Chapter 14

ADVENTURES IN SERVICE

          One of the greatest adventures in which human beings can engage is that of unselfish service to their fellowmen. When such service involves personal sacrifice and a willingness to forfeit life itself for the welfare of others it becomes a regal way to live and a heroic way to die. Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Our word benefactor is from the Latin bene, good, and facere, to do. Beneficence is active goodness, and one who unselfishly engages in such a life is an honor to humankind and a vindication of the Creator who made us in His image.

     If you were to take a poll of a hundred people no two of them would agree upon those whom they regard as having best ministered to the needs of man in the human predicament. If you were to limit each person to three names you would be surprised at the wide range of persons who would be mentioned. Noble service is rendered in a variety of ways and in a variety of times. The needs determine the response.

     As for me, I do not feel I could be happy with myself if I were to ignore David Livingstone. This intrepid Scottish missionary and explorer was born in a crude tenement in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland, March 19, 1813. At ten years of age he was at work in a textile mill twelve hours per day, going directly from work at 8:00 p.m. to school where he studied until 10:00 p.m. Upon his return to his rude home he diligently pored over his books until his mother took them from his hands. By dint of such application, he qualified for entrance to medical classes at Anderson College, Glasgow, and while there enrolled for a theological course as well.

     He was deeply moved to help the less fortunate of the earth and embarked as a missionary for Africa, then called "The Dark Continent." He penetrated regions never before seen by a white man, discovering Lake Ngami, the Zambezi River, and Victoria Falls, one of the most notable cataracts in the world. He became greatly concerned about the depredations wrought by Arab and Portugese slave-traders, and wrote with such power against the sad and cruel practice that he is credited with being a pioneer in the abolition of the nefarious trade. Livingstone never hesitated to take his place beside the downtrodden and persecuted, the ignorant and poverty-stricken.

     While on his difficult journey to discover the source of the Nile, he was suddenly stricken in the village of Chief Chitambo, on the Congo River, and died under a tree on May 1, 1873. The grief-stricken natives removed his heart and buried it where he breathed his last, that it might always lie in the soil of Africa, whose people he loved. They then carried his body to Zanzibar on the eastern coast, where it was placed on the steamer Malwa and returned to England. On April 18, 1874 it was interred in Westminster Abbey, on a national day of mourning.

     When friends examined the personal diary of Livingstone they found an entry made just before he died. In it he expressed the fervent hope that others would follow in his steps and take the liberating message of Jesus to the jungle natives. He died with the welfare of others on his mind. For years he had been talking about "those who are of my own order, the Godly poor." Once when he was asked to express his philosophy of life, he said it was the same as that of Jesus, who came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life for others.

     The word "ministry" is a bright light in a star-studded galaxy of spiritual verbal planets. Unfortunately, we have treated it like we have so many other rich terms. We have dimmed its brilliance in two ways. First, we have come to think of it as a specified function carried out by a trained specialist, hired to perform it. Secondly, we have ceased to regard or to talk about the work of every member of the body as ministry. The question "What is your ministry?" has given way to the question, "Who is your minister?" The subtle implication involved in this change is wholly without scriptural warrant.

     There are several words in the original Greek which are translated "minister" by the men appointed by King James to produce the Authorized Version. The one with which we are especially concerned is diakonos. It literally means "one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master; a servant, attendant, minister." It can easily be seen why all in the kingdom of heaven are ministers. All of us serve a common master. All of us are equally subject to the commands of our Lord. To suggest that there is but one minister in a community is to suggest there is but one person serving God, and that he is doing so because it is his profession and he is paid to do it.

     It is true that we may minister in different ways, but there is nothing in the word "ministry" which defines or delineates the type of service. A minister, in God's sight, is a servant, but what he does as service, must be determined from the command to perform a certain function. No one is a minister because he does a certain thing, but he does that thing because he is a minister. To apply the term minister as a title to a certain class of persons, or to designate those who fulfill a certain role or function is to misapply it. The result will be that all of those who do not fit into such an arbitrarily created category will cease to think of themselves as ministers of God. Their work will no longer commend itself as a partnership with God through exercise of gifts He has bestowed, but will become a secondary and supportive routine which will eventually come to be regarded as of little importance. It may even be regarded as "the thing to do" to keep the church going, rather than as a service ordained by God through the bestowal of a divine gift.

     Our loss of the very nature of diakonia as set forth by the Holy Spirit has caused many ills to come upon us. Just as koinonia, the sharing of life (eternal life) has made us a body, so diakonia has been provided as the divinely-authorized means by which that body can function in the world. To a great extent we have allowed our thinking to be warped until we have filled up the deep wells of koinonia and diakonia which the Spirit dug for our sustenance, and we are now forced to drink from shallow surface-water contaminated by the theological waste which has been drained into it. One of the great adventures of our age could be the digging anew of these wells.

