Where You Are, What You Have & What You Can

I was talking to a friend this week and she told me something rather disturbing... She saw a flyer printed about some sort of kids camp or weekend at a church that said "Lead by non ministry [insert name here]."  Ummm... "NON MINISTRY!?" I'm not sure who had that flyer printed but it got me thinking and wanting to write a little something about the subject, so, here it is:  There are a few problems I see, not only with the "non ministry" discription in the flyer but with that thought coming out of the minds of people I care about... First, ministers should never feel, act or speak as if we are better, more righteous, preferred or higher than others and when/if we do feel, act or speak in those ways it is sin because we are taking self credit for God's work in making us qualified ministry.  "By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified. ⁶ He has also qualified us to be ministers of a new promise..." 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 (God's Word Translation.)

For my friends and those reading who don't consider yourself ministry... Or, for that matter if you consider yourself ministry but not others, please allow God's word to change your mind about that... Scripture is quite clear, we are all ministers the moment we've established our own relationship with Christ.  "Whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. ¹⁸ God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships... ²⁰ Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you." 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 & 20 (God's Word Translation) The first word spoken in this passage is "whoever" and that word implies no exclusions... Whoever has a relationship with Christ, this scripture applies to you! And if you want to argue with me, don't bother, "God has done all this" so if you don't like it so far, talk to Him :o) "What has God done?" He has given whoever has a relationship with Him the "this ministry of restoring relationships" He has made us "Christ's representatives" and He has "called you!" We all know restoring relationships takes A LOT of work! Can I get an amen? ha! There is enough work to go around and we all have that ministry description directly from God! No matter what part you're working on, you are ministering!

I know some of you, like me, probably have big dreams and prophecies of how God can/will use you... You may think, there is no room for me to minister in my church, the positions are filled, they would never think of me to be appointed to minister in that area... Whatever the though, stop worrying over it! There is a definite process and I can tell you what it is because the Bible explains clearly more than once, and it was one of the best lessons I've learned!  You could be right, you may not ever work in the church you are at with a title or position, maybe God will move you out and use you somewhere else... But you are a minister now, where you are at. I know you've heard "occupy til I come" and that's exactly what you do while waiting! Find something you can do now, where you are! Sometimes God is has us in a waiting pattern in order to see if we can and will occupy, be faithful when we have little and find ourselves some way to minister to others whether it's serving, speaking encouragement or anything else you can think of... Even what you speak is considered to be ministry "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Ephesians 4:29 (KJV.) If we prove faithful in little, even in our speach, He will give us more responsibility "...because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority..." Luke 19:17 (KJV.)

So that's it in a nut-shell, we are all ministers once we've entered into a relationship with God...  Find a small way to minister and start now, where you are with what you have! Lastly, another friend, Tonya, posted this picture: