Let’s get right to it. You are called to the ministry. I am called to the ministry. That doesn’t mean we are all called to pulpit ministry. Ministry isn’t about a platform.
We need to define ministry. Ministry is, simply put, our life in service to the King. Ministry isn’t about a platform. It’s about people.
What ministry looks like for each of us will be different. The details and scope of your service to the King will not be the same as mine. Mine is behind a pulpit. Yours may be behind a cash register or in front of a class of 5th graders. But rest assured, you are called to fulfill the work of the kingdom here on the earth through your everyday life.
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task (or ministry) of reconciling people to him. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
2 Corinthians 5:18, 20 NLT
I have always loved the story of Hudson Taylor. I’ve read his biography, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret (click here to link to the book), countless times. He was a missionary to China from 1854 through the early 1900’s and the missionary organization he founded is still in existence today. I’d say we could learn a thing or two from him.
The number of people that he and his coworkers led to the Lord is in the millions. His passion for the lost and compassion for the hurting inspires my heart every time I pick up the book. He wasn’t consumed with the lost state of the harvest because he was in “ministry”. He was concerned for them because he was a Christian and it motivated him to do something.
If your heart doesn’t ache for people who don’t know Christ, you may not know Christ yourself.
Burk Parsons
Hudson Taylor lived before social media and email and cell phones. He didn’t fly to China from England; it took a 4 month treacherous boat ride to get there. They didn’t communicate with their family back home by phone. They wrote letters. He wrote lots and lots of letters. And it was an 8 month process to send a letter and receive a response. If it was an emergency, they would use the telegraph, but only in emergencies because it was expensive.
Found among the letters his mother kept was a prayer that so touched my heart I wrote it on a notecard and began to pray it for myself and my family and our church almost daily. He wrote:
Pray the Lord ever to give us the single eye, the clear judgment, the wise and gentle manner, the patient fore-bearing spirit, the unwavering purpose, the unshaken faith, the Christ-like love that are needed for the efficient discharge of our duties. Ask Him to send us sufficient means and suitable helpers for the great work before us.
J. Hudson Taylor
We all have the responsibility to give our whole life in service to the King. That is ministry. We all have a harvest field. Hudson Taylor’s was through mission work in China. Mine is through pastoring and writing. Yours is through teaching or nursing or being a lawyer or a bank teller or a homeschool mom or whatever it is your “day job” is.
Regardless of how we make our living, we all need these characteristics Hudson Taylor prayed for to help us work in His harvest wherever He has placed us. This is the prayer we all need to pray.
The single eye. We all need our eyes fixed on the harvest. Lord, help us not be distracted by things that would pull us away from you and dull our compassion for the lost. Give us a single eye to focus on what is a priority to You so we can make that our priority.
The clear judgment. Lord, help us to discern what we need to hold on to and what we need to let go of. Help us judge between what is holy and what is common. Help us recognize those things we need to walk away from so we can run our race unhindered.
The wise and gentle manner. Lord, help us be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, gentle and full of tenderness towards those who don’t yet know You so we don’t turn them away from wanting to know You.
The patient fore bearing spirit. Lord, help us to respond from the Spirit and not from our flesh. Strengthen us to behave in a calm and sensible way when naturally it would be normal to become angry or upset or impatient.
The unwavering purpose. It’s easy to get discouraged when those You’ve placed in our harvest field push You away when we share You. Help us to persevere and stay connected to our purpose on this earth – to rescue the lost. May we be steadfast in prayer and in sharing You with those around us.
The unshaken faith. Everything we do for You requires faith. Strengthen our faith, Lord. When everything around us is being shaken, may we remain unshaken, steadfast, and connected to You so we can fulfill the task You’ve given us to advance the kingdom of heaven.
The Christ-like love. Everything else would be meaningless if it wasn’t bathed in love. And not just any love. Your love. May we be filled with Your love so everything thing we do and every word we speak on Your behalf is saturated in love that pierces their hearts to move them to want You. It’s Your love that draws all men to repent. May our lives be a living, shining reflection of Your love.
Sufficient means and suitable helpers. (He knew God was the provider of all things but He uses His people to do it. We pray; God moves hearts; the need is met. And Hudson Taylor knew he couldn’t do it alone. We are better together.) Lord, use our lives in your service in every way, including meeting the needs of others financially so they can do what You’ve called them to do. Thank you for meeting every one of our needs. And we don’t want to be a solo act. Show us where we fit in this big puzzle of Yours.
We are all called to the ministry. May we not grow complacent but may we use our lives well in the harvest field God has placed us in until He comes again. A life spent being poured out for the gospel is a life well spent.