Who are the Ministers?

We often talk about "going into ministry" or refer to it as something that only "spiritually mature" believers can perform. Ministry is usually affiliated with the term minister and we assume that it is the responsibility of ministers to do the work of the ministry. That is not necessarily true. In Ephesians 4 we find the apostle Paul teaching about the unity of the body, the church. We read in verses 11-12, "And he (Jesus Christ) himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness. 

According to this passage, the saints or believers are to be equipped for the work of ministry. Ministry is not something that is only assigned to pastors and ministers or something we go into for a period of time and then come out of. Somehow, we have come to believe that ministry is special work or a formal program that we have to be certified or accredited in order to perform. Like so many other things, we can make ministry complicated, resulting in many people thinking they are not equipped or must complete many prerequisites in order to perform. According to Paul, that is not the case. If we are all called to the work of ministry, we need to view it as something we do on a continual basis and something that we are in fact doing. We ought to be doing this perhaps on a daily basis. So, what does ministry look like? 

We recently took some of our middle-schoolers to a camp in Oregon. One of the themes was, Kingdom Workers. They were challenged to be an active Kingdom Worker, doing things for others, ultimately as doing it for Christ, that has eternal value. There were examples of kids reaching out to serve other kids who had disabilities or raising funds in order to support others who didn't have much.

Ministry could be something as simple as taking time to pray for our missionaries or people who are on our prayer page. It could be sending an encouraging note or email to someone that comes to mind. Some women in our church participate in a "Secret Sister" event around Christmas time where they anonymously leave special gifts for another woman who is participating in it. It could be reaching out to help someone in the church who is working on a home project. If God has gifted you in some way with a talent or ability, why not look for ways to bless someone with it? There is not a comprehensive list that covers all the ministries within a church. If the Holy Spirit has laid something on your heart or given you an idea where you could serve someone else, act on it.

We all go about our daily routines in a systematic way. How about viewing our daily routine as an opportunity to perhaps turn into a ministry or view it as a way to bless another person instead of just accomplishing a task. Maybe put off one of your daily routines or activities and meet with another person from church to do an activity together, even if it's something new to you. When you think about it, what could be more important than spending some time getting to know someone better, someone that we will spend eternity with. 

And we shouldn't limit our serving others to just believers. What better way to demonstrate the love of Jesus than to minister to someone who is an unbeliever for the sake of sharing Christ with them.

We can all be more intentional about considering other people and getting involved with them and even considering them and their lives more important than our own.

In Christ's Love and Service,

Pastor Bryan