We all need PLATFORMS in ministry. It is not true that platforms are unnecessary in ministry.
You need platforms. I need platforms. We all need platforms. And God gives platforms to His ministers.
What is wrong is for PLATFORMS to become your motive and driving force in ministry.
No; your goal in ministry is to glorify God by blessing lives, and then PLATFORMS will open up to you.
We don’t need to play religion with this issue, neither do we need to become emotional or sentimental about it.
Your calling needs platforms for expression. Your ministry needs platforms for expression.
The grace of God upon your life needs platforms for expression.
So trust God for PLATFORMS as you seek to glorify God and bless God’s precious people.
The irony of ministry is that those who knock and attack the subject of PLATFORMS secretly desire them, and sometimes their aggressive fight is merely a show of frustration.
It’s incumbent on every minister to follow the path of the Call with integrity of heart and consistency of mind as God begins to open great platforms unto him.
It is my prayer for you today dear minister that the God Who gave strategic platforms for destiny connection to the fathers of Faith will open up your own destiny platforms unto you.
Having said that, it’s important to realize that it’s up to God to open platforms unto you but it’s up to you to manage and maintain those platforms with the wisdom of God.
Like I often say, “Your gift will bring you before great men but it’s your character that will keep you with great men”.
Too many ministers have murdered their own God-given opportunities in ministry IN BROAD DAYLIGHT and they’re blaming the devil for everything.
It takes the wisdom of God to maintain ministry platforms and we can’t just brush this subject aside because sometimes in ministry, one single open door leads to many other open doors – ONE DOOR CAN LEAD TO DOORS!
And today, I want to talk about THREE LEVELS OF PLATFORMS relative to the pulpit ministry.
Of course there are other ministry platforms but I want to focus on the pulpit ministry with respect to preaching for other people and the kind of wisdom and composure required to manage those platforms.
At one point in time or the other, you will find yourself preaching for other people and I believe there are things to take note of because I have seen too many ministers abuse platforms in ministry.
Please follow me on this journey dear friend. These three dimensional levels of ministry platforms are:
(1) PREACHING FOR FATHERS, MENTORS, AND SENIOR MINISTERS:
Don’t get there and start preaching as if you started ministry before them.
Don’t get on this kind of platforms and make careless and insensitive statements that undermine their years of labour in ministry.
Don’t go there to preach as if you belong to “THE GRACE GENERATION” while those fathers belong to “THE LAW GENERATION”.
It will surprise you that many of the fathers have deeper understanding of the Gospel of Grace unlike the kind of shallow knowledge and pervasive ignorance of Grace being projected today by some young ministers.
Some of the fathers you see today had already finished Kenyon’s books and Hagin’s books before we were even born at all – so why do you want to bamboozle them with NEW CREATION REALITIES as if you’re the only “apostle” of it?
Honour them for their work sake. The father or mentor who invited you to preach could have been building that platform ever before you were born – some for over 30 years; some for over 40 years and some for over 50 years, etc.
Be careful. Don’t rubbish the fathers’ years of labour in one minute – IT’S COSTLY in life and ministry.
Refer to them during your ministration and don’t ever call them to lay hands on them – YOU WILL NOT FINISH YOUR MINISTRY WITHOUT STARTING IN JESUS’ NAME.
Let your ministration show genuine honour and let the heart of the fathers bless you.
If you go to preach for a father who for instance has like 200 members but your own members are like 4000 in number, don’t say things like “Our own congregation is twenty times bigger than this congregation” – that’s a BLUNDER and MISFIRE!
You had better be silent on that and don’t run your mouth like tap water . Let God’s wisdom guide you.
Also, don’t give any false impression of your ministry.
I remember a prominent father (name withheld) in the Body of Christ who invited a young man to preach and the young man started lying and giving fake words and testimonies and the father discerned it.
The father called him to his office and he could not deny it. The father then told him, “Young man, you’re lying on this platform that Morris Cerrulo has preached; Pastor Adeboye has preached; Bishop David Oyedepo has preached…”.
He mentioned some other great names that ring bell globally. That young man forfeited his opportunity by wanton folly.
