David Diga Hernandez - 3 Keys to Beginning in Ministry the Right Way

Number one, let ministry be an overflow of your relationship with the Lord. If that’s not the case, if ministry is not an overflow of an actual connection with God, then it’s not ministry, it’s a business. It’s not a calling, it’s a career. You’re not a preacher, you’re a motivational speaker. It’s the anointing that makes the difference, and the anointing is found in encounters with God. All true ministry is an overflow of your love for Jesus. Here’s what the Bible says in John 15. I’ll read Verses 5 through 8. «Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father». Without Christ, we can do nothing. You must, at the very beginning, make a decision, make a commitment to guarding your devotion. Guard your prayer life, guard your holiness, guard your devotion to the word of God and knowing the word of God, and don’t sacrifice that for anything. Ministry can be mentally, emotionally, and physically draining. I know it may not seem like it because ministry usually begins very simple. You share what the Lord has been sharing with you, but as God begins to raise you, the demand on your life begins to increase. And as the demand on your life begins to increase, so does the temptation to sacrifice time with the Lord for doing things for the Lord. Resist that temptation. That’s why right now, right at this stage, right when you’re beginning, you have to make that commitment. And if you’ve fallen off track, okay, the Lord is gracious and He’s patient. Recommit to it, but make that commitment in your mind, in your heart, and say within yourself, «I’m gonna do this the right way. I’m not just gonna allow this to become a business. I’m not just going to allow this to become a career. I want this to remain a pure and holy calling. I wanna keep my heart right while I continue to do ministry». And in order to do that, you’re gonna have to protect your prayer life. You’re gonna have to protect that devotion to the word. Do not sacrifice that for anything. He’s the vine, we are the branches. Apart from Him, we can’t do anything. The moment you disconnect from Him, that well begins to run dry. The moment you disconnect from Him, you begin to do things in your own strength, by your own power, according to your own thoughts and will, rather than according to His. This is why it’s so important that we allow ministry to be an overflow of our relationship with the Lord. This will protect your holiness, this will protect your motives, this will protect your future. Make that commitment now that ministry will only be an overflow of what I actually have with the Lord.

Number two, and this one… Well, they’re all important, but this one, I especially want you to pay attention to because so few people do this. Number two, set up accountability at an early stage. Colossians 3:16 says this, «Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts». Here, the Scripture tells us to teach and counsel each other. «As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend». You must allow for there to be people around you who can tell you when you’re wrong. Look, as you continue in ministry, you’re gonna find that you will pick up more and more critics the more fruitfulness that you see. Criticism is a part of ministry. But not all criticism is bad, not all criticism is unhealthy. I’ve seen it done too many times, where someone is being corrected by a spiritual father or spiritual mother. They’re being corrected by someone who loves them like a brother or a sister. And instead of receiving the biblical correction, they’ll say things like, «Well, you’re just jealous of my anointing,» or, «Well, you don’t have what I have with God,» or, «You’re interfering with the ministry now, and that’s dangerous». Look, I understand that we can’t pay attention to everyone’s criticisms. If we did that, we would lose our minds and we’d never have any real focus or impact in ministry. But God does place key people around you who legitimately care about you, who have connection with you, who know you. You know them, perhaps they were there from the beginning. And God puts these key people in our lives to help to keep us on track. You need other people. There are no lone rangers in the kingdom of God. There are no superstar Christians in the kingdom of God. It doesn’t matter how popular you get, how effective you get, how fruitful you get, you are gonna need other people who can get in your face and tell you when you’re getting off track. In fact, you have to set up accountability now to protect you from falls in the future. Here are the three common areas that people fall in when they’re in ministry. That’s sexual sin, financial trouble. In other words, they start stealing money from the ministry or they misuse the funds of the ministry for personal use and so forth.

