This Ministry

This Ministry

‘Ministry’...as a noun can be defined as a service done in deference to a deity.

A Minister…also defined in noun form is a member of the clergy, especially in Protestant churches. *(also minister general) the superior of some religious orders.

(in certain countries) a head of a government department • a diplomatic agent, usually ranking below an ambassador, representing a state or sovereign in a foreign country. and lastly defined as a noun a minister is a person or thing used to achieve or convey something.

Most people find purpose, comfort, resolve, and even seek after the title of minister for many different reasons. Yet and still, many of us are found to be neglecting the usage of the word or title minister in verb form…may God help us.

Minister, as a verb, means to attend to the needs of someone or provide something necessary or helpful.

So we start today’s journey by asking the question…why are noun minister’s so prevalent in the world but verb minister’s so scarce in society?

The road leading to the answer of this question both starts and ends with, and within God’s word...

Turn in your Bible’s to

2 Corinthians 4:1–6 CSB

Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up. Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth. But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

“We have..”

So who is the Apostle addressing in this passage? Who is he really talking to? Undoubtedly, Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church yet this message reminds us that in 2021 we as God’s chosen indeed “have this ministry”.

So what are we to do about it? How are we to handle such a responsibility? such a heavy charge?

One doesn’t have to have a degree in psychology to fully understand the reality that people are more likely to act on the things they consider to be their own responsibilities. The things that we take ownership of always tend to get our greatest amount of effort. The things that we see value in generally power our pursuits. So, I challenge the common assessment of the church and I will state today that our problem is as simple as mistaking a noun to have the same meaning as a verb…at least when it comes to ministry.

I would love to move on into the passage but what I believe in this passage that is mostly meant for us to get is right there in the third word written...”we”. I’ll be honest and say that I often wrestle with discouragement and how we can translate the scriptures many times over but miss a word of such weighty importance to the church. The understanding of ‘we’ is interwoven into the very fiber of our everyday livelihood and commitments.

‘We’ is the result of things like singles coming together to form a union, ‘We’ is the sum of a collective dedication to shared preferences, ‘We’ is the result of the cultural bonding from shared life experiences, ‘We’ is the end result of the determination to put aside pride and eliminate the infiltration of ego to win games... But ‘We’ is not so evident when it comes to the cause of Christ and mission of the church.

Why?

Do we read and hear God’s word only to audibly comply with the biblical ideals? Saying to ourselves “Yeah, that sounds about morally right, lets go with that”

Are we hesitant to respond with action in spreading the Gospel because of the potential loses or what’s at stake…friends, family, coworkers?

The verse we read earlier goes on to say “because we were shown mercy, we do not give up.”

The way we live out our faith communicates to God what we truly believe about what His mercy did and does for us. It is impossible to further the Kingdom without this key principle.

Instead of us digging deeper into why a murderer, a harlot, and an innocent earthly man or woman even need the same grace, we opt rather to abuse it. The audacity of the natural man and woman should concern us greatly for it is there that we find the blessing that is identifying internal hypocrisy. My friends to say that He is a God of the second chance may very well be the biggest understatement ever uttered. He in fact is a perpetual forgiver who’s mercy quite possibly might not even be able to be measured by Himself in all of His power.

Again, Paul stated that “seeing that WE have this ministry, as WE have received mercy” …Togetherness, Unity, Partnership, Fellowship, not your job, not my job, no it is Our job!

Friends and Family, we have to come to grips some things. First, we must understand that being holy, being set apart, is not simply a challenge for the church clergy. We must ask ourselves the hard questions at whatever level or role we serve in, what am I doing for God and is it what He expects us to be doing? Another thing we need greater clarity on is church itself and exactly what it even is? Many of us have been going to what we considered to be church for decades only to find out that it was us all along, not the building, not the gathering, not the programs…’US’..yes, the ones Jesus died for. That ‘WE” you just read Paul talking about. Since this is indeed the case, why do we struggle with growth, movement, help and dedication to the work? Part of the answer is simple, “we do not give up” as the apostle points out at the end of that verse.

