Incarnational Ministry

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

I have of late been thinking of transformational ministry.

Why is it that some missionaries and missions always raise dependents?

And by dependents I am talking about everything from money to leadership and oversight.

Like a recent post I saw on social media of a minister coming from ministry in Africa complaining that there were no genuine pastors because all he dealt with were after his money.

The first question I would have asked him is how he had packaged himself.

You see, many times, you will be taken as you appear.

And as an African who has ministered in Africa all my life, I can tell you that Africa is the centre of hospitality.

This directly means that you will be received in a way that will make you feel at home wherever you go. You will be received as you come; and as you have presented yourself.

I have never had any qualms being sent anywhere in Africa whether I know anybody or not.

In fact, over the years, all I will travel with is a phone number that I will call when I get to the destination, and most times I do not even have any return fare, let alone money to sustain my stay there.

And I have never been disappointed.

And it is not a single community, or even country.

I have been to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and Mozambique as well as in most communities in my country, Kenya.

I will be invited or even sent by another minister to people I do not know and have never met and would be with them for a week, two or even longer.

But I won’t risk that in Europe or America, places where even a child has to make an appointment to enjoy lunch with his own parents.

But that is not why I am writing this.

Why is there inbreeding in many ‘high’ societies?

The main driver is the exclusive nature of their structures. They will not risk for any outsider to ‘hack’ into their closeknit communities.

They are too protective of their structures and may kill them by guarding against ‘defilement’.

A wealthy or ‘royal’ community gets scared that any outsider getting married into their family is looking to exploit it. Also, the danger that expanding the community could dilute its influence.

A wealthy person thinks that any girl or boy loving their own is doing it for the money; that any love being expressed is directly proportional to their interest in accessing that money.

What does this have to do with ministry? I know someone is wondering.

Ministry is launching out in obedience to God to the place He sends you.

In short, you are a river flowing into the desert to quench the thirst inherent therein.

That is what I want us to look at.

What is your expectation? Where is your faith?

Do you expect that desert to be transformed into a thriving farmland or do you think you will always be needed to water it?

Do you expect the water you provide to be swallowed to create an independent ecosystem that does not require you or do you always expect to continue flowing to them?

Must you always be there for your river to function properly? Can your river be sent elsewhere? In short, can you be given another assignment and leave confident that your assignment has been completed?

Where are you anchored at?

At the root of any ministry is its expectation, and especially the end result.

Many a ministry dies because the founder refuses to have his influence diluted.

He wants to be the main guy, if possible, even beyond the grave.

And that is the problem with much of the church today.

That is the driver of most of the corruption in churches and ministries.

Let me give two ways church has been being done.

The first one is that the leader is a master or lord. And by leader I am talking about the missionary or founding pastor, evangelist or team.

Think about Abraham.

He had a very faithful servant; one he could entrust with the job of looking for a wife for his son.

Yet what do we see when he was speaking to God?

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. (Genesis 15:3)

Only children should inherit their parents, normally.

It was therefore a sad affair for Abraham then because he did not have an heir.

Personal empires require the continuity that family produces.

Think also about a corporation or business.

The CEO is an employee (like Eleazer)

He will never own that business, however well he performs.

He will always be an employee, subject to the owner/s.

What model do you think the church operates under?

Jesus said that we are unworthy slaves in His ‘business’. We therefore do only what we are ordered to do. Only the Master knows and cares for the outcome; simply because servants do not have any stakes beyond performance.

Wanting to perpetuate my leadership of ministry or church is therefore counterproductive, even destructive, to our pursuit. It is rebellion.

And that is irrelevant whether I am the one who founded that church or ministry or not.

I did what I was ordered and therefore have no ownership stake in what I was sent to do.

And we see that with CEOs all over the world.

The only thing that grows with their impactful and profit-growing leadership will be their remuneration, unless the owners think they stand to gain more by giving them a share of their company.

