Ministers & Ministry
God, thru His son Jesus has called all His children to minister the good news that His teachings have given us. Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians; “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men.” All those that seek the Truth of Christ Jesus are His epistles, and all are ministering the fabulous teachings of His resurrected Life. To some we are pastors, to some we are teachers, to some prophets etc.; and all for the equipping of His saints, which is all of us. To make a full “ministry” out of one of these functions is to stifle the effectiveness and the fullness of the forwarding of God’s Kingdom. For none is called into one without the others attached, for a person needing to be taught, is not necessarily ready to be healed, nor is one that needs an explanation of scripture, necessarily needing a pastor; but we are to be ready to give account to whosoever needs us from wherever they are.
To build a structure just because God has given one a revelation, will choke the fullness of His Body, the true Church. God speaks to all, therefore all are needed. The Body of Christ, His true Church, is living stones, fitly joined together, with Christ as the Chief corner Stone; a body of believers, not necessarily meeting in the same group, or even the same country for that matter, equipping His saints with Truth. We may till, we may sow, we may water and fertilize, but only God can give the increase, and many times this takes years or decades, for only the Spirit knows the heart. So why do so many make a brick shrine, or a corner market, an immovable building, call it ‘church’, and try to sell their wares to whosoever will enter their doors and empty their pockets? This is not what was intended when Jesus was teaching, for we too, as did He, are to celebrate with Christ to whoever the Spirit leads us to as we walk this Life from village to village.
Folks in ‘the ministry’ seem to want to collect around them people that have abilities to articulate fluently and can capture an audience, or can sing very well, maybe some that can come up with ideas and promotions, such as stage plays or committees to expand their horizons, so that the success of their ‘ministry’ can be flaunted, thus proving their worthiness as a minister thru a phony mask of godliness. People in ‘the ministry’ appear to be more honorable than those that they teach, and hold a higher piety with higher standards than those of their underlings. Many in ‘the ministry’ have chosen this as their profession of business, therefore making it a career, and hold themselves to a higher standard of righteousness with their false sense of honor. I could go on-and-on about the gimmicks and toys that many use to show off talents, and disguise their inabilities of spirituality, and hide behind, what is called a facade of tricks and promotions to bluff their way thru this un- Christ-like act on the stage.
All of us are the sheep of His pasture, for there is but one Shepherd, and we all are His flock, and whosoever lays down his life and follows Jesus, and for that matter, even those that don’t, will be watched over as the Good Shepherd knows what to do with His own. For if we lead others by our skills and talents, is it not therefore the blind leading the blind? Maybe that’s why both have fallen into a ditch. God is not looking for men and women with such skills and abilities, or their pious way of life, but wanting those that have a heart that is seeking Him. Remember, God and His Christ both, which are one in union, seemed to have chosen the outcast, the poor, the maimed, the prostitutes, the underlings of this world to raise up their message to all; and today, He’s doing the same. Can God use a rich person, or one in authority? Of course he can, and does, but it seems that the lowly of heart, and those that want no attention is who He’s using to change the world.
We are all ministers of the forwarding of Gods’ Kingdom, but seems only a few will not turn away from the Holy Spirit that moves within. “You are His chosen generation, His royal Priesthood, a Holy nation, and a peculiar people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” We don’t need more earthly examples of how we are to live, nor do we need to seek greater morals, Christ that lives within, is the only standard of which man shall live by, and while following Him, how could better morals improve us? When the Spirit of God is moving within each individual, our efforts at this point are not needed, for God, who is able, can make those necessary changes within each without our approval; therefore our own ‘good morals’ are no longer needed, for it is God, and not man, that is doing the work.
For the last so many centuries, we’ve been fed a bill-of-goods, the Church is not a thing, it’s a people; ministers are not some high position, but a lowly servant to feed God’s people; ministry is not a show or act, it’s a servitude to the Father for His people. Is it hard to see how man got so mixed up and turned around, knowing that our hand was not supposed to be attached to the true Church of our living God? Yes, God uses us where we are, and at what level we seem to travel at, and those that seek Him will find that simple, submissive, and not complicated Life that He has stored for each. This world is offering a life that it says will bring you great opportunities, wealth, notoriety, and great knowledge with its high- tech advances, but none of that can change a single life; but one man hung on the cross two thousand years ago can, when He lives within.
Once a person begins to receive a salary, or wants to build a name for himself, or goes out and get some education at a seminary school, he has then crossed the line from one that ministers for Christ, to a person in self-indulgence. One that is in ‘the ministry’, develops programs, and committees, and keeps a record of the doings of those that he supposedly leads, and will address himself with the higher-case M, as in ‘Minister’. Usually they give ‘it’ a name, maybe even charter ‘it’, and will, somehow, bring attention to ‘it’. Like I said before, the ministers of the forwarding of Gods’ Kingdom will direct all the attention to our Christ, as he that ministers will fade into the background. Therefore, these that lift up self, are trying to create nothing more than idols, an extension of self, they’re just another whore looking for more ‘Johns’.
To some that may sound like strong language, but it’s the exact words use in the book of Revelations; maybe I could have used the word harlot, either way these ‘ministers’ of notoriety of a ‘thing’ or ‘self’ are those that have helped perpetuate this non-sense of the ‘worlds’ organized ‘church’. Remember; the Church of our God is a person, one that has been called out from among her, separated, Spirit led, and probably hides in the background but is willing to be used, for to do less, takes from the Christ that put one there.
Those that minister the Spirit led Word of God are placed there to feed His sheep; those that are in ‘the Ministry’ are usually feeding off them. Have you ever noticed the high-back fancy chairs that most preacher/pastors sit in, with their elevated platform that’s far above the level of their parishioners, while those that sit below them sit in pews that are far inferior to the high office of ‘Ministry’ that they think themselves to be in? And to most of these ‘things’, the deacons also have some-what smaller, but still a superior chair than their subjects. Why has this method escaped us and our attention, and why is this allowed to carry on? A true minister of the Gospel, allows the attention, and places the praise, on the Master that they serve, and wants no consideration or responsiveness towards themselves, for they are there in servitude, not notoriety, nor power.
The true ministry is to reveal Christ and that’s done by the Spirit of God, we are just earthen vessels, a tool that He sometimes uses to waken His people; it certainly is not an occupation to make money from.
“If my people that are called by my name shall humble themselves, and seek my face, and pray, and turn from their wickedness, then I shall hear from Heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.” God didn’t speak to us in second Chronicles in this fashion because we are doing it right, but just the opposite. This wasn’t spoken for the men and women of old only, because if that were so, it wouldn’t be the eternal living Word of God; it was given to us today that are called by His name. It’s time to take heed.