Trust me when I tell you that I fully understand that just not giving up doesn’t grant a church body success, it no way does a refusal to quite make things in ministry any easier. A refusal to quit does however give you the fortitude you need to rebuild, the solid foundation for which a renovation can be successfully constructed. Not giving up means that you will be forced to ask probably the most important question that you will ever ask yourself about serving God, and that is “why am I even doing this?” In this moment, place, and feeling of frustration lies the jewel and educational tool of self-denial. We miss it so many times, and oddly enough Jesus’ whole earthly ministry is based on the demonstration of it. My guess is that we erroneously chalk that up as just something that He had to do and not necessarily us. As much as my natural man wishes that was the case the Holy Spirit sets the truth of this requirement before us everyday.

Moving down 2 Corinthians 4 a bit further we see the divinely-inspired writer drive home much needed points concerning godly integrity and how we should carry ourselves as the body of Christ.

Verse 2 says “Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.”

We acknowledged earlier that we sometimes struggle with verbs when it comes to things involving ministry obligations and Kingdom movement and yet here’s another one... “Renounce”, meaning to formally declare one’s abandonment of, reject and stop using or consuming...

If we really are committed to renouncing the shameful things then we must strive to know what makes these things shameful in the first place. We cannot quantify what is shameful based on generational or cultural biases. We can, however, properly discern what is shameful by what God says is shameful in His word. This then places the charge on us to openly turn away from it, not as an intention, not trying to figure out a less shameful way to do it, simply coming to terms with “if God expects me to let it go then I will”.

This ministry! Not mine, not yours God’s people…Ours!

Moving on in 2 Cor. 4:3-6

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 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.

I don’t have an answer for how, or why, we forget this one major ministry fact but we do. Why do we not understand that if God used people with the Gospel to reconcile us back to Himself then why do we struggle to relay the message of the Cross in our own efforts? How selfish are we being with this light inside of us? As funny as it sounds to grown believers maybe we should just be honest and say that we are afraid of the dark?

And so the passage continues to remind us of the vocational call of believers in Corinth as well as us today.. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

This ministry!

I want to take a moment to speak plainly about some matters concerning the global church and believers as a whole. If you have given your life to the Lord then doing ministry is not just a religious obligation, it is a heavenly requirement. If you profess Jesus to be Lord over your life then attending church is not the totality of a godly commitment. No earthly church belongs to any pastor, deacon, or leader.. it belongs to God! Additionally, while our leaders do serve in roles for a purpose, that office or role is not in itself the purpose of the Gospel! This ministry belongs to the lover of God, this ministry was never established to be individualistic or imperialistic. This ministry was built on and for those who have been purchased by the blood of the lamb! But who is going to know this if we only talk to each other about it? If we only find comfort in the presence of those that already know who’s ministry it is?

One of the ways we can better prepare ourselves for venturing into darkness is buy simply cutting the act. We often pride ourselves with the ‘lost’ lingo that we use about people that don’t know God…as if we ain’t fresh out the fire and smelling like smoke. By spending more time with God and His word we will many times be surprised by just how far we actually are from heaven and closer to hell than we’d like to admit.

We must abandon this idea that those who remain lost are our enemies, for it is not them but the sin they are under the control of that is the enemy. Its similar to those silly zombie movies you see on tv. Something has altered the way that they were created to function be so they operate under the direction of what changed them. Unlike the movies though, we actually already posses the change agent that can position them to be transformed. The stark reality of it all is that a minister is fully aware that he/she once too was in this state. But still I ask, why we leave some peoples presence acting as though they are out of the reach of God saving grace?

As a verb sense ‘minister’ can also be defined as the worship of a deity or conceived as serving the deity.

Do we honestly view ministry as serving or worshipping God? I’ll be bold enough to say that the answer is a resounding “no” and seek God’s grace for myself in the process of pointing it out. Much of our failure as the global church comes from us not ministering through proper understanding or clarity on what the Bible teaches about it. Sadly, we misconstrue, and times even twist the text in an effort to add spiritual pizzaz in places where we simply need to just show ourselves faithful to God. Why do we make things so unnecessarily spooky when it comes to ministering to the lost? One of the problems with the over-spiritualized, mystical approach is that it doesn’t often, or at all, translate into practicality for the new believer to implement Christs teachings into their life. The second part of verse two says “but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God”

“Commend” meaning praise formally, or officially. To present as suitable for approval or acceptance. Cause to be acceptable or pleasing. Entrust someone or something to.

I’ll read the passage again starting at verse one...”Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not: but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending (or presenting it as suitable for approval or acceptance) ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

Why is this so important? Are you saying that the Gospel must be presented in a certain way? Do we have to cater to unbelievers in order to get God’s message out?

