In the Old Testament, true ministry was typified by the gold in the temple. Every important object in the temple was covered with pure gold. The Lord gave the design of the temple to Moses.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering… And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them… And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold… And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat…
Exodus 25: 1, 2, 8,17,21,22

This is what God wanted His temple to look like. No man has the right to introduce his own variations into God’s master plan. When King Solomon built the temple, he followed God’s plan to the letter.

And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure GOLD; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. So Solomon overlaid the house within with PURE GOLD: and he made a partition by the chains of GOLD before the oracle; and he overlaid it with GOLD. And the whole house he overlaid with GOLD, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with GOLD… And within the oracle he made two cherubim of olive tree, each ten cubits high… And he overlaid the cherubim with GOLD… And the floor of the house he overlaid with GOLD, within and without.
1 Kings 6:20-23, 28, 30

And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord: the altar of GOLD, and the table of GOLD, whereupon the shewbread was, And the candlesticks of pure GOLD, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of GOLD, And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure GOLD; and the hinges of GOLD both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.
1 Kings 7:48-50

Many years later, another king substituted the gold with brass. Brass looks very much like gold. It is “close and parallel”, but it is not gold. King Rehoboam brought brass into the Lord’s house. It may have looked like the real thing but God was not pleased with it. Brass is an alloy consisting of copper and zinc. In reality, brass is very different from pure gold! Many people are deceived when the real is substituted for the pseudo. That is why I am writing this book.”

So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the TREASURES of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of BRASS, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king’s house.
2 Chronicles 12:9-10

Through this book, I want to help you to keep the gold in the temple. You must not substitute anything for real biblical ministry. As is the case with many professions, lay people do not really know what the professional does. Lay people do not really know, for example, what a pilot or doctor knows. It is important for everyone who is getting into the ministry to know what it is all about!

I realise that many people like to create a mystical air about what they do. They do this to enhance their image within the profession. However, the Lord has urged me to teach you what a pastor’s real duties are. In this book, I will not attempt to cover every detail of a pastor’s work. I am only going to share the main things with you.

It is my prayer that you will believe in the simplicity of the ministry. I realise that people often prefer complicated doctrines to simple truths. They feel that the more complicated the message is, the more likely it is from God. But the greatest truths are often simple enough for the common man to grasp.

In the Book of Acts, Peter and the other apostles arrived at a crossroad of ministry. At that crossroad, they had to decide which direction to take. They had to decide whether they were going to be real ministers or secular administrators. But they chose real ministry!

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should LEAVE THE WORD OF GOD, AND SERVE TABLES. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But WE WILL GIVE OURSELVES CONTINUALLY TO PRAYER, AND TO THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.
Acts 6:2-4

You must be able to differentiate between true ministry and pseudo-ministry. A pseudo-ministry is not the real thing! Like brass, which is a poor substitute for gold, it is close and parallel to the real thing. There are many things that look like true ministry, but are not.

For instance, being a church administrator makes you busy around the ministry. Many pastors are actually administrators. They are seen to be busy in and around the church office. Psychologically, they feel that they are working for God. After all, the rest of the world is in offices and behind computers. People seem to have something important to do from nine to five everyday. They go out there as secretaries, security men, computer programmers and so on. If the pastor is not seen to be doing something similar, he feels unemployed. I have had people ring me at home at eleven o’clock in the morning. They would ask if I were still asleep. They assume that a pastor sleeps all week.

Dear ministers of the Gospel, do not be moved by people’s opinions. Do not yield to worldly pressures. It is the prince of the power of the air who governs and directs the world. Everything in the world is controlled from the Spirit realm. Satan is a clever being and has deceived the whole world. But this deception must not come into the church.

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Ephesians 2:2

The world has been deceived into thinking that there is no life after death. “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die! When you die you are dead like a dog! Heaven is on earth and hell is on earth! Life is what you make it!” These subtle slogans have influenced the masses to live their lives chasing after money and pleasure.

When this kind of thinking enters the church, people feel that only secular (non-spiritual) things are of importance. Even pastors are under pressure to buy computers and sit in offices like everyone else. But we are not “everyone else”! We are shepherds of God’s flock!

Shepherds are “dirty” people who live among the sheep. Shepherds are people who give their lives for the sheep. A shepherd is not an armchair executive!
When you declare that your work is prayer, you immediately look queer! Government officials have the audacity to suggest that the church spend its time doing more “fruitful” things. Indeed! What is more fruitful than prayer? Why should we listen to unbelievers tell us how to do our job? Why should godless men teach the church her duties?

The church has come under so much pressure that many ministers have set aside the Great Commission. The Great Commission is our principal instruction from the head of the church.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:19, 20”

Read it for yourself! It is in black and white! There is no mention of social, health or educational work. Health and education may be by-products of the Great Commission but a by-product must not become the main product!
Today, large sections of the church are mere hospitals, schools, relief organisations and social clubs. This is unfortunate! You will notice that secular health organisations and educational institutions do not set aside their jobs to preach the Word of God! Satan smiles approvingly as the ministers of the Gospel metamorphose into politicians, social workers and health workers. The gold of ministry has been substituted with brass!
This attitude filters down to the ordinary Christian. One day, a young student brought me a report from the university.
He said, “Pastor, God is moving on the campus!”
I said, “Really, what is happening?”
He said, “God is working!”
So I asked, “How is God moving? What is He doing?”
He said to me, “People are passing their exams!”
I was taken aback. “Exams?”

Although I didn’t voice it out, I thought to myself, “When God moves, people get saved and filled with the Spirit.” Passing exams is a blessing from God but it is not the move of God. Let us not get confused about God’s work. Let us understand what the Bible teaches about ministry. Let’s not mistake brass for gold. Let us avoid the judgement of Rehoboam by bringing only gold into the temple.

It is my prayer that as you read this book you will understand what pastors, shepherds and church leaders are supposed to do. It’s time to move away from “pseudo-ministry”. We cannot hasten the return of the Lord Jesus Christ with something that looks like the real thing but is not.

In summary, these are the three reasons why we should avoid a pseudo ministry:

1.The church is the only institution that is mandated to preach the Gospel and make disciples of every nation. No one else will do our job for us!

2. We must not try to impress the world by doing things that they want us to do. God is the one who called us and He is the one we must seek to please.

3. We can only defeat Satan and his cohorts with real ministry! A pseudo ministry has no place in this great end-time battle.

I have a little code that will help you and I to remember the humble duties of a God ordained pastor. And it goes like this: P for prayer, V for visitation, T for teaching (counselling and preaching) and I for interaction. (P.V.T.I.)

by Dag Heward-Mills