Clowney on characteristics of a Minister

Humility, surrender, discipline and living out the gospel. Clowney affirms are the some characteristics of a Minister. These arent easy to swallow, especially because any one of these would take a lifetime to "master" or take on as a character trait. If left to our own devices, minister or not, we would probably tend to become proud, independent, lazy and sinning. Thank you Holy Spirit for the beckoning back to you and into your service.

Our natural tendency is to savour the praise that we receive from others, but I guess when God works through our weakness that everyone can see it was Him and not us. All the glory would be his. We aint gonna be stealing any. O Lord, grant us the desire for more of you and to conform our lives to your will, more than we desire of any other thing from you, gifts or possessions or anything else. Let us find more joy in pleasing you than chasing the fleeting pleasures of this world. Amen.


From Page 60-63 of: Called to the Ministry

If this survey of the function of the minister has not given you pause, please abandon all thought of becoming a minister. If it has, be encouraged. To the degree that you are overwhelmed you show a willingness to take the ministry seriously...

A man's "natural" gifts cannot add up to a probability that he should choose the ministry. God has chosen the weak and foolish, not the mighty and wise, so that it might be quite clear that he alone is the Saviour. If you are a gifted speaker you should be effective as a lawyer or a salesman, but nothing can be said about your effectiveness as a preacher. The glib confidence of a ready tongue may be the very pride that bars you from the ministry. Not one of the apostles was an orator. If God calls you to speak for him, the speaking will be made possible...

A minister's gift of faith draws him to a life of commitment to Christ. We have seen that the calling of discipleship is the calling of the cross. This must be particularly evident in the life of the minister. Examine your calling in this respect. Are you a slave of Jesus Christ, already "bound in the spirit" to go wherever he calls you? (Acts 20:22). Are you willing to leave all and follow him, to rejoice in sufferings, to become a fool for Christ's sake? (1 Cor. 4:9-13).

The commitment of faith is measured by action—the ready obedience of spiritual discipline. The minister is a good soldier of Jesus Christ, trained to obey at once (II Tim. 2: 3,4), a practiced athlete (I Cor. 9:24-27), a hardworking farmer (II Tim. 2:6), a faithful steward (I Cor. 4:2). Growth in this discipline marks Christ's calling. Timothy had to be reminded by Paul that God had not given a Spirit who produced fear, but a Spirit of love, power, and discipline (II Tim. 1:7 A.R.V.)...

The minister's commitment of faith must be grounded in the knowledge of faith... Calling to the ministry and love of the Bible go together. If you do not share the privileges of Timothy's childhood you have the greater obligation to read and study the Word of God... The knowledge of faith is more than a grasp of Biblical facts. It includes a living response to the Biblical message.

Review: The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision

The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision by Kevin J. Vanhoozer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I got hooked right at the introduction! I totally loved the two anecdotes at the Preface! I shall not spoil it for you guys (go read the preview on amazon or google books), but I do emphatically resonate with the notion that the public do not see how a pastor can be a theologian at the same time - there is simply no schema for such a being. Being a naturally gifted reader, thinker and teacher, I humbly accept and agree with the impression that the work of a minister "is a lot harder than scholarship."

I appreciate the conscious effort to include "Pastoral Perspectives," short segments written by pastors to supplement the main section laid down by the authors. These were the parts of the book I most enjoyed. If I were to highlight the best three, they would be Kevin DeYoung's "A Place for Truth," Guy A. Davies's "The Drama of Preaching" and Jason B. Hood's "The Pastor-Theologian as Pulpit Apologist."

It is a pity that I did not really resonate with the main essays. Owen's Strachan's Chapter 1 essay "Of Prophets, Priests, and Kings: A Brief Biblical Theology of the Pastorate" did not really appeal to me because I'm guessing that the book is targeted at the practicing pastor and not the academic scholarly work that I lean more toward; but which otherwise provided a bite-sized summary of how pastor-theologians can apply biblical theology today. I could not really appreciate Strachan's Chapter 2 essay titled "Of Scholars and Saints: A Brief History of the Pastorate" as church history is not one of my areas of interest. But I thoroughly enjoyed the subsection titled "The Modern Turn: Populism, Professionalism, and the Taming of the Pastorate" where I got a better picture of how the queen of sciences (theology) gave way to a less scholarly and more populist (and opinionated) style of preaching.

