“This is my ministry.” At first blush, your words seem to ring with confidence in the Lord’s call (1 Timothy 1:12). You have a work to do, and you are determined to fulfill it (Colossians 4:17).

Yet, a menace lurks behind such a declaration—the danger of a territorial ministry mindset. We can stake a claim in our corner of ministry, forgetting Who’s work it really is. We can fight to defend our turf without realizing that our attitude and actions are actually hindering what God is doing. We can hurt coworkers and discourage others from joining in the work as we protect what we believe is rightfully ours. This ministry role, this fruit, and this legacy becomes our territory, and woe to anyone who steps across the borders we have created.

Obviously, no faithful servants of God want to develop such an attitude no matter where they serve in the local church. However, these insidious lies can sneak into our thinking before we realize it. How can we know if we are falling into the trap of a territorial ministry mindset?

Listed below are seven red flags that should help us begin to identify a territorial ministry mindset. But feel free to add others in the comments below.

1. When We Think We Are Indispensable.

We find it difficult to take time off. We rarely delegate anything important, and when we do, we tend to take it back or step in at critical moments. The pulpit/the small group/the Sunday School class/the VBS is ours, and we rarely give it up. We fear that if we are not there, everything may fall to pieces. No one can do this ministry like we can.[1]

2. When Ministry Control is Dearer to Us than the Growth of the Work.

Yes, we could train younger believers to take significant roles or partner with experienced Christians to further the work. But we’d rather maintain the status quo that we can handle as we have in the past.

3. When Faithful People Serving with Us Seem to be a Threat Rather than a Blessing.

At first, we were overjoyed to have them on the team. Their strengths complimented our weaknesses. They helped us push the work forward. But then as the work grows, they begin to suggest ideas on how to improve it. Instead of considering their ideas, we begin to suspect that they might be trying to change what we have done and maybe even undermine what we are doing.

4. When We Find Ourselves Having to put Others in their Place.

Of course, we want to work with others, but they need to stay where they belong. If they forget, we remind them. Then, everything seems better . . . until the coworkers start to disappear, and we can’t imagine why they have left.

5. When We Find Ourselves Justifying Sinful Behavior to Protect Our Ministry.

Harsh language, manipulation, and behaviors we would never tolerate in others can become tools to keep our place at the helm and the ship of ministry on the course we have set.

6. When Our Sense of Personal Identity is Inseparable from a Particular Ministry Role.

If we do not know who we are apart from our ministry role, then we are susceptible to the allure of a territorial ministry mindset. We will tend to do whatever it takes to protect our ministry because when we protect our ministry, we protect ourselves.   

7. When We Cannot Serve with an Open Hand.

The Word of God never changes, but spheres of service, methods of ministry, and characteristics of each generation do. We must be open for God to move, lead, and change us and the work He has given us. Otherwise, we can find ourselves clinging to something that only still exists in our own minds.

What Lines Have We Drawn?

Have you found yourself tempted to slip into a territorial ministry mindset? Seeing it in others is easier than diagnosing it in our own thinking. However, any believer—from a pastor to a church nursery coordinator—can fall into this trap.

In 1807, John Jefferson, missionary to Tahiti, wrote to his supporters, pointing them to vital truths that every servant of God should remember wherever they serve: “The work we are engaged in is not ours, but God’s: it is ours to use the appointed means, His to bless them. . . We look forward to a period when we hope to see the Word of the Lord run and be glorified [2 Thessalonians 3:1].”[2]

Let us not limit God by staking out our territories in His work.

Update: For Biblical remedies for a territorial ministry mindset, check out the follow-up post: 4 Truths to Escape a Territorial Ministry Mindset.

[1] For an example of this truth, see the snapshot of the life and ministry of Ernie Presswood in my missions devotional, Daring Dependence, Day 3.

[2] Conrad, Daring Dependence, 35.