Let’s be careful friends. It’s a privilege to preach for fathers, mentors and senior ministers.
(2) PREACHING FOR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES:
Don’t go there to engage in competition with your friend.
Don’t project too much of your “strong points” in ministry AT THE EXPENSE of his own “weak points” in ministry.
Please note that I said “AT THE EXPENSE” – that’s very key to understand the point here.
Honour him for his great work and appreciate the right hands of fellowship and privilege he extended to you.
Don’t get into the familiarity mode such that you start dishonouring him in the front of his members.
Don’t take things for granted; be guided by a sense of decency and decorum.
Don’t begin to establish private contact with his members outside of his knowledge because you feel he’s your friend. No; that’s wrong!
You can talk about your great times together; your days of small beginning and how the Grace of God has lifted the two of you.
Appreciate him very deeply for the bond of friendship and let the members feel the vibes of it.
Don’t become controversial such that after you’re done, your friend will start a seven-week series of teaching to repair the damage.
Celebrate his wife (if he’s married) and honour the members too.
Sadly, MANY FRIENDSHIPS DON’T LAST IN MINISTRY and this all begins with taking things for granted.
If you have an observation about the work, raise it privately with your friend especially if it’s such that is not healthy for the members to hear.
You know in ministry; abuse begins when people know what they should not know. Let’s tread cautiously.
(3) PREACHING FOR SONS, DAUGHTERS, PROTEGEES AND THOSE WHO LOOK UP TO YOU:
Don’t abuse privilege here. Avoid impunity of any kind. That somebody is your son does not mean that you should talk to him anyhow. Honour him very highly!
Yes he’s your son but remember also that he’s a servant of Jesus Christ, and no man takes this honour unto himself, except he that is called even as was Aaron – Heb. 5:4.
When you go to preach for a son, go there to pour your heart. Preach your heart. Speak to his work. Lay hands on him. Pronounce the blessing!
Go in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ – Rm. 15:29. Never let your son get the impression that you didn’t “prepare” for them.
Celebrate him very highly before his people. What a spiritual father says to the congregation of his son speaks volumes.
God told the disciples that were with Christ on the mount of transfiguration to listen to Him. He said, “…hear ye him” – Matt. 17:5.
In other words, “listen to Him”. In today’s ministry parlance, it means follow his instructions; don’t rebel; listen to his tapes; soak in his words; read his books and materials; follow him!
The Apostle Paul also recommended the ministry of Timothy to the Philippians – Phil. 2:19-23.
As a father, you’re not just there to TEACH or PREACH (of course that’s key) only but to IMPART; to BLESS; to LAY HANDS.
Your spiritual sons and daughters need your laying on of hands and prophetic pronouncement regularly; so don’t just go there to open your preaching note, close it and go.
No; there’s THE BLESSING OF A FATHER that opens spiritual children to new levels of Grace, and it cannot be compared to anything.
If you don’t pour your heart into your sons and daughters, sooner or later, their hearts will begin to disconnect from you.
Therefore minister to them as a “FATHER”; not as an “ELOQUENT GUEST MINISTER”.
If we don’t understand the dynamics of these three platforms, many things will be lopsided in ministry operations and it is not a plus for the Body of Christ.
A good point to note; you should not become so mechanical in your platform management such that you’re not able to blend with the flow of the Spirit.
Yes, be DELIBERATE about this but be also SENSITIVE to the Spirit of God such that one does not affect the other.
But in it all, we must realize that the flow of the Spirit will always be in the context of divine order, hence we’re admonished by Scriptures to DO ALL THINGS DECENTLY AND IN ORDER – 1 Cor. 14:40.
I know that your “greatest” platform is your own people but you’ve got to also manage your external platforms well; it can make a big difference between a struggling ministry and a thriving ministry.
It is my sincere and heartfelt prayer for you that from this day, God Almighty will begin to open up platforms that are strategic to your destiny fulfilment unto you in Jesus’ Precious Name.
Amen!
Trust this is a blessing Sirs and Mas?
Much Love!!!
Source: Bimbo Animashaun Teaching Ministries |Published with permission.
Aphorism CITY 