Purpose of God's Ministry
When people hear the word ministry, it can bring many different images to mind. Titles, pulpits, church leadership or public recognition may be some of the first things people think about. But throughout Scripture, ministry is presented much more simply.
A minister is a servant.
The purpose of ministry is not to elevate an individual. It is not to create status, recognition or authority for its own sake. God establishes leadership for the benefit of His people and for the accomplishment of His will.
A true minister carries a responsibility to help God’s people continue their walk with Him in a way that is pleasing to Him.
That pattern can be seen throughout the Bible.
Noah was called “a preacher of righteousness.” His message was specific to the time in which he lived. Destruction was coming, and God gave him a warning to deliver. Noah did not create the message himself. He carried what God had given him.
That is an important distinction.
A minister is not simply someone who has something interesting to say. The responsibility is to faithfully deliver what God has placed upon that person to give His people.
Ezekiel gives one of the clearest pictures of how serious that responsibility can be.
God told him:
“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.”
A watchman had a particular purpose. He stood in a place where he could see danger approaching before others could. If he saw the danger and sounded the alarm, the people had an opportunity to respond. If they ignored the warning, the responsibility for that decision rested with them.
But if the watchman saw danger and refused to warn them, God told Ezekiel that He would require their blood at the watchman’s hand.
That is the weight of ministry.
The minister is responsible for faithfully giving the message. What the hearer chooses to do with it remains his or her decision.
Sometimes that message brings correction. A person may hear the Word preached and suddenly recognize something in his own life that needs to change. The minister may know nothing about that individual situation, yet the Word reaches exactly where it needs to.
At other times, the message may simply bring encouragement.
Someone can be doing everything he knows to do, faithfully walking with God and still become tired. In those moments, the Lord may use a message to say, in effect, keep going. Stay on the path. Keep your eyes on Christ.
Ministry is not only correction.
Sometimes it is the encouragement someone needs to take another step.
Jeremiah gives another picture of God’s heart toward His people. God told Israel:
“I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
The image is one of feeding.
Just as people are careful about what they put into their natural bodies, believers should care about what is feeding their spiritual lives. Everything offered in the name of God is not necessarily beneficial. God’s desire is that His people receive knowledge and understanding that will draw them closer to Him.
That is why the heart of the minister matters.
The person serving God’s people should share something of God’s concern for them.
Jesus demonstrated this when He looked at the multitudes and was “moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
Then He told His disciples:
“The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.”
Jesus saw people who needed care, guidance and direction.
That is the heart behind true ministry.
It is not, “How can these people serve me?”
It is, “How can I serve the people God has entrusted to me?”
Scripture repeatedly shows that those called to leadership often carried the needs of the people as a burden. Moses was not called because God wanted to make Moses important. God told him that He had heard the cries of Israel and was sending him to help deliver them.
Jonah did not choose Nineveh. In fact, he tried to run from the assignment. But God cared about the people of Nineveh enough to send the message again.
“Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”
Not whatever Jonah wanted to preach.
Not what was easiest to say.
“The preaching that I bid thee.”
That same principle remains important.
Ministry is not an opportunity to use God’s people for personal gain. The people do not exist to build the minister.
The minister exists to serve the people.
One of the ways that can be evaluated is by looking at what a leader consistently demonstrates.
Is there genuine concern for the people?
Does the person care whether they understand the Word?
Does their spiritual well-being matter?
Is there a willingness to sacrifice time, comfort and personal preference for their benefit?
Or is the relationship constantly flowing in the opposite direction, with the people being expected to serve, elevate and enrich the leader?
Jesus described Himself as the Chief Shepherd, and those who serve under Him should reflect the heart of a shepherd.
That does not mean there is no honor associated with spiritual leadership. Scripture does speak about honor. But honor is different from worship, and no minister should ever be elevated above Christ.
The calling is also not something a person simply takes upon himself.
Scripture repeatedly shows God choosing and dealing with individuals for particular work.
Jeremiah said:
“Then the word of the LORD came unto me.”
God told him:
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee... and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Jeremiah initially responded that he did not know how to speak, but God answered:
“Whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.”
The calling came from God.
The words came from God.
The responsibility came from God.
Hebrews makes the same principle clear:
“And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.”
The desire to serve God can be honorable, but desire alone does not establish a calling. Scripture shows an order in which God chooses, equips and gives responsibility according to His will.
That is because ministry carries consequences beyond the individual minister.
When someone is dealing with another person’s soul, the responsibility cannot be approached casually.
Paul reminded the elders in Acts that “the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers” and instructed them to care for the flock.
It was not simply a position they decided to assume. God had placed them there to serve His people.
Ephesians 4 brings the purpose of it all together.
Christ “gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.”
Why?
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
That is the purpose.
The saints.
The body of Christ.
Helping believers grow until they are no longer “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,” but instead are able to grow up into Christ.
And how is that work supposed to be done?
By “speaking the truth in love.”
Truth without love can become harsh.
Love without truth can leave someone exactly where he is.
God’s ministry is called to hold both together.
The truth is given because God loves His people enough to correct what needs correcting, warn where there is danger, encourage when someone is weary and provide the understanding necessary to continue toward Him.
That is why true ministry is not ultimately about a title, a platform or a person standing before a congregation.
It is about souls.
A true minister does not look at God’s people and ask how they can increase his influence.
He looks at them and feels the weight of making sure they have what they need to continue toward Christ.
Because the measure of ministry is not how high the minister is elevated.
It is whether the people being served are growing closer to Jesus.
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