A Biblical View of the Ministry (Part 1)

Dear Bethelites,

Have you ever heard people say, “I like the ministry of so-and-so but I do not like the ministry of that pastor, or I support this ministry but not the other ministry?” It is inevitable that some people will evaluate and decide to support or not to support a particular minister or ministry? However, the question is on what basis do people evaluate the minister or ministry? Ultimately, one must understand that all our ministries will be evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul was very burdened about the struggles within the Corinthian church. He spent the first three chapters dealing with this struggle. The Corinthians were fighting over who was better, Paul, Apollos or Peter (Cephas). Based on their own evaluations; most likely, they were arguing that Paul was a better theologian, or Apollos was a better preacher, or Peter was more senior than the rest. But surely Paul, Apollos and Peter were not fighting amongst themselves, as it was the immature believers who were fighting and they were divided into factions.

Dear friend, it happens all the time, in many churches. It is always the immature believers (including the unbelievers) fighting amongst themselves.

So, from 1 Corinthians 3:10 onwards, Paul was teaching the Corinthians that if they were to judge people’s ministry, they had to do it biblically. In other words, it is not wrong to evaluate the ministry, but the problem is when one evaluates the ministry the wrong way.

In the preceding verses, Paul used the analogy of agriculture and talked about himself planting, Apollos watering the plants, and God giving the increase. Then he changed the analogy of agriculture to architecture. He used the metaphor of a building to help us to understand the work of the ministry.

For the next two weeks, we will be focusing on the biblical view of the ministry in our pastoral chats. As believers, we are all involved in the work of the ministry, and we need to understand why we do what we do, how we serve, and the ultimate purpose of our services. There are certain guidelines we ought to follow, and God will evaluate our work, and there will be a reward for our work. (The Guidelines, The Evaluation, The Reward).

The Guidelines

1 Corinthians 3:10, According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

Some of us have had the experience of building our own house. It was a very long and tedious process. When a building is being constructed, there are many guidelines to follow. For example, the architect has to draw the plan and design the building, then the builder has to prepare the foundation before the concrete has to be poured, and the bricks have to be laid, and the structure has to be constructed, followed by the plumbing and electrical appliances to be installed, and so forth. One cannot move from one job to the next, without first getting the legal permit. The builders have to abide by certain rules and guidelines.

In a similar fashion, the building of the church ministries also have proper guidelines stipulated in the Word of God, and unless the Bible permits us to do so, we cannot just move on and do whatever we like.

Thus, at the very onset, Paul began by saying, according to the grace of God which is given unto me. All the ministries in the church are established by God’s grace, and all the ministers and servants who are serving in the different areas are given the grace to perform those duties.

In Matthew 16:18, when Christ said, I will build my church, He was not talking about the church’s physical building but the body of believers. God uses people to build His church and anyone whom He has called to build; He will give His grace to do it. If God has called you to a particular ministry, He will not say to you, “Well, you go and figure out how to do it.” Most certainly not! God has given His guidelines in His Word and His Spirit will grant us the strength to be faithful builders. Even this grace to do the work, is a gift from God, that is why Paul acknowledged that it is the grace... which is given unto me.

Paul said, I am a wise masterbuilder. The term masterbuilder (architekton) is from where we derive the English word for “architect.” It carries the idea of a builder as well as a designer. If one reads this part on its own, he may think that Paul was proud to call himself a wise masterbuilder.

But one must remember that he began by saying, according to the grace of God which is given unto me. That changes the whole attitude!

It is God who calls men to be leaders. Paul did not choose to be a masterbuilder; God had called him to do the work. If you are called to be a leader, you need not be shy or apologetic about it because God has called you.

Paul used the word wise because God gave him the grace to do the work, and he had followed the guidelines, and understood clearly his part in this whole process of work to be done inbuilding the house.

