What Is Ministry? Who Should Be Ministers?

Ministry in its simplest form is the work of people in the church.  It comes from the Greek word Diakonia, which refers  to the working under the command of God in a given role or just “service”.  It is the word translated as deacon, but does not necessarily mean anything other than those who serve. So, ministry is doing the work of God in the church and a deacon would be someone who serves in the church not a particular office in the church.

Who Should Be Ministers?

The simplest answer is everyone who claims Christ as Lord.  We have made ministry the job of a few and left the work of Christ to those people when it is all of us who should be doing the work.  We have done this because that is the way our churches have been set up for the last 1500 years, but that is a different post.  What I want you to see is that you don’t need someone else telling you how to serve God.  You need to be listening and looking for ways he can use you. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your diakonos or servant, and whoever will be first will be the slave of all.”  (Mark 10:43-44) Service starts with love.  We can never serve anyone we don’t love and that includes ourselves.  As we rely on Christ to lead us and show us our true selves in him loving becomes easier.  The more we see how much he loves us the more we love and serve others.  It really is a great cycle to be on.

You are the church.  Whether you are Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, or any other denomination or non-denomination, you are the church.  Jesus is the head of the church so listen to him and do ministry as he wants you to.