Previously, in my “In Christ for the World” blog series, I reflected on the implications of our answers to these two questions: “Are you in the World for God?” or “Are you in God for the World?” as they pertain to “politics“. In this current blog, I will reflect on how our answer to these questions influence our concept of “ministry.”
The above picture demonstrates the reality of being in Christ. Unfortunately, when we are “in the world for Christ”, it becomes acceptable to not challenge the injustices of our society under the guise of ’being relevant.’ Eventually with such a view, the honor system of the world (in our case, wealth), becomes the hermeneutic (translation) for how we understand Scripture and the Christian life. Consider the modern phenomenon of the “prosperity gospel,” a poor contextualization that is more in line with “western materialism” than it is with Jesus Christ or His historical church. The logic of such a view is that if we are right with God and have enough faith, “God will make us wealthy.” God in fact wants to make us rich! I heard one friend tell me how he once heard an Irish preacher say that Jesus Christ was actually wealthy because he had a personal banker (Judas). SERIOUSLY?!?! The fruit of such a false gospel is “Pastors” getting rich on the backs of the poor! The above picture shows the “prosperity gospel” in the second Century – Christians being fed to lions for their confession that “Jesus and (not the Emperor) is Lord.”
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Jesus really used me to _______”? Or have you heard a person say, “MY ministry is ______.” ? Most of the time when people use such phrases they only wish to convey how the Lord is working in their context and do not mean to sound egotistical. But such phrases highlight what ministry is like when we operate from “being in the world for Christ.” When my wife asks me to unload the dishwasher and eventually I get around to doing it, I don’t say “My wife really used to me to wash the dishes.” Of course not, we are more than just peons or pieces on a chess board to Jesus.
As Steve Seamands once put it, “Ministry is not so much asking Jesus to join you in your ministry, but you joining Jesus in HIS ministry.” It is not my asking Christ to join me in my ministry, as I offer him to others, but rather it is my joining with him in his ongoing ministry and mission as He offers himself to others through me. When we are “In Christ for the World” no longer do we pray “Lord, help me in this ministry.” But instead, “Lord, help yourself to me in this.”
Consider the “secret” of Mother Theresa’s ministry, “I just want to be a little pencil in the hand of my Lord. So that he can write whatever he wants.”
