A Church Full of Ministers

The church at Antioch was a church full of ministers. There were many prophets and teachers in that congregation according to Acts 13:1-3. In fact, there are five that are specifically named including Barnabas and Paul.
In the first century church, there were traveling evangelists who took their teaching efforts on the road. Although Paul did locate his ministry for a period of three years in Ephesus (Acts 20:31), generally Paul was a traveling evangelist. Yet, there were also located preachers that spent their time preaching for a specific congregation of believers. Philip apparently set up his residence in Caesarea and was the evangelist in that city for many years (cf. Acts 8:40; 21:8). It is God’s will that preachers of the gospel make their living from the gospel (1 Cor. 9:14). Evangelists are supported by churches to go forth doing the “work of the evangelist” by preaching, teaching, and publicly reading Scripture (2 Tim. 4:5; 1 Tim. 4:13). Preachers of the gospel are to devote all their time to prayer and “ministry of the word” (1 Tim. 4:13, 15; cf. Acts 6:2-4). Study, preparation, and presentation of the word of God is “the” ministry of the evangelist.
It is unfortunate that many people in the church today refer to the preacher as “the minister.” This is misleading and frankly, unbiblical. It is true that the preacher should be a minister of the word, but he is not THE minister. When we refer to the preacher as the minister, it implies that he is the only one who is ministering to others. The church is not to have only one minister. The church should be full of ministers.
The word translated “minister” in our Bibles is a Greek word that simply means “a servant.” Certainly there is a specific use of this term that refers to the service (ministry) offered by a preacher (cf. Col. 1:23; Eph. 6:21). Also, there is a specific group of men that are to be servants (ministers) of the church—these are the deacons (1 Tim. 3:8). However, the same word is used in a generic way of all Christians (Matt. 20:26; John 12:26; Rom. 16:1).
God designed the church as a living organism. The church is called “the body” in Scripture (Eph. 1:22-23). The church is not compared to organizational structures in the New Testament (like a business, corporation, or bank). Instead, the church is a living organism that depends upon each of the individual parts functioning and working to survive. Paul puts it this way, “For the body does not consist of one member but of many” (1 Cor. 12:14). The church is not an organization with one or two ministers. Instead the church is an organism of many ministers using their talents and abilities together to make the body function properly.
To have the mentality that a single man (or a few men) should be doing "the ministry” of a congregation is contrary to the will of God. God calls all Christians to examine themselves and discover what each one's “ministry” is. What is your ministry? If you can’t answer this question, you need to spend time in reflection, prayer, and study to discover the ministry that God has equipped you to do for his cause.
The Maryville congregation is absolutely full of ministers. We have countless people who are actively involved in various ministries. I have been humbled by the attitude of self-sacrifice and service demonstrated by such large numbers of people in this church. I am thankful to be a part of a church full of ministers!

(Revised version, originally published 7/16/09)