Have you ever noticed how we as Christians seem to suffice every thing that is done by a church with the word ministry? People say this is my ministry; that is my ministry. There are certain parts of our lives that we consider ministry. When asked what I want to do when I grow up, the correct thing to say would be to go into the ministry. If you want to be a pastor or get paid by the church, then you would call it going into the ministry. Some of us are involved in the music ministry, the hospitality ministry, the leadership ministry or the preaching ministry. At first this term being used so much bothered me because it made everything sound so cheesy. It gets to the point sometimes that every conversation can be labeled a ministry conversation or not. Now there is another reason why I don’t like this term.
It’s not that I’m against ‘ministry’ at all in any kind of way. I’m not. I am against though what it seems to be a separation from our every day lives to what ministry should be. Ministry is basic. It is anything and everything we do out of love for God or love for people. It seems though that by the way we talk about it that we only are only doing ministry if we are doing something specifically at a church and that it’s only reserved for those people. That is not true at all. Ministry should not be any different from our lives. Our lives should be a living ministry. If that was true we could stop labeling individual acts ministry and start labeling our lives a working ministry for Christ.
Everyone does ministry. Not just us Christians University folk. I HATE when people have almost a condescending look on those that aren’t going into ‘ministry.’ As if working in the plants or as a graphic designer can’t bring as much if not more glory to God through their work and relationships than a pastor could from the pulpit. Ministry should be our lives, not our two our feel good moments at the soup kitchen. Ministry is for everyone all the time, not just when its organized ahead of time for you to do. Look for ways to be constantly ministering to those in need and everyone around you all the time. Then, revel in the freedom that you experience through serving everyone around you.
What exactly is ministry then?
Ministry would be anything and everything that is done out of love for God and love for people.
Amen.
It’s odd though, whenever i hear the word protest i cringe a bit, maybe its just because i used to be convinced when i was younger to be along the side of the roads holding up signs saying abortion is murder, that was a protest. It’s a tough balance to try and balance between protest and love, but it think it can be done. Balance, there is that word yet one more time. But Tom, i love how you put it in your last sentance. amen and amen.
Nathan,
I hope your summer is great as well.
Even a year ago I would have disagreed with your premice entirely. However I’m currently involved in ministry that affects people’s live and know how broken people are…for the first time. So if people are protesting equal marriage merely to cling to the vestiges of “christendom” than I agree with you totally.
However I don’t agree entirely. If people are involved with protesting it because they understand it to bring individuals into bondage and because to allow it would be anti-thetical to the Great Commision to teach them to obey all that Jesus has commanded then that’s ministry in my view.
Nope. I don’t think so.
But trying to tell homosexuals that they can’t get married because they aren’t in line with what we feel comfortable with (or what we think is right) i think is almost anti-ministry if anything. You can defend a term, but i can’t see that being ministry. So if i think that loving God and loving people is ministry, i don’t see any point or love in defending marriage definitions so i would say no.
Are you sure you’re not Christian Reformed Nathan?
Is defending the traditional definition of marriage ministry by your definition?