When a young mother comes home from her fulltime job after working hard all day and facing all the challenges that come with a career, she is confronted head on with the decision to minister. She is exhausted, but has little children with open arms, dirty hands, and hungry mouths needing attention. All the mother wants to do is sit down and not move, but she knows that they are depending on her. When a child falls outside and comes in crying with the smallest of scrapes and hardly any blood, but a broken heart or ego, the mother may feel that this is ridiculous, but in that moment, she must decide to push them back out the door or take a moment to love on them. That is ministry. If she makes the wrong decision, though the scratch will not be visible in the morning, the broken heart that is rejected can remain for years to come. We must choose wisely, and often, that choice must be made at a moment’s notice. This is a notable example of how the church mothers the young ones, aka new saints.
Ministry is a decision we make, whether we are called of God to a pulpit ministry or lay ministry in the church or life itself. It is not a wise decision to reject the call of God. Living outside of His will for you is a lonely and miserable place to be. Romans 11:29 states, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Meaning, He is not going to change His mind. You may think you have a better idea and decide to follow a different path that will lead you to riches or fame, but you will not feel fulfilled until you make that decision to follow the call of God on your life. Everything we do in life for someone else, in love, is in essence, ministry.
Everyone needs to be ministered to at some stage in their lives. When you minister to someone, you are writing history and shaping futures. That child you show love to will become an adult someday with responsibilities of their own. Citizens of a country, employees on a job, community leaders, politicians, doctors, lawyers, bakers, or candlestick makers, but more importantly, husbands, wives, parents, saints, and ministers. We must teach them how to bring God, who is love, into their world, by filling our lives with Him now. All too often we use the word ministry for someone who stands behind a pulpit or someone who is teaching a Bible study and though those are necessary, the day to day of life, is ministry. Putting a smile on someone’s face and offering hope is ministry. We can all make the decision to be a minister, it is up to us.
Well, if it is this simple you may ask, why are more people not doing it? Where is the kindness? Where is the love of 1 Corinthians 13 in our world today? The opposite of love and ministry can be summed up in one word, selfishness. If we are honest, we would admit that we all struggle with this from time to time. The real reason is that ministry is not always convenient. We know as a parent the baby does not only cry when we want it to, or we are ready to feed it. Needs become manifested in the timeframe of the one needing assistance, not in the schedule of the one who will be administering the help. Ministry is not a nine to five and then go home type of job. Pastors and their wives can attest to this, that they are on call 24/7 just as parents to natural children are. Jesus told the disciples in Luke 11:5-8, “Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” He went on to say, that God will do the same for us. Though the friend was a little irritated, and inconvenienced, he did get up and ministered to him, which by extension allowed his friend to minister to the traveler also. We know the story of Jesus calming the storm at sea. Was he beckoned to help at a convenient time? I would think not, he was exhausted from walking, and teaching all day, and was trying to take a nap, but he got up and ministered to their need anyway.
As all teachers know, there is a lot of repeating going on in the classroom. It is the same in the home, in life, and in the church. Not everyone learns at the same pace, or in the same way. If it were not so, there would be schools, universities, learning institutions of all sorts including churches, out of business. We know when we do go to college, we do not just take one course, though we are studying to receive one degree with one specific career in mind. There are many nuances to getting all the pieces of the puzzle together. Babies do not learn how to use a spoon the first time they pick it up or walk the first time they stand. All of life is a process and ministering to others can often feel like a glorified babysitting job at times. We see in Paul’s letters to the churches that he often was a little annoyed at them because he had to repeat himself. However, it is human nature which has not changed. We see in 2 Corinthians that Paul himself did not receive his healing due to personal lessons of humility that he had a tough time learning. In current ministry moments, we must rely on the fruit of the Spirit, and we know of all of them, patience often gets overworked and underappreciated.
The gifts of the Spirit will also need to utilized in our walk of ministry. Allow me to share a personal testimony. My husband pastored a church in a small town in Indiana years ago. We lived right next door to the church in the parsonage. We have wonderful memories that we carry with us, of the saints and of raising our four daughters there. We would often have people who would come to our door from time to time, inquiring about the church, or unbelievably even Jehovah’s Witnesses trying to convert us to their persuasion. One day a lady knocked at the door, and right as I opened it, without introduction, she asked, “What is truth?” What do you say to that simple, but direct question, to a stranger at your door? Thank the Lord for the inspiration of the Holy Ghost because my response set the tone and foundation for what was to come. I asked her to wait just a moment, went into the house, retrieved my bible, and went back and handed it to her and said, “This is truth.” Wow, I sure am glad I listened to the Lord, because I could have never in a million years guessed what the conversation that ensued would have been. The very next thing out of her mouth was, “My grandmother tells me I am going straight to hell because I am a lesbian.” I feel like the first part of that statement would have been challenging enough for anyone, much less the second part. No amount of preparation could have gotten me ready for that day, however, the Spirit of God within us, is never blindsided, if we will obey the voice of the Lord. My response to her was, “If the bible in your hand says it is sin, then it is sin, but if it does not, then it is not.” I invited her in, and I proceeded to explain to her, that the Word of God is the ultimate authority, and that it is what will judge us in the end, not others.