Vanhoozer's Chapter 3 "In the Evangelical Mood: The Purpose of the Pastor-Theologian" was highly cerebral and did not appeal much to me. Most ministers would already know why we ought to do this-or-that; we do not really need to be convinced in our minds. If I could use Clowney's Called to the Ministry (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...) as a reference, I far prefer the passionate call to sold-out service to Christ by a minister who has given his all, and invites others to do the same. I've mixed feelings about Vanhoozer's Chapter 4 essay, "Artisans in the House of God: The Practices of the Pastor-Theologian." Most sections have the same symptoms of being too intellectual as Chapter 3, but there were glimpses of fervent and contagious calls to a higher Christ-like standard.

Thankfully, the Introduction (Pastors, Theologians, and Other Public Figures) and Conclusion (Fifty-five summary theses on the pastor as public theologian), both authored by Kevin J. Vanhoozer, were excellent. It would be extremely useful to read these two sections over and over again, meditating on the timeless nuggets of wisdom and passionate calls to ministry.

If your church or seminary has this book, I encourage you to borrow it to read through the Pastoral Perspectives short-essays at the end of every chapter, along with the Introduction and Conclusion. However, it is not a book that I would purchase to keep on my bookshelf to lend to others.

I received this book from Baker Academic through Netgalley.com in exchange for this review.

View all my reviews

Review: Growing God's Church: How People Are Actually Coming to Faith Today

Growing God's Church: How People Are Actually Coming to Faith Today by Gary L. McIntosh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am quite a fan of McIntosh's books, having thoroughly enjoyed "Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership" (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...) and "There's Hope for Your Church"(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...), both of which I regard to be 5 star titles.

Short review: Skip Part 1 and go straight to Part 2 & 3 and Appendix. You can thank me later. The latter parts of the book are worth the retail price many times over. If you have decision making influence in your church's leadership, buy the book, read it and use it as a tool to engage in some serious reflection. I doubt you will regret the decision.

Long review: I appreciated his sharing of his faith journey, which he used to lead into his proposition that churches have now lost the focus on evangelism, and instead have focused on missional acts of service. But somehow he seemed to have taken on a fondness in extremely lengthy retellings of biblical narratives, which takes up far too many pages (Matthew's account of following Jesus in Chapter 1, Jesus' reading of the scroll of Isaiah in Chapter 3, Jesus casting out an unclean spirit in Chapter 4, going to Jesus' tomb in Chapter 5, choosing of Matthias in Chapter 6). I dreaded every start of the chapter because of the monotonous and unimaginative paraphrasing of the gospel accounts that would have to be endured. I do not sense that McIntosh's strength is in theology or exegetical teaching/preaching, so perhaps if he had stuck to his areas of expertise (eg. Ecclesiology and ministry), the book could have been more effective in communicating a thesis. I felt like that I had just went on an very painful eisegetical journey by the end of the book; too much ground was covered far too thinly. This is a huge pity, because I recognise the value and importance of utilising research methods and data analysis to validate and explain the observance of a trend in churches today (the loss of focus on evangelism).

If Part 1 shows McIntosh at his worst, Part 2 and 3 is when he is at his best! Meshing statistics and data with practical recommendations (after having explained what the data means) is something I have not since before (in an ecclesiological context). Take time to slowly read through and consider how for example, people come to Christ, why people stay in church, how important is the pastor's preaching etc. While the study was done with ~1000 respondents in America, I would imagine that the findings would not stray too far when reapplied to another First World Country.

5 Stars for the latter part of the book and 0 stars for Part 1, so an overall 3 stars.

I received this book from Baker Books through Netgalley.com in exchange for this review.

