"The Holy Spirit" by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Does Jesus want us to have a public ministry? Yes. Are there differences between Jesus and us? Yes. For one, He was God, and we are not. Some people need to hear that. Not necessarily because they think they are God but because we often forget He is. What does that mean? It means He is in charge. His rules, ways, and word are top of the heap. What He wants to be right and wrong are the things that ARE right and wrong, no matter how much we think or want otherwise. Lastly, it means His word is the final word.
What does that last piece mean? It means the Bible is the manual for life. All of it. Not just the parts that feel good that mention the soft touchy-feely stuff. The hard stuff too. The Thou Shalt Nots we don’t like. The declarations of what sin is when we disagree. Also, it’s the parts that call for us to go and make disciples of all the world. It’s the parts that declare we are to love our neighbor, all of them, even the annoying ones we don’t like. His word declares this to us. Don’t like a part of the Bible? Get thee behind me, Satan. All of it. Our lives aren’t in line with what He says is good. We change, not the Word. But that’s hard. Yes, but it is the way He has things set up.
A public ministry. Talking to people out in the world. We don’t want to do it. Why? Because in modern times, quite a few people, even ones we love, will have negative things to say to us when we declare Jesus Christ to them.
24And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.
Luke 4:24 (NASB95)
What does that mean? It means the people who know you best know you. They know all about you. They know where the bodies are buried. They know what you do and say when people from church aren’t looking. They’ve seen the things the World looks at and point to say, “See, see, they’re hypocrites.” Either consciously or subconsciously, we know this, and we don’t want to sign up for that.
I don’t blame you. I don’t blame me, either. I’m in that same boat. So, why am I posting this as a public ministry?
I’m posting it because there are other things about us that are not like Jesus besides not being God.
For example, Jesus was a carpenter. How many of us are professional carpenters? I know how to work wood, but I’m a handyman, not a craftsman. My work is functional, not pretty. Why does this difference matter? Because it points out we are all different. Why does that matter?
4For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,
5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
7if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
8or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:4–8 (NASB95)
Different gifts mean different public works. The things you are good at, you should do to the Lord. The things I am good at, I should do to the Lord. These things should not be hidden under a bushel basket. These things are what make us lamps shedding light. We should put them on lampstands to shed light on all who are in the house.
How does this start? In small ways. In safe and comfortable ways. Begin by volunteering at your church. I cannot tell you how well that one single piece will be received. Historically, eighty percent of the church is served by twenty percent of the church. That means for every 100 church members you have, eighty do nothing to make your church work, and twenty do all the work. If you don’t volunteer at your church now, guess which side of that equation you are on. I guarantee you will be loved and welcomed by the twenty if you show up early and volunteer next Sunday. They will put you to work.
That’s the safe beginning. It’s safe because you just show up, ask how to help, and then do whatever they tell you. It’s inside the walls of your familiar home church, surrounded by people you know. If you get in trouble, they’ll rush to help you out of whatever situation you get into. This will grow, though, and you should not just let it but encourage it.
How does it grow? Simple. If you’re not in an adult Sunday school class, find one. Most of them do service projects, both small and large. These range from putting out food one Sunday a month in a church gathering area, making coffee before the service, helping a church service project once a quarter, or a class-specific activity like serving dinner at a local homeless shelter.
Again, this is a very, very safe public ministry opportunity. You are surrounded by people you know who all know you. If you get in over your head, they are all there to help. They’ve all done it for a long time and have experience in how it works. But don’t stop there. Grow beyond this too.
What’s the next step look like? That’s where prayer, listening to the Holy Spirit, and trust come in. You have to trust that God has your best intentions at heart and that He is there for you. Put out the call to God that you’re a worker looking to help with His work, and He will direct you. Once again, the 80 are served by the 20, and the twenty are looking for help. Grow into that public ministry that facilitates the use of your gifts.
1Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.
2And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
3“Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
Luke 10:1–3 (NASB95)
Lambs among wolves but without fear because Jesus is with you.
5Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”
6so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”
Hebrews 13:5–6 (NASB95)
That’s Deuteronomy and Joshua being quoted there about God not leaving us.
6“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
7Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.
8“The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:6–8 (NASB95)
5“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
Joshua 1:5 (NASB95)
And Psalm 118 listing God as our Helper.
5From my distress I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me and set me in a large place.
6The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?
7The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
8It is better to take refuge in the Lord Than to trust in man.
Psalm 118:5–8 (NASB95)
The public ministry of Christ looked like what it was because the job God had for Jesus was His alone. No one else could have done what He did. In that part, we are like Jesus. We have unique gifts, each of us. Those gifts make our message to the world unique. There are people out there that only you can reach. They won’t hear the gospel message of salvation through Jesus from me. Only you can reach them. That’s a heavy burden considering the eighty don’t want to get involved in the public ministry of making their church run every Sunday.
Consider this: there is the possibility that someone out there, just one person, will only come to Jesus if you are the one who presents His message of grace, love, and salvation. They are lost if you don’t meet them AND present that message to them. On the day of judgment, we each must stand before God and Jesus to answer for our actions and inactions. Do you want to have to explain to God why that one person isn’t going to go to Heaven? For my part, I do not want to have that conversation. God bless you, and Godspeed.