I have often heard volunteers say, “I am not a minister.” And, for the most part, in the secular realm, that statement could be true. But as Christians, everything we do – whether it is getting paid big bucks and flying all over the globe, or copying pamphlets to be stuffed in give-a-way bags – it's all considered ministry.
A volunteer has an easier time of it. He or she comes in, does the duty, and leaves. Nothing more but a cog in the machine. But a minister is different. A minister has something on the inside going on. He or she is expressing a hint of passion in everything they do. And, she knows her actions represent the Lord. Thus, she is accountable to present her skills with deliberate passion and the fragrance of eternity bound therein.
If being a volunteer is a “duty;" being a minister is a life-style. If being a volunteer is a task; being a minister is a life-style. See the difference?
Most of us Christians err on two extremes: either our notions of “the ministry” are so highly defined (i.e it is a sacred activity reserved only for the oradained seminarian), or we think the word “ministry” is just the church's word for volunteer, and treat it as such. (To be fair, the church has always tended to "Christianize" common-place things - like the the word "narthex" for "foyer," for example). Both extremes are not only bad theology but taint the wonderful expressions of what God could be doing in you.
On the one hand, “ministry” is the outpouring of who you have been made to be. It is the releasing of your heart and energies into the community. When you dare to give away the stuff in your heart - the stuff God gave you in the first place - it’s like the pouring forth of water onto a dry and thirsty land which, in it's need to have something "living," laps it up. And somewhere in all that, Jesus - seeing the water you offer - does what he does best: he turns it into wine. Before you know it, “ministry” changes from something a seminarian gets paid to do to something you get to do.
On the other extreme, if ministry was just an excuse to volunteer for a task, where would the abundant life be? The world is dying. THe last think it needs is another purposeless volunteer who needs to fill a space? On the contrary, you have been wired with specific gifts, passions, and purpose. Simply volunteering for things is not only a waste of God’s good gift and talent invested in you, but it robs you of your full potential to grow and mature into a seasoned diciple of Christ. Anyone can volunteer, only you can minister.
The idea of ministry presupposes a higher call - that you are dong the thing that you do for, on behalf of – as a representative of – God. When your actions stem from that kind of a heart, everything changes. Your expectations are high. Your accountability is raised through the roof. You are careful to dot every “I,” and cross every “t,” You care for those you lead. For, at the end of the day, you know your activity reaches for greater than just a duty at some mundane hour in the afternoon. It is an action that has eternal repercussions. The very kingdom of God is influenced by the gifts you bring with a servants heart.
We have no volunteers at our Church. You – me – all of us – are ministers. We may not have much, but we lay it out before the Lord in humility and grace. We know that he will take our water and turn it into wine.
Go with that.
