Minstering Formation and Social Changes

What is ministry?

Ministry" is from the Greek word diakoneo, meaning “to serve” or douleuo, meaning “to serve as a slave.” In the New Testament, ministry is seen as service to God and to other people in His name. Jesus provided the pattern for Christian ministry—He came, not to receive service, but to give it (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17).

The Christian should minister by meeting people's needs with love and humility on Christ's behalf (see Matthew 20:26; Mark 10:43; John 2:5,9; Acts 6:3; Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:10; Colossians 4:12). Christians are to minister to others out of their devotion to Christ and their love for others, whether the other people are believers or unbelievers. Ministry to others should be impartial and unconditional, always seeking to help others as Jesus would.

The ministry in our day has taken on more of a vocational meaning as we call pastors "ministers" to full-time service. Pastors do spend their lives in the ministry, they do minister to others, and they can rightly be designated as ministers, but pastors are not the only ones who are to be involved in ministry. From the early New Testament churches to the churches of our day, each Christian should be in the ministry of helping others (see Romans 12:3-8, 10-13; 2 Timothy 2:24-26).

The content of ministry seems to prioritize the ministering in spiritual things, not just practical things. Ministry should certainly place emphasis on sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others so they can come to know Him and receive Him as personal Savior, go on to experience Him as Lord of their life, and go even further to know Christ as the essence of their Life (see John 1:12; Colossians 2:6-7; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:8-10). Ministry can, and should, include ministering to the physical, emotional, mental, vocational, and financial needs of others. Jesus did, and so should we!

SYLLABUS

I. Understanding the nature of Christian ministry

1. Christian ministry as participation in God’s ministry in Jesus
2. Christian ministry as the continuation of the ministries of the disciples and the early Church
3. Christian ministry as the diversified ministries of the people of God
4. Christian ministry in the context of the struggles of life
5. Christian ministry as manifestation and witness of the reign of God in the oikoumene

The ecumene (US) or oecumene (UK; Greek: οἰκουμένη, oikouménē, lit. “inhabited”) was an ancient Greek term for the known world, the inhabited world, or the habitable world. Under the Roman Empire, it came to describe the civilized world and the secular and religious imperial administration. In present usage, it is used as the noun form of “ecumenical” and describes the Christian Church as a unified whole or the unified modern world civilization. It is also used in cartography to describe a type of world map (mappa mundi) used in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

II. Understanding the vocation of Christian ministers

1. Call to ministry: Biblical perspectives

Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work” (Jn 9:4). Jesus gave all the believers in his church work to do. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 will be with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt 28:18-20). “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mk 16:15). “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Ac 1:8).

The Bible calls the work Jesus gave to his church ministry. Ministry means service. Jesus said, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves” (Lk 22 ::25,26; also Mt 20:26). When Jesus was on earth doing the work he commanded us, his work was called ministry (Lk 3:23). When believers carry on the work Jesus has given them, the Bible calls this work ministry. St. Paul writes, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18).

The ministry which Jesus has given his church involves the whole life of every believer, his every activity. St. Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—which is your spiritual worship” (Ro 12:1). “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:17).

The most natural part of the believer’s ministry is his desire to tell others what he believes. “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak” (2 Cor 4:13). The confession of a believer’s lips is a partner in ministry with the faith in his heart. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Ro 10:9,10). “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give and answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Pe 3:15).

The content of the message every believer brings to the world is the gospel, the good news of salvation in the name of Jesus. The gospel in one sense in the Bible can mean all of the message of the Bible, including the condemnation of the law (Ro 2:16). But almost always in the Bible gospel means specifically the good news of Jesus. The ministry of this gospel was also called the keys by Jesus. Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19; also J n 20:21-23; Re 3:7). The keys of the gospel include every believer’s work of baptizing (Mt 28:1820) and celebrating the Lord’s Supper (Lk 22:19).

Yet Christian ministry includes everything a believer does. His life of good works provides a context for (Mt 5:14-16) and evidence of the power of (2 Cor 3:3; Jas 2:24) the message he is bringing.

