Published September 3, 2016
I remember a chapel speaker admonishing us, “If God calls you to be a missionary, don’t stoop to be a king.” As a former missionary, I have to admit that I wish that assertion were true! Who wouldn’t like to be one of the most highly regarded servants of God? I have concluded that the statement was well intentioned, but outside of the teachings of the Word.
The Bible is clear; “ministry” means “serving.” It’s also clear that every Christian is designed by God to minister to others. Our cultural setting has reshaped that biblical concept. Adding a definite article, we commonly refer to the ministry, including pastors and career missionaries who earn their living in service for Christ.
But then it starts to get tricky. What are the limitations on being in the ministry? Must someone be paid by a church to be in the ministry? Is the pastor’s wife in the ministry? After all, she isn’t paid by the church. How about Christian school teachers? Some of our faculty at Clarks Summit University are ordained former pastors and missionaries. Are they still in the ministry? What about their co-workers who don’t have that background but are doing essentially the same job for the Lord? Are administrative assistants or maintenance staff workers in the ministry?
We create more questions than answers when we use biblical terms in ways that don’t match their biblical intent. Let’s take a quick look at how the Bible uses the term “ministry.”
What does God regard as ministry?
There are only 32 occurrences of the main Greek word translated as “ministry” or “service” in the New Testament, and it always involves meeting others’ needs. For instance, the church at Jerusalem ministered to the church in Antioch by sending famine relief. Later, Gentile believers ministered to the needy in Jerusalem through an offering they collected. The office of deacon was established to minister to widows by providing food for them.
One of the most significant uses of the word occurs in Ephesians 4:11-16, where God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” God has provided ministry equippers for the church. Though the ministry of apostles and prophets has been superseded by the completed Word of God, church-planting evangelists and local church pastors and teachers still minister to fellow believers, teaching them to serve. In our church-planting days, our weekly ministry team meetings focused on who we were equipping, how we were equipping them and what sort of progress those saints were making in ministering.
Continuing in Ephesians 4, Paul explained how the equipping led to ministry. Believers built up other believers. This biblical concept has entered common speech in our culture, often focused on making someone else feel better about themselves or happier about their lives. The Bible is a great deal more focused. Ministering believers build up the body of Christ in three specific ways.
Unity
Ministry produces unity according to Ephesians 4:13 because the church becomes united in “the faith.” Since faith is our response to God’s Word, implementing it in our lives, we observe that ministry produces believers who are in the Word in a way that transforms their lives.
Relationship
In addition, ministry helps others to experience a genuine, growing relationship with the only savior, Jesus Christ. Ministry brings change to our lives so that our character and actions become like Jesus.
Maturity
And the effects of that work of ministry? We become mature, wise believers who know the difference between truth and error, and who can spot the deceiving liars who identify as teachers of truth. Churches marked by this kind of ministry are marked by interdependent, consistent, whole body growth.
How has God placed people in service to others?
There simply isn’t a pattern. We know of 22 years of Joseph’s service for God, though he lived to be 110. We have a few glimpses of Daniel’s prophetic ministry in service to the Babylonian empire, first as a very young man and then as an elderly one. The Apostle Paul’s missionary ministry could hardly be called a career by our culture’s standards. He was in and out of his church-planting ministry, sometimes supporting himself and sometimes supported by others.
Are you in the ministry?
Don’t answer by telling me who pays you or how many hours you work. Give me a biblical answer. Tell me how you are using your growing understanding of God’s Word to help others know and become like the Savior.
At Clarks Summit University, we want every graduate from every program to be obsessed with ministry. That’s why our undergrads are Bible majors (no matter what their second major is), why our seminary teaches biblical languages and exegesis, and why our master’s degrees are Bible-saturated. We teach all of our students to study God’s Word and put it into practice. Some will have the opportunity to be paid to serve others, and some will work in other types of careers. We know that our grads will, like Paul, blend ministries and careers all their lives long.
As long as they understand God’s Word, know how to study it, love His church and work to build it up, they will positively change the world for Christ, and we will be proud to call them our alumni. Clarks Summit University is all about ministry!
Dr. Jim Lytle, CSU President
