In the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters we read about how the apostle understood ministry.
For the apostle Paul, ministry includes everything that the ascended Christ has done and continues to do through His people for the building up of His church. This includes the right exercise of the gifts for ministry with which Christ has equipped all His people, as well as the ministry of those who, like Paul, were appointed by God to establish and nurture the churches. It also includes those who are appointed through human authorities to exercise leading roles in the churches.
Even though, when we speak of ministry in the New Testament, we must distinguish the ministry of the official servants appointed by God from the ministry of all believers, our emphasis here is that every Christian has some ministry, and he ought to know what it is and to carry it out. The fact that ministry is for everyone needs to be repeated, because we have a tendency to forget it.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS CREATED FOR SERVICE (Ephesians 2:10)
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
A large part of the “good works” (“ergois agathois”) for which God created us and to which He predestined us are the works of our ministry. In other words, God created each one of us with a purpose, and that purpose is service. The word “created” in this verse means to give existence to something that did not exist before. So your ministry, too, did not exist before God created you for it. But if you have already been created, then you must also begin to serve, because otherwise your creation loses its meaning.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS SAVED FOR SERVICE (2 Timothy 1:9)
9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, (2 Timothy 1:9)
Notice that this verse says not only that God has saved us, but also that He has called us. Salvation is not an end in itself. God saves us with a purpose, and that purpose is revealed in His specific calling to us. That calling is revealed in God’s purpose. God has a ministry for which He saved you, and if you want to fulfill God’s purpose, you must fulfill your ministry.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS CALLED FOR SERVICE (1 Peter 2:9-10)
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
In Christ, God has made us a “royal priesthood.” To be “priests” means to be God’s servants. The calling is not only for the pastors or the musicians. It is for everyone. Everyone who is part of God’s “chosen people” is also part of God’s “royal priesthood.”
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS GIFTED FOR SERVICE (1 Peter 4:10)
10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)
God will not ask of us anything for which He has not equipped us. Every believing Christian has received from God a gift for ministry. Everyone has a talent. And if you have a talent, if you have been given a gift, then that gift is not only for you. It is for you to serve others with it.
It is very important that we treat our gifts as something that is not our own. For the gifts and God’s grace are not our property. They are ours only insofar as God has entrusted them to us—to be their stewards. But what is required of stewards is that they be faithful and that they carry out the purposes of the owner.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS AUTHORIZED FOR SERVICE (Matthew 28:18-20)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
These verses are known as the “Great Commission.” But even though the Great Commission is apostolic in its character, it does not apply only to the apostles, but to all the followers of Christ. For Jesus says it to those with whom He will be “always, to the very end of the age,” and that means that we are included here as well.
EVERY CHRISTIAN HAS RECEIVED A COMMAND FOR SERVICE (Matthew 20:25-28)
25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)
Here Christ commands us not to lord it over others, but to serve. He gave us an example of this. So if you want to be a follower of Christ, that means wanting to be a servant.
FAITHFUL, EVEN WHEN HE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND
A king needed a faithful servant and had to choose between two men in his palace. He devised a plan that would reveal which of the two was more worthy to take up the responsible post. He hired them both temporarily, on a trial basis, gave them the same wage, and set them the task of going and bailing the water out of a well by pouring it into a woven basket. He told them that he would return that evening to see how their work was going. After he had poured two buckets of water into the basket, one of the servants stated the obvious: “This is absurd. We pour the water into this basket, and it simply cannot hold it. All of this is only a waste of time and energy. The water just runs out through the gaps in the basket.” The other servant, however, kept on with this seemingly pointless work of drawing water from the well and pouring it into the basket, only for it to seep through the gaps and run out onto the ground. The disgusted servant finally asked him: “Do you intend to keep doing this?” The other servant calmly answered: “Yes. What is bothering you? Aren’t we earning good wages from this work? The reason for doing what we are doing is our master’s business, not ours.” The first servant replied: “Well, I am not going to do such foolish work!” He threw his bucket to the ground and left.
The diligent servant kept on with his “useless” work until sunset, when their master finally returned. Just as the king was approaching the worker, he was drawing out one of the last buckets of water that remained in the now-empty well. At that very moment he noticed that something was glittering at the bottom of the well. It turned out to be an enormous ring with a diamond. In an instant it flashed upon him why his master had given him this seemingly useless work… If the ring fell into the bucket with which they were bailing, the basket would strain the water and hold the ring; and if that did not happen, the well would soon be emptied anyway and would reveal the treasure it was hiding. The point is that the work the king assigned them was not pointless at all. The faithfulness of the devoted servant, who kept working even though the work seemed foolish at first glance, was generously rewarded by his master, who gave him a place of honor in his palace and a good wage. Unlike him, the other servant, who instead of carrying out the task set before him only philosophized, lost everything—both what he had and what he could have had.
EVERY CHRISTIAN NEEDS TO BE EQUIPPED FOR SERVICE (Ephesians 4:11-12)
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:11-12)
This is the purpose of the so-called “fivefold ministry.” The greater servants are not there to do the ministry themselves, but to teach the rest how to serve. We must understand that in order to be in pastoral ministry you do not necessarily have to be a pastor. For example, you do not need to be a pastor in order to visit and care for the sick. You do not need to be a Bible teacher in order to care for the children in Sunday school. You do not need to be a prophet in order to lead in prayer and to speak in God’s name for edification, for exhortation, and for comfort.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS NECESSARY FOR THE MINISTRY (1 Corinthians 12:27)
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27)
Do not tell yourself: “They can do without me!” That is a lie of the devil. Just as every single part of the body is necessary for the functioning of the body, so every person in the church is necessary for its normal ministry.
EVERY CHRISTIAN WILL BE REWARDED ACCORDING TO HIS SERVICE (Colossians 3:23-24)
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)
These verses tell us two things. First, we must not be offended by the fact that our ministry is not appreciated by people, because in the end our ministry is a ministry to the Lord, and not to people. And second, the reward for our ministry will not come from people, but from the Lord. If people have somehow wronged us and have not fully appreciated our ministry, the Lord will compensate us for it.
A FORM FOR ASSESSING THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS
And so, in this teaching we place an exceptionally strong emphasis on the fact that everyone in the church has his own ministry, and you are no exception to this rule. Ministry is not only for some. It is for everyone. It is for you. Why? Because of the 9 New Testament reasons that we have just examined.
- You are created for service (Ephesians 2:10).
- You are saved for service (2 Timothy 1:9).
- You are called for service (1 Peter 2:9-10).
- You are gifted for service (1 Peter 4:10).
- You are authorized for service (Matthew 28:18-20).
- You have received a command for service (Matthew 20:25-28).
- You are equipped for service (Ephesians 4:11-12).
- You are necessary for the ministry (1 Corinthians 12:27).
- You will be rewarded for your service (Colossians 3:23-24).
What will you do from here on with this message? Will you forget it, or throw it into the wastebasket, or will you stop and think and review your ministry again, so as to begin to serve according to your gifts? That is up to you. I have some forms for assessing the spiritual gifts. They work on the principle that what motivates you is what you are able to accomplish and what you have been gifted by God to do.
DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR MINISTRY! CARRY IT OUT!
So this is my appeal to you: “Do not neglect your ministry! Carry it out!” In 2 Timothy 4:3-5 the apostle Paul says the following:
3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:3-5)