To help illustrate the tension between Christians and ministry leaders in our cities today, we will initially categorize them into two basic groups. Just as the human heart pumps blood away from it to the body, and back to it, Christian Ministry also flows in two directions. Please allow me the liberty to generalize these groups for our discussion. Those who “Defend the Faith” are primarily Pastoral leaders and Teachers. Those who “Extend the Faith” are primarily Apostolic, Prophetic and Evangelistic leaders. Those who defend the faith are similar to a mom caring for the kids at home. Those who extend the faith are similar to the dad taking the kids with him to work the fields. One is wired to be care-takers, while the other is wired to be risk-takers. For more on this see God’s Ministry Assembly Line.

One camp could be characterized as settlers, the other as pioneers. Some soldiers stay to protect the fort, while others go out to fight. Similar to our early American settlements, some people would be concerned with establishing Boonsboro. The others, like Daniel Boone himself, would be looking over the next mountain ridge to scout out new territory for God. Without our pioneers, the Church would never take ground; without our settlers, the Church would never keep the ground which has been taken.

One group is mostly focused on “Maintaining the People of God”, while the other group is focused on “Advancing the Purposes of God.” One group desires to establish people in Biblical Truth while the other motivates people to exercise Biblical Action.

It is the tension between these two camps that results in much of the disunity among Christian leaders in our cities (even within your church) today. These differences may even be more prevalent than the doctrinal and cultural differences that divide us! In fact, much of the attacks we suspect are from evil spirits working in other people, may actually be our misunderstanding of their gifting.

When a person in ministry doesn’t flow the way we are gifted, we can view them as a hindrance to what we believe God has called us to do. Pastors/teachers may see the emotionally charged or “hyper spiritual” services of the prophets/evangelists, as a carnal or even a demonic attempt to manipulate and coerce the people. Prophets/evangelists sometimes believe the reserved and cerebral emphasis of the pastors/teachers, and perceive they are operating in a dead religious Pharisee spirit. To see this in operation see We Are Jesus Christ Regional Hospital.

This can separate leaders for months or years. Sometimes we spend more time slamming the other camp than we do advancing the kingdom of God. If we remain teachable, the Lord will reveal to us that those other ministers may not be from the devil, but are the other ministry gifts we are supposed to work alongside of.

The balance we and God’s flock need is not found in our own kind, but in those ministers we often minister differently than us. It usually takes years and many broken relationships before the typical minister matures and realizes this fact. Unless a minister has attended “Roadkill Seminary” and experienced true brokenness, he or she won’t be able to  incorporate this revelation into their daily lives. The reason is, we are too busy building our kingdoms, to be bothered with material like this. We all should stay in our lane and stay focused on what the Lord has called us to, but we should also remember, that we are not building our empire or career, we are working with Jesus as He builds HIS Church. Be aware. God is much more concerned about reaching all of you, than He is about you reaching all of the world!

Excerpt from “Working Together for Jesus”

To get your Paperback copy click here

To get your E-Book copy click here