2. Call to ministry: Ecclesiastical perspectives

Christ did not question Peter alone but asked, “Who do you [plural] say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). And what is here spoken in the singular number (“I will give you [singular] the keys” and “whatever you [singular] bind” [Matt.16:19]) is elsewhere given in the plural (“Whatever you [plural] bind” [Matt. 18:18]), etc. In John, too, it is written, “If you [plural] forgive the sins,” etc. (John 20:23). These words show that the keys were given equally to all the apostles and that all the apostles were sent out as equals. In addition, it is necessary to acknowledge that the keys do not belong to the person of one particular individual but to the whole church, as is shown by many clear and powerful arguments, for after speaking of the keys in Matt. 18:19, Christ said, “If two or three of you agree on earth,” etc. Therefore, he bestows the keys especially and immediately on the church, and for the same reason the church especially possesses the right of vocation.

Melanchthon writes that, “wherever the church exists, the right to administer the Gospel also exists. Wherefore it is necessary for the church to retain the right of calling, electing, and ordaining ministers. This right is a gift given exclusively to the church, and no human authority can take it away from the church. It is as Paul testifies to the Ephesians when he says, “When he ascended on high he gave gifts to men” (Eph. 4:8,11,12). He enumerates pastors and teachers among the gifts belonging exclusively to the church, and he adds that they are given for the work of ministry and for building up the body of Christ. Where the true church is, therefore, the right of electing and ordaining ministers must of necessity also be. So in an emergency even a layman absolves and becomes the minister and pastor of another. It is like the example which Augustine relates of two Christians in a ship, one of whom baptized the other (a catechumen), and the latter, after his Baptism, absolved the former. Here the words of Christ apply which testify that the keys were given to the church and not merely to certain individuals: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). Finally, this is confirmed by the declaration of Peter, “You are a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9). These words apply to the true church which, since it alone possesses the priesthood, certainly has the right of electing and ordaining ministers. The most common custom of the church also bears witness to this, for there was a time when the people elected pastors and bishops. Afterwards a bishop, either of that church or of a neighboring church, was brought in to confirm the election with the laying on of hands; nor was ordination anything more than such confirmation.”

Jesus Christ has given the keys of his kingdom to the Church. He has thereby designated his Church, which is his body and his royal priesthood, as the instrument through which he will bring the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins to the world. Paradoxically, the Church is both the assembly of the faithful which receives the Gospel from Jesus Christ, and the divinely-appointed custodian of the keys which dispenses the Gospel as the agent of Jesus Christ. The Church is, as it were, the corporate “voice” of Christ through which Christ, by his Spirit, impels the proclamation of his Word and the administration of his Sacraments. By virtue of the authority of Christ which has been entrusted to the Church, the Church always and under all circumstances retains the right to proclaim the Word and administer the Sacraments. It therefore always and under all circumstances retains the right to issue calls to the public ministry of the Gospel. In ordinary circumstances the Church exercises this right through an established, orderly calling process which reflects its submission to the applicable directives of Holy Scripture, and which reflects the fraternal accountability that Christian church bodies, congregations, and individuals owe to one another. However, in extraordinary circumstances the Church may exercise this right in extraordinary ways through extraordinary means. Two or three confessing Christians gathered in the name of Christ are the Church, and as such they have the authority to call one of their number to some form of the public ministry of the Gospel if there is an emergency situation that truly requires it. A call that in regular circumstances would be “irregular” is therefore “regular” when it is issued according to the legitimate needs of irregular circumstances.

From this perspective, those who publicly preach the Gospel are doing so on behalf of the Church, as its representatives. The work of the pastor is from this viewpoint an intensification, and a vocational channeling, of the work that God has actually given to the Church, as a whole and in all its parts. The work of the Ministry is in a very real sense the work of the Church, to which the keys have been entrusted. Indeed, “The keys are a function and power given to the church by Christ to bind and loose sins, not only the gross and manifest sins but also those which are subtle and secret and which God alone perceives.”