But the owners’ children do not have to prove themselves (though they are raised to pursue leadership and understand the enterprise). They will eventually take over the enterprise once their parents’ get out of the picture or decide to retire.

But there is something else I want us to look at concerning the church.

Though it unilaterally belongs to Christ, He does not behave like those corporations.

He seeks to coopt us into His enterprise, though that in no way implies that we have become co owners.

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (John 15:15)

The fact that He calls us friends does not mean that He stops being our Lord.

And that is the point of this message.

Why do we find it difficult to copy our Lord in that aspect?

Of course I will add another verse to add more emphasis.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12)

Why does it seem like an offense, even sin, if somebody who has grown under you becomes better than you?

This brings another dynamic, parenting.

A father is never threatened when his son outshines him.

In fact, the heart of a father desires for his son to outshine him.

‘That is my son’, is the greatest pride of a father when his son thrives.

That is why an illiterate father has no qualms selling his livestock and/or land to educate his children.

That is what Christ is doing in this verse

As adopted children in His family, He not only wants us to connect to His enterprise, He expects us to make it accomplish even beyond what He was able to accomplish when He dwelt amongst us.

Not only that. He wants us to operate in His Spirit.

Whatever do you mean? I know someone is wondering.

He wants us to do ministry as fathers.

And you will allow me to explain a little.

A father handles all the weight at the beginning. But that is not his end goal.

As the son grows, he will slowly start releasing the reins so that the son starts taking responsibility.

He will eventually let go of the load for the son to carry alone because he has learnt to do so.

That is the way empires are built.

And it is the same way effective ministry is built.

The father will initially be the star of the show, but only temporarily because he will start training his son to grow into it.

Eventually he will step back and allow his son to shine as he watches from the background, stepping in only when something requiring his experience or authority is required.

Peter and John did it that way.

No wonder in their epistles they are calling themselves elders instead of apostles.

And Paul did it the same way when we see him handing responsibilities to Timothy, Titus and even Philemon.

But the one who exemplifies that spirit to me is Barnabas.

And that because he did not wait to get old before doing it.

He takes Paul, disciples him and releases him when he has grown enough to ‘resist’ ministry to another prospect.

And he continues to do the same with Mark.

For self-important ministers, they may think that Barnabas disappeared from the picture without realising that this is the way it was meant to become.

Remember this?

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)

Ministry is about our disappearance after succeeding because then we are able to leave God with all the glory.

However, that is so completely opposite to human nature.

We love that glory and apart from our submitting to the grace that God releases to us are unable to completely release those reins since we think our value is related to our relevance and visibility.

I believe this is the reason the church in Africa has been unable to make enough strides over the time since we were evangelised.

Our ‘mother’ refused to cut the umbilical cord to release us from ‘her’ role.

And I know that this is hugely controversial but you will allow me to continue.

Almost any church you connect with is boasting about where it came from, even the independent ones, as proof of their greatness, even a hundred years after that ‘mother’ left.

They must as a consequence recreate that ‘motherhood’ wherever they go for missions.

The sad part is that some of those pretend that their chords were cut though they are many times worse than those confessing the presence of the same.

And there is a case of friends (of course they are not my friends now because I refused to buy their self-importance)

Look at their ministry and it is clear who their ‘father’ was from mannerisms to pulpit delivery.

Some were recently having an anniversary and interestingly they literally killed some history of their past to make it appear that they were the only ‘fathers’ in that structure.

I got to know of it when some people became uncomfortable with the history being presented and asked for my input since I had been part of it.

To imagine they even ‘killed’ the person who opened that door for them!

Yet these people are terribly offended if they are not acknowledged and acclaimed and fought for by anybody in that structure.

Calling them colonial relics appears offensive except for the fact that they embody that.

And now that I have used that term, I think I may need to say what I think made most missionaries of the past (of course not all of them) develop that system I have mentioned.

