Page 83 - lifeandgrace
P. 83
Ministry or Personal Kingdom?
by Rene Brown
Dear Brother,
May the Lord bless you and keep you in this season when we remember His sacrifice for us. We are
spending a quiet weekend in our home with old friends who are also Christians. Today we shall all take
communion together and tomorrow enjoy fellowship with the local congregation to celebrate His
resurrection.
Brother, I pray that you are more and more developing in Him as Lord, as Savior, as our beloved
friend who loves us more than we could ever know or understand. You are a young man with many years
ahead of you for the service of the Kingdom. I began ministry when I was more than 40 years old, and
you are not nearly so old and already really engaged in kingdom work for the Lord. Take every
opportunity to reach out for Him, to serve Him, to be advancing the kingdom in accordance with His
every desire.
So often those who minister desire to build their own "kingdom" whether it is a local congregation or
a group of congregations with a name the person has given it or some ministry. We do it for our own
glory, not for His. I admonish you, my beloved brother, make yourself useful to aid men and women in
achieving what God has called them to do and not in building your own kingdom. It is so easy to fall into
building a kingdom for yourself and convincing yourself it is all for the glory of God when indeed, it is
only for our glory.
We need to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and through that, see what is to be done to aid those
around us in achieving what God has set for them to do. In so doing we shall be achieving what he has set
for us to do. So often men care only about achieving what they perceive is their calling and not at all
caring for any other man and his calling. In fact they endeavor to enlist every man they meet in their
movement to achieve their goals and not at all caring about men who have a vision of their own. God has
given every one who believes something to achieve in Him. I think we are to be about assisting such men
as we meet in achieving their calling, their vision in the Lord.
Now I know we have a gift and a calling too - and we need to achieve it in Him. But we cannot do it
at the expense of crushing down those we meet to convince them to help us achieve our goals at the
expense of their own calling. Many men have a corporate vision that has no room for the individual
visions of others and we may even discourage them from trying to achieve their vision from God in order
for them to have the time to help us achieve our own. This is sin!
If God has given us a corporate vision for His body, He is well able to fold into it the visions of
individuals He sends to us. These individuals need not lay aside what God has called them to do in order
to fit our corporate vision. And even if such be true, it is up to us to assist such men in finding a place
other than with us where they can fit in and achieve what God has called them to do while also being a
part of that corporate vision. Corporate visions (of a congregation or of a larger work) need not be
achieved at the expense of individual callings of God. If we only take time to see it, there is a way for it
all to fit together and all of God’s plan to be achieved in His time and in His power and strength.
My beloved brother, the Lord tells us to “work out our own salvation”. That is a broad statement.
Certainly in the eternal sense, we are saved through our faith in Him through His grace. But there is also a
daily salvation and part of that is to move in the gifts He has given us to achieve the vision He has put in
our hearts. We are to live out our entire lives in Him, working with Him, walking with Him, loving Him,
communing with Him.
Part of your work is to call men and women to draw so close to the Lord that they begin to hear His
voice, to perceive what He is calling them to. So often we are content as leaders to just be happy with
by Rene Brown
Dear Brother,
May the Lord bless you and keep you in this season when we remember His sacrifice for us. We are
spending a quiet weekend in our home with old friends who are also Christians. Today we shall all take
communion together and tomorrow enjoy fellowship with the local congregation to celebrate His
resurrection.
Brother, I pray that you are more and more developing in Him as Lord, as Savior, as our beloved
friend who loves us more than we could ever know or understand. You are a young man with many years
ahead of you for the service of the Kingdom. I began ministry when I was more than 40 years old, and
you are not nearly so old and already really engaged in kingdom work for the Lord. Take every
opportunity to reach out for Him, to serve Him, to be advancing the kingdom in accordance with His
every desire.
So often those who minister desire to build their own "kingdom" whether it is a local congregation or
a group of congregations with a name the person has given it or some ministry. We do it for our own
glory, not for His. I admonish you, my beloved brother, make yourself useful to aid men and women in
achieving what God has called them to do and not in building your own kingdom. It is so easy to fall into
building a kingdom for yourself and convincing yourself it is all for the glory of God when indeed, it is
only for our glory.
We need to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and through that, see what is to be done to aid those
around us in achieving what God has set for them to do. In so doing we shall be achieving what he has set
for us to do. So often men care only about achieving what they perceive is their calling and not at all
caring for any other man and his calling. In fact they endeavor to enlist every man they meet in their
movement to achieve their goals and not at all caring about men who have a vision of their own. God has
given every one who believes something to achieve in Him. I think we are to be about assisting such men
as we meet in achieving their calling, their vision in the Lord.
Now I know we have a gift and a calling too - and we need to achieve it in Him. But we cannot do it
at the expense of crushing down those we meet to convince them to help us achieve our goals at the
expense of their own calling. Many men have a corporate vision that has no room for the individual
visions of others and we may even discourage them from trying to achieve their vision from God in order
for them to have the time to help us achieve our own. This is sin!
If God has given us a corporate vision for His body, He is well able to fold into it the visions of
individuals He sends to us. These individuals need not lay aside what God has called them to do in order
to fit our corporate vision. And even if such be true, it is up to us to assist such men in finding a place
other than with us where they can fit in and achieve what God has called them to do while also being a
part of that corporate vision. Corporate visions (of a congregation or of a larger work) need not be
achieved at the expense of individual callings of God. If we only take time to see it, there is a way for it
all to fit together and all of God’s plan to be achieved in His time and in His power and strength.
My beloved brother, the Lord tells us to “work out our own salvation”. That is a broad statement.
Certainly in the eternal sense, we are saved through our faith in Him through His grace. But there is also a
daily salvation and part of that is to move in the gifts He has given us to achieve the vision He has put in
our hearts. We are to live out our entire lives in Him, working with Him, walking with Him, loving Him,
communing with Him.
Part of your work is to call men and women to draw so close to the Lord that they begin to hear His
voice, to perceive what He is calling them to. So often we are content as leaders to just be happy with
