The Invisible Minister

By Pastor John Gibson

The Invisible Minister shows how to handle the different issues that come with being an assistant/associate pastor. The best assistant/associate ministers are the ones who are actively serving the Lord, making sure that the only person others see is Jesus. In other words, they need to be invisible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638146452

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The Invisible Minister

Pastor John Gibson

ISBN 978-1-63814-644-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63814-645-2 (Digital)

Copyright © 2021 Pastor John Gibson

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Everyone’s Call to the Ministry Is Different

Avoid the Gossip Trap

Servanthood Is Not Always Satisfying

The Joys of Being the Hero and the Zero

How to Survive Mistakes

It Is Not Always about Bible College

Let Every Experience Help You to Grow

Being Under Poor Mentorship

Do Not Be Afraid to Love People

Helping the Family Survive Your Call

This book is dedicated to my wonderful wife and kids who have been with me throughout the entire length of my ministry so far. It has been a wonderful journey that continues to keep going since it started in 1994 when I first became a licensed minister through the Free Will Baptist Denomination. Now it would be easy to have a special dedication page, yet one thing that a person learns through the ministry is that kids are as much of the subject matter contained in these pages as they are affected by the joys of the ministry.

Preface

One of the reasons that I wrote the book was that there are not a lot of material on this subject matter, and there are many challenges that are not addressed. In addition, not everyone that goes into the ministry has the opportunity to go to a Bible college and usually have to find their own material. This book is a hard one to right because of the many bad experiences that, with the Lord’s help, I lived through and did not fall into the trends of quitting the ministry. In addition, there are going to be some funny stories in this book as well since the last thing I want to do is write a book that is going to discourage people from going into the ministry of an assistant/associate pastor.

One of the fun experiences of serving the Lord in Idaho was that there was a popular expression that said, If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes, and it will change. This is true of the emotions and experiences that happen to you and your family, so this book will conjure up many different emotions. It will be like you, who may be much taller than me, are walking in my short-legged shoes, and hopefully you find some encouragement in a position that one truly feels invisible right in front of everyone.

Chapter 1

Everyone’s Call to the Ministry Is Different

And He called unto Him the twelve and began to send them forth by two and two and gave them power over unclean spirits and commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only, no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: but be shod with sandals and no put on two coats.

—Mark 6:7–9

This is an interesting part of Scripture where Jesus has just left, going to different villages, teaching as He marveled at the unbelief of those who had watched Him heal a few people. They were surprised that this Jesus was doing these things as they dismissed Him because of being Joseph’s son, which made them offended. Yet through it all, He gains His twelve and those other disciples of Jesus who are not mentioned in this part of scripture (Jesus had more than twelve disciples) and begins to send them out two by two on the provision and power of Jesus.

It is a good reminder that there are many people around you who have noticed the power of Jesus and yet, for one reason or another, have rejected Him. You, as a minister, are called to listen to His voice, constantly lean on His understanding, and trust in His provision and power to accomplish His goals. Sadly, one will find in the ministry that the ones who have the loudest criticisms are also the ones who routinely reject Jesus in many ways in their lives, so don’t let that prevent you from continuing on in His pursuits.

When we look at the list of those who were the twelve, we recognize that they were not all the same person, neither did they all have the same responsibility in the ministry. One of the things that people get confused about is that each minister must be the same. They must have the same testimony, same experiences, and same way of doing things. I have learned throughout my many years of ministry that there is no such thing as a carbon copy assistant/associate pastor. Also, there should not be since it is a wasted effort, which will make the assistant/associate pastor feel inadequate or less of a preacher if he is not a carbon copy of his pastor. Consequently, an associate/assistant pastor will be limiting the power of God in their own lives through a disrespect of God’s calling by showing God that, somehow, He made a mistake calling the unique person He has made of you.

I can understand how one can fall into this trap. I have had the privilege of having mature pastors in my life. They each, in their own ways, have had a positive and negative impact in my ministry experience. In the beginning, the only thing I wanted to be was just like them, and I was not them. It does not mean there are not any similarities in some ways, but the gulf of differences is a mighty gulf that no man should be trying to cross. One doesn’t have to try and duplicate the folly of Evel Knievel trying to jump the Snake River. They can learn from his mistake and make different choices. Let’s be honest, despite how much respect we have for the pastor, they are not near the perfection of Jesus that every Christian should esteem to be. Now that may seem disrespectful, but it is true. And when we get into the worship of the pastor instead of worship with 100 percent yielded life to the Lord, then we are making the ministry more difficult than it is.

I consider myself a pastor out of season since I had no interest in being a pastor when I finally surrendered to the call of preaching. I remember when my wife and I were dating, and she asked me quite clearly if I had any intention at all to be a pastor because she was not interested at that prospect at all. I was certain that I was not called since I had rejected the call of the Lord at age fourteen, and I was, at that time, twenty-one years old. Yet four months into our marriage, I was sitting at the evening service, and then the Lord reminded me that He did not change His mind, and it was time I did what I was called to do. The hardest thing was to tell my wife before I told my pastor of the call to preach. Yet here I was with the decision and had to go and tell my wife, and she expressed her support, and then I went and told the pastor. And now I was preaching every Sunday night.

I started attending another church in the denomination and was asked to be the assistant pastor, which was beyond my comfort level, but I obeyed. One of the issues that I have had about being any type of pastor is self-confidence about being able to fulfill such a position. One thing that a young preacher like me could count on in the assistant pastor role was there was a pastor that got all of the responsibility, and I could simply allow him to be that role, and I could learn and come up with some specialized ministries for myself. The one that I like the most was going to other churches and singing with my wife and preaching. It was through this that I was asked a couple of times to pastor, and I turned them down every time. Finally the pastor of my church had determined that he needed to do ministry in other places and asked me to take over and be the pastor of the church. Here it was again—the self-doubt—which had plagued me for the thirteen years since I first became an assistant pastor. I thought to myself, Surely I cannot be that lead pastor guy. I don’t have all the answers. I cannot spit out a verse with no effort. And I definitely am not perfect like a pastor needs to be. I need more of Jesus today than I needed Him yesterday. Honestly, people quoting that God does not call the equipped, He equips the called did not help. That is why it is so important to find value in your calling and not try to be what someone is, since God will confront you to walk the walk instead of talking the talk of faith.

God does not make mistakes when He calls us, even though He knows that we are going to make mistakes and are going to have to learn from them and grow because of them. God did not call Joshua to a fiery burning bush, He called Moses. And you do not have to have the same experience as your pastor to be a good assistant pastor and, eventually, a lead pastor. Your heartaches of life will talk to a person of similar heartaches and will help you to minister to people that your pastor may not be able to minister. Your unique talents that God has given you and is continuing to birth in you are the things you need to help others. Remember the words of Paul the apostle in Romans 15:20: Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation. You were called the way God wanted you to be called. And if you’re going to be effective, you have truly trusted Jesus.

I think it is amazing that when Jesus called His disciples that they were not all of the same profession and talents. We can definitely glean from the three and a half years that they walked with Him that they had a lot of growing up to