A sign in a high school football locker room read, “A confused player won’t play well.” Nothing can be more frustrating than not knowing what we are supposed to do in a given situation. And because we believe doing something is better than doing nothing we often simply do something in ministry with little reflection as to why we are doing it. If our actions bring apparent “success,” however we choose to define that, we will make that our standard mode of operation. If not, we abandon that technique and look for another, seeking through trial and error to find something that will “really work.” Our eyes have a tendency to focus on those who have achieved and we often adopt their methods, not reflecting on why those methods “worked” or evaluating them in light of our theology.

Bible-believing Christians are quite concerned with upholding the inspiration and authority of God’s Word. We rightly want to base our theological beliefs on what the Bible says rather than the opinions of men. Yet often there is a disconnect between what we believe to be true and what we do. This is usually not intentional, but stems from lack of reflection. The Bible should shape not only our theological and doctrinal beliefs, but the way we carry out the work of ministry as well. We need a way to let what we do (our methodology) be shaped by what we believe from the Bible to be true about God and His ways with man (our theology). A philosophy of ministry bridges this gap and serves as an interpreter between our theology and our methodology.

Stated another way, we ask theology, “What is the Gospel?” Theology answers, “The Gospel is. . . .” Methodology says, “Great! Let’s spread it! Let’s drive it into hearts.” A philosophy of ministry helps us answer the question, What should we do in light of what we believe?

How should embracing a gospel where God does everything in salvation—planning, accomplishing, and applying redemption to fallen mankind—influence our thinking about how we approach ministry? The Gospel is the “good news” or proclamation that God, the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and King has acted to bring about redemption. His actions are always prior. A presupposition of the biblical gospel is that God is at work. In contrast to the deistic notion of a creator who is not involved in this world, biblical Christianity believes in the God who not only creates, but also sustains all things through His providence. And this God has determined to redeem a people for Himself.

Do we need a new “strategy” if we hope to reach a lost world with the hope of the gospel? Does the church have anything to offer the postmodern era? Donald Miller writes,

A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of church in America—about the postmodern church. He says the new church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing.

That resonates with many of us, doesn’t it? We see the church (in general) re-configuring itself with every new cultural wave, trying to appeal to the world. And at the same time we see our non-Christian friends seeing Christianity as irrelevant. People are often turned off by the church’s attempts to appeal to them. They see through it. They feel as though the church is not being genuine. We can agree with Miller that the church cannot be relevant unless it believes in Jesus and the power of His gospel. He is completely right. But how easy it is for us to doubt the power of Christ working in and through His church. It is too easy to doubt and neglect the foundational aspects of the church and search for innovations. God is at work building His church (numerically and spiritually). We must trust that God grows His church as it is a community characterized by the pattern set forth in His Word.

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42, 47b). Who increased their number? Who made the church grow? The Lord. God creates the church and God grows His church. The last word of the book of Acts is the Greek word akolutos which means “without hindrance.” The gospel marches forward through various struggles, crushing all opposition. This is freeing and reassuring. Christian community exists and grows only in Christ. It is by grace. If God is at work, if in the final analysis God saves sinners, we can trust the means He has said He will use to bring that about. Our ministries will “do” many different things and be engaged in a variety of activities depending on our context. We must always ask ourselves, “Why am I doing this? What do I hope to accomplish through it?” And as we examine our ministries we should always ask, “Are the Word of God and prayer central in our ministry? What would an observer think that we believe is the power center of our ministry?”

Rev. David Rapp, is RUF Campus Minister at the University of Oregon.

1. Westminster Shorter Catechism #11: Q. What are God’s works of providence? God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

2. Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz, p. 111.