Job or Ministry?

As we travel into the month of September — the traditional beginning of a new academic year — and slowly returning to a vortex of renewed fall activities, I trust many of you are thinking about re-committing yourselves to serving God through the church.

I know some of you have been ministering pretty much in the same area in which you feel you’re gifted and are comfortable to continue, while others may still feel somewhat awkward without fully knowing which area of ministry you should attempt. However, no matter how we feel how active we should be in church, or in which area we should serve, I believe the one question that we need to ask ourselves is: Is this a job or ministry?

It’s true that some people may feel they have a job to do in the church, while others involve themselves in ministry — but, what’s the difference?

How about:

• If you do it just because no one else will . . . it’s a job! If you do it to serve God . . . it’s a ministry!

• If you quit because someone criticized you . . . it’s a job! If you kept on serving in spite of challenges . . . it’s a ministry!

• If you’ll do it only so long as it doesn’t interfere with other things . . . it’s a job! If you’re committed to staying with it, even when it means letting other things go . . . it’s a ministry!

• If you quit because no one ever praised or thanked you . . . it’s a job! If you stay even though no one notices your efforts . . . it’s a ministry!

• If you do it because someone else said it needs to be done . . . it’s a job! If you do it because you sensed God saying it needs to be done . . . it’s a ministry!

"It’s hard to get excited about a job. It’s almost impossible not to get excited about a ministry!" [Source unknown]

It’s true that most average churches are filled with people doing jobs, while growing churches are filled with people involved in ministry! My hope and prayer for Riverside this year is that we are filled with people who are involved in ministry because they are compelled to do so by God’s love, and are excited about what they do because they hear and respond to God’s calling on their lives to serve Him and His people!

At Riverside, there are many areas of ministry which could use your gift: volunteering to teach a Sunday school class, singing or playing in the choir or praise band, taking on a mission cause, assisting in children & youth ministries, serving on one of the ministry teams.

These are some of the examples now awaiting you to be part of the ministry that God has called you to serve. Are you listening?

As you consider God’s calling on your spiritual life, pondering which functioning part of Christ’s body of which you should be a part, remember Paul’s words to the Romans: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship . . . For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness” (12:1, 4-8).

Yours in Christ,