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Very refreshing! Thanks Scott. Keep up the good work brother!
Ministry is the use of a person's gifts and talents, time and energy, in the service of others. It involves the exercise of roles designated by the Church to fulfill its mission in different works of service, such as in worship, teaching, leadership, the sacraments, welfare, and stewardship.
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
As every man hath received the gift, [even so] minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, [let him speak] as the oracles of God; if any man minister, [let him do it] as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Finally, on this point, how likely is it that Paul is saying that Timothy and the other officers are to train what was almost certainly a largely illiterate congregation to do the work of ministry?
Is this a case of the eye saying to the nose, "You are not needed?..."
Dr. Clark - from what I understand - you would disagree with this definition of ministry:
correct?Ministry is the use of a person's gifts and talents, time and energy, in the service of others. It involves the exercise of roles designated by the Church to fulfill its mission in different works of service, such as in worship, teaching, leadership, the sacraments, welfare, and stewardship.
What is ministry?
And is ministry different from THE ministry?
It appears that all are gifted to minister in certain capacities, but only some are gifted to minister in an official role.
Every-member-ministry does not mean that every member is a pastor.
Every-member-ministry is NOT every-member-EVERY-ministry. Only a few advocate this.
What are you advocating? The priesthood of a FEW of the believers?.....
Is this a case of the eye saying to the nose, "You are not needed?..."
Dr Clark
Gordon Cheng is Australian, not Austrian..
As to what Timothy and Titus are to be doing, your question assumes the exegesis of Eph 4:11-12 that I reject. Ministers are called to preach, administer the sacraments, and to cooperate with the elders in discipline and with the deacons in the ministry of mercy to the end that Christians might become more mature, more Christ-like and that they might learn to love their neighbors more fully. Yes, as I wrote, Christians ought to give witness to the faith and their faith, but to describe the fulfilling of vocation and giving witness as "ministry" is not helpful but has more to do with the democratization of our culture since the 1820s and with the rise of American revivalism than it has with the Reformed confession or Scripture.
That was a great essay Dr.Clark!
The “every member ministry” model hangs by a very thin biblical reed. It depends upon how one reads Eph 4:11-12:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…(ESV)
It depends on a comma. Did Christ give the various offices listed “to equip the saints to do the work of ministry” or did he give them “to equip the saints, for the work of ministry….”? In other words, are these two phrases to be taken as a list of things to be done by these special offices or is the purpose of the offices to equip the laity to do the work of ministry.
Well, first of all, Paul didn’t use a comma. The earliest NT texts had no such punctuation. The comma is an interpretation by editors of the Greek text and the English translations. It might be right, it might be wrong but it’s an interpretation. I certainly won’t pretend to sort out this question in a blog post. It is worth noting, however, that any view that hangs on a comma supplied by editors, is not well grounded in the text of Scripture and the flow of redemptive history.
I’ve heard it argued that Acts 8 reflects the apostolic approach to “every member ministry” in as much as the church was scattered and “those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” One difficulty with the application of this narrative to this question is that the only Christians named in the narrative are special officers (Stephen and Philip). The first example of this preaching to which Luke turns is Philip. It is not at all clear that the intent of his narrative is to supply a ground for the “every member” ministry model.
Therefore, I think it’s helpful to speak about the witness of the laity to the faith (that which is objectively revealed in the Word and confessed by the Reformed Churches) and their witness to their faith, i.e. to their subjective appropriation of the biblical faith. Yes, we should speak to our neighbors, friends, and co-workers about the faith and our faith, but we should distinguish lay witness from the official proclamation of the gospel. God the Spirit is free to act through popular witness or public proclamation, but as has been noted, it is to the latter that he has attached promises.