August 20, 2024
General Superintendent
Max Edwards
Before the disciples of Jesus experienced the infilling presence of the Holy Spirit they often found themselves arguing over who was most important … who would serve and who would call the shots. Their attitudes sometimes exasperated Jesus. One of the most memborable occasions was their last Passover gathering at which nobody seemed to want to fill the servant’s role in washing their companions’ feet.
We all know what happened. Jesus took the opportunity to model servanthood for them, and to teach them about humility and ministry. (From John 13:12-15), Jesus said to them:
“Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
These kinds of humble actions – ministering to others – did not come naturally to them in the days before the outpouring of the Spirit. That is because ministry is born in a transformed heart of genuine love. And indeed, one of the primary works of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the perfection of the heart. The Apostle John wrote about perfect love in his first general epistle:
“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit … And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them ... There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:13-18)
And let’s be super clear about this aspect of ministry: it is not simply what the vocational clergy does in the church or in the community. NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Ministry is loving Christian action, organically done by every member of the body of Christ. This is what is meant by the priesthood of all believers that the Apostle Peter talked about in one of his letters (1 Peter 2:9 and following). In this way, we are all priests. We are all called to minister to one another in the church, and to others outside the church. This is God touching humanity through each of us.
And yet, there is indeed a place for vocational preachers in the body – the clergy, those called to proclaim the gospel through preaching and teaching. God chooses to gift and call some to be in those roles, but H e calls ALL OF US to be ‘ ministers ’ who love others in acts of humility, service, and need - meeting. In Acts 2, we hear that they “… were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.” They loved, and they did so in tangible ways as they served in ministry.
