In part one of this blog post we looked at why change is the constant particularly in leadership. We also looked at what change is, where change needs to begin, how you can be an agent of change in your society or ministry among others.
In this final part, we will examine tools of change, the challenges presented by change and how ministers of the word must remain committed to praying in understanding. Read on,
Tools for Change
Prayer:
In ministry we cannot over-emphasize its place. It is a pre-requisite for any tangible and sustainable change.
The Leader must pray and motivate others to pray. A leader must also be deliberate about prayer time by planning and setting aside prayer times to take time off with other leaders to pray. Have faith above all in addition to prayer –without faith you cannot have effective prayer
People:
True change does not take place in a vacuum, It involves people and as a leader, you will be called upon to allow people to ask questions about proposed changes. This could also spark criticism and rumors, which you must take positively and use them to move on. While you lead other people, avoid reactive decision, be proactive –lead the way.
I was personally called to ministry in 1977 October, and have seen the favor of God along the way. My ministry is Apostolic and teaching is my most conspicuous gift. You will locate me in two areas of ministry as I teach and preach – Family bias and Faith activation. The Lord called me to Githurai very specifically in 1983; I was displaced by denominational orders in 1993. I thought it is over with Githurai until last year November when The Lord spoke to me to come back to Githurai. While Gospel Celebration Church is my ministry base, I see myself as a gift to the body of Christ and ready to minister with all that God has called.
Having said this, what is the priority of the ministry of Jesus Christ? Our story as we read Is familiar – probably the most popular part of the Bible after John 3:16. Here is a background of it (Acts 1:15) ;
- A small church of 120 men is left in Jerusalem
- On the day of Pentecost that group gets an addition of 3,000 men, making a mega church of 3,120 men in one day.
- After healing a famous cripple in chapter 3 the church charges in growth until the number of men becomes 5,000 (Acts 4:5) If we take the number of women to naturally be double of men then that church had 15,000 members at least.
GROWTH IS GOOD BUT GROWTH WILL ALWAYS BRING CHALLENGES.
– Facilities will be strained
– Personnel will be required
– Some who could lead a small group must pave way for others with capacity to handle larger numbers – this brings discomfort
– Money will increase but managing it presents many challenges
– External challenges will be multiplied – Pharisees and Sadducees will blame you of sheep stealing, making them look bad, etc.
– Scandals are not unusual when you grow.
MANY WOULD RATHER STAY WHERE THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS, EFFECTIVELY CHOOSING NOT TO GROW!
The next question is around how a minister of the gospel of Jesus would handle these challenges to sustain the growth, there are several options, below are a few;
- Allocate apostles the work of feeding properly -In other words CHANGE the vision to include new responsibilities
- Defend your leadership team and excommunicate the trouble makers – trouble makers hurt good people while leadership facilitates a split
- Expand leadership structure to cater for new ministry need – Clarify the ministry and calling, emphasize on the vision and redefine it
- Then create room for needs to be met.
I must emphasize that that we must keep prayer and the ministry of the word as the PRIORITY! This is our calling, and it is not the work of intercessors AND youth. The SADDEST THING however today is that pastors don’t pray, they work hard, they survive, they are controlled by needs rather than leading, and vision. Very few pastors spend at least 30 minutes a day in prayer.
