Discovering Your Ministry

Big Idea: Every believer should find a ministry that suits their strengths, enabling them to contribute effectively to the church.

We aim to be a church where every member is a minister, engaged in meaningful and passionate service. The first step in creating a church around the concept of lay ministry is to teach on this subject. In my last four sermons, I've discussed spiritual gifts and the importance of our church having every member serve as a minister. I agree with John MacArthur, who says: "No local congregation will be what it should be, what Jesus prayed that it should be, what the Holy Spirit gifted and empowered it to be, until it understands spiritual gifts."

The first step is teaching, but the next is helping church members identify their spiritual gifts. This involves guiding those eager to serve God in discovering how to use their gifts in ministry.

Let me tell you what happens in the average church. Bill Hybels talks about an imaginary pastor named Bob – a good guy. And about every June, all his volunteers resign because they're going to the cottage. Every August, Pastor Bob recognizes that he needs to fill several positions for the fall restart. So after a few years, he commits every August to what he calls August recruitment wars. He goes to war with his congregation to motivate, influence, or guilt-tip people to fill these positions.

First week in August, his sermon is titled "Whatever Happened to Commitment?" He talks about our commitment-free culture and says, "To show your commitment, go to the lobby and sign up. We have 15 positions to fill." Well, some people say, "I'd like to think of myself as a committed person," and 5 people sign up. He's feeling pretty good.

The next Sunday rolls around, and he preaches on the subject, "Take up your cross and follow Christ." He says, "There are things in life you want to do, and there are things you have to do. There are things in this church that just have to be done. Jesus said, 'Take up your cross and follow me.' I'm asking you to pick up the pencil in the lobby and sign up for whatever. Deny yourself." That motivates some people, and 5 more sign up. He's doing pretty good – only 5 people left, and he's got two weeks. But he's not taking any chances.

The next week, he reads his entire sermon from Foxe's Book of Martyrs. He says, "This is the way our ancestors served Christ. There were people sawn in half for the cause of Christ. There were people burned at the stake. All I'm asking you to do is to sign up for one year. So you get up there and sign up!" Well, at the end of that Sunday, he's got only one slot left – the third-grade Sunday School teacher.

So on week four, he brings up little Mary Jane. She's a third-grade member of that Sunday School class. He takes her up to the pulpit and says, "Mary Jane, what grade are you in?" "Mary Jane, what's it going to feel like for you and your little friends down there to be sitting down there all alone without a teacher?" "Pretty awful, Pastor Bob." "Well, Mary Jane, isn't it true that without a teacher you turn to things like drugs and alcohol and prostitution and that sort of thing?"

Finally, there's a business guy at the end who fended off everything else. The pastor says, "You don't have to like kids, you don't have to know how to teach, but we need you to sign up to teach Mary Jane." The businessman runs out back, picks up the pencil, and signs up. Pastor Bob goes home that afternoon and says, "I won August recruitment wars."

Now let's think about the businessman when he goes to teach those third-grade girls. By the third Sunday, he's asking, "Why did I do this? I can't teach! I don't like kids!" About the same week, the girls in his class are asking, "What's he doing here?" And that's how the average church gets people involved in ministry.

There's a better way. We don't want to guilt-trip and manipulate you into a place of service. We believe there's a better way to minister that can bring you greater fulfillment and effectiveness. If you are not fruitful in ministry, you are probably doing things that God never intended you to do. You haven't found that unique place of service that God designed you for.

Many of you may feel frustrated with your ministry appointment because you're struggling to meet expectations. You know it, and everyone else knows it. Don't give up; God has a rewarding and fulfilling place for you in ministry. We just have to find it.

When God created animals, he gave each of them a specific area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly. Each animal has a particular role to play based on the way they were shaped by God. The same is true with humans. Each of us was uniquely designed and shaped by God to do certain things. We are to be wise stewards of our lives, and this begins by understanding that you are unique. You are a wonderfully complex composite of many different factors. And what God has made you to be will determine what God wants you to do. Your makeup shapes your ministry.

What do we want to avoid? We want to avoid doing things that God never designed us to do. We should steer clear of ministry areas where we lack ability, interest, or passion that God hasn’t provided. Because when we are in a role and our gifts don't match, we feel like a square peg in a round hole. We become frustrated, and so do others. It produces limited results, and is an enormous waste of our time, talents, and energy.

An officer reported to General Marshall during World War II that a commander in the field was incompetent. He wanted to know what to do. The general gave the command to have the commander removed immediately. The officer quickly responded, "But who will replace him?" General Marshall looked straight at the officer and firmly said, "Who we get to replace him is the second issue. Our first responsibility is to fulfill the trust given to us by the government, families, and the soldiers under his command. We cannot let someone known to be incompetent remain in their position." General Marshall went on to say, "The fact that the commander is not competent for the position is not so much a criticism of the individual as it is of the leaders who placed him there." And he concluded: "It is now our responsibility to find where that commander is competent and put him there."

Five Questions

This morning I want to give you five questions that will help you discern your place of ministry. These questions aren't my own, but they've helped me figure out where I should serve. This morning's message is designed to help those of you who don't know where you should be serving to discover your place of ministry. I must warn you that it's not always easy. Many times, it will involve trial and error. But five questions will help you in discovering your ministry.

S: What is your spiritual gift?

Although we've discussed this recently, someone mentioned last week that she felt more discouraged than ever because she doesn't believe she has any of the 21 spiritual gifts I described.

