Everyone has their own spiritual and motivational gifts. In The Church world, we tend to think of those standing behind the pulpit, or having written the best-selling books, as having the most important gifts. "Surely it's not me because they're up there and I'm down here."
While Ephesians 4:11 refers to the Apostles, Prophets, Preachers, Teachers and Evangelists, I'd like to focus on a gift every bit as important as any of those.
YOURS!
The way I see it, if you have a job, you have a ministry.
If you're elderly and in a nursing home, you have a ministry.
If you're the head of a corporation, you have a ministry.
If you have a pulse, you have a ministry.
You see, the world doesn't need another ministry, another church building.
They don't need another Baptist, Catholic,Methodist or Presbyterian.
The world could do with one less Christian song on the radio.
In fact, the world could do without Religion.
The world could even do without Christmas.
What the world needs desperately is Christ IN YOU, the hope of glory. Since the very same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead DWELLS IN YOU (Romans 8:11), bear in mind that God desires to use your words, your actions, your finances, your very existence as an "epistle read by all men." As Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." People are watching us. They are not impressed with our church attendance and elaborate church buildings. They rank Evangelists way up there with used car salesmen, in fact. I've even had people verbally attack ME for doing my ministry "for the money."
Laughable. If they only knew.
This Thanksgiving Day, if you find yourself cooking turkey dinner for a house full, try and see it differently. Consider those in attendance to be your congregation and your dining room as their sanctuary. Without saying a word - simply by serving and loving those gathered at your table - you are their minister. What you're doing is no different than the fish Jesus cooked His Disciples for breakfast while they were fishing after His crucifixion. Perhaps you're in the kitchen of a Salvation Army, at a banquet hall, or a mess tent. You are a servant, just as Jesus was.
Obviously, by taking this line of thinking to its logical extension, you can easily make application for everything you do, from changing diapers to running a corporation. From leading a battalion to teaching 1st graders. Whether your wearing a fireman's coat or a nurse's scrubs, a business suit or greasy coveralls, these are nothing less than the camouflage uniform of a soldier in the Lord's Army.
Your weapon? As with Moses' staff, it's whatever you have in your hand. In my own life, it wasn't until I surrendered my used computer, my one-finger typing ability, my broken heart and an incurable spinal disease that I found myself truly satisfied with my life and saw what truly effective ministry looks like.
As I see it, we have two choices: 1) Do everything with all our heart, mind and strength as unto the Lord, thereby receiving a peace that passes all understanding and an unspeakable joy, or 2) Do everything for our own benefit, expecting something different while doing the same thing we've been doing for years perhaps.
How's that workin' any way?
Make this year's Thanksgiving feast the most blessed, HAPPY, gathering yet. It all begins with our perception of the occasion, whether it's a Holiday or a work day.
Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
Founder, The Church @ Work
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