Raw Relationship, Raw Ministry

Ministry can feel like a whirlwind of to do lists and needs without resources. This post offers a reframing of how to meet the needs of those you minister to.

When God leads us to a place of great need and few resources.

Right now my life is so busy, but I've felt the Lord pressing me to write more. In an effort to honor that calling, here are my notes from my personal devotional study this morning. They are unpolished, may be missing references, and are paraphrased. Please feel free to email me if you want to chat or have questions.

John 6

V 2 a great multitude followed Him: quantity of people, needs. Jesus' strategy was to multiply Himself. The harvest is ready, the laborers few. Always be training, raising up, equipping.

V 3 Jesus went up on the mountain and sat… mountain tops are symbolic of being in God’s presence. It is also the place where you are removed from the daily bustle of life. It is an intentional withdrawal from the norm to foster a supernatural encounter

V4 Passover …was near: the sacrificial offering of Jesus, where He offers His body to receive the penalty of sin, and after death, to be resurrected in new life. In Communion, He taught that He gave His body for us. We partake in the crucified flesh, the pattern we are instructed to walk out. The resurrected body, the Church, His body. Bread = His body, His life: our fellowship, our participation, our union

V 5-6 great multitude… Jesus asks Phillip: where shall we buy bread? Jesus draws attention to the problem the disciples don’t yet perceive but shortly will. How will you meet the needs of these people? Notice the intentionality of Jesus’ bringing everyone to the mountain, away from resources, away from their own sufficiency, so that He may meet their needs.

V 7 200 denarii worth of bread: Money is definitely not going to be able to solve this problem. Sometimes we think if we have more financial resources, we can meet people’s needs. However, Jesus is very intentionally teaching that money is not the solution to the ministry problem. And it certainly is insufficient to meet the spiritual needs of the people. Don’t disqualify the calling because you believe Mammon is the answer. Jesus is the solution. Acts 3:6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

V 9 Here is a lad… this is the person Jesus chose to use to meet the needs of the people. How frequently we place our faith in our training, our own understanding, our own resources, and capacity. Here is a lad, a young boy, who brings none of these earthly resources to the table. Jesus chose him to teach us that it is not our sufficiency that ministry needs are met, but by Him. We enter the kingdom as children-small, humble, and dependent-not as men.

V 8 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him “here is a lad…” Andrew, first to see spiritually past the desperation of the moment, he recognized that all they had was already there with them, despite not being able to see the end from the beginning. He offered up what they already had access to via the young lad.

V 9 five barley loaves and two small fish: loaves of bread, the Bread of Life, and the meat of the Word of God is what we offer people in ministry. It is sufficient, it is enough. Do not confuse its simplicity for inefficacy.

-Jesus Body/Bread, the Church, satisfies at a deep level that God imparted into our DNA. God is a relational God, as seen in the fellowship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He invites us into that fellowship.

-Jesus Body/Bread/Life, spiritual food v 32-35 our needs are perfectly met in Him. As we participate in fellowshipping with Him, we discover what we thought was needed was actually worldly cravings, candy that ruins the appetite for the meat of the Word. Do not drink only milk, but grow in the meat of the Word. 

-v 35 never hunger, never thirst. Our core longings: feeling secure, understood, loved, significant, having purpose, and belonging are met when our minds are renewed to understand our position in Him. Most of our problems of the spirit and the soul stem from our needs being insufficiently met. Jesus promises to meet them all.

V 10 Make the people sit down: this is positional, in Him, seated in the heavenlies, and also a position of rest. Striving must cease, from both the ministers and the people. Our goal as ministers in Him is to teach the people to sit in Him and receive from Him.

V 10 much grass in the place, He makes me lie down in green pastures: a place of comfort, tranquility, stillness, and abundance.

V 11 Jesus took loaves, gave thanks, and distributed: what is God cooking in your own soul? What has God already brought you through? With the comfort we receive from God we comfort others. The desperate need for affective ministry is our personal transformation with the Lord and self-disclosure. Our personal growth journey, the kitchen of our souls, is vitally important and so is our own confession. With the grace of discernment, self-disclosure prevents our disciples from idolizing us, provides testimony of God’s work in our lives, and fosters humility. Our personal relationship with Jesus is where we discover our shortcomings and deep humility, understanding there is absolutely nothing within ourselves that we can offer to bring Life. The deeper our understanding of our own insufficiency, the greater the understanding of His power in us who believe. This is meekness. This is walking in authority and power. Allow God into your kitchen and share what He is making. Personal relationship with God/ personal worship and thanksgiving of His Word and work in your life provides you with the relational and intercessional components to bring people to Jesus, in the wilderness, with nothing but loaves and fishes.

V 11 as much as they wanted: each person has different realized needs. What you perceive as what they need may not be perceived by the individual. You cannot force-feed a follower.

V12 when they were filled: each person has a distinct capacity for God. Some may be completely satisfied with a smaller portion; some may have appetites that are ravenous. As one who distributes, ask God to enlarge your capacity for Him. Your basket can only carry as much bread as it is large. This enlargement comes through suffering and trials, but with the comfort you receive from God you can comfort others. Trials form perseverance, perseverance, character, character, hope. Ro 5. Our enlargement through trials fortifies our relational understanding of God and minimizes our heady theology. Disciples need an example. Your determination to be transformed into Christ’s character no matter the trial, and habits of self-disclosure provide Heaven with a conduit to which much affective ministry can occur. You will find you are a large tree, grown from a tiny seed, to which many birds come and rest in your branches. These birds are weary and need rest. Your capacity to hold greater measures of the Bread of Life/God coupled with humility provide a place for people to unspool, take up space, be honest, and encounter the beauty of Jesus’ Body.

V 12 Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost: perfect supply, perfect provision, while discovering He is more than enough. He shows value to every component of provision, from the greatest to the least. Our intentionality of being enlarged, doing the work of distributing, will result in our abundance with Him. Our prayers, as vastly summed as they are, can be met abundantly with one encounter with God. By open handedly receiving from God whatever may come and seeking Him in the trial and the joy, the comfort and fellowship you receive from Him will be effective for those He intends you to lead. He will equip and prepare you for what He has in mind. Do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal that comes up in you. He intends to transform that which was sent to destroy you to be the very place He displays His glory, exponentially.

V 14 When they had seen…they said “This is truly the Prophet…” Ministry that takes people into the wilderness to encounter the Living God warrants attention. By allowing God to work deeply in your life and valuing being a child of God (positional) over doing for God (performance), your ministry will be validated. And when people see your relationship with God as authentic and valid, they are more likely to follow you, allowing you to influence them toward Jesus and His kingdom.