Getting the large stones in the jar first: Ministry priorities

A lecturer was discussing time management with his students. He brought out a large glass jar and placed it on the table, before filling it with large stones. He then asked his students if they thought the jar was full.

One replied: ‘Yes.’ He then added a number of small stones to the jar, which slipped between the gaps of the larger stones, and then repeated the question.

One student responded: ‘No.’ Next he poured into the jar some sand: ‘Now do you think the jar is full?’ All his students responded: ‘No.’ Finally he topped up the jar with water.

What was the point? If the big stones were not put in first, they wouldn’t fit in at all.

We need to decide what the big things in our lives are, and get them in place first, before other, less important things come and take their place – that applies to Christian ministry, and ministry priorities have been a matter of continuing discussion in these pages over the past few months.

Those advocating for what are deemed ‘old models’ of ministry have, alas, been misrepresented (particularly so by Steve Kneale’s article, en October 2024) as engaging in nostalgia, when in fact, what they’re seeking to do is encourage a commitment to New Testament principles of ministry. Indeed, a lot of assumptions are made about the convictions and motivations of these more senior men.

Steve identifies ‘safeguarding, live-streaming, charity administration, fundraising, etc. etc.’ as pushing their way into pastoral workloads, and while these are important, and in some cases obligatory, pastoral priorities will surely always lie elsewhere. And while, as Steve contends, there is ‘nothing in the Bible [that] demands morning and evening services, Sunday Schools or particular forms of visitation,’ where there is a loss of appetite for these things in congregations, and diminished passion for them among pastors (2 Tim.4:2), that’s hardly a sign of spiritual health and vitality!

Of course, every generation has to consider how best to impact its generation for Christ with the good news of the Biblical gospel – and this requires constant innovative thinking and fresh ways of working. But with that said, there must be non-negotiables, as we seek to fulfil Jesus’ Great Commission.

Going back to the issue of ministry priorities, the point is neither to bring back ‘old models’ nor to ‘find new ways to regain the sense of belonging and social connectedness in the world we now live in’. What’s needed is for the church to embrace New Testament priorities in all that she does. For a pastor/minister/ teaching elder, I suggest that the priority is not to be found in safeguarding, administration or fundraising, important and valid as these matters are. Pastor – get somebody else to do these things! There are gifts throughout the body of Christ which are to be used.

What the pastor should be doing is clearly laid down for us in Acts 6, where ministry priorities are firmly established: ‘We will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’ The apostles declined to get involved with waiting on tables. They appointed suitably gifted men to oversee that important gospel work, and did not neglect their God-given calling to engage in the ministry of the word of God.

The evangelical church in the UK today needs to recover an absolute and unflinching commitment to the word of God. I fear that such a commitment is in danger of being lost amidst the clamour of lesser priorities competing for our attention.

We need pastors fervently believing that the preaching of the word of God is the heart-centre of their calling and ministry. We need people equipped for works of service by the church’s teaching ministries, so that the body of Christ may be built up. We need churches where the truth of Scripture rings out – to the glory of God, the edification of the church, and the salvation of the lost.

If it had been true that these more senior men had been indulging in nostalgia for some imagined golden era, then their only error would have been that they didn’t go back far enough! Let’s get back to New Testament priorities – where the word of God spread (Acts 6:7) and the number of disciples increased rapidly.

This is a response to the article by Steve Kneale last month.