness. And if people have been drawn into this, that they would see it for what it is, repent, and ask for a cleansing of their hearts to be able to see people again as God sees them.

BIO