I want to give you three clues that will help you answer the first question, "What is your spiritual gift?"

The first step is education.

Educate yourself on this topic. Read 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. Pick up a good book on the subject – such as What You Do Best in the Body of Christ by Bruce Bugbee. Participate in the Network course that we will be leading in the new year. But educate yourself on this subject.

The second step is experimentation.

Get involved in people's lives. Experiment in ministry. Many spiritual gift tests fail to identify a person's gift because they haven't tried any ministry activities. Find opportunities to help others in the church that match your personality and interests. But just get moving. It's easier to steer a moving truck than a parked one. Similarly, once you start experimenting, it's easier to guide you into a fruitful ministry.

The third step is evaluation.

Evaluate your feelings. Ask yourself, "Do I feel fulfilled serving God and others in this way?" Look at the results. If you see fruit for your labor, it just might be that you are gifted in that area. Ask others what gifts they see in you. To discover your spiritual gift, focus on educating yourself, experimenting with different practices, and evaluating your experiences.

H: What is your heart?

What passion has God given you? What makes your heart beat faster within the church? As a young man, I felt called to pastoral ministry after discovering 1 Timothy 3:1, which changed my perspective. "Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task." I understood that it's completely legal and acceptable to desire and pursue a specific area of ministry. If God has given you a passion for a particular ministry, he has likely also given you gifts for it.

Without a doubt, God has given you a passion for a certain area of ministry within the church. Some come and talk with me about children's ministry – their heart gets so excited when it comes to children, and they can barely stop from weeping. Others talk about ministry to the poor, and finding opportunities to help those who are impoverished or suffering. Many people feel a deep passion for connecting with those who have strayed. What is your heart? What passion has God given you?

A: What are your abilities?

I talked the other week about the relation between spiritual gifts and natural abilities. Only believers have spiritual gifts, but everybody has natural abilities. Believers often struggle to distinguish between spiritual gifts and natural abilities. As John Stott notes, "The God of creation is the same as the God of the new creation."

So ask yourself: What natural abilities do you have? If you are musical, you can use your musical abilities within the church. If you teach, maybe you can teach within the church. If you have leadership experience, God can use that leadership responsibility within the church. Look at the apostle Paul. Before he became a believer, he was educated in philosophy and rhetoric. And after his conversion, how did he serve God? Using his natural abilities in argumentation, logic, and rhetoric. God can take whatever your natural abilities are and use them within the church.

Here's another question:

P: What is your personality?

It's obvious that God does not use a cookie-cutter to create people. God loves variety. He made introverts and extroverts. He shaped some people into thinkers, and others into feelers. He made some people love routine and some people love variety. He designed some to love working in a team, and others to love working alone.

The amazing thing is that God uses all types of personalities. Peter was outgoing and brash. Paul was dogmatic, reflective, and not always easygoing. And there is no right or wrong personality – God can use everyone. But your personality will affect how and where you use your spiritual gifts. For instance, two people might have the gift of evangelism, but one is introverted and one is extroverted. The way their gift of evangelism will be expressed is going to differ based on their personality.

That is why your ministry will be unique. You can't replicate someone else's ministry because God has given you a unique personality. Judy Garland once said, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." So ask yourself, what is my personality? Ministering in a way that aligns with your God-given personality brings great fulfillment.

There's one more question.

E: What experiences has God brought into your life?

What background has God given you that can help the church? It has been said that "God never wastes an experience." It may be that God has given you some education that can be used in the church. God might have given you some vocational experience that can carry over to ministry within the body. What spiritual experiences have you had? What experience do you have in ministry? And what painful experiences has God brought into your life that you have learned from, and can use now in ministry?

These five questions can be shortened to the acronym S.H.A.P.E. – spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences. And they just might help you find a place of ministry that fits you perfectly.

Two warnings: never think you don't belong.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Corinthians 12:21-25)

Another warning: don't covet other people's gifts or pretend to have gifts you don't have. That's why Paul wrote in Romans 12:3, while introducing the subject of spiritual gifts: "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Don't try to be somebody else, and don't covet their gifts. Be yourself.

As we close, do you see the three possible problems with gifts in the church?

• Abuse: Too few people are using too many gifts, causing overload and fatigue.
• Disuse: Too many people in the church are using too few gifts.
• Misuse: This occurs when people use the wrong gifts.

I want you to imagine dying, and fifty years from now somebody comes up to you and says, "I want to thank you." You reply, "I'm sorry, I don't think I know you." Then they explain: "You were a lay minister at Richview Baptist Church. You served and sacrificed and built the church that reached me for Christ after I died. I'm in heaven because of you." Do you think your effort is worth that?

If I knew a more significant way to invest my life, I'd be doing it. Joining a church, getting involved in ministry, and serving Christ through helping others is the most significant thing you can do with your life. The effect of your ministry will outlast by far your career, hobby, or anything else you do.

In the 19th century, a layman, not a member of the clergy, led more people to heaven than anyone else. His name was D.L. Moody. He was a businessman who never was ordained. He just started using his gifts. As the 20th century nears its end, some believe that Bill Bright, who is not ordained, will have been responsible for more conversions than anyone else. God can use you in unexpected ways to make a lasting impact, simply by discovering your unique ministry and serving him as only you can.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thank you for the fact that you let us use our gifts for your glory. May this be a church where every person is a minister and every minister uses their gifts. In Jesus' name, Amen.