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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: At the Pulpit (11/15/07)
Many ministers today have a distorted view of just what ministry is. Many are called one day, and think they’re ready to “grace” a pulpit the next. The Lord showed me that ministry doesn’t begin in the pulpit; it begins in the lives of hurting people. It’s not about preaching at people, it’s preaching with them. God wants to do a work in us, before He does a work through us. Ministry is about the will of God being accomplished, and not our own will for God, even if we think it’s done in His name.

Every good soldier trains before he goes to battle. In a spiritual sense, why should ministers be any different? My first three weeks in active ministry, I was “knee deep” in clothes, getting ready for the next distribution to the poor of our community. I did minister in song and word in those early years of ministry, but the bulk of my time was spent sorting clothes, handing out groceries to hungry families, and unloading trucks for our ministry distribution center. God showed me that the only way up is down. Not only down on my knees, but in what I might have considered menial tasks for the ministry. We must be willing to not be noticed. This is to work out any pride that may be in us.

If a person believes they are called to preach, my question would be how many commodes have they scrubbed? Are they willing to become the church janitor and endure complaints from people who just simply don’t understand what it takes to clean a church building. If God is to entrust us with great things, He must be able to entrust us with small things. With greater responsibility, there comes greater accountability.

I pray that anyone who feels a call to ministry will go about it the right way, and that is in wisdom, discernment, and patience. With those three in play, when it comes time to finally “grace” a pulpit, they will have a foundation of ministry that can’t very easily be shaken.
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This article has been read 1334 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Joanne Sher 
11/24/07
Great thoughts here expressed well. Keep writing. You make wonderful, important points here.
Deborah Engle 
11/25/07
This touched my heart, as my son has been through all of this and is heading to Germany as a missionary.
Janice Cartwright
12/31/07
I concur on all points. In fact your article could have been a synopsis of our pastor's sermon today. Good writing on a subject that is vital to our understanding of who Christ really is.
John Telgren
12/31/07
Excellent thoughts Randy. You have grasped an important concept of greatness in the kingdom. Greatness is in the least of these, God exalts the humble and humbles the exalted, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Jesus turned the definition of greatness upside down.