A Biblical View of the Minister

Dear Bethelites,

The Corinthians were divided and arguing amongst themselves as to who was better, Paul, Apollos or Peter.  This was because of their wrong view of the minister.  But is it wrong to evaluate the ministry of the pastor?  No!  One needs to have a biblical view.  From 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, Paul dealt with how the minister should be biblically evaluated.

I. His position

1 Corinthians 4:1, Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Let a man was a generic way of addressing everyone, and the word us would include Paul, Apollos, Peter and all the other fellow ministers.  To account was to regard or to reckon; it is an accounting term which means to take inventory, calculate and come to a conclusion.  In other words, if they wanted to evaluate the ministers, firstly they must be able to regard carefully his position as the ministers of Christ.

A minister is a subordinate or a servant.  The literal meaning is an under-rower (huperetes); someone who rows the boat, but he is the under-rower working at the lowest level of the ship.  In those days, the ships did not have engines, and they needed people to row the oars to sail the vessel.  It was common for the ship owners to have servants to do the jobs, and they would line those servants on each side of the ship to row the oars and propel the vessel through the waters.  They had different levels of rowers, and the under-rowers were the kind of servants working on the lowest level of the ship.

Here, it carries the idea of someone who was a servant being in total submission to the one who owned him -  someone who was willing to submit to the point of sacrificing his own life for his master.  Paul understood the true meaning of being an under-rower and that was why as a minister (huperetes, under-rower), he was willing to work at the lowest level of the ship (so to speak), and to endure afflictions, hardships, persecutions, beatings.

This is contrary to the modern day televangelists, pastors and preachers belonging to mega- churches who love to be accorded special places to sit in functions, and demanded respect and honour from the people.  But nothing is further from the truth; a minister is essentially a servant, an under-rower.

The minister is a servant and his allegiance is to his master Jesus Christ, hence, the phrase ministers of Christ.  He is not a servant to the board of elders, session or congregation, but Christ.

The problem with many churches is when the minister feels obligated to the congregation or to certain people within the church as if the latter is the master and he is their servant.  Or the other way around, the congregation feels that the pastor is their servant, and his job is to fulfil their desires or pleasures, perhaps because they think that his salary comes from their tithes and offerings, therefore they are the employers and he is the employee.  When a church has this kind of mentality, she is in deep trouble because the pastor will always be seeking to please the people who may lead him to compromise God’s truth for the sake of being a men-pleaser.

So, the position of the one who has been called into the gospel work is a minister of Christ, but what is his responsibility?

II. His responsibility

Paul said, we are stewards of the mysteries of God (v.1b).

As a minister, his responsibility was to be a steward.  The original word for steward (oikonomos) is made up of two words, house-manager.  Basically, a steward was a manager who managed the household.  The church was the house of God, and the minister was the steward who managed the household of faith.

In the New Testament times, there were wealthy landlords who owned big farms or lands.  They would have many slaves or servants to do various activities within the compound.  Oftentimes, they would appoint a particular servant to be in charge of everything within the household known as the steward.  In the book of Genesis, the powerful Pharaoh made Joseph to represent him and take care of his entire estate, as his steward.

The steward was entrusted with the mysteries of God.  What were these mysteries of God?  Consider 1 Corinthians 2:7-10.

This word mysteries was hidden - Verses 7-8, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  The phrase princes of this world refers to the leaders or rulers of this world.

This word mysteries cannot be understood by physical means - Verse 9, But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  One cannot understand the mysteries of God simply by looking at it, hearing it or even meditating upon it.

This word mysteries was given by divine revelation - Verse 10, But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

The word mystery does not refer to something strange and puzzling, like the mystery novels.  Here it speaks of something hidden in time past but is now revealed.  Like the gospel was a mystery in the Old Testament, God unfolded this mystery in the New Testament when Christ appeared in human form.  Mysteries were secrets that were impossible for man to know, unavailable to man, not understandable to man, until God revealed those secrets.  God chose to hide these mysteries from the natural man, and that was why the natural man could not understand the gospel and consider it foolishness.  But God chose to reveal these mysteries to His beloved children whom He had ordained before the foundation of this world.  Basically, the phrase mysteries of God was the revelation of God, the gospel or the Word of God.

It was through the ministry of the Holy Spirit that revealed these mysteries to the people.  And God chose certain men to be His ministers and stewards, to reveal the mysteries to His beloved children.  That was what the stewards of the mysteries of God were supposed to do.

As stewards, the primary responsibility of the minister of Christ is to take God’s revealed Word and dispense it to His household.  He must dispense all of God’s Word, and holding back nothing.  That was what the Apostle Paul did, and he was able to tell the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:20-21, And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ….(verse 27) For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God (emphasis mine).

If we truly believe that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17), then we must not shy away from preaching and declaring the whole counsel of God’s Word.

III. His requirement

1 Corinthians 4:2, Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

God did not say, “The steward has to be brilliant, or clever, or creative, or intelligent.”  Though it was good to have these qualities, they were not absolutely essential.  God said; it is required in stewards; in other words, this was the crucial requirement that he has to be found faithful.

Here, the Apostle Paul listed only one vital requirement of a gospel minister, faithful.  The qualifications of a minister or pastor were given in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

What does it mean to be faithful?  To be faithful is to be reliable, trustworthy and consistent.

Reliable - The minister must be someone you can rely on, especially when he deals with the Word of God.  Can you rely on him telling the truth about God, salvation, heaven, eternal life, etc.? When the people listen to the messages, they must be able to believe that he is reliable to deliver the Word of God exactly as it is.

Trustworthy - The minister must be someone who can be trusted to do the job, to manage the household, faithfully, on his own.  He must have the spiritual maturity and discipline to be left on his own.  Can he be trusted with the truth, money, time, authority, responsibility, and most vitally, dealing with the souls of men?  A classic example would be the parable of the talents.  Who were the trustworthy and untrustworthy servants?  The servants with the five and two talents were trustworthy but the servant with the one talent was untrustworthy.

Consistent - The minister must be consistent; he must not only be faithful in the past, present and future (as the Lord leads him).  When dealing with God’s truth, he must not be pressured into seeking new ways to excite the congregation, or to make the pulpit a place of entertainment rather than the place where God’s truth is preached.  He must not be afraid to repeat again and again what the Bible says, and never add or subtract from the Holy Scripture to make it more attractive.

There were many ministers who were deemed as faithful.  For example, 1 Corinthians 4:17, Timotheus who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord.  Colossians 1:7, Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ.  Colossians 4:7, Tychicus a faithful minister.  Faithfulness, faithfulness, faithfulness; it is always about faithfulness!

Let us pray that God will raise up pastors and ministers in our midst who are faithful like Paul, Timothy and Tychicus.

In Christ,

Pastor Paul Cheng