How YOU Can Be a Minister.
What can I do? I don’t have any useful skills. I’m not smart enough. I’m too old. I’m too young. I have a disability. I don’t have enough time. Isn’t that someone else’s job? Have you ever had some of these thoughts or questions when thinking about ministry? It is unfortunate that many of us are either unaware,
or too naive, in thinking that we do not have a role to play in ministering to others.
All too often, the word minister has various mental images attached to it, which may make its true meaning not quite as clear. Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines minister" as the following:
A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.i
So in order to make the meaning of the word easier
understood, let’s call the words "minister" and "ministry" by the following: servant and service.
How then can you be a servant? A good place to start serving is at the local fellowship you attend. Physical acts of service can be done to enhance greatly the spiritual experience of others. These could include helping with the parking, door greeting, ushering, food preparation. operating audio/visual equipment, setting up and taking down tables and chairs, sweeping and vacuuming floors. and maybe even security. These may not seem like important jobs, but they are really the critical framework that makes a church service operate.
Can you play an instrument or sing? Music is an important component in worship and sometimes the
focal point of many services. Even singing hymns with the church body is a form of service. Do you have widows, orphans, or anyone who is in need at your local church and could use some form of support? Hopefully. it is becoming apparent that the physical forms of service in which you can provide are almost endless.
Spiritual forms of service can also be provided at your church. Fellowshipping is one of the most commonly overlooked forms of service. "Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name" (Malachi 3:16).
Try spending some time talking with your brothers and sisters in Christ about spiritual matters. not only about your job or the weather. Tell others of an exciting Bible verse that you read the other day, or share what Christ has done for you recently. Explain the things that have helped deepen your relationship with God. Help those in spiritual need. Paul states
in Galatians 6:2, "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." If you see someone depressed, then go and hug that person. If someone has fallen back into a particular sin, help him or her get back up by providing words of encouragement. We all need the support and encouragement of fellow brothers
and sisters, so be willing to lend an ear and give a voice when needed.
Prayer is another important form of spiritual service. James 5:16 declares, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." If people in your congregation
are sick or discouraged, pray for them daily. Request your congregation to pray for them. The New Testament gives numerous examples of the early Christians praying for someone who was in need. Acts 12:5, for example, states, "Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." Maybe you are wheelchair bound, or perhaps have
lost some mobility, you too can participate in ministry by becoming a prayer warrior. God can and will use anyone who comes to Him, and God does and will always answer prayers of sincerity.
Another form of spiritual service is preaching. Just because you are not a pastor does not mean you cannot preach. Many fellowship groups allow their lay members to give a message sometimes. If you have prepared a particular study, show it to your pastor and ask him if he thinks it is appropriate for a Bible study or a Sabbath morning message. People will appreciate the insight you have on a particular subject.
Serving our fellow brothers and sisters is an important task that we should do on a regular basis, but we must be sure that we do not just limit ourselves to serving other Christians. Luke 6:32-34 says, "For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do
good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again."
Christ gave us a commission to share the Gospel with the whole world (Matthew 28:19). Not all of us have been given the work of an evangelist, but that doesn’t mean we cannot do our part to share Christ with others. I have often heard the saying "people would rather see a sermon than hear one." Become a
sermon. Be an example to those whom you come in contact with each and every day. When you are at work, in the grocery store, or waiting in traffic, let them see Christ and His Holy Spirit flowing in you. People will take notice that you do things different from others. They will notice your love, your patience, your speech, your thoughtfulness, and the fact that you care
about others. We are to be as lights shining in the darkness. "And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday" (Isaiah 58:10).
2 Corinthians 4:6 also states, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
If we set a good example to others by our actions, they may be more apt to ask us about our beliefs, so then we can have an opportunity to share Christ. Those who stand on street corners and shout out God’s wrath to unbelievers have done little to convert them to Christ. Remember that people will care about what you know when they know that you care.
Perhaps the most important tool in serving others is to ask God for help and guidance. Ask Him what your role should be and how to fulfill it to the maximum. Each and every one of us has talents that we can use in service. God has given us these talents and expects us to use them (see Matthew 25:14-30). Not everyone, however, has the same talents or jobs. The body of
Christ has many different responsibilities as Paul states in 1 Corinthians:
For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because 1 am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because 1 am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now bath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him (12:14-18).
God designed us and gave us each a specific function to perform. We need to have the humility to let Him direct us into that responsibility. "And he gave some, apostles; and some,prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers"
(Ephesians 4:11).
Maybe God is calling you into one of these positions in a full-time manner. Or perhaps your job is that of a door greeter. Regardless of your specific calling, God has given each one of us in the body the job of being a minister.
