Tuesday, October 18, 2005
What's Your Ministry?
Miscellanies on the Gospel has an excellent look at the term ministry and role of all believers in the life of the church and God's work.
Rob's scriptural analysis of the term minister and the balance he calls for is greatly appreciated, but my question is a more practical one -- how do we break the cycle I just described and return to the balance Rob calls for? Scriptural appeal is a beginning, but how to we bring that scripture to bear? Seminaries now teach the consumer model of church operation. Consumer churches "succeed" far beyond anything imaginable in churches that have a truly balanced approach. Where do we start?
I tend to think the answer is with pastors and their training, but I remain uncertain how to get that job done. It is certainly a job that has to be done.
What we find then amid our observations of almost every usage of the Greek noun and verb for "minister" is a much-needed balance to the pendulum swing. It is wrong to see only pastors as ministers, and it is equally wrong to view only believers as ministers. The Bible teaches that both are ministers, yet in different ways and for different purposes....The unbalance Rob discusses in his post is especially difficult to address because two sides of the coin feed each other. The prevalent consumer Christianity of today encourages the consumption of things labelled Christian. This asks little in the way of service from the "saints" and is therefore quite appealing. Supplying these Christian consumables then becomes the job of the "minister," who also finds this approach appealing because it can be quite financially lucrative, quite ego building, and sadly, success becomes readily measurable.
...Another observation is that while there is this special role of one who ministers or serves, just as plain in the Scriptures is the truth that this special minister, the pastor or church leader, is to be marked by his service. Jesus could not have been any clearer about this than in Luke 22:26 where He rebuked His disciples in the midst of their selfish argument about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God. "But among you, those who are the greatest should take the lowest rank, and the leaders should be like a servant" (NLT). So this last observation, while affirming that there is a special role or task or position of "minister" who performs a special work of "the ministry," that work in and of itself is to mirror the Master who came not to be served but to serve others by working to the death to preach and teach the message of the cross to the world.
Rob's scriptural analysis of the term minister and the balance he calls for is greatly appreciated, but my question is a more practical one -- how do we break the cycle I just described and return to the balance Rob calls for? Scriptural appeal is a beginning, but how to we bring that scripture to bear? Seminaries now teach the consumer model of church operation. Consumer churches "succeed" far beyond anything imaginable in churches that have a truly balanced approach. Where do we start?
I tend to think the answer is with pastors and their training, but I remain uncertain how to get that job done. It is certainly a job that has to be done.
