{"id":3710,"date":"2010-08-25T14:00:51","date_gmt":"2010-08-25T18:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mintools.com\/blog\/?p=3710"},"modified":"2026-07-23T15:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:01:15","slug":"ministry-objective-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mintools.com\/blog\/ministry-objective-heart.htm","title":{"rendered":"Ministry Objective: Not Mere External Conformity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do these phrases characterize you?<\/p>\n

Attentiveness to God’s Word
\nCommitment where it Counts
\nParticipation in Serving
\nGrowth and Usefulness in Life<\/p>\n

Do they describe the people to whom and with whom you minister?\u00a0 Do they portray the dynamic of your church body?<\/p>\n

If it’s what you want to see, then your ministry objective needs to go beyond mere external conformity to making it about the heart.<\/p>\n

Why Our Ministry Objective Needs to be about Heart Transformation, Not Mere External Conformity<\/h2>\n

Spiritual life and fruitfulness is a result of abiding in the Lord Jesus (Jn. 15:5).\u00a0 If you want to see people, yourself included, attentive to God’s Word, committed to the right things, participating in service, and growing and being useful to the kingdom, then you need to keep the focus on what is happening in the heart, in one’s relationship with the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n

Too often we seek to change behavior without heart change.\u00a0 It is little wonder that people’s attentiveness seems so short, that their commitment grows cold, that their serving is minimal, that their growth becomes stunted, and that their impact is barely felt.<\/p>\n

\"Above<\/a>
\nThe heart is the “wellspring of life” according to Proverbs 4:23<\/span>.\u00a0 If the heart does not have an increasing Godward-orientation, its resources will be like a shallow or dried up well.<\/p>\n

Your ministry objective needs to be heart change<\/em>, not mere external conformity.\u00a0 Don\u2019t expect much out of yourself or others if external conformity without internal change is all there is.<\/p>\n

More:\u00a0 Why Don’t We Get That It Is About the Heart?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spiritual life and fruitfulness is a result of abiding in the Lord Jesus (Jn. 15:5). If you want to see people, yourself included, attentive to God’s Word, committed to the right things, participating in service, and growing and being useful to the kingdom, then you need to keep the focus on . . . Continue reading Ministry Objective: Not Mere External Conformity<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ministry-objectives"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\t