They had divided loyalty as they were subjects of an earthly kingdom that they were furthering even as they sought to make inroads for a heavenly one.

For the most part, missionaries were the ones who opened up Africa to colonialism.

No wonder it is said that when the missionary arrived, we had the land and they had the Bible.

Then they told us to close our eyes in prayer and that after the prayer they had our land and we had their Bible.

They were preaching even as they were searching for opportunities for their earthly kingdom.

Some were better than others. But their pursuits were not much different.

And I say this because I have ministered in British, French and Portuguese colonised (missioned) countries.

That was the bane of that missionary enterprise because it exported their earthly kingdom more than it furthered the heavenly one. Remember Jesus saying that you can not serve two masters?

The church then became colonial in its operations because of its founding.

No wonder getting a colonial name became synonymous to being converted. No wonder someone joining the church having multiple wives had to get rid of all but one to become a member of the church. No wonder being proficient in the colonial language appeared more spiritual than actual transformation. No wonder speaking truth to power became unpalatable.

You see, the king (or whoever represented him) was the backup for the mission.

Contrast that with the church in China.

The little or much I have read about missionaries to China makes one thing very clear.

The missionaries were kicked out of kingdoms, even ecclesiastical ones, because those structures did not agree with the calls guiding them.

It means that they went to China without any external support (the umbilical cord I have mentioned) because the structures saw only folly in the obedience being pursued.

This means that they had no backward glance as they pursued obedience and did missions.

The church created as a result did not have the strictures the ones I have mentioned had because they were more or less kicked out of the sending structures.

Their churches became autonomous for the most part and raised leaders organically without much outside influence.

This especially because the missionaries did not impose their culture on the mission field.

No wonder the church still thrives amidst unrelenting persecution for generations...

What am I aiming at?

Discipleship.

Raising Christ’s disciples, not ours.

Releasing Christ’s ministers, not ours.

Running Christ’s agenda, not ours.

Because, at the back of any failing system is a people not completely surrendered to Christ’s absolute Lordship; a people not totally sold out to Christ’s ownership of everything they are and have.

Many years ago, Christ taught me to choose between my name and His by sending me to a ground that automatically painted me as who I wasn’t.

And for some time (not a short time) I was looked at as a sinner and backslider because of my obedience. To the point people were sent to rebuke me for backsliding. Action was also taken against me for that obedience.

But that opened doors for ministry and eventually He was able to right what had appeared wrong.

And that is something we must face all the time as we walk in obedience, especially as we deal with ministerial, generational and filial peer pressure.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9: 23, 24)

You realise that it is a daily struggle.

Nature is a very good explainer of spiritual truths.

You will therefore allow me to pick another aspect to explain this.

A pregnant mother is completely connected to the life she is carrying. To the point that anything happening to one automatically happens to the other.

That is due to the umbilical cord.

Once the child is born, the dynamic changes as the connection is loosened as it now requires choices to function.

The mother must choose to suckle the child and the child must choose to suck for the relationship to function right.

But the child needs the mother in a very huge way, though not as was when he was in the womb.

Then the exclusive breastfeeding phase passes and the child is introduced to solid food, slowly. But he is still breastfeeding, though not as much. He is also getting more nutrition from other feeding than it gets from sucking.

He will eventually be weaned from the breast altogether.

At this time, he is completely free from his mother for his feeding, as it is also freeing him from a lot more of her influence.

Remember that is the time Moses was taken from his mother?

Why?

Because he could then live independent of his mother.

I hope you are getting my drift because I am talking about church growth and missions.

That was how Christ did it.

You remember He was initially doing everything?

Then He started sending out the twelve.

Then the seventy-two.

Eventually He went to heaven and left the whole business to those He had invested in.

And as we have seen, He left with the expectation that there would be more getting done by those He left than He had been doing when He was with them.

Is that the way we do missions?

Is that the way we do church planting and establish church branches?

Is that the way we raise ministers?

What is God saying to you?