GoD's WorK - God's Puzzle Solved

What Is The Ministry71But it goes beyond that. In fact, a minister should be willingto give his very life for the church congregation. That is totaldedication, in the most complete sense. In the early New TestamentChurch, many of the leading ministers gave their lives asoutright martyrs. The example of being a sacrifice is very difficultto follow.Administration By GiftsThe Apostle Paul said that you should be willing to present yourbody as a “…living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). Verses 2-6 furtherexplains how that is done. Now this refers to everyone - theentire church. As Christ’s servants, you must be willing to participateat this level of dedication. In those texts, Paul explainedhow this is a reasonable service, or duty, which a Christian mustperform. Hence, Paul is warning the entire congregation not tothink of themselves more than they should. The brethren shouldconcentrate on the needs of others.What this means is that God gives to each church member, includingthe ministry, certain abilities to fulfill their individual role.This is all based on “faith” (Verse 3). In Christ, you are all onebody, though composed of many members (Verse 5). Not onlydoes this concern the ministry, but also “the church membership”because they have differing gifts or abilities, to serve thechurch (Verse 6). What do these gifts mean to those who manifestthem in the church? Paul said these diversities of gifts providethe membership with different administrations (I Corinthians12:4-11). So “the gift” given by God to each church memberproduces a variety of responsibilities within the church. Now,please consider that the English word, “administrations,” is actuallythe same Greek word used by Christ in Matthew 20:25-26for “minister” or “diakonos.” The administration in the church