I confess I have had a skewed sense of the meaning of ministry. I don’t know how I have gone so long with this mindset. Up to this point on the Race I have put ministry in a cute, little box with little creative freedom for the Lord to work. It has been neat, organized, and structured. Wake up, do ministry, spend time with my team, repeat.
This mindset is a functional way to do the Lord’s work. When you have you ministry scheduled for you its easy to check it off the daily to-do list.
Loved kids today [Check]
Preached today [Check]
Visited the Slums today {Check]
And, sure, I have been putting my heart into each ministry I have been a part of thus far, but somehow I think ministry is more than a scheduled and functional box to check off your daily list of tasks.
Signing up for the Race I knew two things: 1. I would be travelling to different countries and 2. I would be doing “ministry” every day. Those are things I could depend on. Up to this point ministry times have been handed to me, no questions asked.
But what do you do when you show up to a new country and suddenly you are told you cannot be provided with any ministry and that your entire day is completely up to you? Rely on the Lord? What a novel idea.
I confess I have been reliant on schedules rather than being reliant on the Lord. I have let the Race happen to me instead of taking charge of my own time here. I’ve received the ministry that is given to me without question and turned my ministry switch off with no hesitation once “scheduled ministry time” was over.
That is not a Kingdom mindset, and God has more for me than that.
This month I have discovered what the Lord can do when you allow him to use you ANY way he wants. I’ve learned that my definition of “ministry” has been far too narrow.
Ministry is not something you place in a box, its not something you do, its who you are. Everything I do can be a chance for the Lord to use me, every place I go can be a mission field, every word I say can be saturated with the good news, and everyone I interact with can be prayed for in love.
My team opened our eyes and ears to the Lord and said, “use us” and you know what happened? Amazing things.
I am going to share with you my discoveries about what ministry truly means and the experience my team and I have gone through this month in a multi-part blog series called “Ministry Is:___________”
This is Part 1, The introduction.
Stayed tuned for more stories, insights, and experiences.
