right attitudes for ministry

Right Attitudes for Ministry

I.                 Have Humility In Grace (Romans 12:3-8)

A.   Do Honest Self-Evaluation (v. 3)

(Rom 12:3)  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

We have been studying the gifts of the Spirit in this quarter.  The gifts are tools of ministry, not meant to be used for selfish purposes.  Being used of God to do supernatural things can go to our heads and convince us of our special place or privilege.  We have no latitude for conceit in our servanthood.  Nothing God uses us to do is deserved or earned by us, therefore we cannot fall into arrogance and pride without damaging our usefulness in the kingdom ministries.  We can be confident in Christ and in His grace and love, but He deserves all the credit.

B.   Respect Fellow Christians (vv. 4, 5)

(Rom 12:4)  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

(Rom 12:5)  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

There are no majors and minors in the body of Christ.  The person at the forefront seemingly garnering fame and repute is no more vital to the working of the Church than the one laboring and praying in seclusion, interceding for those on the front lines of battle.  We must regard all other believers as worthy of respect, no matter the gift, gifts, or apparent lack of gifts they display.  The distribution of the gifts is up to the sovereign will of the Spirit, not our view of the recipients.  Every member of the Body complements the others in ministry.

C.   Serve By Gifts of Grace (vv. 6-8)

(Rom 12:6)  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

(Rom 12:7)  Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

(Rom 12:8)  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

The grace of the Father energizes all ministry.  Whatever we find ourselves anointed with or equipped with, our part of the process is to act in our gifts with eager humility and selfless passion, so that we expend our efforts to minister with the highest possible excellence we are capable of.  God never bestows gifts so we can demonstrate laziness.

II.            Be Willing To Serve (1 Peter 4:7-11)

A.   Use Time Wisely (vv. 7-9)

(1Pe 4:7)  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

(1Pe 4:8)  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

(1Pe 4:9)  Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

Peter exhorted his listeners to minister to one another in love, remaining aware of the imminence of the end of days and the culmination of God’s plan for mankind.  We do not have forever and we must live and be used of God now without hesitation and distraction.

B.   Be Good Stewards of God’s Grace (v. 10)

(1Pe 4:10)  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The gift could be any gift of the Spirit, or any innate ability God gave us from birth, or any advantage or wealth we acquire by the grace of God in our living. We don’t own what God graciously pours into our lives.  If we are obedient believers we will also be responsible stewards of God’s things.

C.   Serve God by Ministry to Others (v. 11)

(1Pe 4:11)  If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Expressing anything as from the will and mind of God imposes on the speaker an enormous burden of responsibility to represent God accurately and humbly.  God does not play games with arrogant men who think they can use Him to gain fame or power.  If we want to stand righteously before the throne, we must be faithful witnesses careful to truly represent the Father.

III.        Be Motivated By Love (1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13:13

A.   Love Is Essential (12:31 – 13:3)

(1Co 12:31)  But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

(1Co 13:1)  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

(1Co 13:2)  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

(1Co 13:3)  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Paul urgently desired that the Corinthians would embrace the wisdom he set forth in chapter 13.  All their eagerness to be used in the giftings of the Spirit would be futile and worse than useless if they didn’t do all of it in sincere love for those they ministered to.

B.   Be Governed by Love (13:4-7)

(1Co 13:4)  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

(1Co 13:5)  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

(1Co 13:6)  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

(1Co 13:7)  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Agape love is sacrificial, selfless love.  Paul listed the ways that such love would manifest in the Corinthians’ walk.  They were mere human beings, not capable reaching he ethereal heights of servanthood in themselves.  The kind of love Paul described in these verses only comes as the Spirit changes us into the likeness of Christ.  We desperately need to love like this also.  The gifts will be powerful and effective when we allow God to use us in them coupled with true love for our brothers and sister and all that we meet in ministry.

C.   Love Goes on Forever (vv. 8-13)

(1Co 13:8)  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

(1Co 13:9)  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

(1Co 13:10)  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

(1Co 13:11)  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

(1Co 13:12)  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

(1Co 13:13)  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Paul understood that the level of love he described would take the Corinthians to a fullness of relationship with Christ and would sustain them in eternity.  When we achieve a more perfect understanding of God and His plan for us, we will also see that everything He is and does stems from the kind of love Paul is describing.  God so loved the world, and His will for us is that we learn to so love also.  All abilities and enablements granted by God to us are good only in as far as they operate in love.