And number three is power. So sex, money, and power, those are the three primary areas in which people compromise. And so what you have to do is be intentional. At the very beginning, make sure you have people around you who can be set in place to help watch you and keep you accountable should you begin to compromise in any one of these areas. Set up accountability. So for example, when my ministry team and I travel, we have an accountability system. This may sound silly to other people. I’ve had people comment things like, «Well, aren’t you all a bunch of adults? Why are you treating people like children»? But we don’t leave any room for compromise. What we do is we go out two by two. When we travel, it’s always two by two, so that no one’s ever traveling alone. This does two things. Not only does it protect us from temptation, but it also protects us from accusation. Because these days, it’s not just good enough to be protected from temptation. You have to also be protected from accusation. And if you have someone who’s with you all the time, they can attest to your whereabouts. They can attest to your purity when others are trying to bring accusations against you. So, that’s just an example. In the sexual area, we travel two by two, so that nobody can make accusations and that no one is left temptation by themselves. And that’s, again, just one area. That’s just the travel aspect. But I’m just giving you an example of how this would apply. Also, there’s the finance and then there’s the power temptation. We, as a ministry, have set up a Board of Directors to help watch this and keep us from compromising in those areas. Those, again, are just some examples of how you can implement accountability. Here’s what the Bible says in James 5:16. «Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results». Confession is a component of accountability. You see, a lot of people misunderstand the role of confession. We confess to God to be forgiven, that’s 1 John 1:9. But we confess to each other to be healed, to be held accountable, to prevent compromise in that area in the future, and also to be reconciled to one another. For example, when you sin against another person and you confess that to them, it helps to bring reconciliation between you and them. But the purpose of confession is not just forgiveness. Yes, again, confession to God. That’s for forgiveness, but confession to each other. That’s for healing, that’s for accountability, that’s for prevention, that’s for reconciliation with each other. And you need those systems in place, but you’re not gonna have those systems in place, those biblical systems in place, if you’re not intentional about it. What’s gonna happen when God starts bringing fruitfulness and there’s some financial freedom? Maybe there’s a little bit of popularity that comes with it. Those are dangerous combinations. Financial freedom and popularity. This is why you need people who love you and who can get in your face and tell you when you’re off. You need people like that. If all you have around you are people who see you as just the great man or woman of God who can never be questioned, you are in danger. I thank God for the people in my life who can tell me when I’m getting off track, even if it’s just a subtle compromise, they’ll catch it, they’ll call me on it, and they’ll help to cover my blind spots. You need that, especially if you want to have longevity, especially if you want to be protected from temptation and accusation.

Again, that’s number two. Set up accountability at an early stage. And finally, number three, practice good stewardship. What is stewardship? Stewardship is simply taking care of something that belongs to someone else. Here’s what the Bible says in Colossians 3:23. «Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people». If you are to practice good stewardship, you must realize that the ministry belongs to God. It is not your ministry, it is not my ministry. The ministry belongs to God, and you’re taking care of it for Him. You cannot practice good stewardship until you recognize that. It’s not your business, it’s not your piggy bank, it’s not your project, it’s not your key to favor and open doors. The ministry belongs to God, and the purpose of the ministry is to touch the lives of those who need God’s help. That’s it. And if you lose sight of that, if you begin to see the ministry as something that exists for your benefit, if you begin to see the ministry as something that belongs to you, you’ll begin to lack in stewardship and you’ll begin to compromise on things like structure and excellence. But when you recognize, «This belongs to God. I’m gonna give an account to Him for His ministry». Once you recognize that, well, that changes everything. Now, suddenly, you’re wanting to maximize the ministry not for your benefit, but you’re wanting to maximize the efficiency of the ministry for the sake of fulfilling its purpose, which is to win souls, build believers, and expand the kingdom of God. Not only that, it inspires excellence. How should we treat that which represents God? How should we treat that which presents gospel message? How should we treat that which demonstrates the power of the Holy Spirit? It’s heavenly, and therefore it should have heavenly culture. Everything should be done with excellence. Now, excellence is not having the best of everything. It’s simply doing the best with everything that you have. But that structure, that implementation of excellence, that’s not going to come until you recognize that it belongs to God, that you’re gonna give an account to God for that ministry. That’s why we must understand the proper perspective. It’s not yours, it belongs to God. So, let’s go over these three keys. Number one, let ministry be an overflow of your relationship with the Lord. Number two, set up accountability at an early stage. That’s so important. And number three, practice good stewardship. Recognize that it does not belong to you.