At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. (verses 1-4)
In this parable, the oil is widely understood as intimacy with Jesus. Look at it as 10 ministries, and five worked and worked without an understanding of intimacy with Jesus and five worked while maintaining the oil in their lamps. A lack of intimacy always leads to burnout. Intimacy fuels our hearts, because nothing motivates us better than love for Jesus. In the end, we want to be among the wise who have cultivated intimacy and who have oil in our lamps. We don't want to burn out or struggle in our own strength.
We are also far more effective evangelists and servants when we do so out of love for Jesus. Cultivating intimacy helps to correctly prioritize Jesus in our lives and gives us a proper worldview to evangelize through. In this way, our mandate is not about numbers, but about outreach that flows from a heart of love. Without that heart of love, our outreach will never be as effective for us or for the lost.
Luke 18:1-8 ~ The Parable of the Persistent Widow
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (verses 7-8)
Luke 18 shares the eschatological side of my point. We can minister and outreach for the lost, but why? In the end, why do we minister at all? It is ultimately to prepare the earth for Jesus' return. The return of Jesus is our primary reason for ministry, in whatever form. We seek to answer the question of "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" And what is the primary topic of this parable? Persistent PRAYER. We can answer this question in many ways through evangelism and through giving to the poor and through other forms of outreach, but our primary calling is to a foundation of prayer. That is why it is key to establish prayer furnaces in schools and to ministry from that place of prayer.
Getting Free From Numbers-Based Ministries:
Another point to understand is that our success and calling has nothing to do with how many lost people we save or how many people show up to our events. God will not love us more because we saved more people. That is a works-based understanding. Our ministry is not primarily for the lost, although it is very essential that we reach out to them and pray for their salvation. Our ministry is to Jesus because He is worthy. Even more important than saving the lost is saving the lost RIGHTLY, which comes from prizing the cross and becoming lovers and partners with Jesus. We need to find our identity outside of other people and outside of the needs of other people. Once we establish the centrality of Jesus, we will be much more effective ministers to the lost. Good luck getting anyone to be a true martyr with a cold heart.
Numbers do not define your prayer meeting. If Jesus came back tomorrow, intimacy would define your prayer meeting. It is good to seek to include as many Christians as possible, but never at the expense of intimacy. Be released from the idea that you need to save your entire school. We do desperately need a culture shift and everyone does need to be saved, but that will not happen in your own strength no matter how hard you try (I've tried). Don't worry about who shows up or who doesn't show up. It's not for them, it's for Jesus. If you are leading for your followers, you will be led by your followers and you will burn out. What if no one gets saved? Does that make you a failure? What if only 3 people ever show up? If you count your success in numbers, then you are a slave to those you are trying to reach and you are finding your identity outside of Jesus. Get free of numbers first, and then God will open up the nets and you'll save 3,000 in a day (Acts 2). Align your heart with JESUS first and watch what happens!
Side note: If God does not judge us based on the number of people our ministry reaches (inherently works-based), then why do we so often judge youth groups by their numbers? More often then not, the larger youth groups are not necessarily the most effective. We should be preoccupied with Jesus, not numbers, and a youth group preoccupied with numbers probably isn't preoccupied with Jesus.
2. Consecration
We do not have a Christianity to save people into if we are submitting ourselves to the same culture as the rest of the world. What do we have to offer a culture that we are submitting to? What makes us holy like our God?
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. - Matthew 5:13
In Numbers 6, the Lord outlines what was called the Nazirite Vow. This was a special vow of consecration with a very strict set of rules that were over and above the normal requirements of the law. The Nazirites desired a higher level of consecration in oder to be messengers. Back then, it was all about not cutting the hair, not eating grapes, and not defiling oneself by being near the dead. That was then, but what does not eating grapes get us today? Even though the Nazirite Vow doesn't exist today, the principal is still true. God is looking for a church that is set apart from the culture, that calls itself holy and doesn't submit to the culture!
What do you have to offer your school if you are bound under the same demons that assault your classmates? We need to consecrate ourselves before the Lord and actually live like Scripture is real and be different. Here are a few steps to get you started. From here you can pray and see how God would have you handle your life, from your schedule to your eating habits to the movies you watch.
#1 Secular Music
Music is scientifically the most effective method of indoctrination. The human brain works far better when taught through music, and the human memory is far better when memorizing ideas through music. How did you learn the alphabet? Music sinks to the deepest places of our brains and can even effect our worldview subconsciously. What are we allowing ourselves to be indoctrinated by? Music inspired by lost people or with no regard for God or the Word of God? Music inspired by demons? Or are we submitting ourselves only to music that directly glorifies God? This is the number one first step to setting yourself apart. If you miss this, the rest will be hard.