View all my reviews

Clowney on administrative duties of a Minister

A minister is called unto administration. Having seen pastors being more engrossed with upholding the Ecclesiastical structure/system of the church, I am aware that I have recoiled in the other direction and am probably inclined to spurning or neglecting administrative duties. Clowney's call is a somber reminder not to be caught up in the study, proclamation and application of the Word (which is our primary and most important duty), but to take on a towel and be willing to wish the feet of our peers and sheep. Preaching without personal action would not account for any authenticity to our post-modern hearers. But how can we serve others unless we have come face to face with the transcendent God who humbled himself to the cross? If we have encountered him and surrendered this life for him, then how can we but give our all, our everything for his bride, the church?



From Page 57 of Called to the Ministry

No pastor should despise administrative duties. They are included in his calling. A recent survey reported that most ministers resented the demands of administration upon their time. They felt they had been prepared to minister the Word and the sacraments but were delivered up to the administration of building campaigns and fellowship suppers. No doubt a corrective is needed. Sometimes the church is just too big; sometimes it is busy with the wrong programs. A pastor is not likely to be irked with the administration of a program of evangelistic calling by the members of the congregation. Sometimes the pastor is at fault for seizing leadership himself instead of cultivating it in others. But the minister who supposes that his calling is to the pulpit and the study had better dedicate an office desk to the service of the Lord.

Highlights from The Pastor's Book

Having read Pastor Hughes' chapter in Worship by the book (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145835), I felt that Chapter 1 here (authored by O’Donnell) paled in comparison. I'd skip the chapter, save for the section on page 27 that highlighted how Christ fulfilled the Jer. 31:31-34 prophecy, which was recorded in Heb. 8:7-13,

"Under the new covenant, Christians are thus to worship all the time—in their individual lives, in their family lives, and when they come together for corporate worship. Corporate worship, then, is a particular expression of a life of perpetual worship... Thus, with the New Testament perspective in mind, as Christians we must center our worship on Christ as the temple, priest, and sacrifice." (p27).

Having grown up in a charismatic church, (and even though I recently have found myself resonating increasingly with reformed theology), Chapter 2 is still pretty much foreign to me. I have never celebrated advent and most of the hymns highlighted are foreign to me. The poems for Christmas (p78-86), Good Friday (106-110) and Easter (118-122), however may prove to be useful in time to come! Chapter 3 was a pleasant surprise after two so-so chapters! (Perhaps because I'm looking forward to my own wedding soon; and that I have not been to many weddings that had sound gospel-centered preaching since I entered Bible School). I found this section on Pg 130 especially useful in helping me look at wedding in an entirely different light,

"Christian weddings are not commonly thought of as evangelistic, but they are, and here’s why: First, the presiding pastor's (your) ... preaching is to be gospel redolent, full of the good news... you normally have more non-Christians ... than on any Sunday service! The whole service is built around the Scriptures ... [and] the hymns and songs (rightly chosen) are also full of scriptural truth... paint[ing] a beautiful picture of what the gospel has done for the bride and groom and what it demands of them in marriage. Such a service can be used by Christ to make attendees thirsty for the water of life."

The Crucial Questions segment (p131-133) in the pre-marital counselling section provides advice and guidelines that are timelessly useful, whereby a minister can do himself and the couple a huge favour by ascertaining the following about them:

1. Do you discern that they are Christians? Can they explain what the gospel is? Or perhaps asking them "What are some of the ways you serve Christ?" 2. Is the couple chaste? "If a Christian couple is sexually active (fornicating is the biblical word), they are by definition living in sin... Their flagrant lack of restraint, should they marry, may sow the seeds of distrust... Nevertheless, if the couple repents and submits to pastoral guidance, ... and does so in fellowship with the body of Christ, then holy matrimony may be pursued." (p132) 3. Do they have family support to get married? "Parental distaste for or disapproval of one’s spouse can add substantial stress to a marriage... the pastor should explore the reasons before consenting to perform the wedding." (p132-133) 4. Do they have a similar direction in life? "The pastor needs to ask a few probing questions about their values and goals in life. Mutuality foreshadows harmony. Dissonance augurs trouble." (p133) 5. Do they want to have children? "Couples that marry and covenant with each other to forgo children are at odds with the Scriptures and with the historic church... if a couple is in sharp disagreement about having a family, they should consider whether to pursue marriage at all." (p133)

