Every Christian is in full-time ministry?

Kilton Moyo

Let me take a little break from writing about our culture and marriages and just share some insights with my beloved Christian family worldwide.

I know that we have been taught that to be in full time ministry one has to be a pastor, apostle, prop+het, evangelist or teacher. I know that the saints serving in the five-fold ministry are the ones that are said to be in full time Christian ministry and they are therefore responsible for all Christian or kingdom work while the rest of us can just be on the fence and enjoy our lives.

One of the major reasons why Christians remain weak and the church seen as powerless is because everything about the church is centered on a few guys called the five-fold ministry. They seem to have usurped all the power and anointing and every other believer is just a weak one who can do nothing. I want to beg to differ strongly on this kind of mindset that seem dangerous to believers.

As far as I understand the word of God, every Christian is in full time ministry. Christianity is ministry. To be a Christian is to be in the ministry of the kingdom of God. Every believer wherever they are is in ministry and doing the work of a believer and of the sons of God.

The five-fold ministry guys are there to “equip” the believer for the work of ministry. Ephesians 4:11-16. They are there to equip, train and prepare believers for ministry. To me this implies that, they are not in ministry alone, but every believer is in ministry. All of us as the church are in ministry. We are doing the work of ministry or the kingdom from wherever we are.

Unless believers understand this they will remain weak and conforming to the patterns of the world waiting for their pastors and bishops to come and do things for them. Because of this ignorance, you hear people, believers, writing and blaming the church for not doing anything in their communities. To me this is a serious display of ignorance. Where ever you are as a believer, the church is. You are a member of the church and you are expected to do what you are supposed to do. Minister there. Be the light and salt there. I believe that we need to shift from this kind of mindset to a mindset that makes us effective in our different places.

You are in ministry in your workplace. You are in ministry in your home, office, company etc. You are in ministry in the bus, kombi and everywhere. Do the work of ministry there and do not wait for the church. You are the church.

Let me just show you what I am talking about here.

Winning souls.

Every believer is at work wining souls. Winning souls for the kingdom is the work and ministry of everyone who claims to be a Christian. You are inviting people to Christ and not your denomination. This is not the work of a pastor or your apostle. It is the main work of a believer. All of us are in this ministry and we cannot excuse ourselves from it.

Witnessing

Every believer is in the ministry of witnessing for Christ. (Acts 1:8). All of us have the power by the Spirit of God to witness for Him. We witness through many things. We witness through our relationships, our exemplary and honest work, our leadership, our business, our character and many others. We live and conduct ourselves in a manner that reveals Christ to the world. This is our greatest ministry. It is our full time ministry.

Loving others

Love is a laborious and a painful one. Love enables us to be effective in our ministry of reconciliation which God has given us as believers. We minister love and minister hope through love. Every believer is called to love and we cannot escape this calling. We Love God with all our beings. We love our neighbours as ourselves. We love one another as believers. We love our enemies. We love those who persecute us. We love every human being except the devil and his demons. Loving people is not for the pastor only. I have heard people leave “church” accusing the pastor of not loving them. To me this is strange because ministry of love is for all believers including those who are leaving and blaming others. We are all called to love.

Well, I am not sure how you really understand these things but if all believers would understand that they are in ministry and expected to be ministers of the gospel wherever they are, we would all reach out to billions for Christ in no time. We will together display the glorious power of the gospel in greater unity and establish the kingdom of God on earth. Stand up for Christ where ever you are as a believer. You do not need a bishop to pray for you. You need yourself praying and releasing the power in you. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, lay hands on the sick, visit the prisoners, give to the needy, do good to all men, forgive others and by so doing you are ministering the gospel. It’s you who should do it. So arise and do it.

Believers, let us all get to ministry now and work.

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Kilton Moyo is creator of Fruitful Marriages, a renewal and enrichment program and is a pastor, counsellor and author of The Sex Trap. Call or WhatsApp on +263775337207, +263772610103 or [email protected]