glennshaffer's blog

There is no greater fulfillment in life than serving in the Master’s kingdom. Each person has a part to play. For centuries the church has been divided into two groups, clergy and layman. Now God has begun to take down that wall of separation.  The healthiest churches around the world are those in which all members are encouraged to become active in their gifts.

Who are the Ministers?

In the early church every member was considered a minister. Peter tells us that the people are a royal priesthood.[1] Paul said that each one has a ministry function. Therefore, every member is a minister.

It is common to refer to members in the church as layman. This is an Old Testament term used to refer to those who cannot participate in the holy things of God.[2]  When members are seen as non-ministers; then only the hired professionals are perceived as capable of doing ministry. Thus, the separation between clergy and layman is made. We must guard against this traditional means of separating leaders and members. In rejecting an artificial division between clergy and laity, we are not saying there should not be great respect given to elders who labor in the Word. The Bible plainly teaches that we are to submit to those who are in authority over us,[3] and to esteem them highly in love for the sake of the work.[4] However, these leaders should be more appropriately seen as coaches and the members as players who have been trained and equipped for participation.

In the Gospels we read that Jesus chose fishermen and ordinary individuals to be the foundational apostles for His church. In the Book of Acts we see people like Philip, Barnabas, and Stephen who were regular people equipped in the local church and did mighty works of ministry. Therefore, the local church should be the training center where ordinary people are developed to serve under the elders as ministers of the Gospel.

New Testament ministry includes, winning people to Christ, developing them in ministry, and releasing them to responsibilities and oversight for others.  That should be our goal in the church today; members growing in their gifts and fully functioning in the local church as followers of Christ.

What Is Ministry?

The word ministry is translated from the word serve or servant. The Greek word diakonia (dee-ak-on-ee’-ah) means to attend (as a servant) or to aid in Christian service. The Greek word diakonos (dee-ak’-on-os) is from where we get the word deacon. To minister is to serve in and through one’s spiritual gift.

As you take on responsibilities, you learn to identify your gift and look for opportunities that fit your area. A willingness to serve regardless of the area, however, is paramount to developing one in ministry. It is in these tasks that one develops. There are many ministry tasks[5] in the church that may or may not be within a person’s particular gifting or calling but they are important, nevertheless, to developing faithfulness in the disciple.

Unfortunately, many Christians see ministry as a glamorous and public presentation. They often talk about the future as though one day they will be in ministry. These Christians are looking more for position than they are biblical ministry. They fail to discern the Body of Christ and the value of every member as a minister. They may see the daily care of young disciples as an interruption to their own agenda, thus missing true ministry.

Ministry in the church is primarily winning the lost, assimilating new Christians into the life of the Church, discipling them into maturity, and mobilizing them into service. Unless one is mentoring others or supporting those that are, then he has not entered New Testament ministry. Ministry is about people. People matter to God.  Christ’s church is made up of people, and those who submerge themselves in and among the people of God will be the ministers in the Church.

Developing In Ministry

Ministry comes out of being. You cannot take others where you have not been. You cannot impart to others what you do not have, and you cannot truly teach what you have not experienced. Ministry flows out of maturity. Maturity grows out of experiences and properly relating to God and His Word in these life situations.  It is during difficult circumstances when one matures the most. A disciple must recognize the learning process and gather wisdom from every setback. Then he will always mature.

There are some practical steps you can take to develop in ministry.

1)   Acknowledge and accept your placement – Many people are always looking toward the future for ministry while failing to recognize the place in which they reside. Accept where God has placed you in the local church to develop. Also acknowledge and accept your spiritual gifts as God has given them to you.  Bloom where you are planted.

2)   Submit to the vision of where you are planted – Apply yourself to support the vision of the church where you are planted. Lay down your personal agenda and become consumed with developing under someone else. Accept ministry tasks when the leaders ask you. Go through the foundation classes and training to become involved in your church. Pray for the leadership and support them with your whole heart.

3)   Commit to the spiritual formations[6] in your life – Allow adverse situations to develop and grow you. Learn through these times. Apply yourself to character developing and the development of your inner-life in Christ. Learn the power of God’s presence through prayer and fasting. Learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and establish a regular time in the Word of God.

4)   Ask for help with ministry skills – Be willing to be mentored. Don’t expect anyone to give you all his time, but determine what you can receive from those around you. Write out where you see they can help you and ask for that help. Seek input from others on how you can develop and improve your people skills, communication skills, and leadership skills. Apply your self to reading and studying in the areas in which you need development the most. Develop further in your gifts.

5)   Seek fruit that will remain – At the end of your life, what will matter the most are the people in whom you have invested your life. Determine now that you will disciple others into what you are learning. Your own ministry development is in direct proportion to the people whom you have helped in their ministry. When you help enough people reach their potential, your leadership influence will have grown exponentially. The true test of a mature disciple is when those he has discipled are making disciples.  That is fruit that will remain.