Chapter 4 is immensely useful. Hughes reminds us of the "the divinely appointed opportunity that every funeral allows" (p182). For him, "Death is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), but also an evangelist... Death forces the most profound questions to be asked, but mercilessly mocks those who sleep through its lessons.” (p183). In providing initial pastoral care to a grieving family, Hughes cautions that "comfort can morph into awkwardness if, for example, the grieving family feels that they have to be attentive to the pastor as they are making and receiving calls from loved ones... Sometimes the necessary details regarding the times for the visitation, funeral, and burial can be discussed at the initial visit with the family." (p184). The list of questions for the purposes of gathering information about the deceased on pgs 186-187 are extremely helpful; the busy pastor can then best conserve his time by immediately drafting a brief remembrance while the conversation is still fresh (and edit later). Downloadable versions of the Sample Funeral Information Worksheet and Sample Funeral Service Planning Worksheet (p585) will probably make the book price seem like a bargain. Hughes affirms that "the apparent reason for a funeral service is to confront loss, mourn the deceased, and offer comfort to the family; the conscious purpose of a Christian funeral must be to glorify Christ by declaring the good news of his death, burial, and resurrection" (p191). He closes the chapter with the insightful counsel that "pastoral care can be easily enhanced with a simple plan for follow-up, monitored through the church office or administrative assistant. The following is a sequence that honors the anniversaries of the day of death: One-month anniversary—call or visit; Three-month anniversary—send a card; Six-month anniversary—call; One-year anniversary—visit; Two-year anniversary—visit" (p195-196). The sample funeral sermons are invaluable in illustrating to us new ministers how the theoretical is applied to reality. (p197-231). I found the Poem enrichment segment extremely difficult to read through, perhaps because my own exposure to literature was only two years in secondary school (when I was 13-14 years old). The only poem that resonated with me was Samuel's Crossman's "My song is love unknown." I guess still prefer quoting from hymns, because the words would subconsciously relate better with something that they had heard before, even if it were decades ago. Chapter 5: I thoroughly enjoyed it. My imagination and concept of what prayer could be is expanded. I have never seen prayers like these! I am most probably going to spend alot of time reading, re-reading and meditating on these model prayers. This chapter is definitely not one to be sped-read through, but one that you should consider savouring and enjoying piece by piece. The only type prayers I had been exposed to thus far were "extemporaneous" prayers (spoken or done without preparation) and I treasure D A Carson's the exhortation that "public praying is a pedagogical opportunity... The answer ... is to provide more prayers that are carefully and freshly prepared." (cited in p263). I also appreciate the advice that "much depends on how well pastoral leaders prepare to lead the people in prayer... [as] prayer is more easily caught than taught." (p263). Another piece of extremely helpful counsel, "public prayers of the pastor must be a reflection of his private prayer; public prayer must flow from our communion and intercession with God in secret. Congregational prayers can be theologically precise and beautiful but hollow if they are not rooted in the heart and practice of the pastor." (p265). The last helpful advice was that prayer should never be "a pro forma weekly confession in which brain-numbed worshipers repeat a confession of sin... [but] transparent, engaged, passionate confession by the assembled body of Christ... it should never be routine." (p271). I realise that I have been exhorted all these years to pray, pray, pray, and yet have not had prayer modeled for me so that I could do likewise (until now)! I am challenged and inspired to pray like never before! On the topic of confessions, I found this piece of advice helpful,

"we are not advocates of a pro forma weekly confession in which brain-numbed worshipers repeat a confession of sin in muffled Latinate cadences. Rather, we are advocating transparent, engaged, passionate confession by the assembled body of Christ. We believe it should never be routine. Corporate confession of sin must be varied. Sometimes there needs to be no more than a reading of a Scripture passage along with the pastoral invitation, “Let us confess our sins” (or, “Let us confess our sins, as is fitting to each of our souls”), followed by sixty seconds of silence (real silence, without musical accompaniment) in which the congregation may do so! Another time it may be done by the use of an ancient confession with a brief pastoral rubric about praying it from the heart and then praying it slowly enough for people to do it." (p271-2).

