The Body of Christ
It’s an old idea that unfortunately the church has embraced for far too long. The pastor’s are the ones who do the work of the ministry. It started out innocently enough. One hundred years ago, the pastors and priests went to school and learned all about the Bible. They taught the word as opposed to doing regular work such as farming, banking, and other businesses. One pastor served the whole town and many believed in God as a matter of culture and tradition. Over time, more and more congregation members began to look to the pastors to do all the ministry. They have to do all the visitation, all the outreaches, all the teaching, all the evangelizing. After all, they’re trained and called to do it.
However if we look to the Scriptures, we find the writers of the New Testament giving us a completely different narrative.
1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
Peter is not talking to only the leaders of the first century church. He is talking to all believers. This means that we are all a royal priesthood and a chosen people. You could even say that we are all called to ministry. But what does this work look like? Paul told the Ephesians in chapter 4 verses 11 and 12
“It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
We can conclude then that some of us are to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and others to be pastors and teachers. Does this mean that we should all quit our jobs and go work for Evangel full time? Of course not. While for the longest time going into the ministry or being called to be a missionary to Africa was perceived to be the best thing to do with your life, God has placed you exactly where he wants you. Being in full time ministry or a missionary to Africa are good and noble professions, but so is being a microbiologist, a lawyer, a teacher, a homemaker, and many more.
We each have a part to play in the Body of Christ. We discover that God has given us personality traits, spiritual gifts, and passions to reach the lost and serve the community in a way that no one else can.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:14-20:
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
Therefore not only can we all do the work of the ministry, we must! If we don’t then our part is missed in the body of Christ. Just as a missing appendage or organ is disabling, your contribution to the Church is missed.
Do you remember your spiritual gifts? Have you found your passion? How does your personality fit into the larger picture? If you can’t remember or just want to rediscover what you may have lost, take this test. It may be the best thing you can do in your Christian walk.
