Focus 2020 – The Great Commission: Perspectives from LeadersSample

Will Our Ministries Stand the Test? 

Bible passage:  

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. (1 Corinthians 3:10–14, NIV) 

Devotional: 

In the gospel accounts, Jesus spoke clearly about the assignment He was leaving us, and it was neither a set of activities nor a vague aspirational dream. At the core of our assignment stands the Lord Jesus himself. In the Matthew version of what we call the Great Commission, our Lord stated that everything he was tasking his disciples with was predicated on the fact that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. “Therefore, go.” It is all about him. 

In 1 Corinthians 3, we see that Paul clearly gets it. Using the metaphor of putting up a building, he explains how the job gets done, beginning with the foundation. He compares himself to an expert builder, his part in the overall assignment being to lay the foundation. That foundation, he tells us, is Jesus Christ. Going forward, anyone who participates in the construction work must similarly offer Christ-glorifying materials. So, how can we tell if we are truly building in the right way? Paul says that on the Day, our work will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. “If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.” 

Only what matters will survive. What does matter—and this is what is at stake—is the glory of Jesus Christ Himself. Not organizations, not buildings, not budgets, or secondary pursuits that often preoccupy leaders. What is of value that God will look for and reward after the refining fire? Psalm 2:8 describes the Father’s most valuable gift to His Son: “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” 

We give ourselves and our energies to that which is most valuable to us. Our value system must be evaluated in the light of the Day, when God will reveal the quality of what we have been doing all along. It is easy to allow transient considerations to guide our investment of time, talent, and treasure. And we always run the risk of aiming too low in a bid to obtain quick results in ministry. If the blessing of the Father is clearly focused on winning the nations, that must be our preoccupation, because that is where the Father is investing. 

Quote: “Paul is thinking here not of the building up of wrong things, but of the building up of inadequate things.” – William Barclay 

Question: It has been rightly said that the good is the enemy of the best. Are we guilty of impoverishing our ministries by aiming too low, and missing out on the Father’s special blessing as He pursues the nations? 

Mutua Mahiaini 

International Director, The Navigators