Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: Accessing the Enablement | Part 3: The Offices | Part 4: The Qualities | Part 5: Case Studies | Part 6: Contentment | Part 7: Loyalty | Part 8: Commitment | Part 9: Endurance
So what have we learned?
We’ve started with the premise that although there is a place for “full-time Christian service” and a “vocational ministry,” the Scripture calls all believers to “the ministry” in a certain sense. We are all called to serve one another, to be servants at heart and in action (1Co 12.5). Service follows logically from the second great commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mk 12.31).
What should that service look like? Well, because we are each gifted and talented in different ways, we will render services of different sorts and levels of influence. But there will be some guiding principles and common characteristics.
Probably the fundamental defining characteristic is that the minister is not focused on his own needs; he is thinking of and working on behalf of others. This is the essential characteristic of love, the obligation of every follower of Jesus.
We must admit that we all fall far short of this expectation. We simply cannot consistently elevate the needs of others above our own. This is going to require divine enablement, which we receive through the person of the Son–we are “in him” (Ep 3.6)–and the means of grace, including Scripture, prayer, and fellowship. These are powerful enablers, ones that few of us recognize as essential to our daily, serious practice.
We’ve noted that there are church offices in which some Christians serve full-time in “ministry.” The seriousness of the qualifications for these offices (1Ti 3.1-13; Titus 1.5-9) evidence just how seriously we “laity” should take our own “ministry” in the body.
We start this process by caring about the truth. We learn, from our pastor’s preaching and from our own diligent and well-informed study, what the Scripture teaches–that’s called “doctrine”–and conform our thinking and teaching, either to groups or one on one, to it. If we’re loving others, then we’re influencing them in the direction of revealed divine truth, not our own opinions or priorities.
Paul’s case studies in ministry–widows (1Ti 5.3-16) and elders (1Ti 5.17-25)–demonstrate that the church should see to it that the needs of these specific classes are met. We should all play a part in that, and we should expand that care and provision to all the manifold types of people that participate in the body of Christ.
I suppose we could summarize the rest of the subject under two main responsibilities.
First, take it seriously. Give this task serious thought; prioritize this thoughtfulness throughout the life of the church. What should we be doing? How should we do these things responsibly and effectively? What specific things am I particularly qualified to do, and what things should be better assigned to those with different gifts and circumstances? This will likely call for thoughtful and careful coordination across the church body.
But there’s also a place for keeping certain things to yourself. You can perform acts of service that no one else knows about, not letting your right hand know what your left hand is doing (Mt 6.3). As an elder I once had a church member hand me an envelope–a thick one–with the name of a young couple in the church and ask me to deliver it to them anonymously. Nobody needed to know.
Second, keep at it. We’ve mentioned the sequence of Paul’s imperatives here: contentment, loyalty, commitment. When all is said and done, Just Do It. And keep doing it.
This is not easy. No one said it would be.
But it’s glorious. The joy it brings, even in the midst of a congregation of sinners, is inexpressible. There are heavenly rewards, of course, which the Bible talks about (2Ti 4.8; 1P 5.4)–so it’s not unspiritual to be motivated by them. But the earthly rewards in joy and unity and quiet satisfaction are sufficient.
As they should be, for serving such a Master.
Next time, the promised New Testament background to Paul’s appeal to Caesar.
Photo by Mélyna Côté on Unsplash
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