In the New Testament, elders were never elected by the people but appointed by apostles. Some maintain that a democratic form of selection is meant in Acts 14, when Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every city.  The Greek word for “appoint” cheirotoneo can be translated as to stretch forth the hand as to select or appoint.[1] Consequently, some claim this was done through an election process. The contextual authority would hardly allow for such a translation. It is Paul and Barnabas who are stretching forth their hands as in the order of “laying on of hands” for the ordination process.  That is far from the common modern-day order of electing elders. “In Acts 14:23, therefore, we are simply told that Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in the recently founded churches of South Galatia, but the verb itself tells us nothing about the method of appointment. To insist, as some scholars do, that Paul and Barnabas followed the procedure of Acts 6:1-6 [ordaining of deacons] when appointing elders is unjustified. The congregations’ involvement is simply not revealed in this passage.”[2]

Elders were never voted out of office in the New Testament.  They served for the remainder of their life unless they left that church, became disqualified through a moral failure, or resigned, or died. Elders are called by God and proven through time and service as worthy to be ordained in a particular local church.

This process of selection includes the following essential elements. Six yeses are needed to fully discover those who are ready to serve the local congregation as shepherds.

1)  YES TO GOD: A personal response to the call and gift of God.  The individual must know personally that God has called him or her to one of the five gifts of Ephesians 4:11.

2)  YES TO PEOPLE: A demonstrated willingness to care for people.  Discipleship and care for others is a must for an elder to earn the authority needed to give oversight. A less mature individual may declare, “I have the gift to pastor, God has called me, why doesn’t anyone appoint me to lead?”  That is a complete misunderstanding of how the process works. Apostles are looking for those who are already serving. No one makes someone else what they are not. To lay hands upon an individual before they have proven themselves worthy will only result in a rejection by the people. It requires submerging oneself in the care of others before true authority will be released. A true shepherd will smell like sheep.  He will be among the people. It is not a position that should be sought, but a care for the sheep.

3)  YES TO THE VISION: A willingness to accept the vision of the local church. In order to be given a place of leadership as an elder one must submerge oneself in the vision of that local house. Without fully embracing the direction and values of the local church then division will develop. When one embraces the same vision and direction of the church then authority will be given to them through service.

4) YES TO AUTHORITY: A willingness to work and submit under someone else.  In order to have authority, one must be under authority. It is important that an individual who is to serve as an elder be submitted to others and not to his own agenda.

We see a team of elders serving the churches of the New Testament. This requires a submissive heart to flow together with others. Jesus established this principle when he spoke of the steward who must first be faithful to that which belongs to another, before God will give him his own.[3]  Though no church belongs to an elder, the principle of faithful servanthood is meant here.

5)  YES THROUGH A CONFIRMING WORD:  Confirmation of their gift through prophets and apostles. In a church that embraces the full gifts of Ephesians, there will over time, be opportunities for God to reveal before others what an individaul’s gift is in that church.  This confirmation may come before or even after there is evidence, nevertheless, evidence of the gift must be received by others before one is ordained an elder.

Apostles have a key role in this selection as we see Paul and Barnabas ordaining elders in every church. Often times there will be a conformation through the prophetic words of prophets. [4]  It has been our practice to have one or two foundational gifts (apostles or prophets) join the presbytery at each ordination. These are individuals who are outside of our local congregation, yet very much in relationship to the church, so the people have confidence in a broader counsel of ministry.

6)   YES THROUGH RESPECT:  A level of respect and authority among the people.  An elder must be able to stand before the people with spiritual authority of his or her own so that when he speaks he stands as a representative of God. It is imperative that one be received by the congregation through respect given to him.  “Before Paul appointed elders at Thessalonica, he wrote to the church, exhorting the congregation to know and esteem those who labored among them.  Presumably, Paul planned to return on a later occasion and officially appoint those who were known and esteemed by the assembly for their labor.”[5]

This aspect of ordaining elders is crucial. Too often, someone is ordained because they are close to the lead elder/senior pastor.  The fear may be that if they are overlooked that the embarrassment will be too great, so pressure is placed upon the other elders to ordain someone before their time.  That is why Paul urged Timothy to not “be quick to lay on hands.”[6]

If an “elder to be” is operating in delegated authority only from the lead elder, then he is not ready to stand alone as an elder in his own right. It is not until the people receive an elder as speaking for God in agreement with the eldership, is he fully received and ready to be ordained.  It has been my experience that when an elder is ordained and the congregation declares, “We could have done this some time ago, because he has already been serving as an elder,” then the timing is probably correct.  However, if one is ordained too early the people may enquire, “What makes him an elder?”  Great confidence is lost if an elder does not stand in respect before the people himself.  He must be a teacher and minister with spiritual authority in his own right.