top of page

PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY

High Pointe Church

​

Philosophy of Ministry

​

Why Do We Need A Philosophy Of Ministry?

​

Without a Philosophy of Ministry our church can be poorly developed and not well grounded in the Scriptures. It could easily be nothing more than programs and structures, with little understanding of underlying biblical principles.

​

But all things should be done decently and in order. (1 Cor. 14:40)

 

​

I. The Starting Point of Our Ministry Is God, Not Human Activity (1 Cor. 3:6) 

​

  1. God’s Part: God’s goals for the Christian are superhuman (1Peter 2:21; 1 John 3:16; Eph. 5:18-20). As a matter of fact, Christian growth is totally beyond the realm of human effort (Gal. 3:1-5) for apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). Ministry and spiritual growth are things that God does by means of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess.1:5; Titus 3:5).
     

  2. Human’s Part: God, in graciousness, has allowed human beings to have a part in the work and ministry of His kingdom (2Cor. 5:20). Our part is to abide in Christ (John 15:5) and to rely on the Spirit to bring change (Gal. 5:18, 22-23). We abide in Christ as we abide in the Word of God (1 John 2:24) and as we obey that which Christ tells us to do (1 John 3:24; John 15:10).
     

  3. Implications for Ministry

    1. Realize that you are unqualified to minister to anyone (2 Cor. 3:5-6) and that only God can bring growth in another’s life (1 Cor. 3:6).

    2. Recognize that God’s grace equips us for ministry (Rom. 1:5; 12:6) and that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13).

    3. Determine to abide in Christ (John 15:4-5) by living in moment-by-moment dependence on God (Prov. 3:5-6. Commit yourself to the Word and prayer (Acts 6:4).

 

​

II. The Guide for Our Ministry Is the Bible, Not Human Wisdom (Isa. 55:6-11) 

​

  1. The inspiration of the Bible: Because the Bible is inspired by God (God breathed, 2 Tim. 3:16-17), it is the final authority for Christian faith and practice. It must be interpreted correctly (2 Peter 3:16) with the help of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:12-13; Eph. 1:18).
     

  2. The Bible as God’s “message book”: Since the Bible is the Final authority for Christian faith, it serves as the ultimate judge as to what we believe as truth (John 16:13; 2 Peter 1:20-21); therefore, all experiences and circumstances must be interpreted in the light of what the Scriptures state (Deut. 13:1-3; 1 Cor. 14:29). By saying that the Bible is God’s message book, we are saying that it gives us the content or the “what” of the Christian life (what is the nature of God, the nature of man, etc.).

 

III. The Focus of Our Ministry Is People, Not Programs (John 3:16; 1 Thess. 2:8) 

​

  1. The New Testament is our example of focusing on people first, not programs.
     

  1. God’s example was not a program but a giving of Himself. (John 3:16)
     

  2. The apostles focused on individuals and gave of themselves following the pattern given to them by Jesus. (1 Thes. 2:8)
     

  1. “At the heart of the universe is a Person, not natural forces, a Creator who reveals Himself to persons, who became a human Person in Christ, who seeks to redeem estranged, sinful persons back to Himself. Essentially, the church is not a building, nor an institution, an organization, a program. Essentially the church is people…. It is natural to describe the local church in terms of it activities, its work, as an institution; but, everything the church does is for the sake of people. All programming and organization are means to the end of effecting changes in people. The focus must always be on people.”
     

(LeBar, Focus on People in Church Education, p.11)

 

IV. The Goal of Our Ministry Is Mature Christians, Not Simply Converts (Col. 1:28-29)

​

The Westminster Confession states that man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. We glorify God by developing people, both ourselves and others, who are becoming more like Christ (John 15:8).
 

