“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13-34-35
This is the ‘ministry’ of ‘one another’ to the Body of Christ. This IS the ministry within the Body of ALL those who call themselves His. The first ministry is to Christ and then the second is to ‘one another’. There is NO such thing as ‘part time’ or ‘full time’ ministry. Either you are following His instructions or not. Either you are His or not. Either you are serving Him and those around you in the Body or not. Either you are fully surrendered to Him or not.
The temptation is to see the “ministry” as a ‘profession’, or a ‘career’. The wish is to be ‘exalted’ into the realms of being called ‘minister’, pastor, reverend, evangelist, teacher, apostle, prophet, and actually be ‘paid’ for that ‘title’ living off the people’s offerings to you. So the ‘career’ minded religious individuals (and many others just looking for those they can scam) looking to ‘serve’ in the religious realms with that exaltation from the people gravitate to the institutional model of a ‘Church’ that can ‘afford’ them to the lifestyle they want. The apostle Paul on the other hand took a different mode of ministry, by working with his own hands in the marketplace so that he didn’t need to have the ‘offerings’ from people. Paul was bi-vocational. In pastoral circles now a bi-vocational pastor is on the possibly the lowest rung of the pecking order of importance. Everything centers around how many people are in your Sunday morning ‘worship’ service — within the city pastoral pecking order. Pastoral conferences are mostly centered on how to grow those Sunday morning numbers, and not on discipleship or growing in spiritual maturity. How many professional pastors know every single person attending their Sunday morning service? Would a shepherd in the time of Jesus know every single lamb in their flock? Does Jesus know every single lamb in His flock? But, but … we’re not Jesus! You don’t say. Then why do we keep bigger groups of people in our ‘following’ than He did and think we can do it better? Can you really disciple that many people? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing … discipling the people in our Body / spiritual community? Or are we just there to ‘entertain’ them, and make them feel good? Shouldn’t EVERY ‘older’ (elder) be discipling the ‘younger’? Shouldn’t the ‘gifts’ (Ephesians 4:11-12) given to the Body be about equipping those to learn what each is to do for Him? Isn’t His Kingdom upside down in the responsibilities of authority? The greatest among us being the greatest servant of everyone? How do you really serve someone with true love and care without genuinely getting to know each of them individually … deeply?
The American Church has turned to the secular business model on how to run things. Their ‘success’ is purely now on secular standards. It doesn’t matter now if the people are actually spiritual mature or not, or if they have any spiritual discernment or not. Why is it that most Church boards are filled with the biggest business owners and richest people in the church? And not by those who are the most spiritually mature?
Is your church helping you become more spiritually mature? Are they leading you to a greater recognition of the work and voice of the Holy Spirit in your life? Are they helping you develop your spiritual discernment? Are they actually truly developing a deep and personal relationship with you? Are they wanting more and more fellowship with you outside of that Sunday morning service? Are you growing in real friendship with ‘one another’? Are you reaching out to ‘one another’ to get together (in all the others places than the church building) to actually talk about spiritual things and growth? Do you get together with ‘one another’ in each other’s homes?
Look for the Body right around you and learn to grow in friendship with them. Get together with ‘one another’, and put Jesus in the center of your conversations. Build others up… and pray for them WHILE you are with them. Let the love of Jesus flow out from you to those around you. Ask the Holy Spirit what your divine appointments are for the day? Learn to follow His lead instead of just doing what you think is important. Begin discipling ‘one another’ through the leading of the Holy Spirit.