Ministry Gifts

Evangelism isn't for everyone. The follow-up is as crucial as the initial drawing to Christ. In Ephesians Paul gives a list of the ministry gifts and he lets us know without a doubt that each has his own ministry according to his own gift.

I cannot go door to door. It makes me extremely uncomfortable. Some would have us believe that we aren't doing God's will unless we are outside our comfort zone. Poppycock.

God gave us motivational Spiritual gifts so that we would be motivated to do His work in our ministry gifts.

Ministry Gifts – Eph 4:11-16 – these gifts are specifically for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ until we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man and unto the measure

• a. apostles
• b. prophets
• c. evangelist
• d. pastor
• e. teacher

Not everyone can teach. Not everyone can understand God's Word perfectly with Spiritual understanding and wisdom; not everyone has the ability to pastor (I wonder how many pastors there are who are church called and not God-called pastors.)

Sometimes people don't want to talk about what Christ has done in their life because they do not feel worthy or because they have some secret sin in their life and they are walking in the darkness... but, do not want to change.

Some people have dozens of excuses for not sharing Christ but say they try to do it. Well according to Ray Pritchard, "trying to do something is actually failure to do it and it is an excuse."

I am not talking about going door to door or dialing for Christians or bringing folks to crusades.

What I am talking about is actual Ministry. If we use our specific God-given gifts in ministry, God will open the eyes of those we minister to and He will use us to draw so many to Himself.

The Hebrew word יד yâd (yawd) means many things, but among them: servant, open hand, fellowship, labor, draw with strength...

I love that last definition so much. To draw with strength. Isn't that what God did for us? His great strength He gives to us in measure so that we can do his work and not falter. That is a great responsibility.

The Greek word διακονία diakonia (dee-ak-on-ee'-ah) is where we get our word Deacon and means attendance, service, office, relief.

If we practice the above with those we come in contact with, that is a very strong witness for our Lord Jesus. Would you agree?

I once heard a man named Gordon McGee who said that he never let a day go by without witnessing to at least one lost person. Now that he's retired, I imagine that is kinda hard to do. I also heard our Louisiana Women's Ministry Director, Cindy Townsend, say that she deeply desired for everyone she met to know that they had met Jesus through her.

Those two statements made a deep impact on me. Do I practice that everyday? No. I fail at that. However, I am much more conscious now of how much my actions impact those around me in how they view Jesus. That is a responsibility that makes me tremble.

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