#2 Fasting
Fast food, somehow. Fasting is a tool that applies to everyone, not just pastors. If you have physical limitations that keep you from fasting food, then fast on whatever level you are physically able. I often fast soda and candy, and I miss it terribly, so it works. Isaiah 58 is a great fasting outline, as well as Joel 2:15. Don't just make it a one-time event, but make it a lifestyle. Fast weekly for one day or lunch on certain days, etc.
#3 Accountability
You need accountability. You need accountability. You need accountability. YOU NEED ACCOUNTABILITY. Get accountability from the same gender and get free from sin and hold each other to your consecration. Become the temple of the Most High God, and start by consecrating your temple from the things of the world and only submit yourself to media that glorifies God and get accountability to sustain it.
If we get set apart, get holy, and take Christianity seriously (no more weekend drinking parties, no more sleeping with our girlfriends/boyfriends, no more talking behind people's backs), then we have something to save people into. In most schools, being a Christian means nothing because all of the Christians still attend the parties and don't live any differently from their lost friends. We need deliverance for our own youth groups, so take a stand for your own life and start the revolution in your own heart.
3. Air-Supremacy
Air-Supremacy is a literal military strategy that nations use to achieve victory in battle. It means having ownership of the air so that your jets and planes can freely travel and provide support. If you have air-supremacy, you can call for quick backup, call for quick pick-up or quick drop-off, and your jets can provide you with immediate aid. Air-supremacy changes the entire battle and can be the difference between victory and loss.
The exact same is true in ministry through prayer. In Daniel 10, Daniel set his face to 21 days of fasting and prayer for God to have mercy on Israel, and although Daniel didn't see it, massive battle was taking place behind the scenes because of his prayers.
The Angel tells Daniel, Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come. - Daniel 10:12-14
Daniel's prayers were a battle for air-supremacy above Persia! And once the air-supremacy was one, the breakthrough came! We have so little understanding of what is happening in the heavenly realms that we don't know how to fight for victory in the heavens first through prayer.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. - 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
We need to understand our place in the heavens and pray for breakthrough. Daniel is an excellent example of a man who consecrated himself to God at an early age and who gave himself to a life of prayer and out of that his prayers were effecting the heavenly battles. With air-supremacy, fighting the battle in prayer, breakthrough will come much more effectively to your school. We need to understand the importance of prayer.
The reason you want to give yourself to the place of prayer, and the reason you want to start a prayer furnace at your school is because prayer moves God's heart and prayer moves heaven. When doing evangelism, pray that God would give you favor. When you're about to share the gospel with a lost classmate, pray that God would give you favor in the life of your friend. Only the Lord can truly turn a person back to Himself, so win the battle in heaven first and then go out and reap the harvest. Give yourself to the place of prayer at your school and see a massive shift come from the place of prayer, and once breakthrough comes, watch the Lord move in the hearts of students all over the city and act in partnership with God's heart.
Winning air-supremacy and casting Satan out of your school will be the largest shift your school ever experiences. From my own experience, I have tried to save people many times without ever giving myself to prayer over that person. My school seemed like a graveyard of hard hearts, but prayer marked a shift where God began to move on those hearts and make them softer to the gospel. Then the fish started jumping into the boat (so to speak) and the harvest was ready and people were turning to the Lord. Don't try to save your school in your own strength but rely on the Lord and partner with him in prayer and see what happens. Plus, prayer shifts history, so don't only pray for your high school, but from an early age start building your pray walk for life!
Prayer topics:
1. Pray for your school (lost, freedom from drug addiction, porn, depression, etc.)
2. Pray for your city (churches in the city, lost in the city, other schools, etc.)
3. Pray for your nation (ending of abortion, government would align with scripture, wisdom for our leaders, etc.)
In closing, if you take makes these values essential to your campus ministry at your school, each point will fuel your heart and will fuel the hearts of your friends. Your intimacy with Jesus will sustain you forever and understanding His return will give you the proper understanding of your place in history. Consecrating yourself from the world and calling those in your ministry to take Christianity seriously and to live differently will empower you to live holy and be pure and free you from so much bondage. And understanding the importance of prayer (winning air-supremacy) will drive you to pray like God hears you and moves at the sound of your voice. These things will make you far more effective and will ultimately make ministry much easier with the right understanding.
Logan, That was EXCELLENT!!!!! I want those 3 things more in my life!!
ReplyDeleteThis whole teaching is amazing. Thank you for posting!
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