Ministry is a calling from God. If someone does not experience that summons on his life he should not enter the ministry profession. In my service to the Lord it has always been an essential support knowing I am doing God’s will, especially when times get rough. When there is gossip in the pew, lack of money, feelings of being slighted by the world because I believe in Jesus Christ, or persecution, then the awareness that I represent God and Jesus to church and world sustains my faith. The apostle Paul best demonstrates for us perseverance in ministry through suffering. The former persecutor of the church was blinded on the road to Damascus and called by God into his service. Jesus told Ananias that he must pray for Saul to regain his sight. When he protested because he knew Saul persecuted Christians Jesus told him that Saul was a chosen vessel who must carry the gospel to the Gentiles, kings and Israelites. The glorified Christ said about this great enemy of the faith that, “I will show him what things he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16). So Saul was baptized and renamed himself Paul the Latin version of Saul to identify more closely with the Gentiles. Paul immediately set about the task of preaching to both Jew and Gentile, first the Jews then the Gentiles. He encountered strong resistance to his ministry, especially from the Jews who wanted to kill him for preaching about Jesus. He testified to them from scripture that Jesus was the long hoped for Messiah. He often found protection from Jewish persecution in the Roman courts. He experienced his greatest success in converting the Gentiles, but even with them there were those who wanted to kill him because he was interfering with the sale of statutes of Artimas the Greek fertility goddess in Ephesus. A riot broke out as the people demanded an end to Paul’s preaching. Once again Paul sought protection in the Roman courts. This serves as a good example of the church’s approach to the world system. God can use it for his purposes. Paul went on to establish churches throughout Asia (Asia Minor today) and Europe where he encountered resistance to the gospel of grace from Judaizers, Jews who followed Paul around trying to impose circumcision and the Mosaic Law on new believers to ensure their salvation. Paul confronted this gospel of works with his letters explaining that these were false teachers who preach a corrupt gospel. He experienced opposition from those inside the church as well who questioned his authority as an apostle. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul lists all the things he suffered as a minister of Christ including flogging by the Jews, imprisonment, deprivation, hunger, hardship, shipwrecks, brushes with death, beatings, stoning, hostility from false brethren, dangers in the wilderness, in the city and on the sea. He never charged for preaching the gospel, even though he had the right to, but worked as a tent maker to support himself. Yet through all this he never gave up his belief that God had given him a special revelation of Jesus Christ that he was to take to the world. He never flinched from his call and said that despite his weaknesses, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Regardless of how hard it gets in ministry we have the assurance that in our fragility Christ shows his power to sustain us.
Like Paul I believe that the bible must be central to our preaching and teaching. We are here to expound the word and in that spirit we reach people with its message of God’s love for sinners. We should address our preaching to concerns in the church and the world, since we must live in both. For the church we stress fellowship and bible study as a means of growth, all study and no fellowship makes us heady and all fellowship without foundation in scripture makes us shallow. God has given marriage and family to serve as the basis of the Christian life. The family is God’s means of evangelizing young people and making disciples for the next generation. However, we should not forget about single people of which there are more now than ever before. Christian faith stresses marital fidelity and sexual abstinence for young people and singles. I believe sexual sin to be one of the greatest threats to the Christian life young people and married couples can face today. We need to find a way to communicate God’s holiness without being judgmental by creating an atmosphere of love and forgiveness, a place where people can be honest about their faults and short comings and still feel accepted for who they are.
For the world we preach the same message of hope by making the gospel relevant to their needs. The biggest concern people have today is how to find meaning in a materialistic society that tells them that they should pursue excess, pleasure, money and power. People are usually alienated from family and their jobs. This creates a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness which the church should address with the gospel of Christ. I believe in an apologetic approach to evangelism by allowing the bible to meet the needs and questions of seekers. For example, if the question is what is the meaning of life? What is the point of it all? What gets me out of bed in the morning? The answer from scripture is that we do all things for the glory of God. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the answer to our questions. Making the bible relevant to society also includes speaking their language. This means using media and culture as a form of evangelism and teaching. The preacher should be familiar with books, music and movies people watch and consume and use them as illustrations. He should have familiarity with the social media websites young people congregate around.
We demonstrate who Jesus is not just by preaching with words but by the life we chose to lead in private and before the public. Minsters are examples of Christ. They need to show who God is by a life marked with purity and steadfastness in the Lord. We show God’s character through being patient and kind with people. People are fragile and bruise easily. We must be gentle and gracious even to those who don’t deserve it and who return love with hate. We must forgive our enemies just as Christ forgave his opponents from the cross. We create an air of expectancy with our belief in the imminent return of Christ, which operates as a motivation for serving the Lord. The genius of Christianity is that despite two millennia since Christ’s first coming we remain awake and ready to live righteous lives in his name.