What does the Bible mean
when it talks about “ministry”; and the fact that Christians are to participate
in “ministry works”?
The word “Ministry" is from the Greek word diakoneo, meaning "to serve or to
assist" or douleuo, meaning
"to serve as a slave." Ministry is seen as service to God and to
other people in His Jesus’ name, according to the New Testament. Jesus provided
the pattern for Christian ministry - He came, not to receive service, but to
give it (Matthew
20:28; Mark
10:45; John
13:1-17).
Christians minister by
meeting people's needs with love and humility on Christ's behalf ( Matthew 20:26;
Mark
10:43; John
2:5,9; Acts
6:3; Romans
1:1; Galatians
1:10; Colossians
4:12). Their ministry to others are through their devotion to Christ and
their love for others, whether the other people are believers or unbelievers. The
ministry in our day has taken on more of a vocational meaning as we call
pastors "ministers" to full-time service. Pastors do spend their
lives in the ministry, they do minister to others, and they can rightly be
designated as ministers, but pastors are not the only ones who are to be
involved in ministry. From the early New Testament churches to the churches of
our day, each Christian should be in the ministry. ( Romans 12:3-8,
10-13;
2
Timothy 2:24-26)
Engaging in Christian
ministry can take on many forms. Ministry should certainly place emphasis on
sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others so they can come to know Him and
receive Him as personal Savior, go on to experience Him as Lord of their life, and
go even further to know Christ as the essence of their Life ( John
1:12; Colossians
2:6-7; Galatians
2:20; Philippians
3:8-10).
Many people still argue
whether the choir, and any other singing group in the church is a ministry or
not. Mays (1965) writes that “the choir is NEVER seen as part of the clergy”,
in the eyes of the Reformed faith. This cannot contrast Stan’s (2006) view that
chorister are ministers. Stan discusses that…,
Now,
we all have heard the term, “minister”, used as a noun. Unfortunately, in our
vernacular, we’ve lost the sense of the word. According to the dictionary, the
word now means “one who is authorized to perform religious functions in a
Christian church.” That’s what it has come to mean. But it’s original meaning –
and we still use it this way today – comes from its verb form. To “minister” is
more accurately “to attend to the wants and needs of others.” Thus, a
“minister” would be one who attends to the wants and needs of others. Or, in
terms of normal usage today, a “minister” would be “one who is authorized to
attend to the wants and needs of those in a Christian church.” According to 1
Chronicles 6, the role of these particular Levites was to minister with song.
They attended to the wants and needs of those who came to the Tabernacle to
worship by use of music.
By this, Stan proves that the church choir
is a ministry and its choristers are ministers. Today, there is no doubt the
clergy ministers, lay - preachers minister, as well as the church choir. And so, while the clergy and other lay - preachers ministers
by use of ‘word’, choristers minister by use of ‘music’.
The New
Testament says the same thing in many different ways: Christians are commanded
to serve one another. None of the words for service or ministry is restricted
to the ordained clergy. All members are to minister to one another; we all have
obligations to one another. Whether our service is in word or music or dance
As servants, we
minister to one another, to the church, to the gospel and to the Lord. God has
given each of us a ministry. We should minister to one another’s needs. God has
given us abilities so that we will use them to serve others. All Christians –
whether men, women, pastors, deacons, elders, musicians, etc. – are called to
be ministers.
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