In The Name Of Ministry

"Ministry" is a word that gets thrown around all the time in the Christian world. There are so many definitions for it I wouldn't even know where to start. It is starting to irritate me though.

It seems that somewhere along the line ministry got separated from servanthood. In other words, it is apparently possible to "do ministry" without being a servant and I think that is perverse.

The event that pushed me over the edge on this involved someone "in ministry" who was asked to do something for the organization they were ministering to that was beyond the scope of their defined ministry. The result was a hissy fit and a pity party about how bad they were being treated when they were trying to do something good.

It wasn't like they were being taken advantage of either. It was a simply an "all hands on deck" type of emergency and they were asked to pitch in. But somehow the fact that they were doing ministry gave them a sense of entitlement to a free pass from being a servant. People like this embarrass me.

There is a scene in the movie Amazing Grace where the actor playing John Newton is mopping the floor of a church. You get the sense that he is so overcome by what Christ did for him ("saving a wretch like me")that he sees no task too menial for him. I suppose some would look at it as penance but for me it is an indication of a humble heart. I think it does my soul good to do those kinds of tasks too. It reminds me of the servant nature of Christ.

I think we should ban the word ministry from our vocabulary and replace it with service or servanthood. Maybe that will clear up any confusion regarding entitlement. Maybe we have damaged the definition of ministry beyond recognition and, for that matter, beyond redemption.