The Ministry Lifecycle

The Ministry Lifecycle

John 3:22-36

Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

John 3:22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized — 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison.

John 3:25 Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” 27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. 30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.

John 3:31 “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 “He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. 36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not 1obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

John the Baptist’s ministry work was winding down as Yeshua’s work gained steam. John accepted that this was what the LORD had planned. John was the spokesman who was to introduce Yeshua to the world. Once that was done John’s work was no longer necessary, and he slowed down. He wanted people to follow Yeshua as the Messiah and not him. This event demonstrates the need at times for a ministry to end. Many times something new will evolve from the old ministry, sometimes not. John knew his time was over. He closed down his ministry. Unfortunately, he received help from Herod Antipas. If Herod did not kill John, he would have faded into history. He knew that was the way of the LORD.

I think this passage tells us about a ministry lifecycle. When a church does new ministries or work, there should be a good reason for doing it. Usually, there is. During the lifecycle of that ministry, does the church ever look at whether that ministry needs to continue or stop or be revamped. A lot of times, the problem that a ministry is solving eventually solves it. In my years with the church, I have seen that people like the ministry running whether it’s doing any good or not.

In the year 1999, I had the opportunity to go to Redbird Mission, located in Kentucky. It was established years ago because the people of the Redbird area were impoverished. They needed help restoring their homes. They needed help putting on new roofs. These people did not have the money to do these things. This ministry became huge with youth groups of the United Methodist churches. These churches would collect money and materials for the different projects. They would then take the youth group down to Redbird for a one week mission adventure.

The church would give the Redbird mission enough money to feed the group and to house them for that week. In turn, the Redbird administration would find a job for them to do. When the mission got started, there were plenty of people who needed help in the area. However, by 1999, the need was not there anymore. I was talking to a young lady who was the daughter of the person running the mission, who told me that they did not have any jobs for the kids to do for people who were in need. So instead, they opened up the ministry to anyone who wanted anything done.

The youth group I was in charge of was assigned to paint a house for an older woman. What I found interesting was the house was about 30 feet from the street but behind the house was a second newer house. So I asked the lady living in the front house who was living behind her. She told me that it was her son and daughter-in-law. I also noticed that she was wearing very new and semi-expensive clothing. The house had all kinds of knickknacks and other things that you would expect to find in a house where the owner had some wealth.