Like Chapter 2 on Annual Services, the closest I've been to Creeds (Chapter 6) is Hillsong's This I Believe (The Creed). I did appreciate the suggestion of introducing creeds in a worship service by means of a short, thoughtprovoking paragraph, such as:

"My brothers and sisters, there are many ways we identify ourselves as God’s people. We sing the great hymns of the faith. We pray in the Spirit. We celebrate the sacraments. We listen to God’s Word proclaimed. Now we come to profess God’s story of our salvation through words of the ___________ Creed. And in doing so, we seek to acknowledge the past and present communion of saints and long for the time when all God’s people from every tongue, tribe, and nation will acknowledge together the truths of God’s Word before his throne. Let us now confess wholeheartedly the faith of the universal church." (p331).

I understand the authors' choice of Hymns and Songs (Chapter 7), but unfortunately I would not be able to provide much helpful evaluation of their suggested song lists (as I come from a very different tradition or song preference, of Planetshakers, Jesus Culture, Hillsong, Passion, Paul Baloche). I do resonate with their affirmation that "Music must be the servant of preaching" (in contrast to the worship segment being the highlight of the service, pre and post-sermon),

"This means that the lyrics of the songs used during the service should reflect the text of Scripture preached that day and that the music attached to those lyrics needs to maintain the integrity of the words in an enhancing and confirming manner. We believe that the Word of God read and preached is the central component of our public worship, but the music helps raise our affections—provided they are raised primarily by the truth of God’s revelation." (p352).

I cannot agree more that we are to be "sensitive to our specific congregations’ vocal abilities and knowledge of music, ... pitch, tempo, and rhythm, [therefore] we must select songs that are singable." (p352). I emphatically concur that we should and cannot allow sub-standard worship leading,

"Musicians must see themselves as fellow laborers in the Word and must lead with understanding and an engaged heart. Those who minister in worship services must be healthy Christians who have confessed their sins and by God’s grace are living their lives consistently with the music they lead. The sobering fact is that over time the congregation tends to become like those who lead. Musicians are also called to render their very best to God. Qualitative standards can be expressed classically (unity, clarity, proportion), and biblically (creativity, beauty, craft). In Christian worship, where music is a servant of the Word of God, musical standards are a requisite to clear communication. Church music must be judged by universal standards of musicianship: it must be good music, well performed, with due attention paid to intonation, rhythmic accuracy, articulation, and tone. Happy is the congregation led by godly, competent musicians." (p353).

Baptism (Chapter 8) was so-so, perhaps it is far simpler in complexity as compared to weddings or funerals! I found that this was a wonderful suggestion, or what they term "A very nice touch," is when 'the congregation sings a stanza of a hymn or song [to] allow time for the one just baptized to exit the baptismal tank and the next to be ready for entrance. Some stanzas that work well are from the following hymns (p388): • “My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness” • “My Jesus, I Love Thee” • “Praise the Name of Jesus” • “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” • “I Love Thee”' My takeaway actually was how Christians, like the two authors, could extend charity to one another even though they differ on certain non-essentials. In this instance it would be Kent Hughes (Baptist) and Douglas O’Donnell (Paedobaptist); in layman's terms, they differ in that the latter baptises infants and the former does not. And yet they come together to affirm what they hold in common:

i. The theological symbolism of immersion and elevation from the water throbs with the movement of the gospel. Submersion pictures our union with Christ in his death and burial, elevation our being raised with him to newness of life. (p375). ii. The waters of baptism are emblematic not only of our death, burial, and resurrection with Christ, but also of our washing and cleansing from sin that occurs concurrent with conversion. (p375). iii. The New Testament consistently records that baptism was reserved for those who professed faith in Christ—believers only. (p376). iv. Baptism is not necessary for salvation. A symbol cannot save... The imperative is simply to obey Christ, who commanded baptism for all who believe. (p376). Fundamentally, baptism is an outward physical sign of an inward spiritual reality. Nothing magical or supernatural takes place because someone is immersed in these waters. The act of baptism does not save you, but only is a symbol pointing to the reality of your salvation. You could liken it to a wedding ring that, in and of itself, does not make you married, but serves as a sign to the world that you have committed yourself in marriage to your lifelong spouse. (p392) v. In discerning the readiness of a professing believer for baptism, the church should consider whether the person is regenerate (p377), repentant (p377) and old enough (p378). vi. Congregational Covenant: where the pastor asks the people being baptised to stand and affirm their commitment as printed in the bulletin. Eg. “Do you, the body of Christ, promise to receive these children in love, pray for them, help instruct them in the faith, and encourage and sustain them in the fellowship of believers?” (p399).