     Honest thinkers who are able to rise above their prejudices will admit that koinonia no longer has the profound meaning it had in the first century. The apostle John, in a singularly beautiful passage, defines it as the sharing of eternal life, held in common with the Father and Son, and with all others who have been adopted into that transcendent relationship. It alone can provide meaning and dignity to earthly existence which would otherwise terminate with maggots devouring putrefying tissue. To our utter shame and disgrace, koinonia has become association on a purely human level created by creeds and opinions, something to be manipulated by men on an organizational basis, and used as a threat to hold other men and women in a straight-jacket. When koinonia ceases to be the sharing of eternal life and comes to mean the sharing of mere deductions of the rational process it is time to write "Ichabod" above the portals of the temple. The glory has departed!

     In the same way the majestic power of diakonia has been lost. It is this marvelous arrangement of God which was to provide dynamism and power, skill and mobility to the body. Neither the human body nor a body of believers will succumb to death easily. When a man loses the use of a limb by paralysis he devises an expedient. He may secure a crutch or a walking device upon which he can lean. He is certainly not functioning as he was intended to do, but he is holding on to life while waiting for the end. He may secure a gold-plated crutch and boast about how much it cost, but it is still a crutch, and it is a testimony, not to his power, but to his powerlessness.

     In many respects the body of Christ, the corpus composed of those who have been reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus, has allowed itself to become dysfunctional. As a result various means have been devised to enable the System to continue and to keep breath pumped into it. A clergy system has been developed by which an expert is imported from outside to come in and maintain a semblance of life by artificial respiration. If he fails to maintain a certain level as gauged by the number of those who gather for the weekly body count, or by the amount of money contributed, he is released and cast on the open market. Sometimes the group will pay for the time left on his contract, on the basis that it would be more costly to keep him than to get rid of him. Then the process of "trial sermons" by various job-seekers must again be endured by the employers and hopeful employees.

     The greatest tragedy is not that we have created a new functionary wholly unknown to the primitive saints, and invested him with the work which is ours to accomplish, but rather with the radical restructure of the body. We have gradually changed from an organism, living, pulsating, throbbing, vital with its varieties of gifts, service and working, to an organization, operated like a business, with administrators, secretaries, directives, and posted rules governing employees and assignments. We have moved from a family relationship to a formal regimentation. We have substituted sectarian sacrifice for spontaneous, satisfying service.

     How can we reform a state of affairs which dooms us to become an ever-decreasing minority with each passing day? We must change our thinking, and the change must be radical and revolutionary. It must be more than sewing a patch on here or nailing a shingle on there. We are today exactly where our thinking has brought us. We will be tomorrow exactly where our thinking take us. If we would be somewhere else tomorrow than where we are today we must change our thinking. This means we must not read the new covenant scriptures to justify what we have. They were not given to substantiate our presuppositions. We must read them as though they were just now given to mankind. We must search them as though no other generation had ever seen them. It is a question of what God said and not of what our fathers thought He meant by what He said.

     One of the great truths we should recapture at once is that all of us are important to God. He has no favorites. There are no "teacher's pets" in the school of Christ. From whatever standpoint we are viewed we are all part of the grand design. We are branches of the vine, sheep of the pasture, members of the body, soldiers in the army, and stones in the temple. Some are weaker than others but weakness is not inferiority. Some are more mature than others but maturity is not pre-eminence in rank. God has placed each member in the body as it has pleased Him. God has adjusted the body so that it can function without friction. There is not one useless member of the body. All members have not the same function but all have some function.

     Another great truth we must grasp is that all of us are ministers and priests. The kingdom of heaven is not a kingdom with priests. It is a kingdom of priests. The church is not a body with ministers but a body of ministers. Every child of God is a priest. Every Christian is a minister. Just as the physical body provides an opportunity for every member to fulfill its role so the spiritual body must provide for the exercise of every gift. The inauguration of any system which makes it difficult or impossible to exercise any gift does dishonor to the Lord of the gift. It reflects against the divine judgment which bestowed it. The purpose of the fellowship is to provide an arena in which every gift can be utilized for the common good.

     Whatever one does to the glory of God is ministry. The one who teaches a class in the study of the Bible is ministering. The one who sweeps the floor, dusts the seats, or mows the lawn, is ministering. The mother who rears her children in the faith by precept and example is ministering. Indeed, the apostle Paul writes, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). Whatever the Christian does in word or deed is a manifestation of worship and in rendering worship he is a minister.

     Diakonia was used to designate the preparation of food for dinner by Martha who was emotionally upset by much serving (Luke 10:40). It was used to designate the aid given by angels to Jesus when they came and ministered unto Him (Matthew 4:11). It was used to designate the action of Peter's mother-in-law who arose from her sick bed and ministered unto Jesus and His companions. It was used to designate the work of a number of women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him (Matthew 27:55). It was used to designate the help rendered to Paul by Timothy and Erastus (Acts 19:22). It was used to designate the collection of money for relief work by Paul among congregations of the Gentiles, and the transfer of that money to Jerusalem to relieve the needs of poverty-stricken saints there (Romans 15:25).

     All this points up the fact that the word ministry is general. It does not contain within itself a specific function. The form which ministry takes must be regulated by other words and by explanatory terms. One does not become a minister by human appointment or ordination, but by the new birth. To deny that one is a minister is to deny that he is a servant of God. To deny being a priest is to deny that one is in the kingdom of heaven, in which every citizen is a priest by divine arrangement.

