‘Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ’ (1Cor.11:1)

Introduction.
Doing ministry in His steps is about doing whatever you do in ministry in the way that Jesus did His own. In other words, if you are doing ministry, you will never go into anything that Jesus did not go into. A cursory look around us today reveals that many ministers of God are instead of doing ministry in the steps of Jesus, rather devised their own way of doing it. We may now ask ourselves, if our calling in ministry is divine, how is it that many of us don’t follow the footsteps of our caller?
The following are some of the reasons why many ministers of God are doing ministry their own way rather than following the footsteps of their caller, Jesus Christ;

WHEN YOU ARE NOT A DISCIPLE.
‘And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me’ (Lk.9:23)

In the scripture above, Jesus makes it clear to His followers, the condition for discipleship. Discipleship is all about denying yourself and following Him. It follows that whoever is not following His footsteps is not a disciple. If you are not a disciple, you will find it difficult to follow His footsteps and you are simply not in business with Him.

WHEN YOU ARE IMPATIENT.
One of the major reasons why many of us don’t follow His footsteps is that we are often in a hurry, as we use others to measure our own progress in ministry. We often forget that no two lives or ministries are the same. The fact that someone has achieved something does not mean that you must also do the same. Another fact we often forget is that we don’t know the story of that other minister that we are trying to copy. It is not all progress in ministry that is of God.

LACK OF VISION.
What did God really ask you to do for Him? There are many that just because they are gifted, felt that they should become general overseers and they became one. There are many who are running without a message. If you run without a message, you are bound to do things that are not in line with the master’s expectations.

2 Samuel 18:22-23
‘Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready? But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi’ (2Sam.18:22-23).

The way Cushi was ordered aside by King David is the way many ministers are being ordered aside after laboring either when no one sent them or they don’t have message.

LACK OF GENUINE MENTORS.
The role of a genuine mentor is crucial in the life of any minister of God. When there is no one that can speak over your life, there is the tendency for you fall out of line with Jesus. However, it is very important for you to select a godly mentor who has an abiding testimony in his walk with God. This is very important because the life of your mentor has a way of reflecting in your life. A mentor with failed marriage may make you to feel that your wife is not really relevant in ministry. If you keep hearing that time and over again, you may buy into it and ruin your relationship with your spouse ignorantly.

LACK OF GOOD FRIENDS.
Whoever you are moving with, has a way of affecting your life. Consequently, you must be careful of those you move with, including your close friends and associates in ministry.

SPOUSE THAT IS NOT ROOTED IN GOD.
Your spouse will either encourage or lead you astray in walking with the Master in life and ministry. When your spouse is rooted in God, she serves as a veritable instrument that may be used by the Holy Spirit to warn you against doing things that is not in line with God.

IGNORANCE OF THE CONSEQUENCES.
There are a lot of things that we do in ministry that we wouldn’t have been doing if we really know that there will be consequences or we know the effect that it will have on our fulfillment in life and our eternity.

FORGETTING THAT YOU WILL RENDER ACCOUNT.
Many also don’t walk in the steps on the master in ministry because they forget that one day, they will stand before God to render the account of how that ran the ministry that God committed into their hands.


CONSEQUENCES.
Since ministry is all about doing what God asks you to do, there are consequences when you don’t follow the footsteps of Jesus in doing it. Following are some of the consequences;

STRUGGLES.
Because you are not following his steps, you may be struggling in areas of ministry where you would have otherwise found rest.

YOUR MINISTRY MAY BECOME SNARE TO THE BODY OF CHRIST.
When you fall out of step with the master, you may start doing things that will make people may generalize about the body of Christ as a result of your evil ways.

STUNTED VISION.
When God gives you a vision, you are expected not to walk outside His ways to actualize the vision. When you start walking out of the steps of Jesus, you are most likely to go outside the vision that God has given you. This will make the original vision that God has given you to become stunted while you pursue your own agenda.

OCCULTISM.
One of the major consequences of walking out of steps with Jesus is that at a stage you may start seeking after other gods to seek help, since God will not pay for what He has not ordered. Many of the occultic pastors became so, not intentionally but were led into it by circumstances which arose from not following in the steps of the master.

BECOMING A MENTOR THAT LEAD YOUNGER MINISTERS ASTRAY.
A minister of God that is not walking in His will is a potential destroyer of destinies. As you age in ministry, there are younger ministers that will look unto you as mentor by the reason of age or experience. There is the tendency for you to mislead such mentees into doing what you are doing.

LACK OF FULFILLMENT IN LIFE AND MINISTRY.
There is no way for someone that is not doing ministry in the steps of Jesus to have a fulfilled life as a minister of God except he repents. Apostle. The testimony of Paul in 2 Tim.4:7-8 should be something that every minister of God will aim at but which is unattainable for someone who ran his ministry independent of the one that called him into ministry.

Conclusion.

Every minister of God who is sure that his calling came from God should know that the sure example which will not lead the person astray is to walk in the steps of Jesus Christ, our model. Unfortunately for a considerable percentage of us, there are a lot of factors, some of which has been identified above that prevents us from doing so. Despite all the factors working against such goal, you should overcome them to run the race according to the ripples of engagement which is stated in Romans 12:1-2;
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So help us God!

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