Having an effective Christian ministry

One of the deep seated convictions one must have while in the service of the Lord is to conduct his ministry without the slightest desire to bring attention to himself but rather to expose people to the Savior. Although it would be nice to receive a pat in the back, a word of praise or thanks, these ought not to be the driving motivations of our service because motives like these and worse than these render us ineffective and place us indeed on the verge of idolatry or in a state of idolatry itself