ByWhen I was born again afresh, I didn’t know anything called “the lay ministry.” I only knew that I was surrounded by a group of ministers, predominantly students, who loved God and were willing to help disciple me in Christ. As I grew older in learning the things of God, I met more ministers and worked with several others also. Some of the friends I’ve met used to do secular work in addition to their ministerial work. But today, those people are now “full-time” ministers. In other words, they don’t have any extra job aside from the work of the Lord they do, irrespective of what’s happening in their lives. That was when I started questioning God and some friends to discover the difference between the two types of ministerial work. I also read multiple books about it just to get an answer. Today, I’m glad to address this question in the form of an article here. I hope it helps you.
Church administration from Ephesians 4:11-16
Before I further write on this, let’s look at Ephesians 4:11-12 (NKJV). The Bible says,
[11] “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, [12] for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,”
Dear one, please read that scripture again, slowly. When Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave gifts to men—some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. But why? To equip (build up) the saints (believers in Christ) for the work of the ministry and to edify the body of Christ. Isn’t that great news to hear? Yes, it is. At least Jesus didn’t want His Church to function without administration. Yes, there have been several arguments about the five-fold ministry. But I don’t want to talk about that in this article. For now, let me restrict it to the gifts mentioned in the scripture.
Since Jesus gave these gifts to men, it’s clear that not everyone in Christ has the same gift. 1 Corinthians 7:7 tells us that each has his own gift in Christ. So, if the gifts are diverse, then each believer’s function in the body of Christ is different. That means that when it comes to ministry, some will represent Christ using their gifts in full-time ministry and others in the lay ministry. For instance, God can call a person to be a teacher, but that gift is to use Biblical understanding to teach kids in school, usually in successful ways the world cannot understand. Look at what is happening in our schools today. Children are being taught demonic things, especially concerning sexuality. Do you think God hasn’t called some school teaching believers to stop these things? As Christians, we must arise to witness Christ in every facet of this world. Otherwise, evil things will continue to thrive in the world, and that will affect the church.
A church is more likely to grow faster if the church administration has effective full-time staff members whose whole concentration is on the ministry rather than lay team members.
All hands on deck
For Jesus to fill the whole universe, believers must have dominion over the Earth. God needs all believers to work to spread the message of reconciliation to every lost soul. Aside from that, He also wants those who are saved to get well discipled by the Church so that they can become spiritually mature and effective ministers in Christ’s body. The latter is where God decided to create separation in the Church’s administration, starting from the early church.
God saw that if every minister is to serve Him while doing other jobs concurrently, there will be divided concentration in His administration. So, even though all believers in Christ are ministers of the gospel, some must be full-time because their primary assignment is to concentrate on the Lord and the ministry for God’s harvest to be well discipled. So, the reason why your pastor may be a full-time minister is because of this. See, I have worked with lay ministers for a while, as well as full-time ministers. I can tell you that these two categories of ministry workers are not the same. A church is more likely to grow faster if the church administration has effective full-time staff members whose whole concentration is on the ministry rather than lay team members.
God doesn’t anoint you to do something He hasn’t called you to do.
Tweet
Grow gradually to become a full-time minister if that is your calling
Full-time ministry is usually received by divine calling, not an urge or suggestion. God anoints certain people for that work. And if anyone doesn’t have that calling, yet wants to be a full-time minister, his effectiveness in the ministry won’t reach the maximum. Why? Because doing God’s work is done by anointing, not by skill. God doesn’t anoint you to do something He hasn’t called you to do. If you have a calling to become a full-time minister or maybe a ministry pioneer, but you are not financially able to go into it now, pray and work gradually to reach that level. Believe God to provide. If He did it for others, he can do it for you too.
I hope this article answers your question. You are a blessing!
