Lexi Shipp is a passionate writer, speaker, and Bible teacher. With a Bachelors in Religion and Masters in Human Services Counseling, both specified in Christian Ministry, Lexi loves serving alongside her husband doing Next Gen Ministry. Working with middle and high school girls for years, she has a heart for connecting all generations of women and championing the next generation for the cause of Christ – starting within her own home as a mom. Lexi serves as a regular LifeWay Girls blogger and the Communications Team Lead for the SBC of Virginia’s Women’s Ministry. To read more of Lexi’s writings or to book her as a speaker, connect with her on Instagram @alexisleeshipp.
In a specific season of ministry, the Lord blessed me with a counterpart who also happened to be a licensed Christian counselor. Throughout that time, she would often remind me that the varying behaviors we witnessed were all different forms of communicating.
Regardless of your ministry context – infants, young adults, women, men, or anywhere around and in between, this never ceases to be true.
The words that people choose, the way they dress, the friends they surround themselves with, the decisions they make, are all communicating something deeper about what is taking place inside.
This concept is crucial for ministry leaders to understand. When we pray to have the Holy Spirit’s “eyes” to view people and situations, and a heart that is transformed into the likeness of Christ, we begin to see past behaviors and into brokenness. Whether we’re working with a disruptive elementary-aged child or a disgruntled middle-aged adult, this mindset enables us to minister in a heart posture of humility.
As ministry ebbs and flows, recall to mind Luke 6:43-45, “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush. A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”
(Luke 6:43-45 CSB)
It is in our most challenging situations, ministering to others that what we have stored up in our hearts will spill out. While it is crucial for the overall health of the individual and the Church to address unbiblical behavior, no matter how difficult, may it be the grace and love of Jesus that always pours out of us!
