The Fear Of The Lord, The Heart Of Ministry

The Fear Of The Lord, The Heart Of Ministry

At the start of 2022, if God appeared to you in a dream and said he would give you whatever you asked in your role as a minister of the gospel, what would you ask for?

Would you ask for charisma? A magnetic personality that draws people around you and to your ministry so they might hear the good news?

Would you ask for better teaching skills? An almost irresistible persuasiveness in presenting the gospel?

Would you ask for evangelistic boldness? A fearlessness to speak and answer for the faith at every opportunity?

Would you ask for creativity in ministry? Or captivating writing skills to publish influential works in print and online? Or perhaps you’d just ask God to meet some of your more pragmatic needs like more money, better spaces, more quality resources, and leaders perhaps?

This may seem like a gimmicky thought experiment to draw you into an article (literary clickbait), but as children of the Father with Jesus the Son, we are invited to always bring our requests and petitions to our Heavenly Father by the Spirit. Not only does Jesus promise that “whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13), but this genie-in-a-bottle thought experiment is based on an actual  historical event. This is the question that God asked Solomon, the son of David and newly crowned king of Israel . “The Lord appeared to Solomon at night in a dream and said, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you’” (1 Kings 3:5). And what does this chosen leader of God’s people ask for? Not long life, or wealth, or resources, or fame, or the lives of his enemies, but wisdom. Solomon asks for a ‘discerning heart’ to govern God’s people and ‘discern right and wrong’ (1 Kings 3:9). And this is what God is pleased to give Solomon, and even more besides.

What I think is most astonishing about Solomon’s answer to the generosity of God’s question is that it demonstrates Solomon already had wisdom before he even asked for wisdom. Because it is a profoundly wise answer. Firstly, it’s an answer that admits his frailty before the Lord – “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties”, says Solomon (1 Kings 3:7). What newly crowned king and self-respecting leader would make that admission? Leaders are supposed to be strong, and knowledgeable and competent above all others, right? And yet Solomon knows his place before the Lord, the great leader and king over all creation. Secondly, it’s an answer that recognises the greatness of the task that has been given to him – “Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number… who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:8-9). Surely the greatness of his responsibility is a credit to his own suitability for the role, right? A great leader for a great people? And yet, rather than being puffed up with hubris, Solomon is humbled by the task before him.

Solomon’s answer to this question challenges my own requests of God, and what I think I most need as I minister his good news to his people in his world. Am I humble enough to admit my frailty and the enormous privilege of the task before me? So often in ministry, we can find ourselves asking God to fill in the gaps for what we need – better ministry space, better attendance, higher numbers, more leaders. But perhaps we should be more often asking God to make us wise – to make us dependent upon him, to make us aware of our frailty, and to re-centre our hearts on him. Because this is what the wisdom of Solomon’s answer demonstrates. It demonstrates his fear of the Lord. And that fear is at the very heart of wisdom itself, and is the repeated exhortation throughout the Old Testament and especially the wisdom literature.

It’s a complicated idea to translate into modern thought categories because the word ‘fear’ certainly does mean ‘to fear’. It is something that should fill you full of dread, something that shakes you to your core, and makes you feel exposed and vulnerable. But it’s also a fear that should give you a strange sense of comfort. A kind of fear that goes hand in hand with trust and security. A kind of fear that gives you a true sense of perspective in how you see the world and yourself. I think it’s kind of like the way we should treat the ocean. The ocean is a place to frolic and enjoy the waves on a warm summer’s day, but you enjoy the ocean on its terms, not yours. No one tells the ocean what to do, and if you approach it ignorantly or arrogantly then your life is in peril. It’s this kind of fear in the fear of the Lord. Fear that knows your life is in his hands and not your own. Fear that knows you are at his mercy – you don’t command his hand. And yet, it’s also a fear that knows God is merciful and compassionate, and abounding in love. It’s a fear that knows both dread and trust, like the response of the Israelites to God in Exodus 14:31.

When you are wise and have this kind of fear, it’s the fear of the Lord that makes you depend on him. It's the fear of the Lord that makes you humble. It's the fear of the Lord that makes you seek and ask for wisdom.

The challenging question to ask ourselves is: Who is at the centre of your ministry? Who holds it together?

Because if it's you, then you should ask for energy. You won't be able to take a day off if you hold all things together.

And if it's you at the centre, then you should ask for a high IQ and EQ. You are the gate to the kingdom and the way for people to come to Jesus.

And if it's you at the centre, then you should ask for money and resources so your empire can gain influence.

But if God is the one who holds it all together… Well then, ask for wisdom to know how to rest, and let go, and enable others to minister.

If God holds it all together, then ask for wisdom to know how to raise up others to do gospel work.

If God holds it all together, then ask for wisdom to know how to promote his glory for the honour of his name.

Of course, the one who really puts flesh on wisdom and becomes wisdom for us, is the Lord Jesus. He is the embodiment of our wisdom. He shows us what it truly is to fear the lord and put our trust in him. He reveals the truth of this wisdom so we might follow in his steps. And more than that, the wisdom displayed in his death and resurrection for us demonstrates that only in his name is there life.