In Ephesians 4:11-12 we are told that "He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the erquipping of the saints for the work of service...". The primary responsibility of ministers is to equip others to do the work of the ministry, not do it all themselves. The church will never become the "body" which it is called to be, until those in ministry see that one of their primary responsibilities is the equipping and releasing of others to do the same ministry. It is in this way that a ministry multiplies itself and bears more fruit.
It is a basic function of every living creature to reproduce itself. If we are not reproducing our ministry in others we are not abiding in the vine so as to bear fruit, and we are not fulfilling the basic commission to ministry as it is outlined in the Scripture above. Discipleship received a bad name during the seventies and eighties, but it is still an essential biblical principle that must be implemented in a biblically balanced way if the church is to fulfill its mandate in this hour. Control and manipulation can get into any movement, and just because it may have entered into a discipleship movement does not disqualify such an important aspect of the ministry. We must understand and use the mistakes of the past so that we do not fall into the same traps; but we must also understand that the enemy would not have so attacked that movement unless it were of critical importance.
It took the Lord over three years to reproduce His ministry in the twelve to a high degree, and the seventy to a lesser degree. Of course, Jesus was the best and we cannnot expect to match His results until we are fully yielded to Him. I have asked the Lord to give me some realistic goals for how many ministries I should be equipping at this time. I have a goal of releasing at least three into the full time ministry every three years, with many more being equipped to at least begin to walk in their callings. My ultimate goal is to release ten to twelve every three years. At the same time I hope to be stirring up the gifts in many more who will at least begin to walk in their callings with a vision of growing into a mature and fruitful ministry.
Those who we train should also be trained to release others in ministry. We see this principle established by Paul in his relationship to Timothy. In II Timothy 2:2 he exhorts Timothy: "And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also." Here we actually see four generations of spiritual impartation and reproduction: Paul, Timothy, the faithful men, and those that they teach.
The Lord Jesus is obviously the greatest type and model for true ministry. He gave Himself to ministry on basically three levels: the multitudes, the seventy and the twelve (this could be carried further to include the three most intimate of the twelve). This seemed to be a reflection of the ministry in the temple, which was itself modeled after the Tabernacle of Moses. In each of these there was an Outer Court, a Holy Place and a Holy of Holies. Anyone seeking the Lord could enter the Outer Court, but there was a much higher level of sanctification and a specific commission from God required to enter the Holy Place. There was an even higher level of sanctification and commission required to enter the Holy of Holies.
The Lord Jesus, the first "Tabernacle not made with hands" seemed to walk in His ministry on a similar three levels. He ministered to the multitudes but gave more specialized attention to the seventy, who He sent out to also do the work of the ministry. To the twelve He was even more personal, as they were to be the leaders of the church who would take His own place in the earthly realm.
It seems inevitable that everyone in the ministry who does not maintain a ministry on these same three levels will become imbalanced and fail to produce the fruit of which they are capable. Those who just want to minister to those who are "going all the way with God," become increasingly introverted and unable to relate to others. Those who give all of their devotion to ministering to the "multitudes" without a more intimate circle they are serving, are usually restricted by a shallowness that is limited in how far it can carry believers toward spiritual maturity. Those who maintain a ministry on at least two or three levels are usually able to stay in touch with the people as well as provide for those who are going on to maturity. Those who also give themselves to an even more intimate circle who are being trained not only in ministry, but given increasing responsibility in leadership, usually are the ones who leave ministries, congregations or movements and who go on to even greater spiritual advancement and fruit after their passing. Sadly, the latter type are very rare.
Copyright: 1994 by Morningstar Publications and Ministries. All rights reserved.This article is published courtesy of "The Morningstar Publications and Ministries". If you would like to peruse more of their articles, visit Morningstar's website. Click
logo.
[PREVIOUS] [HOME] [WORLDSCOPE] [FEEDBACK] [POST OFFICE] [THE JESUS FILES] [BOOK EXPRESS] [RANDOM] [SEARCH]
For more information on Bible studies available, visit the Churchlink site on the World Wide Web at http://www.churchlink.com.au/churchlink. Enquiries to: [email protected]