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A Ministry?

              In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’” (Matthew 3:1-3)

Continuing to think about ministry, today’s passage doesn’t use the word, but it describes what John the Baptist did. He fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 40:3. He prepared the way for Jesus. This wasn’t a joyous task, necessarily. His job was to call people to repentance. There would be joy over those who repented, but “Repent” just isn’t a happy message. “The kingdom of heaven coming near” might be seen as either good or bad. It certainly would mean changes in the status quo.

The point is that our ministries may not be what we expect them to be. The fact that we aren’t part of the official “minister” clique doesn’t mean we’re not supposed to minister. The fact that we aren’t supporting ourselves with our so-called ministry doesn’t mean it’s not a ministry. In fact, if we were making money on the deal, that might (or might not) disqualify it from being a ministry.

Part of my consideration of the topic is my writing. Part of me claims that the only way my stories could be considered a ministry is 1) if I have lots of copies out there being read by lots of people, and 2) that the stories fit some standard of which I’m not aware or am unable to meet.

Our ministries may not look like ministries to us, but that doesn’t prevent God from using them as one.

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