14I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21but as it is written “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”
In this passage, Paul is ruminating on his ministry and future plans. In this rumination we can see several characteristics of Christian ministry that will be helpful for all of us. I say “all of us” because I fear that many Christians think ministry is for the professionals.
Romans 14:1 makes clear that Paul felt confident that the average Christian in Rome was good enough and knowledgeable enough to minister. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that all Christians are called into “the ministry of reconciliation.” 1 Peter 2:9 says that the church is a “royal priesthood.”
With this in mind, observe five characteristics of Christian ministry from this passage:
Christian Ministry is Christian. (v.16-20)
This may seem obvious, but we often forget it. We are ministers of Jesus Christ, not ministers of Dulin’s Grove Church, morality or anything else. Look at how Christocentric this passage is.
- Paul says he is a minister of Christ Jesus (16)
- In Christ Jesus, he has reason to be proud of his work (17)
- He will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through him
- Looking back, he sees that he has fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ (19b)
- Looking forward, he wants to name Christ where he hasn’t yet been named (20)
Remember in The Three Stooges when two stooges would try to wrestle the other to the ground and in all the ruckus the victim would slip out, leaving the other two unknowingly wrestling each other? I think this happens in the church. We want to do good ministry, so we start wrestling with plans, methods and programs. The whole ruckus gets increasingly chaotic until eventually Jesus slips out of the church altogether and we’re left just wrestling with programs, budgets and meetings.
Here’s a helpful exercise. Imagine that our church website was just a static page with a list of all that Christ has accomplished through us. Not what we’ve accomplished through our own efforts. Only the life-changing work that Jesus has done through the people who call themselves Dulin’s Grove. What would it look like?
We are to minister in a way that Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheist and all others who don’t believe in and follow Jesus Christ. We are to minister in a distinctly Christian way. After all, in the end, Christ is all we really have to offer anyway. And he’s what the world needs.
Christian Ministry is Priestly (v.16)
Paul calls his ministry “the priestly service of the gospel of God” (v.16). The Jewish priests were the elite class of people who were allowed into God’s direct presence. Remember when Jesus died and the curtain separating the Holy of Holies was ripped open? That signified that the separation between God and his people was removed.
In Christ, we may each boldly approach his throne, offering our bodies as living sacrifices. When a Christian talks about God, he isn’t talking about some abstract idea or a fictional character. He’s talking about a real being in whose presence he has spent time. This means that we are not just people helping people. When a Christian is working to connect people to God through Jesus and interceding for them in prayer, he is doing priestly work.
Christian Ministry is Verbal (v.15-21)
You may have heard the catchphrase, “Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary.” Well, words are necessary. Look at how word-centric ministry is according to Paul’s view:
- He has written (15)
- He is in the service of the gospel of God (16, 19)
- It involves word and deed (18)
- His ambition is to preach the gospel (20)
- He wants to name Christ (20)
What is the power of God unto salvation? The gospel (Romans 1:16). What is the gospel? News. And how is news communicated? With words. CNN has never hired a mime. We are ministers of news. We are like old school paperboys on a New York street corner yelling, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it: God forgives sins through Jesus Christ for all who believe in and follow him!”
Christian Ministry is Supernatural (v.19)
Jesus and the apostles experienced signs and wonders a lot. We don’t. Why? There is Biblical evidence that perhaps God worked in visible signs and wonders through Jesus and the apostles to establish Jesus’ identity and the foundation of the church and that now he works through the ‘ordinary’ supernatural. Regardless of how we look at this question, the fact remains that all of Christianity is supernatural. Salvation is the supernatural event in which God awakens spiritually dead people and gives them new life through belief in Jesus Christ. Sanctification is the supernatural process in which God causes the fruit of the Spirit to grow in his people.
Christian Ministry is Missionary (v.20-21)
When Jesus talked about establishing his church, he said that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. This implies that the gospel is advancing. The church is on offense, not defense.
Where are you headed with the gospel? In your home? Your neighborhood?
Conclusion
Like Paul, we are Christian Ministers. Our work is Christian, Priestly, Verbal, Supernatural and Missionary.
I’ll close this sermon with some questions to consider:
- Do you know Jesus well enough to introduce others to him?
- Who are the top three people you feel called to pray will be reconciled to God through Jesus?
- How can you prepare yourself to speak of Jesus and the gospel with people, starting this week?
- What is your current area of ministry?
- What is the next area of ministry?
Discussion Starters
- What does it mean to be “a minister of Christ Jesus” as Paul says in verse 15? Can you think of any other scriptures that shed light on this phrase? (See 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 to get started.)
- What is “the priestly service of the gospel of God?” (For clues, see Romans 12:1; Hebrews 4:14-15:4 and 1 Peter 2:4-10.)
- Read verse 18. If we could put on our website only a record of “what Christ has accomplished through” us, what might that list look like?
- Do you know Jesus well enough to introduce others to him?
- Who are the top three people you feel called to pray will be reconciled to God through Jesus?
- How can you prepare yourself to speak of Jesus and the gospel with people, starting this week?
- What is your current area of ministry?
- Take some time to pray together as a group.
