An Essay on Ministry
An Understanding of Christian Ministry
I will never forget my final interview for a youth pastor position at a small church in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I had survived the gauntlet of interviews with the pastoral staff, but in this concluding examination, I would face the elders of the church so that they might probe into my thinking and life to determine my fitness for the position. The meeting started with prayer and platitudes, but then began with a bang when an older gentleman looked at me and opened the “real” questioning with these words: “Todd, we are calling you as the youth pastor of this church to minister to the youth of our community. So would you please tell me what ministry is?”
With that query, all eyes in the …show more content…
The authenticating mark of Christian ministry is that it will look like Christ’s earthly ministry, the one who in love came to serve not be served (Matt 20:28). The most commonly used Greek word in the New Testament for ministry is diakonia. This single word would have contrasted the Jewish and Greco-Roman understanding of the time. To the Jews, this word would have conjured the work of a priest. To those in the Roman Empire, it would have been the demeaning work of a servant. To the Christian, however, it would have been an honor to follow in the footsteps of their servant Savior. This act of love is the mark of Christian …show more content…
Our family tree in the church is loaded with the fruit of God’s heart for this often overlooked population. In the past twenty years, however, God seems to be reinvigorating his church to join him in entering into the pain and affliction of the fatherless, and redeeming a hopeless situation for God’s glory. My prayer is that Midwestern might be an institution that will further enrich my understanding and compel my heart in this mission. My hope is that God’s church is further equipped to enter the work of caring for children that are headed for terrible ends, ebbing this tide so that the massive population of foster kids in Los Angeles County, the daily exit of teens from Mormon polygamy compounds, and the millions of kids globally would encounter the risen Christ in loving and prepared Christian
An Understanding of Christian Ministry
I will never forget my final interview for a youth pastor position at a small church in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I had survived the gauntlet of interviews with the pastoral staff, but in this concluding examination, I would face the elders of the church so that they might probe into my thinking and life to determine my fitness for the position. The meeting started with prayer and platitudes, but then began with a bang when an older gentleman looked at me and opened the “real” questioning with these words: “Todd, we are calling you as the youth pastor of this church to minister to the youth of our community. So would you please tell me what ministry is?”
With that query, all eyes in the …show more content…
The authenticating mark of Christian ministry is that it will look like Christ’s earthly ministry, the one who in love came to serve not be served (Matt 20:28). The most commonly used Greek word in the New Testament for ministry is diakonia. This single word would have contrasted the Jewish and Greco-Roman understanding of the time. To the Jews, this word would have conjured the work of a priest. To those in the Roman Empire, it would have been the demeaning work of a servant. To the Christian, however, it would have been an honor to follow in the footsteps of their servant Savior. This act of love is the mark of Christian …show more content…
Our family tree in the church is loaded with the fruit of God’s heart for this often overlooked population. In the past twenty years, however, God seems to be reinvigorating his church to join him in entering into the pain and affliction of the fatherless, and redeeming a hopeless situation for God’s glory. My prayer is that Midwestern might be an institution that will further enrich my understanding and compel my heart in this mission. My hope is that God’s church is further equipped to enter the work of caring for children that are headed for terrible ends, ebbing this tide so that the massive population of foster kids in Los Angeles County, the daily exit of teens from Mormon polygamy compounds, and the millions of kids globally would encounter the risen Christ in loving and prepared Christian