Review: The Year without a Purchase: One Family's Quest to Stop Shopping and Start Connecting

The Year without a Purchase: One Family's Quest to Stop Shopping and Start Connecting by Scott Dannemiller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The bad: If the author (or his editor) has given brevity more value, this book could have been a 4 or 5 star one! I felt that the front and ending sections were more draggy than they needed to; perhaps the entire recounting of the story could have been done in 100 or so pages. The bible verses at the start of every chapter did not really seem to mesh with whatever was discussed; more often than not I was wondering what did the author have in mind by listing a bible passage.

The good: I did learn a few things though, and only the bravest would embark on a similar journey! I cannot imagine how beneficial it would be for anybody (or any family) to go on such a quest, and how much happier we would be! Indeed we are surrounded with subliminal and overt efforts to consume more food and covet more material things. For those of us in the industrialised first-world, there are many integral lessons we can learn from this book, and much soul-searching to embark on, with regards to how we spend our money.

I would not recommend this book be purchased, but if you can get a cheap ebook version or borrow one from the library, do read it! Looking forward to a revised, more concise version, perhaps without the bible passages; maybe marketing it to the general public would increase sales figures.

I received this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for this review.

View all my reviews

Review: Pastors In Pain: How To Grow In Times Of Conflict

Pastors In Pain: How To Grow In Times Of Conflict by Gary Preston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Preston writes from a position of personal pain, and I appreciated how the authenticity and brevity made this such an engaging read. Both novice and advanced readers would enjoy this title and find the content highly relatable and maybe even thoroughly insightful.

Back in 2015 when I first read it, I had much of reflection to do as I leafed through the pages - I was confronted with having to extend forgiveness and come to a better closure when memories of past offences come to mind. I wrote that I'd recommend it to anybody "who still sees the sovereign God's hand in their lives and still would want to serve him in spite of the many seemingly evil shepherds he has in his service."

Now in 2018, (having read it again as a more mature student) I appreciate how Preston presents from his own experience how we ought to see our own contribution to any conflict in ministry. He writes the book not with an intention to vindicate himself or with a sense of animosity, but to act as an agent of healing and restoration for wounded ministry workers.

Notable concepts I would like to highlight would include:
-how "conflict is the norm and peace among the brethren is the exception" (p12)
-avoid justifying oneself from the pulpit even if you are using a parallel analogy or try to keep the offender anonymous (p52-53)
-Preston also used the analogy of an athlete “playing hurt” to illustrate how pastors have to “preach, pray, teach, visit, counsel… with wounded hearts” (p36) and even as “we’re still hurting and waiting to see how God will work” (p74)
-how most pastors overlook caring for their families, especially their spouses in times of conflict (chapter 6)
-discuss with church boards the importance of living a balanced life and to anticipate the rumblings that will come (p104)

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to anybody in Christian ministry (not just pastors). While it is a pity this book has gone out of print, you may use bookfinder.com to help you in your search for a used copy of the book.

View all my reviews

Clowney on ministry being service by a servant

When Clowney penned this book back in 1964, I wonder if he would know how appealing the notion of shared-authority type of leadership structure would be. As we transit from the boomers to the millennials, we probably will see a shift of submissive obedience to an anti-institutional anti-authority posture.

For those of us who have been in church for some time, we would be familiar with the jostling of position/power, and perhaps had even engaged in that some time or other. We demand that our leaders earn our respect before they try to instruct (or put it less politically correctly boss us around). But what Christ taught and demonstrated at the cost of his life (see second last paragraph in the excerpt below) has a timeless application. Stott in page 38 of his devotional "Through the Bible Through the Year" highlights that the apostle John contrasted Cain and Christ - "Whereas Cain hated and murdered his brother, we are called like Christ to love others and lay down our lives for them (1 John 3:11-17)."