Chat by Todd Brandt

  1. Conversion (Mark 1:14-15, Acts 4:11-12, Acts 17:30, Romans 9:10-11)

  2. Foundation Stage (Hebrews 4:12-13, 1 Timothy 5:8, Deuteronomy 6:23)

  3. Growth Stage (Romans 8:26-30)

  4. Ministry Stage (2 Tim. 2:2, Col. 1:28-29)
     

Our goal at High Pointe Church is the on going sanctification of the believer, which is the process by which a convert in Christ is continually being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.  This process is never ending in a Christian’s life until glorification which takes place at Christ’s return.  (2 Cor. 3:18, Rom. 8:30, Phil. 3:21)

 

V. The Environment for Our Ministry Is the Corporate Body, Not Individualism (Rom. 12:3-8) 
 

We believe the Bible makes it clear that the church is God’s “vehicle” for bringing the good news of the gospel to the world and making disciples. (Mat 16:15-18, Eph 3:10)
 

  1. Every member is a minister. The ministry is not just for the seminary-trained professional. God has gifted every Christian (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:7-11) so that each might have a part in building up the body of Christ. Everyone is essential and unique in this process.

  2. God has called some to leadership. In the Bible, the leader is first of all a servant. A leader is committed to making others successful. A leader serves by pastoring the flock (1 Peter 5:2-4) and by equipping the saints for their ministries (Eph. 4:11-12). A leader must measure up to certain qualifications (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). It seems clear that the biblical norm is for a multiplicity of leadership (1 Tim. 5:17) and those decisions ideally should be made by the unanimous consent of those in leadership (Acts 15:23-25). This requires teamwork and implies that the leadership should be committed to the same basic body of doctrine and philosophy of ministry (Amos 3:3).

  3. Authority and submission: Because God has given leader to oversee the flock, those under their authority should submit to their leadership (Rom. 13:1-7; Heb. 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5). The only exception to this is when the leadership is calling the people to do something that would result in their clear disobedience of a biblical absolute.

 

VI. The Process of Our Ministry Is Spiritual Reproduction, Not Spiritual Addition (2 Tim. 2:2) 
 

  1. Definitions

    1. Converts: People who have realized that because they were sinners, they were subject to the wrath of God. Seeing their desperate plight and their inability to save themselves, they placed their trust in the finished work of Christ.
       

  1. Mature Christians: People who realize that they still live in their sinful nature and that they cannot live the Christian life in their own strength. Realizing their desperate plight, they place their trust moment by moment in the finished work of Christ. They have also developed the necessary disciplines of the Christian life so that the lifelong process of maturing in Christlikeness can reasonably be expected to continue. They have become independently dependent.
     

  1. Spiritual Addition: The process of reproducing in others what the Spirit of God is doing in you so that they have become either converts or mature Christians.
     

  1. Spiritual Reproduction: The process of reproducing in others what the Spirit of God is doing in you and in turn enabling them to reproduce it in a third generation.
     

  1. How to emphasize spiritual reproduction
     

  1. By developing the personal vision to be involved in third generation discipleship. This comes from realizing the long-range impact of spiritual multiplication.
     

  2. By learning to think relationally. “As one begins to think relationally (mature Christians) rather than terminally (converts), he will become more and more aware of the fantastic power and life-changing potential which can be realized by the application of this truth. He will see how an individual who learns to think relationally can reach extremely high levels of commitment and accomplish tremendous feats of achievement. Secular men have taken this truth, which was intended to be used by the believer, and used it to make money or to gain a position of power.”
     

(Hartman & Sutherland, A Guidebook to Discipleship, p.34)
 

  1. By being willing to pay the cost of investing your life in individuals (Luke 10:30; 1 Thess. 2:1-12). “There are certain demands that cannot be overlooked in such a ministry [of multiplication]. Perhaps the most important is the requirement that you spend much time with one person to build him. You are making a conscious choice to restrict your other ministries and stake your future productivity on the faithful ministries of those whom you build . . . . .To make the wrong selection is to submit yourself to a fruitless and unrewarding ministry.
     

(Kuhne, The Dynamics of Discipleship Training, p.21)

bottom of page