Everyday Missionaries – Part 1/4
This is the first of a 4-part series. Check back soon for part 2!
Why do we call positions for people who work in the church “full-time ministry”? As Christians, aren’t we all called to full-time ministry? There are no “part-time Christians”. In Matthew there is a passage of scripture referred to as the Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) It was an instruction given to all of the followers of Jesus after his resurrection, but many people feel like it’s best to leave that to the “professionals”. We aren’t only Christians on Sundays when we come to church, and we all have a specific calling on our lives.
Maybe it’s a good idea to define some terms. The word “ministry” in the Bible comes from a Greek word that means “to serve”. We see this word translated in the ESV to mean ministry like when the angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness (Matt 4:11) or at the crucifixion where it says the women had ministered to Jesus throughout his ministry (Mark 15:41). We also see it used in the story of Mary and Martha when Martha was asking why Mary wasn’t helping serve their guests (Luke 10:40). We often use this term now strictly in a vocational sense, like for people who work for the church or serve as missionaries, but that is only one part of its full meaning. We are all called to serve one another in a variety of ways.
That brings us to the word “called”, which comes from a word that means “the divine invitation to embrace salvation in the kingdom of God”. This means that our primary calling is to be in right relationship with God. It’s also used throughout the Bible to say that someone was “set apart” for a certain purpose or task. For example, Paul was “called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1). So first and foremost, we are called to be in relationship with God. When we become a follower of Christ, we are all given spiritual gifts and are called to use them to serve others (1 Cor 12:11-12). This calling is secondary to the calling to God.
So our primary calling is to someone: God, and our secondary calling is to something: a specific vocation, location, etc. We use whatever vehicles or opportunities we have to do the work of Christ, but it’s important to remember the reason we do what we do and to keep our priorities straight.
Application: Don’t strive for success, focus on impact and significance. What will outlive me? Our goal should not be for our name to be remembered, but for the Lord to be glorified. Success is often focused on ourselves, impact and significance is focused on others coming to know the Lord.