Why does one enter the ministry? “Before a person aspires to enter any profession, it is fair to ask him whether he knows what will be expected of him.”
[1] Has anyone ever asked you that—“Why are you in the ministry?” One quickly discovers that his answer must come from one or two areas—either he is in the ministry for God or for himself. Generally speaking one also quickly recognizes that whatever he is “in” for is to accomplish something for himself or for God.
A recent survey of seminary students revealed some unsettling facts:
89% of those surveyed saw preparation or enhancement of a Christian Service Career was Important.
48% saw importance in becoming a better-educated person.
74% saw the necessity of improving job skills as important or somewhat important.
37% were neutral in seeing to develop personal maturity while 26% thought this was important and 31% said this was unimportant.
48% thought that maturity in the Christian life was important, while 52% saw this as somewhat important or were neutral.
42% said they had neutral feelings about learning the basics of Bible study and prayer while 16% said this was important and another 16% said this was somewhat important and another 16% said this was unimportant.
37% thought it was important to grow in personal understanding of what God is doing in the world while 21% remained neutral and another 21% saw this was somewhat unimportant.
Look at those numbers above again and put them together. 89% see preparation or enhancement of Christian Service as important and 37% see growth in understanding what God is doing in the world as important. Less than half were neutral about learning the basics of Bible study and prayer. Neutral?
Consider these words penned in the 1880’s:
“Our position is such that we cannot remain neutral. Our life cannot be one of harmless obscurity. We must either repel or attract-save or ruin souls! How loud, then, the call, how strong the motive, to spirituality of soul and circumspectness of life! How solemn the warning against worldly-mindedness and vanity, against levity and frivolity, against negligence, sloth and cold formality! Of all men, a minister of Christ is especially called to walk with God.”
[2]If one is in ministry for God, for the accomplishment of His ends according to His means, there is no “neutral.” Where is the focus of seminarians today? Who are these people? Why are they seeking to be in the ministry? What is their purpose? Given the thought that any number of people want to be pastors is one thing, but for any of those numbers to be NUETRAL about Bible study and prayer should be a great cause for great concern. To see that such a low number see the importance of understanding what God is doing is cause for great alarm!
How surprised should we be to know that 58% of those sampled said they would serve in the church, 24% in a mission, the rest were undecided? From the positional standpoint, 46% want to be Pastors, 33% to be Missionaries, Church Planters or support staff and 10% to serve as Teachers or Counselors. 11% were undecided. These numbers represent the answer of many responses as to why people are in ministry. Being in ministry because God has called leaves no room for indecision or neutrality, as the end of ministry is not the same as the means. Horatio Bonar reminds us: “The end for which we first took office, as we declared at ordination, was the saving of souls; the end for which we still live and labor is the same; the means to this end are a holy life and a faithful fulfillment of our ministry.”
[3]What is the reason one is in the ministry? One must determine if his answer justifies the ends or the means. If one is in ministry that he may learn the holy life and faithfulness—if one is in ministry to be discipled, then he is in for the wrong reason. The personal life of the minister is the first step of the means to the end, which is the salvation of souls and the changing of men into the image of Christ. If, on the other hand, one is in ministry for the salvation of others and that ministry grows out of his personal and spiritual maturity, then he is in a better position.
The minister is the man of relationships. He is a man who has a task to perform and as a man is also a citizen who relates to the people around him, not as a professional to professionals but as a person who has been changed by the very message he preaches. He has his own physical, mental and spiritual life with accompanying duties. He has civil duties as well, representing as a citizen the person of God Himself through ceremony.
[4] The minister must remember that the message of the gospel includes the work of Christ that saves man from the power of sin (in the already) and will bring a salvation from the presence of sin (in the “not yet”). The minister of Christ models this out of his life.
The question now becomes: does one want to contribute to ministry, or commit to it? When asked how satisfied they were with their own personal contribution toward their Seminary Educational goals, 32% said they were very satisfied and 42% were simply satisfied. 16% had mixed responses and 10% were either dissatisfied or did not respond. If this is the level of contribution seminarians have toward their own education, will they be able to grow in their contribution to their ministry? The difference between contribution and commitment may be discovered by looking to the chicken who suggests to the hog that they work together at helping the poor and hungry by providing people with a nice breakfast of ham and eggs—the one may accomplish her task by contribution, but the other can only accomplish by commitment!
The minister must examine his purpose in ministry by looking to Jesus who said of his own purpose, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) In order to accomplish this Jesus had to maintain His personal walk with God. Jesus succeeded in His mission because He was totally committed to the task before Him. He was willing to give up everything, even His life, for the cause He believed in.
Within this last year I have had two conversations with two entirely different groups of pastors and missionaries about the necessity of taking time alone with God. Out of each group one person (and this person is a missionary) said to the effect, “I don’t have time to drop everything for a personal retreat, for time alone with God. From the time I get up until I fall down in exhaustion I am in ministry. I take care of my family, my people, always doing the work of the church.” What these were saying is: 1) I am in over my head; 2) I don’t have personal prayer and Bible study and have no interest in doing so. Should we be surprised when we see that less than half of those polled have any concern whatsoever for personal growth, spiritual development or for what God is doing in the world?
In preparation for my trip to Africa this last July one pastor gave me some “words of wisdom” for my trip which included these tips: Tell your host to protect you from being asked for things and make no promises for anything. This caused me great sadness because what I heard was “be unapproachable and make no plans for further ministry.” I did not follow his advice. Just by spending time in conversation and hearing needs has taught me some other things about ministry. I went to Africa telling them that what I give to them, I give in the name of the LORD and they received this as if it were a greeting from an old, dearly missed and deeply loved friend. Three pastors are getting bicycles and small groups of pastors are getting materials to further their growth and education—and none of it is coming from me! I heard their requests, we prayed together believing that God would provide and He has!
No one really succeeds in life until he reaches the point that he is willing to lay down his life. Jesus said, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." David Brainerd had such an intense compassion for souls, and was so concerned for their salvation, that he said, "I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls for Christ. While I was asleep, I dreamed of these things, and when I awoke, the first thing I thought of was this great work. All my desire was for the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God."
A one-legged schoolteacher from Scotland came to J. Hudson Taylor to offer himself for service in China. "With only one leg, why do you think of going as a missionary?" asked Taylor. "I do not see those with two legs going," replied George Scott. He was accepted. What, exactly, is one in training for? If he is in ministry for himself, then he will train to make himself be the best trained person he can be—a specialist. If, on the other hand, he is in ministry for God, then he will train to be the most obedient person God is allowing him to be. One pastor said to me recently, “I do not want to be a great man. I simply want to be obedient to God.”
Someone once compared the ministry to the circus man who spins plates on sticks. The man goes up and down the line, adding more and more plates and keeping his plates spinning he has already started. After a point he must decide which plates he wants to keep spinning and which should fall. Once he gets all the plates going that makes for a good show, he should have discovered that it is not the plates that he must keep spinning; rather, he must strengthen and build up the sticks on which the plates rest!
[1] Anderson, Robert. The Effective Pastor. Chicago: Moody, 1985.
[2] Bonar, Horatio. Words to Winners of Souls.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Harmon, Nolan. Ministerial Ethics and Etiquette. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1940.
