New Morning Mercies #212

What could be a greater, higher honor than to be a chosen instrument for the most important renewal project in the universe—redemption?

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:16–20)

Christ’s commission to the disciples is his commission to the church and is his plan for the life of every single believer. No one has been chosen to be just a recipient of the redemptive work of his kingdom. No, everyone who has been chosen to be a recipient has also been commissioned to be an instrument of the work of that kingdom as well. The work of evangelism, the spiritual growth work of the church and the cause of worldwide missions, was never designed by the Redeemer to be shouldered by a small collection of paid religious professionals. Does God set people apart for ministry? Of course he does! But their role is not just to do ministry, but to mobilize, train, and equip all of God’s people for the great honor and privilege of publishing his amazing grace wherever they are. It is sad that so many of God’s people spend their lives searching for some significant endeavor to give themselves to when they have been chosen to be part of the most powerfully transformative work in the history of the universe.

Part of our problem is that we tend to carry around with us an unbiblical definition of ministry that allows us to live comfortably as Christian consumers. We think of ministry this way: we have our little private lives that belong to us, and we step out of our lives into moments of ministry and then step back into our lives after those ministry initiatives are over. The fact of the matter is that since we have been bought with the blood of Jesus, our lives don’t belong to us anymore. They are his possession for his use. This means that our life is ministry and ministry is our life. There is no real separation between life and ministry. That means we live, work, relate, play, and relax with a ministry mentality. It means I am always thinking about how to be part of what God is doing in the locations where he places me. This means my connection to the work of the body of Christ is not that I’m the attender of something, but rather that I am a participant in something along with everyone else. I am part of God’s “all of my people, all of the time” redemptive plan. The greatest honor of my life is that I have been chosen to be both a recipient and an instrument. This has given my life deeper meaning than anything I could have discovered on my own. This is what grace alone can do.

For further study and encouragement: Matthew 5:13–16