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Jake Tyson is a 2018 Central Baptist College graduate that had the opportunity to gain valuable experience as a student intern at Lifeword Media. He is now currently a Lifeword employee. Here is one of Jake’s articles that he recently wrote for the Lifeword blog.
The Meaning of Ministry
In my junior and senior years of college, I served on the Student Orientation Staff (SOS) at Central Baptist College (CBC) the week before classes began. SOS was responsible for welcoming new students to campus, helping them move in, and hosting games and activities throughout the week.
It is a hard week of little sleep, lots of sweat, and loads of candy and soda to keep us going. Almost anyone who serves on SOS comes away from the experience saying that it is hard work, but rewarding.
Although SOS is not exactly what most would call ministry, it is the simplest form of it: service. The original word ministry in Greek literally means, “to serve.” When we think of ministry, we often think of a pastor, missionary, or other church officer who has a leadership role in the church. The modern definition of ministry is, “the work or vocation of a minister of religion.”
But when we hold to this definition, we miss out on the fact that every believer has opportunities to serve in ministry. It’s not just church leaders and officers who are “in ministry.” We are all to be in ministry as we serve others and the Lord.
Take, for example, a church that has a food bank. Often, they will name it the “food ministry” or something similar. It takes this name because this service that the church provides ministers to the needs of those that are being served. The people who come in to the food bank receive the necessities they are lacking.
The ministry of service and the ministry of preaching must go hand in hand. In fact, the first deacons in the book of Acts were specifically chosen for this reason.
Acts 6:3-4 says, “Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry.”
For Christian ministry to work, believers must band together and serve as a body. While pastors, youth pastors, and other church offices focus on prayer and preaching, the laymen of the church can minister by serving the needs of others. We have the chance to reach more people each day by serving than a pastor ever might have behind the pulpit.
Every year at CBC, freshmen were excited to sign up for the next year’s SOS team because they witnessed SOS members serve them joyfully. They experienced the love and kindness that SOS showed, and they wanted to give back by joining SOS and doing the same for incoming freshmen.
This is how our churches should operate. By serving others, we can show them the love of God. This could lead to opportunities to witness to them, and when they have been saved and joined a church, they in turn can minister to others.
God’s love is a love of service. We should put it into action every day and minister to the world around us.
Read more from Jake Tyson at lifeword.org.
About Lifeword
Lifeword is a media ministry that serves the Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA), located in Conway, AR, just blocks away from Central Baptist College. Visit lifeword.org to learn more about how they serve people all over the world by spreading the good news about Jesus!
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