Is there a contradiction here? Do pastors serve under God’s call, or under the congregation’s call? Do they represent Christ, or do they represent the church? Actually there is no contradiction. The pastor serves under God’s call, but he also serves under the congregation’s call insofar as the congregation is the corporate “voice” of God. He represents Christ, but he also represents the church insofar as the church itself represents Christ. The key to understanding all of this is to note carefully what the calling Church of Jesus Christ really is. We are not discussing the Church as a social or political entity, but the Church as a Christic entity. We are not discussing the Church according to its outward forms and administrative structures, but according to its inner spiritual character as the body of Christ. The church that is able to issue divine calls to the office of the Ministry is the Church to which the keys of Christ’s kingdom have been entrusted – that is, the Church in which Christ himself graciously resides and savingly acts. Ministers of the Gospel publicly exercise the power of the keys which Christ gave to the Church, and therefore they act on behalf of the Church. But in giving the keys to the Church, Christ did not separate himself from these keys. They are still his keys, just as he is and always will be the head of his body. Christ himself lives and acts in and through his Church, because he lives and acts in and through the keys. Christ’s giving of the keys to his Church was in reality his giving of himself as the divine forgiver of sins. And when the Church, through its call, conveys the public use of these keys to its ministers, Christ is thereby conveying himself and his forgiving activity to these ministers. Pastors always remain under God’s authority and call, and are accountable to him as his servants. They are also under the Church, because God has, in effect, “lodged” himself, and his supervisory authority, in the Church.

3. Christian vocation as discerning the call of God and responding in faith and commitment.
4. Christian ministers as grounded in Christian Scripture and informed by tradition and experience
5. Christian ministers as disciples of Christ
6. Christian ministers as exemplary leaders
7. Christian ministers manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in life

III. The formation of a Christian minister

1. Formative spiritual practices

1. Knowing God and knowing oneself
2. Practice of prayer, intercession, contemplation, fasting and other spiritual exercises
3. Devotion and study of the Bible
4. Corporate worship and spiritual practices of the community
5. Spiritual growth through Christian fellowship

2. Emotional maturity

1. Being sensitive to one’s emotions and express them appropriately
2. Maturity to recognize, process, and overcome negative emotions

3. Intellectual maturity (Cognitive)

1. Willingness to understand people and situations without prejudice
2. Commitment to respect people and opinions different from us
3. Ability to take responsibility for one’s opinions and decisions

4. Maturity in interpersonal relationships

1. Commitment to appreciate and encourage others
2. Commitment to care for people compassionately
3. Commitment to bring about reconciliation and justice
4. Commitment to develop non-abusive and non-exploitative relationships
5. Commitment to transcend unjust boundaries
6. Commitment to transparency, integrity and honesty
7. Commitment to acknowledge and resolve conflicts justly
8. Commitment to be open to criticism and respect dissent
9. Commitment to overcome unfair criticism by keeping the channels of communication open

5. Envisioning creative prophetic alternatives

1. Reflect critically on unjust and sinful social practices, relations and structures in the light of the vision of the reign of God to humanize them.
2. Reflect critically on the life, structure and ministry of the church and Christian institutions in the light of the vision of the reign of God to transform them.
3. Reflect critically on the distress of the whole creation in the light of the redeemed earth and strive for ecological wholeness

"We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."—Romans 8:22-23.

Romans 8:22. For we know that the whole creation — Ever since the first apostacy of our nature from God; groaneth — Suffers a variety of miseries; and travaileth — Συνωδινει, literally, is in the pains of childbirth, to be delivered from the burden of the curse; until now — To this very hour, and so on to the time of deliverance. “According to some commentators, the words πασα η κτισις denote the whole creatures of God, animate and inanimate, which, as they were cursed for the sin of the first man, may, by a beautiful rhetorical figure, be represented as groaning together under that curse, and earnestly wishing to be delivered from it. Such figures indeed are not unusual in Scripture. See Psalm 96:12; Psalm 98:8. Nevertheless, Romans 8:21, where it is said that the creature itself shall be delivered, &c., into the glorious liberty of the children of God; and the antithesis, Romans 8:23, not only they, but ourselves also, show that the apostle is speaking, not of the brute and inanimate creation but of mankind, and of their earnest desire of immortality. For these reasons, and especially because (Mark 16:15) preach the gospel, παση τη κτισει, means, to every human creature, I think the same expression in this verse, and η κτισις in the preceding verses, signify mankind in general, Jews as well as Gentiles. The same expression, also, Colossians 1:23, signifies every human creature.”

4. Reflect critically on one’s own assumptions, values, worldviews and social constructions in the light of the vision of the reign of God and strive to become part of the new humanity in Christ.

The reign of God

What was Jesus' primary message? Was it heaven, resurrection and eternal life? Was it his own divinity? Was it the development of a private spiritual relationship between the individual and God? Clearly not.

