Gifting
2 Timothy 4:5(NLT) “…Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.”
God has graciously given us all supernatural and natural gifts that make us who we are. Like it says in Romans 12:6 and in 1 Cor. 12 God gives us these gifts for the common good, to help those around us. To some he has given the doma giftings(Eph 4): apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. I would say this is what people may feel a “calling” towards. Yet, I would say that there really is not such a thing as a “calling”. I believe whether doma (Eph 4) or charisma (1 Cor 12) gifts, that they are gifts. It isn’t something that God is “wanting us” or “calling us” or to do. He has blessed us so that we may be a blessing. 1 Cor 1:17 “17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News” Paul was there to preach that is what God had gifted him in and lead him to this city to do in this passage. He realized why God had placed him in this town and carried out that task without being overwhelmed to meet every other need in that town. While Paul was not placed in that city to baptize, someone else would be. When we each operate in our own gifting’s, the unity through the body brings real ministry to real people. We have all been blessed with gifts to be a blessing to others. To some he has given the gift of doma ministry. These apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are the embodiment of the gift God has given them. Therefore it is crucial for us to see that we are all blessed to be a blessing…ministry… and some,(doma) have a supernatural way of living out that gift, all of the time in supernatural ways.
Kingdom of God
Why does Jesus talk about the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom all the time? 21/28 chapter in Matthew talk about the kingdom, 19/24 in Luke. Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God all the stinking time. What is the Kingdom of God? Good question! Everyone around him was confused too. He spends all of Matthew Ch 3 trying to describe it to them. We seem to have replaced Jesus’ kingdom talks with our own “ministry” talks. This kingdom represents some type of Lordship. A creator, an owner, a king, A Lord. What did Jesus’ ministry look like? Jesus talks/teaches, heals the sick, performs miracles, loves those around him, and shepherds and invests in his disciples. When he talked or preached, it usually had something to do with the Kingdom of God. When the spirit moved in him to heal or perform miracles he obeyed. Jesus never asked us to minister to one another. He commanded that we go make disciples of all nations. How do we do that? How did he do that? He did nothing apart from the father. How do we do it…We try to manufacture fruit and disciples out of our own power.
Paul’s version
Paul, how did Paul do ministry? In Jesus’ final commands we get these simple reoccurring themes. Go, preach, teach, sheppard, authority, and miracles. In Acts, the Holy Spirit comes and we receive power. This relationship with God becomes even more personal. Paul practically did the same simple things that Jesus did teach, heal, miracles, love, and disciple. So ministry is it really just teaching, healing, miracles, love, and discipling people? I don’t really think so. I think it has a lot to do with the outflow of power….
The Broken Swing Set
As I was processing this idea of ministry it all came together with a simple vision of a broken swing set. It’s all about redemption. From the beginning we have set things of kilter. Things got all screwed up in the beginning and God has been actively redeeming us from that point on. I see a broken wooden swing set. I see a father caring for his creation, son, and his masterpiece his swing set he built many years ago. Things are broken. And the father wants to rebuild that swing set. He wants to make things work the way they are supposed to. He wants to redeem the swing set. How does he do that? He does that through using a variety of tools. A hammer, a screwdriver, a wrench, nails, bolts….. We are those tools we are the tools God is using to redeem his creation, his masterpiece. Yet, we cannot fix the swing set ourselves. We need power behind the swinging arm, power behind the electric screw gun. The outflow of power brings redemption. This relationship between the power source and the means of transformation. This is really where I am landing on the purest definition of ministry I can come up with. Ministry is a result of a relationship that brings the Lord’s redemption to all things.
