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Doing – my philosophy of ministry.
By David A. Polk
And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. John 8:29
My philosophy of ministry is quite simple. It can be described in just four words, “go and do likewise”. Yes, that is a quote from Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan, but there is more to it than that.
In this parable of the Good Samaritan the “likewise” was mercy, it was showing mercy. It was a mercy shown in actions. It was a doing. That mercy was a verb. It wasn’t passive.
The Doer
Jesus said, “…I always DO the things that please Him”. Jesus, Himself, was a doer of the word, and not a preacher only. Jesus was not passive, He was a doer, a man of action.
In the Message Bible, after hearing Jesus teach, the crowd was amazed and said (paraphrased), “Wow, a teaching that does what it says”! They were amazed because, unlike the other teachers, Jesus actually did the things He taught. My point is this, Jesus, the Doer of the Word, is our example. Because of this, how we minister as Chaplains should be modeled after the way He ministered, and Jesus ministered by verb…love.
We, Chaplains, have countless opportunities to “go and do likewise”. Our going and doing might be something as seemingly unimportant as giving someone a cool drink on a hot day. It could be something as menial as cutting the neighbors grass. Going and doing doesn’t have to be a large task in order to be effective.
Now some will say, “Well God doesn’t do things like giving out cool drinks or cutting grass”, but oh yes He does. He does it using people. He does “go and do likewise” through us.
Another Perspective
During the time of creation, God said, “Let us make man in our image”. We were created in His image, so that’s our job now. It is our responsibility to be an image of God on earth. Individually and corporately the image of God on earth.
Jesus, again, said, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets”. We sometimes call that the Golden Rule. It’s kind of a ‘rule of thumb’ for Christian living. It is imaging God. We can put this ‘rule’ into practice by asking ourselves what we want people to do for us, and then grab the initiative and do that for them. Is that not what Jesus did? Isn’t that how He imaged God on earth?
Acts 10:38 says, “He (Jesus) went about doing good…” Now if Jesus was the perfect reflection (image) of God and He went about ‘doing good’, then that’s how we should image God on earth. We go about “doing good”.
Show and tell
Don’t misunderstand me, I believe that words are important too. That is, we must teach, preach, and share. We have to tell. However, words without actions are similar to faith without works. Yes, words can be powerful, but without corresponding action, our actions, or lack thereof, can make our words of no effect. The Bible puts it this way, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:15-16).
So how do I sum this up? I believe the primary job and responsibility of ministry, all ministry, is to paint a bigger, brighter, more vivid picture of Jesus, who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing. It is given to us to demonstrate to others, believers and non-believers alike, that there is a “Christ you never knew” just as Jesus showed the people of His time that there was a God they never knew.
“I always do the things that are pleasing to Him”
“Go and do likewise”
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Dave
David has been a Chaplain, trained by Biker Bible Institute, since April of 2017. A few months later, he was appointed as the first Regional Director for BBI, serving the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. David also served as the first National Director of the Biker Bible Institute. Today he serves as Vice President, Regional Director for Louisiana, and is a webmaster for the BBI website.
David can be contacted here or by email at dave@bikerbibleinstitute.org. You can also become “friends” with Dave on his Facebook page.