We probably would recognise the self-serving, attention-grabbing and power-hungry carnal natures within ourselves. We just see it better in others. I recall a friend recounting a story of a brilliant pastor who was being honoured at a large gathering, perhaps a conference. Yet his response was that he reluctantly accepted the honouring, because he would rather have received his gift from his Father in heaven.

Will we serve Christ's bride, the church, without clamouring for recognition? When we are given increasing amounts of responsibility, can we continue sacrificially minister even if our pastor would never find out? Will we give of ourselves, without expecting anything in return from those under our care? Will we look forward to time eternal, perhaps just to see the smile of our beloved Jesus Christ for having been faithful on this earth?


From Page 41-42 of: Called to the Ministry

A minister is a servant; Christ is the one Lord, who must rule until all his enemies are put under his feet (1 Cor. 15:25; Col. 3:1 ). No one is called to lord it over the flock of Christ (1 Pet. 5:3); no throne is set in the church but the one at God's right hand. On the other hand, every Christian, called by Christ's name, is united to Christ in glory. He sits with Christ in the heavenly places, and is called a king, a son of God in him (Eph. 2:6, 1 John 3:1).

Spiritual dominion by princes of the church is doubly impossible: Christ the king is with his people; his people are kings with Christ. Can any officer outrank an "ordinary" Christian who shares Christ's throne and will judge angels? (1 Cor. 6:3). Christ's total rule obliterates all hierarchy. The Mediator does not need mediators (1 Tim. 2:5).

No, the minister is not a prince, not even a master (Matt. 23:8-12). He is a servant. But Christ is a Servant, too. The Lord became the Servant; he came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28). His service fulfilled all the ministry to which the people of God are called, just as his sufferings bore all the judgment their rebellion deserved. The church has one Minister, one Apostle and High Priest of our confession (Heb. 3:1).

To the fellowship of his ministry Christ calls every Christian. When the apostles argued about rank in the kingdom, he offered his cup of suffering (Matt. 20:22); for patterns of ministry he gave them a basin and a towel (John 13:4-14). Every Christian, then, is called to share both the ministry of the cross and the dominion of the crown.

Clowney on one's calling and gifting in context of Christ's church

Indeed one cannot exercise spiritual gifts without a faith community. Who are you going to teach, serve or preach to? Yourself? Even if it is your family unit, surely there will come a day when the reading and proclamation of Scripture will compel us to follow Christ's beckoning, which often involves a certain "neighbour."

This is personally very real to me, because there are some professing Christians that I rather not count as my brothers in Christ. I would rather a distance be kept, not because of any offence or unforgiveness, but because I really do not like them. I therefore struggle with Jesus call for me to love my neighbour. Just like the expert of religious law's reluctance to mention that it was the Samaritan who proved to be a good neighbour to the man who was robbed (Luke 10:37), I too am extremely reluctant to regard some as my brothers. I do not think that Christ would excuse me just because I do not see any displayable attributes of a born again life in another person.

Help me a Lord I pray. I confess I do not desire to love the unlovable.


From Page 32 and 34 of: Called to the Ministry

Within the church of Christ, the mutual ministry of gifts moves constantly to the pulse-beat of the life of the Spirit. The body grows through the organic interdependence of each part... that means that you cannot grow without ministering to others and receiving the ministry of others...

You cannot bring your gifts to mature function apart from the mutual ministries of Christ's church. Therefore no Christian can determine his calling in isolation from the throbbing organism in which he is called. No doubt a Christian who is joined to Christ can exist outside the fellowship of the church, almost as a surgically removed bodily organ may be kept alive if the links of arteries and nerves are unsevered. But a living brain on a laboratory stand is a monstrosity. There are emergencies which may require surgery: Christians may be forced to separation, and Christ himself warned of the necessity of cutting off an offending member of the body (Matt. 18:7-9, 17). But the Christian is endued of his Lord for corporate life. His freedom and growth are found in fellowship.

No Spiritual Inventory Test can measure your gifts and capacities in Christ's service. Such a test may help you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think; it may reveal unsuspected abilities and strengths. But Christ's own test is not the [Spiritual Inventory Test]; it is administered only in action. We might call it the Service In Fellowship Test. As you labor with other Christians, hidden gifts are brought to light and new gifts are received.