It is important to ask ourselves questions that evaluate our approach to serving in leadership and make us ponder principles that are imperative for effectiveness and personal spiritual growth while leading. Here are the last of these 12 questions that prompt us to reflect about our lives and ministry:

9.  Do I claim ownership over “my” ministry or does it completely belong to God?

We speak about “my” ministry with too much ease. If it really is “my” ministry, we have done something terribly wrong. It may even mean that we hold ownership and lordship over it while God sits in the co-pilot seat.

If it truly is “His” ministry, He is able to do with it whatever He desires. That includes making it fruitful in some seasons and not in others to take us deeper and teach us more of Him. He even has the right to have us lay it on an Abraham altar even when we see no ram in the bush. It is His ministry. We are just stewards of it, a task to which we should devote passion and excellence, knowing that it is all for Him and under His Lordship and grace and that He can do whatever He wants with it.

10.  How am I making sure my strategies are Spirit-led and not just reinventions or new packaging of the same ideas in the changing world around me?

Do you constantly lay your agenda before His feet? Are you persistently evaluating your actions, vision and mission to insure that you are walking in His plan for today?

While working for a large ministry, all of the staff gathered for a week of meetings to review various discipleship plans. We were seeking a “theme” for the new season. One stood out for its approach to the discipleship of the heart. There was a sense among some in the room that this was the most urgently needed, though a different approach than we had taken before. As myself and others tried to make our case, the leader stated, “You are right, but I’m afraid it won’t sell to the people.” The decision was made to stick with something similar to what we had done before, missing an opportunity for significant impact on the discipleship of people.

It is much easier to repackage ideas. Our tendency is to come up with an agenda, assign a logical budget, and then bring it to God on a platter and ask Him to bless it. That seems more like casting lots to find the new disciple. Peter did that before the Day of Pentecost. We have the Spirit of God to guide us, and often times He will guide us into ideas that sometimes seem wild and impractical, like trimming down an army to 300 men with torches, clay pots and trumpets as weapons. But it worked.

11.  Do I live and interact with people in ways that invite them into a life-changing relationship with Christ?   

Two of the greatest compliments in ministry I have ever received did not come after a so-called “stirring sermon” or “powerful teaching.” The first came from my Jewish friend who compared me to other ministers he knew and said, “You’re different.” He went on to explain the example he had seen doing business with them. (Evidently, their approach to a Jewish businessman was different from their approach with their parishioners.) Another reason of his comparison was the love and respect he received from us. Interestingly, drug dealers and gang leaders have said the same thing to me because of the love and respect.

The second compliment came from leaders from a ministry in the South Bronx who accused me of not being a minister because of the people I fellowshipped with. They said, “We see you going into the apartments of drug dealers and drug addicts. You can’t be a minister and be with this kind of people!” My response in humility and from the sincerity of my heart was, “Thank you!” because they had just accused me of being like Jesus.

There is a way that we can live that spreads the fragrance of Christ everywhere we go. We bathe our conversations with love and grace. We speak with joy of the Savior we serve. We are always ready for open doors to share our faith with words, but we share it first with love, interest and concern for their lives, and with joy and grace. These things make Jesus attractive to the world around us.

A career missionary to England ministered with us in the South Bronx one summer. On the last day, he came to me and said, “I have spent over 30 years doing evangelism in England. I have sought to convince people to serve Jesus. In the time I have been with you, I see that you don’t do that. You live and interact with them in a way that invites them into a glorious relationship with Jesus.”

How is your life inviting people to know Jesus?

And the last question,

12.  Is what I am doing making a positive difference in the lives of the people I touch?     

No need for comments here. The question is enough.