2 Corinthians 12:19
Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.
I often tell my staff and church family that there is a purpose for everything I do in our church. I don't hear something that sounds good to do and just do it because it sounds good, but I choose to do things for a purpose; that purpose is to build people. Anything done in the church that is not done to build people or win the lost is a waste of time. Our purpose is not to do things for entertainment, but we do them to build people. We don't do things to try to gain good rapport with the community, but we do things to build people. We don't do things to grow the church, but we do things to build people. If what we do is not to win the lost or build people, we must choose not to do it because it is taking away from that which could build lives or win the lost.
Paul said, we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying. Paul understood the importance of building lives, and that there is no purpose for wasting energies on that which does not build lives. Paul understood that if he spent his energy on building lives, that more souls would be saved.
Your life should spend your life building lives. The Christian life is about two things: winning the lost to Christ and building lives. If I keep these two things as my life and ministry priority, I can keep myself from being unproductive. Let me share how to keep these two things as your focus.
First, never allow the unimportant to pull you away from the purpose of winning souls and building lives. There are many things in life that you can do, but most of those things will not amount to anything at the end of life. The worthiness of your life is accounted by how many souls have you won and how many lives have you built for Christ.
Second, you cannot substitute one for the other. Some will say they will spend their lives building lives instead of going soul winning, but you cannot build lives if your are not a soul winner. God gives wisdom to the soul winner; therefore, you will not have the wisdom to build lives if you don't go soul winning. Soul winning gives you a heart for people and keeps you from becoming mechanical in what you do. However, you also cannot spend your life soul winning and not building lives. The soul winner ought to desire to build the lives of those they lead to Christ. To attempt to do one without the other results in one of these areas suffering. The Great Commission is about winning souls and building lives so that you can send them out to be soul winners themselves.
Third, only start something or do something because it will build lives. Any ministry started should not be done because it will grow the church or make you feel good, but everything you start should be done to build lives and win souls. When I start a new bus route in our church, I do so to build the lives of the new captain and workers. When I see that someone needs to step up, I find something to put them in to build their life, and often it means I am starting a new Sunday school class or bus route. I put people into a ministry, not because it feels good, but to build their lives.
My friend, never use people to build your ministry, but use your ministry to build lives and win souls. Keeping these two things as your priority keeps you from becoming sidetracked in your ministry and Christian life.
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