The Apostle Paul once asked a group of believers, “What do you have that you did not receive” (1 Cor 4:7). He was challenging the hubris of people in the church whose actions and attitudes exalted themselves and caused divisions among the believers. According to Paul, such pride and attention-seeking is unfitting for followers of Christ. Why? Because everything we have we have received from the Lord. We thus have no reason to be “puffed up” (1 Cor 4:6).
This same notion applies to how we think about the work of ministry. Positions of ministry are received, not seized. We do not—or at least should not—grasp at ministry positions as opportunities to enlarge our own footprint or platform. It is the Lord himself who gives particular ministries to people as he sees fit. We simply receive them by his mercy (2 Cor 4:1).
Received, not Seized
Reflecting on his own ministry, Paul makes this point explicit. In Acts 20:24, he declares, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
Paul understood clearly that his position of ministry was something received. It was given to him by the Lord and was thus a stewardship. As such, Paul rules out ministerial pride and hubris. He does not think too highly of himself. After all, he had not arrived at his position in ministry by his own will or a determined focus on vocational advancement. Rather, his sole focus was to magnify the person from whom he received his ministry—Jesus Christ.
Given, not Grasped
Years earlier, John the Baptist expressed similar sentiments. Some of his disciples came to him after he had baptized Jesus and pressed him with a question about ministry: “Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.’ John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.” The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease’”(John 3:25–30).
John’s view of ministry here strikes at the heart of the matter. The baptizer had no problem with people flocking to Jesus’ ministry instead of his own, in part because he understood that his own ministry was something that had been “given him from heaven.” His ministry position was a stewardship, something which he received from God. Therefore, for John, whether people flocked to him or to some other preacher sent from above was ultimately immaterial. John’s aim was not to magnify himself or grasp a position of prominence. Rather, his aim was to faithfully carry out the ministry given to him—to exalt and prepare the way for the one to whom all redemptive history points.
__________
When we, like John and Paul, understand that ministry is given, not grasped, then we too can readily accept however God chooses to use us. We become free to labor joyfully no matter what ministry God entrusts to us—whether that ministry is one of prominence or obscurity. Our aim remains the same. We do not commend ourselves; rather, we commend Christ and make much of him.
Photo by Ben Ackerman on Unsplash
