All Grown Up (4)

There are roles that everyone in the church is supposed to play. Can you say this about yourself and mean it?

I’m a working minister. v. 12b

Are you a working minister? God gave leaders to the church…

… to equip the saints for the work of ministry… Ephesians 4:12b (ESV)

Leaders equip the saints for a specific purpose, namely, "for the work of service," or, "for the work of ministry." The fixing of what is broken and the supplying of what is lacking in the saints is not an end in itself. The leaders don't stop then and say, "O good, now we have fixed and supplied saints. The work is done." No, the fixing and supplying are meant to make the saints into servants, or ministers.

In the past, people have introduced me as the minister at Cuyahoga Valley Church. I try to nicely say, “I’m NOT the minister at CVC.” I let that sit for minute. Why would I say, “I’m NOT the minister at CVC”? I’m a minister at CVC, but not the minister at CVC.” Why would I say this? It’s because the Bible teaches that we are all ministers!

Every saint—every Christian—is a minister.

The word is diakonia. We get the word “deacon” from this word. It describes someone who serves – someone who helps. Again, just like the Bible says Jesus has made us saints whether we know it or not, so He has made us His ministers whether we know it or not. And just like before when we asked, “Are we equipped saints?” here we ask “Are we working ministers?”

We are to be equipped for the work of the ministry. The word is ergon. It’s describing our business, our job. It requires energy and effort.

Now, when you apply this to the family, the clear application is that each family member is to see themselves as ministers to the other members of the family. And it will be work. But it’s a good work.

Husbands ministering to wives and wives to husbands. Moms ministering to kids and kids to moms. Dads ministering to kids and kids to dads. Brothers and sisters ministering to each other.

In the home we’re all asking, ”How can I help? How can I serve? How can I help my mom, my dad, my son, my daughter, my brother, my sister, my grandchild follow Jesus better?”

We live in a society that has become increasingly specialized in providing services. You name it and you can pay someone to do it for you:

Washing the dog.
Cleaning the gutters.
Buying your groceries.
Tutoring your kids.

And some parents and churches view youth and children’s ministry that way: “If I want my kids to grow close to God, then I use the church as a spiritual drop-off service. Spiritual training is best left to the pros.” Lots of parents think they are only responsible to get the kids to church. They use the “dump and jump” strategy. Dump the kids off at church and jump back into the car until it’s time to pick up the kid. They think,”If we only put our kids in a spiritual environment for an hour or so a week, then out will pop a morally sound young adult. And if they don’t turn out great, then the children’s director and the youth director are the bad guys.”

No. Moms and dads have to be “working ministers” to the kids. Parents are the primary disciplers of their children.

In Deuteronomy 6, we find the Shema.

4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (ESV)

Orthodox Jews cite it twice a day, morning and evening. Of all the passages about creation, faith, the coming Messiah, commandments, repentance, and forgiveness, why was this one passage the one that is to be repeated twice a day every day? The same instructions are repeated in Dt 11. This is important because it instructs parents with their God-given assignment to disciple their children. It has to be foundational in your home.

"The responsibility for raising spiritual champions belongs to the parents. Organizations and people from outside the home might support those efforts, but the responsibility is squarely laid at the feet of the family. This is not a job for specialists. It is a job for parents." ... George Barna

What we need is a partnership between the church and the parents. We believe that parents are indispensible ministers. Our family staff wants to champion the God-given role of parents.

Suppose I say to my sons, “Wanna play some ball? Let’s get our gloves and bats and a bucket of balls and head over to the ball fields and take some BP (batting practice).” Suppose I load them in the car and we get to the field. We get all the gear out of the car. And they are ready to play. But suppose I get back into the car and they say, “Hey, where are you going?” and I say, “See that guy over there? He’s the pro; he’s the expert. I’ve asked him to play with you today. I’ve got some other things I’m going to do. I’ll be back later.” That’s not cool. Maybe the instruction would be good, but the impact wouldn’t be the same. There are some things in life you just can’t delegate. You have to show up!

The same thing is even more true when it comes to a bucket of Bible truths, when it comes to taking spiritual batting practice, when it comes to catching the winds of the Holy Spirit for your family. You’ve got to be a working minister. You’ve got to show up and grow up!

There are roles that everyone in the church is supposed to play. Can you say this about yourself and mean it? I’m a working minister.