Spring 1975
The Purpose of Ministry
Wade E. Taylor
President of Pinecrest

All ministry is a gift. Each time Paul mentions the word ministry in the Word of God, coupled with it is the word “gift,” or the connotation of giving. “He gave,” (Ephesians 4:11); “whereof I was made a minister, according to the ‘gift’ of the grace of God…” (Ephesians 3:7); “As every man hath received the ‘gift,’ even so minister the same…” (I Peter 4:10-11). The Lord gives us a gift of ministry and then He requires faithfulness to that gift.

This truth is confirmed in Matthew 25:14-30 through the parable of the talents. To one He gave one talent, to another two, and to another five; to each according to his several ability. “He gave.” What He then expected in return was not “much done,” but rather, “well done.” That is, not what was accomplished, but how- “Well done thou ‘good’ (Godly)—the effect that the ministry had on us—and ‘faithful’ servant.” The ministry is a gift, and God cannot reward us for something which He has given. But He rewards us according to our “faithfulness” in the use of the gift.

Each one in the Body of Christ has a ministry. It is not only the one who stands behind the pulpit that has the call of God on his life, but we all have a ministry; a gift. In the religious systems of our day, the idea has been impressed upon us that we are spectators of the one who ministers. This is not God’s divine pattern for He would have each member to function in ministry. “ . . when ye come together, everyone of you hath . . .” (I Corinthians 14:26). Our ministry may be prayer, intercession, praying at an altar or personal work; it may be leading people through to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Our ministry may be in the realm of the gifts of the Spirit, or God may give us one of the five-fold ministry gifts. There are many different ministries. Whatever it is, we all have a ministry and no one ministry is more important than another (I Corinthians 12:22-25). But we are never rewarded for our ministry; we are rewarded for our faithfulness to that which God has given, “for it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (I Corinthians 4:1-2).

It is more important that we seek the Lord and find our place of ministry in the Body of Christ and then move into it. However, the ultimate of God is not the ministry which we have, discovering it and coming into it; but the ultimate of God is that (in being faithful to that ministry) we are conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. In Romans 8:28-29; Paul says that the purpose of God is that we are to be conformed to the image of His Son, and that He takes all things in our lives and then works them together toward this purpose. So through our faithfulness to the gift of ministry which He has given, the Holy Spirit will work into our life the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. Likewise, the purpose of the five-fold ministry being placed in the Body of Christ is set forth in Ephesians 4:12 (Amplified): “His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints, that they should do the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s Body, the church.”

The talent is God’s deposit of Himself in you. Are you spending it? Have you found your place in the Body of Christ?