The dominant theme in the gospels and the center of Jesus' proclamation was the reign or kingdom of God. This one phrase sums up his whole ministry and his whole life's work. Every thought and saying of Jesus was directed and subordinated to one single thing: the realization of the reign of God upon the earth.

basileia tou theou

The language of the New Testament writers was Greek. The Greek word which we have translated into English as kingdom is basileia. Jesus, however, spoke in Aramaic, a Semitic language similar to Hebrew. Jesus would have used the Aramaic word malkuth. Both basileia and malkuth share the same meaning: kingship, kingly rule, reign, or sovereignty. The expression kingdom of God (basileia tou theou in Greek and malkuta dismayya in Aramaic) points to the ruling activity of God over God's people and over the world God has made.

The phrase kingdom of God occurs nearly a hundred times in the synoptic gospels. There are four references in Matthew (the variation kingdom of heaven is used another thirty-four times), fourteen in Mark, twenty-two in Luke, and two in John.

Outside of the gospels, the term is not very common in the New Testament. The expression is used six times in Acts, eight times in Paul's letters, and once in Revelation.

In the Old Testament, the phrase does not occur at all. The concept of God as the true king of Israel was prevalent, but the phrase as uttered by Jesus was not.

the reign of God

Biblical scholars generally agree that the familiar term kingdom of God indicates the rule or reign of God. Some would limit it specifically to the activity of ruling. In other words they would suggest that Jesus was talking about what we might call the kingship of God, rather than God's kingdom. Yet this definition does not fully comprehend the constituency of the kingdom. It’s not just God, but God’s people that are part of the kingdom. Focusing solely on God’s ruling activity can lead to a spiritual misinterpretation of what Jesus proclaimed.

a radical mutation

Although the concept of the rule of God over God's people had a long history in the Old Testament, it underwent “a radical mutation on the lips of Jesus.”

The kingdom of God as preached by Jesus is a vision of a radical transformation of human beings and human institutions (social, political, economic and religious) to a form that expresses the character and nature of God. The kingdom is manifest when God rules in the hearts of God's people. But what characterizes the message of Jesus is that the kingdom is also manifest in the social relationships of God's people. The kingdom of God takes place through a group of persons whose hearts and relationships are in subordination to the reign of God.

Jesus described the kingdom of God in words and actions for all to hear and see. His weapons were humor, healing and hope. He brought attention to the kingdom of God through radical public actions, through peaceful but powerful demonstrations.

present and future

What made Jesus so unique was his conviction that the reign of God had already started happening. The fundamental message of Jesus' proclamation was the day of God’s reign had now dawned. The things that many prophets and righteous people had long desired to see and hear were now present before the eyes and ears of all. God's reign is here, Jesus announced. Or at least it is so near at hand that signs of its activity are clearly visible. The signs of God's rule were present in the words and deeds of Jesus himself. Jesus' healing and eating with sinners were signs that God's reign had arrived.

In general terms, Jesus proclaimed as “good news” that God was setting about the task of putting straight the evil plight into which the world had fallen, and that God was beginning to bring to fulfillment his original intention in the creation.

Theologians debate over whether the reign of God exists in the present or in the future. If the reign of God is understood as a vision that Jesus articulated for the people of his time, then we can begin to understand how it is both present and future, because that is how a vision operates. When people embrace a vision, they begin to live it out.

Also, the reign of God must always be understood as both personal and social. Everything that Jesus says about the reign is true in both dimensions. Any attempt to see it as one or the other is an incomplete understanding of the kingdom.

The kingdom of God must also be understood as both spiritual and political. It cannot be seen as just a spiritual kingdom that has both individual and social dimensions, it must also be seen as having a political (including economic) implications for both individuals and their communities. The kingdom of God is a political metaphor and symbol. In Jesus' preaching and actions the kingdom clearly includes the social-economic-political substance of human relations as willed by God.

IV. Ministers as care-receivers

1. Dealing with super-human syndrome and burn out syndrome

The bait: is to be everyone’s hero!

The payoff: is to feel needed, vital and admired.

The trap: is having all your energy drained by an endless procession of people and their causes, which will ultimately result in a world–class case of emotional burn-out

2. Recognise the need for care for oneself and the family
3. Develop fellowship of care, support and mentoring of the minister and family in the ministry setting
4. Seek care from the support groups

V. Ministry and mission in local congregations and communities

1. Understanding the structure and dynamics of the local congregation
2. Understanding the structure and dynamics of the local community
3. Locating the local parish within the local community
4. The practice of ministry of the local parish in the context of the local community.