There are two big problems a lot of people have faced when they served in the ministries of the church. Firstly, some people do not know the guidelines, or they do not follow the guidelines, and therefore, the ministries of the church are sometimes done in ways contrary to the Bible. And secondly, people do not understand their parts to play in this whole process of work, so they either overstep other people’s part, or they expect others to pick up the pieces for them, or worst, they become jealous of other people’s successes.

Everyone has a part to play in building the church, some are like Paul who laid the foundation, another buildeth thereon. The laying of the foundation is only the first part of the building process. Paul’s task was to lay the proper foundation, to establish the foundational doctrines and principles, and after his work was done, another man built upon it.

In the case of Ephesus, it was Timothy who built upon Paul’s work. And in the case of Corinth, it was Apollos who built upon Paul’s work. Paul was not jealous of those who served after him in the ministry. He knew that after him, there would be other builders. He knew that most of the Corinthians would be baptised, not by him, but by the pastors that followed after him. He knew that those pastors would spend more time with those members and so those members would be closer to them than him. When he first started the church, it was very small, but later on, the church grew under the leadership of the other pastors. He was not jealous of them because he understood that they were all working on the same building, though they had different jobs, different requirements, different expectations, and they experienced different things as well.

Are you jealous of the people who have worked before or after you; some may be younger than you but they are called to be leaders, some are able to reach out to a bigger group, or they are able to draw closer to the people than you? We should not be jealous because we all serve the same objective, to edify the church, the body of believers.

I do not think Paul was limiting this verse only to the Apostles. It is applicable to everyone who is involved in Christian ministry; children’s work, youth fellowship, elderly ministry and so forth. This passage applies to everyone who is involved in the work of the building because the next phrase said, But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. Paul was not jealous, but he was concerned whether the people were faithful or not, whether they would follow the proper guidelines or not.

We must not only recognise our part in this process of building, but we must also recognise others who are working in this process of building as well; the ones who were before us and the ones who are after us. The youth leaders must recognise those Sunday school teachers who are preparing the little ones as they grow up to join the youth ministry, and they must recognise those serving in the men’s and ladies’ fellowship because their young people would soon graduate and join those groups. Instead of feeling jealous, we should be concerned about those whom God has called, that they would be faithful, and that they would follow the God-given guidelines.

Verse 11, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. All churches, ministries, teachings, programs and activities should be focused on the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, it is all about focusing on the Scripture because the Scripture is all about Christ; the Old Testament predicted and prepared for His coming, that was why Jesus said in John 5:39, Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. The New Testament declared and documented for us that Christ had come. It is all about Christ and Christ alone!

Some people build the church on the foundation of tradition, or based on some moral teaching, or good ethics, or good works, but they are not building on the foundation of Christ.

By way of illustration, if one day, you go to the bank and the bank officer tries to sell you some investment plans. He says to you, “You need to be a wise builder, and plan for unforeseen circumstances because there may be storms and difficult times that would come your way, and you need to be prepared for them. You need a strong foundation and as you build on this foundation, you need to count the cost. There are sacrifices to be made, and there are priorities and goals to be set. You have to consider your future retirement plans so you will not be a debtor. Anyone who is a debtor is a slave to the one he owes.” You say to yourself, “That is good advice! That is good teaching, and it sounds a bit like what I have learned in the Bible.” But anybody will agree with that; the Buddhists, the Hindus, the Roman Catholics and the Atheists would all agree to that teaching. It is good teaching, but it is not biblical teaching because it does not point to Christ.

Any programs, activities or teachings, no matter how good they are, or how close they are to biblical truths, are not built on the foundation of Christ. If they do not focus on Christ, His Person and Work, they do not point the people to Christ.

That is why the church must not be built on human philosophy, or psychology, or religious systems, or code of ethics, or social work, (there is nothing wrong with social work, as, we must also be socially responsible), but that is not what the church is called to be built upon. The church must be built on Christ, to be a beacon of light to point the people to Christ and Him alone. That was why Paul emphatically said, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

With love in Christ,

Pastor Paul Cheng

(To be continued in the next pastoral chat)