Ajith Fernando Reflects on 30 Years of Ministry

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly read many an entry inspired by one of my favorite authors and theologians: Ajith Fernando of Youth for Christ Sri Lanka. (If you do not know this man or prayerfully support his ministry, I urge you to do so! He truly is a hero of the faith.)

Recently, his supporters received a wonderful letter that he wrote reflecting on his 30th anniversary with Youth for Christ. I would copy the entire letter here except that I think it would be a tad unwieldy because of the length. So here are a few excerpts from the fourteen points he made in the letter. I hope they are a blessing to you!

Love,
Tara B.

“These have not been easy years. In fact, the last two years have been among the hardest of the years I have had in YFC. Yet I can honestly say that I am still excited about the call to serve Christ and his church. I thought I will write down some of the things that have helped me and recommit myself afresh to them.

1. Christian ministry is all of mercy (2 Cor. 4:1). I do not deserve anything that the Lord has done to and through me. My life does not match up; my abilities are very limited in some key areas; many aspects of my personality act as handicaps to leadership. It is all grace—underserved favour—or, more accurately, mercy—pity to a helpless person.

Because all ministry is out of mercy I cannot entertain and nurture feelings of being let down, not recognised, or not given the position I think I deserve. Everything I have got is a bonus that I did not deserve. I am not going to fight for position and recognition. Then it will be me acting; and I know how weak I am. It will make me a restless and unhappy man and also forfeit my only hope for effectiveness in ministry—the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8 ).

2. When we are overwhelmed by grace the constant response to everything is thanksgiving (2 Cor. 2:14) and the dominant emotion is joy (Phil. 4:4). This gives us the strength to face pain, disappointment, danger, fear and other challenges (Neh 8:10). Indeed the pain can be very severe, as Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10. But that is what triggered the doxology of verses 3-5: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.’ Pain gives God an opportunity to give us one of the most precious treasures of life: his personal attention and comfort.

And God’s comfort points to a deeper truth: the fact that we are loved by God as his children as John excitedly exclaimed: ‘See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are’ (1 John 3:1).

3. All ministry springs from grace and is energised by the love of Christ in us (2 Cor. 5:4). Therefore my greatest personal need is to ensure that there are no blocks to God’s love coming into my life. I must make sure that there are no blocks to grace like an unforgiving spirit (Matt. 6:12-15). I must keep looking at God so that his glory will rub onto me (2 Cor. 3:18 ). I know of no better way of doing this than the daily time with God in prayer and study of his Word. I have no doubt that this is the most important thing I do every day, and, after over 43 years of trying to do it faithfully, I must say that it is still a battle that has to be waged everyday. I am too much of a workaholic to take to quiet time naturally. Therefore, the battle has to be waged every day.

14. Suffering with Christ is a normal part of Christianity and we must never make a big deal about this or be angry when we face it. In the ministry we constantly face inconvenience, tiredness, shame, slander, persecution, sorrow, disappointment and hurt. When we suffer we must be joyful because of the honour of suffering for his name (Acts 5:41); because of the reward to be received in heaven (Matt. 5:11); because it will be turned into something good for us (Rom. 8:28 ), because it draws us closer to Christ (Col. 1:24) and because it helps the church (Col. 1:24). We must never let those who hurt us take away our joy. That is an honour they do not deserve. When people hurt us we must battle till we can truly say that it is for our good (Rom. 8:28 ).

Sadly, I have come to realise that some Christians cannot react to suffering in this way. Often this is because they have not let God heal their inner wounds. They don’t really practice Romans 8:28 because they still have anger-causing pain from the injuries that have been inflicted on them. They need healing for their damaged emotions. And God can mediate his grace in bringing this healing through the counsel and prayers of others. They must come to the point of saying that the love of God they are experiencing is greater than the hurt and that God is clearly going to use this hurt to do something good to them. Then they can’t say that people have actually hurt them. The hurt is overshadowed by the good that came out of it.

I will close with my favourite verse in the Bible. In 1 Timothy 1:12-16 Paul speaks about God’s super-abounding grace in saving him and giving him a ministry even though he was the chief of sinners. This causes him to spontaneously burst forth into a doxology: ‘To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen’ (1:17). I think what Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 best summarises my experience during these 30 years of ministry.”