I have posted before on the topic of effective men’s ministry, as well as on the related topic of the importance of having goals for your men’s ministry.
But with this post I want to ask this question: When does God consider a men’s ministry effective?
The answer to the question of what God’s view is of effective men’s ministry is found in the Bible and it is two-fold.
First, an effective men’s ministry, in God’s estimation, is one that sees men coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Second, an effective men’s ministry is one that trains men to accomplish the good work that God saved them to do.
We see this dual emphasis on salvation resulting in good works in Jesus’ ministry (i.e., Zacchaeus in Luke 19), in Acts (i.e., the early church in Acts 2 and 4), and in the epistles (i.e., Ephesians 2:8-10).
One excellent summary passage on this dual emphasis is Titus 2:11-14
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
So, when we look at what God thinks is effective men’s ministry in light of the New Testament emphasis on salvation and good works, how are we doing?
National conference ministries do a decent job in the area of evangelism. Back when Promise Keepers was in its prime the conferences usually started with an evangelistic message on Friday evening and then went on to other topics on Saturday. Iron Sharpens Iron, another national men’s ministry, also has a focus on evangelism. (I made it a point to present the gospel in my workshops for Iron Sharpens Iron.)
We can also think of ministries we don’t typically identify as men’s ministries but which, nevertheless, focus on reaching primarily men with the gospel. Examples are military ministries (Navigators, Cadence), sports ministries (Athletes in Action), prison ministries (Prison Fellowship), and rescue missions.
Local churches, on the other hand, seem to fall short when it comes to winning men to Christ. It is hard to find a church men’s ministry that is known for successful evangelism.
But local church men’s ministries do a much better job than national men’s ministries in the area of good works. Many local church men’s ministries do car maintenance and home repair for widows and single moms.
What we really need is for local church men’s ministries to have a balance between evangelizing men and doing good works.
This need for a balance between evangelism and good works is where New Commandment Men’s Ministries comes in. New Commandment trains men to form teams that serve their widowed and single parents in their homes once a month, returning each month to the same care receiver.
The result is that men are able to have a consistent testimony over years to their care receiver’s neighbors, relatives, friends and even coworkers. As in the New Testament, ministering to widows and others with long term needs provides natural opportunities to see people come to the Lord.
Nothing could be more pleasing to God than that. When your men’s ministry pleases God by leading men to salvation through faith in Christ and then showing them how to do amazing good, you know you have an effective men’s ministry.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Since 2003 New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North American and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry
Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church here.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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