Setting Priorities and Being Productive in Ministry

The pastor is the “steward of God” (Titus 1:7). He is the household manager serving the Lord’s interests in His church while He is away. When the Lord returns, He will call the pastor into account for how faithfully he managed the local church (1 Peter 5:4; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Corinthians 4:1–5). What does it mean to be a faithful steward? Jesus’ parables in Luke’s gospel define the faithful steward. He is active at his task (12:42–48), attentive to detail (16:1–12) and productive in profit making (19:12–27).

The pastor should take all his God-given resources and turn a spiritual profit for the kingdom and glory of God. Those resources include the Word of God; the Holy Spirit’s power; prayer; and his and others’ time, money, facilities, equipment, talents and spiritual gifts. God wants men of integrity and industry who will carry out their tasks with energy, enthusiasm and endurance. He wants them to be trustworthy and faithful. To meet all those qualifications, a pastor must set priorities and be productive. Begin to evaluate your faithful stewardship by asking the following questions:

Am I genuinely right with God and walking in fellowship with Him? God promises to cause a man’s activities to prosper when he meditates day and night in the Word of God (Psalm 1:1–3; Joshua 1:8). Sometimes pastors stray from God, become self-willed and self-centered, and forget that they are stewards of what God has given them. When personal discipline falters, effective ministry suffers. In his book The Preacher: His Life and Work, John Henry Jowett wrote: “I am profoundly convinced that one of the gravest perils which besets the ministry of this country is a restless scattering of energies over an amazing multiplicity of interests, which leaves no margin of time or of strength for receptive and absorbing communion with God… We must, therefore, hold firmly and steadily to this primary principle, that of all things that need doing, this need is supreme, to live in intimate fellowship with God.”

Have I clearly defined my primary ministry goals and tasks? The local church is a community evangelistic base and discipling agency. The Great Commission is fulfilled through a local church ministry as the pastor equips and leads his people to evangelize sinners and disciple believers. The pastor should have a plan for contacting every home in the community for Christ. He should have a specific plan for personal or group discipleship and relationship building.

Am I maximizing the use of my time toward accomplishing primary ministry goals and tasks? John Henry Jowett wrote: “Enter your study at an appointed hour, and let that hour be as early as the earliest of your businessmen goes to his warehouse or his office… Let him [the pastor] employ system and method, and let him be as scrupulously punctual in the service of his Lord. … Let him estimate the comparative values of things. Let first things be put first, and let him give the freshness of his strength to matters of vital and primary concern.”