Jesus said in John 12:48, “He that rejects me, and receives not my words, hath one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” Her complete journey is too long to tell in this article, but we were able to teach her a complete bible study, she was baptized in Jesus’ name, and received the Holy Ghost and washed clean of all her sin, as we all are at baptism. There is no hierarchy of sin, Jesus paid the price for us all. I am certain that her grandmother was well meaning but did not use wisdom and love to convey her point. I am glad I listened to the Lord on that day, or her story could have turned out much differently.
We cannot write every statement we will ever say to others in every scenario, because there is no way to know what will come our way. Mark 6:7-8 says, “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse.” We must rely on the gifts as seen in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” Incidentally, the very next chapter is the ‘love chapter.’ If you are ministering without love, it is not ministry at all.
If you are looking for fortune, fame, limelight, or glamor, ministry is not for you. Mopping the floor, serving the homeless a soup lunch, cleaning a toilet, wiping the brow of the sick, are part of your future, if you choose ministry. I have a t-shirt that has colorful fish on it, all swimming in the same direction, except for one, which is the plain, black outline of the ‘Christian’ fish. The caption says, “Going against the flow.” When we take time out of our day to stop and minister to someone, if only for a moment, we are going against the norm of society. Yes, ministry is just pure, unadulterated, no flair, work. But not as the world sees it. The world is full of narcissistic people just trying to get ahead and make it to the next level in a career that they think is illustrious, no matter who they must step on to get there. A ‘dog eat dog’ world, but this is not God’s way. In ministry, there will be no accolades, no fan fair, no red carpet, but for those who choose this path daily, they will be storing up their rewards in heaven.
Do not underestimate the amount of work that ministers must put into their ‘work’ aka ‘ministry,’ which often people do not consider to be a ‘real job.’ My husband and I recently launched an online ministry to bring inspiration to people in their Christian walk with the Lord, through bible studies, a blog, a podcast, all presented in a website, a you tube channel and a Facebook page. This sounded so easy and fun when we were spit balling and planning the ideas, and as you see, I mentioned all we do in one sentence, however, the execution of these various aspects of ministry are a completely different story. What a shock and rude awakening it has been. It all takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to put together to get from point A to Z and present a finished product. What a humbling experience to find out how wrong we were, thinking it would be a ‘walk in the park,’ and not a ‘real job.’ And just to throw another monkey into the wrench, ministry will come with a price tag.
To launch this ministry has cost us not only time but money as well. This will be the case with any ministry. It could come with an emotional, physical, spiritual, social, or monetary taxation on your life, but the rewards are great. Citizens of the United States who complain about paying taxes to the IRS should stop and think about what they are really getting for their money. This is the land of the free and the brave, but freedom is not free. Ministry brings freedom from bondage and sin and help and love to those we are ministering to, and a peace that passes understanding to those who are following the will of God for their lives no matter what facet of ministry in which they are involved.
In wrapping this all up, let me share a benefit of ministry that the Lord allowed me to see and enjoy recently. One of my daughters had to draft an essay for an initial request proposal as to why they should choose her for the PA accelerated program. Before submitting the paper, she sent it to me to edit, which is not abnormal. But it made my heart feel proud when I saw what she had written. She said, “Growing up, everything we did was ministry. We as kids were always involved, whether we wanted to be or not, because it was our life. I feel furthering my education and being involved in the medical field will incorporate those values and be an extension of my ministry.” I was taught this concept as a child by my wonderful parents who were in the ministry for over 60 years of their lives and tried to pass this along to our daughters. It was wonderful to see that they got the message. Just a small perk.
My dad, Mack Carpenter, wrote a book, which he named, “Worth it all!” What else would he name it? That was his attitude concisely, and the bottom line of ministry. Matthew 25:34-40 says, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” To sum it up, you spent your life ministering to others.
There is a multiplicity of commercials which use the slogan, “the gift that keeps on giving,’ tracing back to the 1920’s, however, ministry is the real gift that keeps on giving. Luke 6:38 tells us, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” In Isaiah 55:11 God said, “So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Ecclesiastes 11:1 says, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
Everything we do in ministry has endless rewards and will pay dividends for years to come. In keeping with our example at the beginning of this article, when a father comes home from a long day of work and the house is a mess, though you have been picking up the same things all day long, ministering, by staying home and raising your children, it is worth it and is not time wasted. Though time-consuming, repetitive, and arduous now, we will look back on what we have achieved with fondness, as physical and spiritual parents, reliving the memories in their photo albums or on a Facebook page these days, from events and milestones in their lives. All the scrapes, mishaps and failed moments fade away. What a delight when you realize they have grown up and become ministers too! You have conquered, and survived the endless days and nights of heartaches, and sleeplessness, and have lived to tell the story! Ministry is indeed, ‘Worth it all!’