As a pastor, the most frequently asked question (MFAQ) I hear is, “What do you do all week, anyways?”At lunch last week, one of the men from our church remarked, “I guess you spend most of your days emailing, eh?” Others say things like, “You only work one day a week, right?” One person in my office was recently surprised to discover that we were hiring a full-time children’s pastor. “You mean that’s an actual job at the church?!…Do they get paid?”
The MFAQ results from a misunderstanding about the nature of ministry. A generation of people have been lead to believe that ministry is what a pastor does on Sunday morning and the product of this false perception is passive Christian spectators who watch from the sidelines, go home with untransformed lives, and have a steadily declining influence in culture.
The truth of the matter is that all Christ-followers are called to ministry. All of us. Without exception. Ministry is anything & everything we do to help hurting people find Christ. It is anything & everything we do to to love and support one another. Ministry is what a biblically functioning community does.
Can you imagine living a life dedicated to serving Christ by serving others? That’s what I do all week & trust me when I tell you that 40 hours is not enough. It’s 11:27 PM right now … and I’ve got a lot of work to do.
My greatest joy is seeing people mature in Christ and begin to minister to others. That’s how I know that they “get it.” That’s how I know that Christ is alive in them. And that’s how we can change the world…one life at a time. Thanks for joining the revolution!
Kraig,
I’m sure you actually work around 60-70 hours a week, not counting all of the thought you put into ministry during your free time. I appreciate the work you do and look forward to watching your Christ centered influence change the world.
Don’t just “watch” it happen … help me make it happen!