The Secret to Ministering in Forgotten Places.
We are called to be faithful with people. Jesus is the one who finishes the work.
At the end of Acts 20, the Apostle Paul knows something that makes this conversation especially powerful. This is goodbye.
Paul has called the elders of the church at Ephesus to meet with him. He has loved these men. He has taught them. He has prayed for them. He has invested in them. He has poured himself out for them. And now he knows he will never see them again. At least, not this side of glory.
Imagine knowing that the conversation you're having with a group of people you deeply love will be your final conversation with them. What would you say? Paul essentially tells them:
Guard the flock. Stay alert. Work hard. Be faithful. Finish well.
But tucked into this farewell is something that isn't really a charge to them. It's something Paul does for himself. And I believe it is one of the hidden secrets to doing ministry in forgotten and overlooked places.
In Acts 20:32, Paul says:
“And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.”
There it is. Paul entrusts them to God. That's the secret.
Faithfulness Without Control
Anyone who has spent significant time doing frontline ministry knows the questions.
Will the church be okay?
Will this person hold onto their faith?
Will they ever be free from their addiction?
Will that marriage make it?
Will this person ever grow?
Will they make wise decisions?
Will they walk away?
Will the finances be there for us to keep going?
Will this neighborhood ever change?
What if I do everything I can, and it still doesn't work?
These questions become especially acute when you're doing ministry in forgotten places. Because ministry in forgotten places is rarely clean.
It is slow.
It is messy.
It is often discouraging.
You can preach faithfully and watch someone walk away.
You can love someone deeply and watch them make destructive decisions.
You can pray for years and see little visible change.
You can pour yourself into a neighborhood and wonder if anyone will ever notice.
You can work harder than you have ever worked and still feel like you aren't doing enough.
If we're not careful, our faithfulness can slowly turn into something else. We begin to believe that the outcomes are our responsibility. But Paul shows us another way. He tells these elders to be faithful, and then he hands them over to God.
That's the secret. Do everything God has called you to do. And then entrust the results to him. This is where Acts 20:32 becomes so precious.
“I Commit You to God”
Paul says: “I commit you to God and to the word of his grace.”
In other words: I have taught you. I have warned you.I have prayed for you. I have loved you. I have poured myself out for you. But I cannot carry you. So I give you to God.
Why? Because God can do in them what Paul never could. Paul couldn't guarantee their perseverance. Paul couldn't control their decisions. Paul couldn't protect them from every hardship. Paul couldn't change their hearts. Paul couldn't finish the work. But God could.
Paul says that God's Word “is able to build you up.” Think about that. The Word of God's grace can continue working in people after Paul is gone. That's the point. Paul's ministry has an expiration date. God's doesn't. Paul's presence is temporary. God's presence is permanent. Paul's ability is limited. God's power is unlimited. And Paul's teaching ministry will end, but the Word of grace will keep working.
The Word is strong in its effect. The Word does not return void. The Word is living and active. The Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. And because it is, Paul can walk away. Not because he doesn't care, but because he cares enough to trust the people he loves to the God who loves them even more.
The Secret Sauce to Ministry in Forgotten Places
This is particularly important for those of us who believe God has called us to forgotten places. At Neighborhood Churches, we talk a lot about faithfulness.
We believe in putting our hands in the soil.
We believe in moving toward the mess.
We believe in staying.
We believe in loving neighborhoods over the long haul.
We believe in planting churches, not events.
We believe in the ordinary, daily faithfulness of gospel ministry.
But faithfulness does not mean control.
We are called to work. We are not called to control the outcome.
We are called to preach. We are not called to change hearts.
We are called to disciple. We are not called to guarantee perseverance.
We are called to love. We are not called to carry everyone.
We are called to be faithful today and trust God with tomorrow. That distinction is what will keep you in ministry. Because if you believe the future of the church depends entirely on you, eventually you will either become proud or exhausted. Probably both. But when you realize that Jesus is the one who builds or at times appears to “not build” his church, you can work incredibly hard without believing everything depends on you.
Listen my fellow strivers! You can pour yourself out without believing you are the Savior. You can care deeply without carrying what only God can carry. You can work with urgency while resting in God's sovereignty.
We Are Day Laborers.
Lastly, Acts 20 reminds us that the work we do does not sit upon the shoulders of the people currently leading the charge. And whatever churches are planted in the forgotten places of New England will not ultimately depend upon the missionaries who plant them.
Gospel ministry is built on the Word of God and the work of God… alone.
It began before us. It will continue after us. The building of God's temple is accomplished by the Master Craftsman—not by the day laborers. We are day laborers. Faithful ones, I hope. Hard-working ones, by God's grace. But still day laborers.
Jesus gets to finish the work.
That's what Paul understood. He knew his time with these brothers was over. There was more he could have taught them. More conversations he could have had. More prayers he could have prayed. More encouragement he could have given. More things he could have done. But eventually, Paul had to let go. And so he did the most faithful thing he could do. He entrusted them to God.
We don't know what hardships the people I love will face. We don't know if every person we invest in will persevere. We don't know if every church we plant will flourish. We don't know what tomorrow holds for the ministry God has placed us in.
But we do know this: Only God's shoulders are wide enough to carry the weight of the future. So what does God ask of us? Faithfulness for today. Do the work God has placed in front of you. And then? Entrust it to God.
Because the secret to lasting ministry in forgotten places isn't that we somehow learn to carry more. It’s that we learn what we are responsible to carry — and what we must finally place into the hands of Jesus.
Yes, we are called to be faithful, but it’s only Jesus who gets to finish the work.
Friends, this is good news for tired pastors. This is good news for weary church planters. It's good news for parents. It's good news for missionaries. It's good news for everyone who loves people and has discovered just how little control we actually have.
Keep going.
Keep showing up.
Keep preaching.
Keep loving.
Keep serving.
Keep planting.
Keep putting your hands in the soil.
And when the weight becomes too heavy—and it will—remember Paul's secret:
“I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up.”