Do I have a ministry?

We've talked before about a mindset in the Christian family that divides people into two categories: they are either "clergy" (those who are IN the ministry) and "laity" (those who are not). It's as if a rule book somewhere says that if you are going to be in the ministry, first you go to the seminary or a Bible college. Next you work as a youth minister or a choir director or a missions director for a while. Then you get ordained. There you go -- you are now an Official Minister Type Person.
There's just one problem with this.
It's wrong.
If we accept this, then only a few people will be committed to doing the work of the ministry, and the rest will sit back and let them do it. And mostly watch.
That's not the biblical picture. Biblically, the ones who are gifted as pastors and teachers and evangelists are supposed to equip the saints (all believers) for the work of the ministry.
No fooling! It's true!

 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:11-12)

The very same moment that we trust Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells us; we are now part of the body of Christ. As members of His body, each of us has a spiritual gift and I Corinthians tells us that we are to exercise that gift for the "common good." Peter tells us to use our gifts to "serve one another."
It's true that it's usually necessary for those who are called to be pastors to have specialized training. And the Bible reminds us to make certain that they are supported as they lead and teach. But each and every believer has a spiritual gift to discover and to use. We may not step in front of a group and teach. We may not hop on a steamer and travel to exotic lands to be missionaries for Christ. But we each have been entrusted by God with a ministry for which we will give an account. Remember the servant in the parable who'd been entrusted with "only" one talent? He buried it, right? Some believers think that they are "one talent" people, and they tell themselves that they are not gifted in an important way. They feel that they can't do anything important for the Lord.
Oh, dear Christian! If that is you, please listen (oops, I mean please read along) this week and let's challenge ourselves to think differently.
You see, I believe that all of God's people should be ministry-focused. We all have at least one spiritual gift!

This week, I'd like to encourage all of us to read (or re-read) Nehemiah 11 and 12. Yep, this week we will focus on two chapters! Here are the first three verses of chapter eleven:

Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns. 2 The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 11:1-2)

Beginning in verse three, there is a register of the names of Jewish citizens and family patriarchs, and the ministries that these people were tasked with. That list and the explanations continue all the way through a good bit of chapter twelve.
The list tells us that there were some families who repopulated Jerusalem -- some lay families, some priestly families, and some gatekeepers, Levites, and temple servants. The rest of the Jewish nation was made up of families who lived in the cities of Judah and Benjamin.
Chapter twelve begins with listing the priests and Levites that came back when Zerubbabel returned, then the high priests, and then the priests and Levites after Zerubbabel and Jeshua. The last portion of chapter twelve is a joyous recounting of the dedication of the wall and the temple support being set up.

Why all this listing of names again?
It's not just a clerk scribbling down all these names and jobs for Nehemiah to remember them. It's not a high muckety-muck bureaucrat that wanted to keep his job and seem important, so he made a list. These are people who are conscious of their roots. They cherish their heritage and they treasure their structure as a people. They know they are not rabble. They are not "squatters" in the land. They are resettling the land of their fore-fathers, and they have the dignity of history and relationships. Most of all, they are a people who remember that they are called -- called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exodus 19)

We have seen in past chapters, and we will see here, that the people had willing hearts to do whatever God wanted them to do. They were willing to function in whatever capacity was needed. We can learn a lot from the Jewish people in these chapters; we will study here this week.