The Demand and Intention of Ministry

Jesus said in Matthew 9:37& 38

“He said to his disciples, “The Harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, ask him to send out more workers for his fields.” (NLT)

Yet the words that precede this passage of scripture in the pericope Matthew 9:35-38 tell the true challenge of people in need of ministry. Verse 36 tells us, “He (Jesus) felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd.

The Demand of Ministry has both an intention and an expected outcome. What does God intend to communicate and accomplish with ministry.

The intention of God’s ministry is simply:

To communicate the Love and Grace of God as offered to sin burdened people through faith in Jesus Christ.

Ministry tells the story of Jesus through the lives of the believers in their acts of service. In a very real way disciples are offering themselves as a sacrifice through ministry to God as Jesus Christ offered himself as a ransom for us.

Romans 12: reminds us of this as it tells us:

“I Beseech you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.” (KJV)

God makes plain to us the outcome of ministry in this passage. It is here that we find the power in ministry. Ministry at its best is an act of sacrifice and is therefore an act of worship.

All of this is designed to help us understand the value of and the power of serving in ministry. We must not fail to remember that each of us is called to ministry and that it is part and parcel of what we do and who we are as disciples.

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us this word of reconciliation. Now we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (KJV).

There is much confusion about the work of ministry in the church and therefore, there is little real effective ministry being done in most churches. Remember that confusion creates paralysis or impetus activity. James 3:16 tells us that where we find confusion we also find its parents, Jealousy/Envying and Selfish Ambition/Strife.

The confusion is caused by an incomplete understanding of Biblical ministry. I am convinced that this grievous condition has been caused by the father of lies himself. We have believed that ministry is only one thing, preaching/pastoring. The Word tells us that ministry extends beyond those two and reaches into areas that we have for years neglected to our detriment.

The goal and purpose of this study is to open the Bible and to rediscover the God’s models of ministry. We want to identify the ministries that God in Christ has placed in the church and seek the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit as we fully implement the full spectrum of ministry that God intended.

Paul provides a list of the members that God has placed in the body of Christ: He says,
“First are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers
then those who do miracles
those who have the gift of healing
those who can help others
those who can get others to work together
those who speak in unknown languages.”

Found in 1 Corinthians 12:28 this list should be the foundation of all church related ministry development. God provides models of ministry throughout His Word and by His Grace we will discover and understand them as we study God’s Word and experience His will in it.

Next: The Roots of Ministry In Scripture