Steve Timmis (Acts 29 Director for Western Europe) continues with the second part of the series Church Planting out of season.

Humility

In the previous post I suggested that, as far as Western Europe is concerned, we are engaged in 'out of season' gospel ministry. The soil is hard and compacted, and calls for determined gospel faithfulness. Even when fruit is in short supply, our response should not be one of despair or desperation. We are called to faithful gospel labour, which is an outworking of dependence on the Lord.

Another feature of gospel ministry in such a context should be humility. Immediately prior to Paul's exhortation to Timothy to preach the word in season and out of season, we find him reminding the young leader to "continue in what you have learned and firmly believed" (2 Timothy 3v14). He then turns his attention to the holy Scriptures, which are "profitable for teaching, reproof, correction..." (v16). In other words, it is not Timothy who is going to turn Ephesus around, but the word of God faithfully applied to the hearts of God's people. This conviction requires humility. Gospel work is the Lord's work. It is performed by his Spirit through his Word. If I wear myself out in gospel ministry, or find myself sinking into apathy or despair, it is because my prideful heart has deluded me into imagining that it is all down to me.

Humility also provides a due sense of proportion about the condition of our ministry. If we look at our buildings, which may be full on a Sunday morning, we can easily convince ourselves that all is well in the vineyard. But if we start concerning ourselves with the number who are NOT in our meetings we will begin to have a more realistic perspective. This again increases our reliance upon Christ, which in turn disposes our hearts towards our fellow workers. I will be more ready to listen to, learn from and co-operate with other gospel churches when I recognise that, really, we are all relative failures. After all, a church of 200 in a city of 500,000 is hardly an achievement. Nor is a congregation of 1000 in a population of 8 million. These churches may very well be living faithfully as gospel ministers. But there's always more to be done, and it's all God's work. Let us cultivate a godly perspective about gospel ministry so that we walk humbly before the Lord and with one another.

Part 1 HERE