Yes, but not in the ways that we typically think. The text is stating that we are to make a consorted effort to communicate God’s invitation. Not just an invitation to church, for we indeed understand that the church is, and has been. mobile, remote, and ever-present…long before covid made things weird. A ‘consorted’ effort!

Since defining terms is of the utmost importance to the minister let us look at the meaning of ‘consort’. In verb form consort literally means to habitually associate with (someone), typically with the disapproval of others. May the Lord help us in understanding how Christ-like this truly is!

So I ask you christian, who are the ministers that God is calling to reach the fallen world? Is it only the mild-mannered gentlemen with the nice suit that speaks so eloquently about Jesus once a week? Is a minister only the lady that says something about the Lord in every conversation and wouldn’t dare miss a service? Is it the non-confrontational church leader that exemplifies reliability? Really who are the ministers? And what do they do that I’m supposed to be doing? I would say that the answer is the same as we have stated from the scripture thus far. Saints of God, if you have devoted your life to the cause of Christ then ministry is in fact your responsibility just as much as the aforementioned lady, gentlemen, and leader. We are the church, we don’t just go there!

If we are disappointed or frustrated about something in God’s church both locally and globally, then do something about it! You play a major role in that change, that involves you and I. We must understand that there is no such thing as special christian qualities that brother John or Jane Doe possess. They didn’t have a different level of conversion or some kind of special revelation that is making them more faithful than your currently showing. All lifestyle nuances and variables considered, most of us will receive the power we seek from God when we simply stop making excuses...Myself included just in case that came from a high place that it shouldn’t have.

I would be remiss if I didn’t include the encouragement piece of this passage in 2 Corinthians 4 starting at verse 11-18...

“For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak; knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound unto the glory of God.

Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Ministers who do ministry, ministering the word of God both by word and deed. What a blessing it is to actually represent the Kingdom of God! In our time on earth until this day we have represented many things, many names, and many claims. Social groups, clubs, gangs, cliques, teams, organizations and so on. These things are proof that we fully understand the importance of representation and what it means to operate on behalf of something. So why do we hesitate with Kingdom business? Why doesn’t the delivery of the gospel get more practice and dedication than the things we mentioned? Do we not see the troubling irony in telling everyone to “do everything as unto the Lord” except what we actually do for Him?

I think some of the things that slow us up are truly found in our understanding of Jesus’ ministry. While it is an absolute fact that He finished the work on the Cross, the work of spreading the gospel merely started there…but do we act as though we understand what should be happening? How selfish of us to resist losing our life when the messiah didn’t even bat an eye at the chance to lay it down for the Will of God!

There are examples all around us of how effective ministry should work in this world. A couple of years ago, myself and some coworkers attended a mud run, which I was barely prepared for might I add, and something in the video footage jumped out at me we when I reviewed it. At the start of the race, there was a 5 foot wooden wall that we had to scale. As I watched the contestants take to the course, I couldn’t help but notice what one particular coworker did. Out of literally a hundred or so people, she was the only one I saw successfully get over the wall and immediately turn around for her friend to offer help with getting over it. It wasn’t that nobody would have helped or offered but it was the mindset of the one who got across first that struck me. Her feet weren’t on the ground for two seconds before she turned to check on the others. This really reminded me of what the character of a minister should be. This gave a great illustration of self-sacrifice and selflessness. The woman that helped the other woman was more concerned about addressing a potential hinderance for her fiend than what lied ahead. This should be our approach to spreading the Gospel of Christ. This should be why we refuse to let church frustrations bog us down. This is why we concern ourselves less with the noun usage of minister and push ourselves to minister in continually in verb form.

It is only when we really come to terms with this that we can recite this part of the passage with confidence...

“we are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed”

May God continue to help us, teach us, and lead us in our understanding of ministry…This ministry that We have!

If you don’t know Jesus the Christ as your personal Lord and Savior then we at Burning Flame Christian Church urge you to accept the gift of Salvation. We are committed to walk with you through your journey of faith and service to God. If you are not in close proximity with a fellow member or church leader then please reach out to us at [e-mail]. We are here as brothers and sisters with judgement-free love and hearts of humility and grace. Our perfection is only in Jesus. God bles you.