Abundant Grace Fellowship
You Have A Ministry
You Have A Ministry
By Pastor J.D. Link
Abundant
Did you know, that if you are a Christian, you are a minister? It’s true. Believe it or not, all Christians are supposed to be ministers. The problem is we have defined a minister as being someone who wears a suit or robe, and stands behind a pulpit on Sunday. While that statement may be true, it’s not the definition of minister. The Greek word for minister is Diakonos, which means: One who executes the commands of another; A servant; A waiter; A Christian teacher or deacon. As Christians, we have all been called to be servants, or “ministers” (Mt 20:20-28). Let’s get into God’s Word, and see what He has to say.
Eph 4:11-13 says “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” God put men into the five fold ministry, not to do all the work, but to equip the saints to do the work. The word perfecting means to furnish or equip; or bring to maturity. The five fold ministry is given to equip the rest of The Body of Christ to do the work of the ministry; not to do all the ministering.
We must get free from this clergy-laity mentality, in which we see the preacher as the one who is supposed to do everything in the church; and as long as I show up on some Sundays and give a little bit, then I’ve done my spiritual service for the week. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Sunday morning is just the starting place for your ministry that week. Church is where you get built up, encouraged, & taught The Word of God; so that you are prepared to go out into the world that week and be salt & light.
Some may use the excuse that they can’t minister to people because they’re not good speakers, or they don’t know the Bible well enough, or they might get asked a question they can’t answer. Moses and Paul weren’t good speakers (Ex 4:10, 2Cor 10:10, 11:6), yet they were used mightily of God. While you should read your Bible everyday, you don’t have to be able to recall 1,000 Scriptures, chapter and verse, to share the love of God with a hurting person. Do you know Jesus? If the answer is yes, then simply introduce Him to people. You don’t have to be a theologian to do that. If you’re asked a question you can’t answer, it’s no big deal. Say you don’t know, write it down, and look it up later; or call your pastor and ask him. That simple.
I encourage you to look for opportunities to minister to people. In Acts 2:4, it says all of the believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit, not just the 11 apostles. In 2Cor 5:17-18, it says that all Christians have been given the ministry of reconciliation. You have a ministry. You may be thinking “I really don’t know where to start; I don’t know what to do.” Well, if you see someone crying, ask them if you can pray for them and introduce them to The Comforter (Jn 14:26). If someone is sick or in pain, ask if you can lay hands on them and pray (Mk 16:18). If someone is in financial straights, tell them about your God, who supplies all your needs (Phi 4:19). Start a Bible study in your home or work. So what if you’re not a gifted teacher; just open up to John or Romans or something, and start reading. Start a visitation ministry. Go visit people in hospitals, nursing homes, jail. You can share the love of Jesus with people I’ll never meet. You have a circle of influence that I don’t have, so use it as a mission field!
Get excited about serving God! Get excited about opportunity to minister! Get excited about sharing Jesus with people! God will give you opportunities, so take them! You have a ministry right now, right where you are. I pray this has blessed and encouraged you, and until next time, rejoice in The Lord!