Diversity in the Body, Where?
One of the most unique things about being a Christ follower is the ability to do minister anywhere you travel and use any medium available to man. You don’t need a complex set of tools, a fancy building, state of the art sound and video system or the best praise and worship team on the planet…all you need is Jesus.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:16-20
When we first started ministering at the races, I thought it was necessary to have a ‘complex’ at the track to be effective. Over a short period of time the Lord removed all of the fancy things we used in our ministry. Instead of a tent, chairs and all of the modern trappings of Christianity, we now hold chapel service in the bleachers/grandstands at the races. The simplicity was very freeing and allowed us more time to minister to His people instead of manage the stuff we used to minister with. He showed me my life was filled with stuff I did not need…we buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t know with money we don’t have. Shake that bush one more time.
I have found the ‘where’ of ministry is everywhere and in the most unlikely situations. We’ve been selling some of our old equipment to clear out the clutter in the office. I was contacted by an individual asking about a video mixer we were selling. He wanted to buy it for his church and wondered what the buy it now price was. The auction had already started, so ending it would have been wrong. Through the process of communicating with him about the mixer, I was able to encourage him to have faith. If the Lord wanted him to have the mixer, nothing could or would stop it from happening. He won the mixer at a price he could afford.
It’s time for Christ followers everywhere to drop the trappings of the modern Christian experience and start touch His people through our every day life. There is opportunity to minister at nearly every turn in our journey. All we have to do is be willing to look beyond the natural to see the miraculous.
Blessings