The Best Ministry Tool Ever Created

by Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?” —Luke 24:32 – Jesus followers recognizing the flame of Christ within.

“We now accept the fact that learning is a life-long process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.” —Peter Drucker

“We tend to live our lives from the outside in rather than from the inside out.” —Frederick Buechner, Telling Secrets

How do you decide what tools, programs, approaches your congregation needs for mission advancement?

How do you decide where to invest your continuing education budget? With the proliferation of quality ministry tools and programs, how can one tell what’s useful, fitting, timely, or appropriate for one’s ministry context? Good questions. The Ministry-Equipping-Market-Driven machine is running full speed (count the email and social media advertisements coming across your screen). Navigating among them, with direction and purpose, can be mind-boggling. We, too, struggle with these questions, from the other side. What criteria do we, as providers of ministry tools, use to guide our development efforts?

There is one ministry tool to which we return over and over. In fact, it is the best ministry tool ever created. An impossible claim, you say? This ministry tool is portable; able to go with you into any ministry setting. This ministry tool is adaptable and flexible; useful in most any ministry context. Once you become familiar with it and learn how to use it, it’s always at hand. This ministry tool can improve with use; growing more effective over time. This ministry tool was actually designed by God! The person of the minister is the tool of which we speak. I am frequently amazed by the neglect of this wonderful tool. Many ministers focus their learning on the next best program to come along, while neglecting the greatest ministry tool already at hand. When a minister learns to use self (spiritual awareness, emotional intelligence, pastoral sensitivity, leadership skills, etc.), ministry effectiveness rises dramatically.

I once was in a coach training group with coaches from around the country. One, who’s a fairly well known clergy coach, coached me around a growing edge of my own. He led me through an exercise, with good intent, trying to help me resolve a dilemma. At the conclusion, I had been “technique-d.” Sure, he was using a cool exercise, but it simply was irrelevant to my dilemma, seeming manipulative. The next best thing or program can be counter-productive when applied without pastoral sensitivity.

The greatest “bang for our buck” when it comes to ministry tools, is to invest in the person of the pastor. When the pastor grows, learns, improves, and accesses the gifts God has already given, then ministry effectiveness expands. At Pinnacle, we prioritize the personal and professional development of people, seeing this as where we can make the most impact for God’s kingdom. Sure, sharpening ourselves requires great attention, and often God’s refining. Sharpening ourselves is harder work than finding a new technique or program. On the other hand, the pain is worth the gain.

So, what gifts has God given you for ministry? What do your heart, soul, and head tell you about your ministry? How much trust and confidence do you have in the best ministry tool ever created? May God find us faithful stewards of God’s good gifts!