Genuine Ministry

How can you tell if a ministry is really something God is doing in the earth or in the Body?

People are accused of false works all the time. There are ways to pretend you have healed someone. Giving “prophetic words” based on a counterpart’s interviews of people before the meeting happens sometimes. People planted in audiences who are part of the show give fake testimonies or fictitious participation in healings or demon exorcism.

There are ways of presenting information that lead some to believe that God is in the process. I saw a preacher who was being invited to take a position leading a large congregation not get the job, because when he was prompted by one of the leaders to be sure to “whoop” at some points during the sermon, he refused. “Whooping” won’t be a familiar term to people who have not heard classic Pentecostal preaching: when the audience is getting engaged, or when the audience is not getting engaged, noisy, breathless gasping for air between syllables indicates that the revelation is coming to and through the preacher faster than it can be processed. It is, therefore, by evidence of the whooping, clearly the work of the Spirit and not of men. That’s the story, anyway. No kind word of further description fits here…

It’s hard to fake peace. Joy and happiness are confusing on days, but kindness and gentleness and self-control are hard to fool people with fake substitutes. Look for the fruit.

Even when there is a genuine gift operating (a work of Jesus) that isn’t sanctified by the fruit of the Spirit (the nature of Jesus), it is still bordering on fake.

Be sure that your ministry is verifiable as a manifestation of His character, too. Bear much fruit – both by work and by nature.