     One who surrenders himself unreservedly to the Holy Spirit will be imbued with a fervent desire for ministry. Indeed, one of the proofs that one is being led by the Spirit is the motivation and inner sense of compulsion to get on with the work of God. The Spirit dwells in us. He empowers us. He strengthens us with might in the inner man. He is the enabling force, the supplier of needs, the divine Agent. He is the other Comforter, the Helper, the Advocate.

     The gifts of God are divine endowments of enabling power. The gift is not the purpose or function to which one is called. It is a bestowal of God to make possible the successful carrying out of the purpose or function. If the county presents the sheriff a new car it is to assist him in fulfilling the requirements of the office. Because the gifts of God are gifts of grace, and cannot be purchased or earned, they are charismata. The word charism simply means a gift of grace as opposed to something given because of some consideration or exchange.

     The body of Christ has always operated through the gifts of its members. It has no other means by which to function. For that reason it is a mistake to think of some members as charismatic and others as not. Every child of God is possessed of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit furnishes the dynamic for his functioning in harmony with the will of God. By the same token it is an error to refer to a certain era as "the charismatic age." The whole period between the ascension of Jesus and His return is charismatic. The Spirit came when Jesus returned to heaven. He will remain through the age.

     We should not imply that the Spirit is becoming active for He never became inactive. He has never hibernated. He is not beginning to move for He has never ceased to move. In Romans 12:3-8 occurs one of the most outstanding lists of charismata to be found in the apostolic writings. Here we learn that prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, contributing, rendering aid and doing acts of mercy are gifts of grace. These are compared in the immediate context with the functioning of members of a body, and it is distinctly said that the body of Christ functions through these charismata. Does this mean that if all who have these gifts exercise them the body of Christ will be able to fulfill its purpose upon earth? I think so.

     The nobility of service as God regards it can never be over-estimated. We are all told that we must never flag in zeal, but be aglow with the Spirit and serve the Lord (Rom. 12:11). We are to contribute to the needs of the saints and practice hospitality (Romans 12:13). We are to owe no one anything except to love one another (Romans 13:8). We are not to pass judgment on one another and never put a stumblingblock or hinderance in a brother's way (Rom. 14:13). We are to bear with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves (Rom. 15:1). Perhaps the whole scope of the new covenant scriptures is caught up in one sentence, "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another" (Gal. 5:13).

     Such service may require hardship, persecution and even death. It is this which places it in the realm of adventure by adding an element of sacrifice and risk to it. Prisca and Aquila risked their necks for Paul's life (Rom. 16:3,4). Epaphroditus nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete the service of Philippi to Paul (Phil. 2:30). Paul went to Jerusalem to carry the contribution to the poor in spite of the fact that the Holy Spirit testified that affliction and imprisonment awaited him in every city (Acts 20:22). While there on his mission of mercy he was assaulted by a rabid mob bent on killing him. He was rescued in the nick of time by a Roman tribune and the cohort under his command (Acts 21:32). John projects ministry to others to the ultimate degree. "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for one another" (1 John 3:16 ).

     How can we revolutionize our modern church structures so they will again become the simple family of God where loyalty to the denomination gives way to love for one another? At the best it will be a difficult task. It may be impossible. Forms and rituals sanctified by tradition become more important than the will of God. That will recedes from view as men continue to read the word through the tinted spectacles of their own presuppositions. Is there no hope? Indeed there is. We are not saved in groups but as individuals. We are not related to Christ through the church but vice versa.

     No one can come between Jesus and me except as I allow him to do so. I am not joined to the head of the body because I am joined to other members, but I am joined to other members because I am joined to the head. I need neither the permission or sanction of others to minister to people in their needs. I am not a minister of men to Christ but a minister of Christ to men. As Jesus "went about doing good," so I can go about doing good. I have personally resolved never to leave the body of believers with which I am affiliated. I need them and they need me. Some of them are slow to learn, others are anxious to take the bit in their teeth and run. The first teach me patience, the second teach me restraint. But we are all brothers because we are all children of God.

     My soul is bound up in the bundle of life with others. My greatest thrill comes not from making money, driving fast automobiles, or appearing on the stage. The real adventure lies in seeing lives take on new meaning because of touching them. In Lake Wales, Florida, is the famous Singing Tower, erected by Edward W. Bok, who edited the magazine Ladies' Home Journal for thirty years. At the base of the tower is the inscription, "Make the world a better place to live, because you have lived."

     To see a smile come to a face twisted in pain, to have a child nestle close to you in simple trust, to watch hungry eyes light up at sight of the food you have provided, these are scenes that grip the heart, He who said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," knew that our hearts bear the image of our Creator, the essence of whose very being is love. Those who come to be ministered unto will always be unhappy and disappointed. Those who come to minister will always find fulness of joy. "It is enough that the servant become as his lord!"

     During his earthly pilgrimage Jesus described the final judgment scene but once. Matthew, who was present for the occasion, recorded what He said.

     "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand. 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

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