can narrow the choices down.
The three segments of the left – salvation, growth to maturity, ministry . . . are what God says He desires for all persons. The four segments to the right represent the different kinds of ministry people can be involved in, the people-group that will be ministered to, the team a minister would be a part of, and the place (or location) where that ministry will take place. Here’s an overview of each segment.
• Salvation:
• Whom does God desire to be saved? . . . not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
• How is this determined; who gets saved? But as many as received Him, He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
• Growth to maturity:
• Whom does God desire to grow to maturity in their faith? And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man, and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. (Colossians 1:28)
• How is this determined; who grows in faith? And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to came after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ (Luke 9:23) People can choose to grow, or turn away; it’s their choice.
• Ministry:
• Whom does God desire to minister? Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10 NIV)
• How is this determined; who does ministry? . . . but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain . . . (John 15:16) God appoints and commissions, but people have to want to serve and choose to do so. You became imitators of us and of the Lord . . . for the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you . . . in every place your faith toward God has gone forth . . . (1 Thessalonians 1:6 & 8)
These young believers in Thessalonica “imitated” Paul by going out to different places and sharing God’s word with many others, choosing to pay the cost of serving God joyfully.
• Kind of ministry:
• This is the key issue: to discover what kind of ministry would be most fruitful for me to be involved in. Once that’s determined, the rest—group to minister to, team to be part of, and location—logically fall into place.
• Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you . . . (2 Peter 1:10)
• How is this determined . . . ? He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11,12)
Though it may seem complicated to determine what kind of ministry God would like a person to be involved in, it really boils down to three main factors:
1. gifts & abilities – how God has gifted and equipped me . . .
2. passion – what do I love doing . . .
3. vision – what concept of ministry captivates my heart and mind.
In other words, what is that person’s ministry strength, what does he or she love to do, and what’s the kind of ministry that she or he sees as extremely valuable for God’s kingdom.
First, regarding the aspect of gifts and abilities: an example of two different men with different sets of abilities is Paul and Peter. Paul was educated and from a cultured background (Philippians 3:4ff); Peter was a fisherman. While Peter was intelligent and possessed a powerful personality, he probably lacked the social graces and education to be highly effective in ministry to Greeks and Gentiles. Consider Peter’s speech to Roman centurion, Cornelius et. al. in Acts 10: 28, And he said to them, you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shone me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.” Wow, what a rude approach to sharing the gospel!
In contrast, Paul in Acts 17:19ff, comes to a place filled with false idols, and says, graciously, Men of Athens, I observe you are very religious in all respects.” (Acts 17:22), then proceeds to share the gospel from a metaphysical basis (verses 24–28). This episode reveals Paul’s strengths and abilities in pagan and/or sophisticated ministry situations.
In fact, Christ’s statement in Acts 9:15 about Paul’s ministry “job description” is this: But the Lord said to him (Ananias of Damascus), Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. Paul was gifted and equipped to multi-task.
Both Peter and Paul were men who loved the Lord with all their hearts, and served Him with their lives. But the kinds of ministry in which they served God were certainly different.
Secondly, while God may challenge us at times by putting us in ministry situations in which we really feel inadequate and uncomfortable—perhaps to stretch our character and increase our humility—God normally employs those who serve Him in the kind of ministry that brings them joy. In fact, joy is a major aspect of finding out one’s gift. (See Question 10, part 1, “How do I know what my spiritual gift is?”)
Thirdly, our call will be consistent with our Vision. By that I mean the kind of ministry that grabs us, and compels us. Take for example, a person convinced that working with young children would be a great investment for their futures as adult Christians. That conviction would motivate that person to focus on that kind of ministry, leading young ones to a childlike faith in Jesus, and helping them, appropriate to their age, to be pleasing to God. That’s what is meant by a compelling vision for ministry.
For me, the ignition point was hearing Dawson Trotman’s (founder of The Navigators) message “Born To Reproduce.” The vision in this message was that if each serious Christian were to spend enough time to help another young, interested Christian grow in faith and obedience, then that person could do (and likely, would do) the same thing with another person. Then there would be two people walking closely with God and having both the heart and skills to serve the Lord. Then the two would become four, then eight, then 16, 32, 64, 125, 250, 500, 1000, then 2000, ad infinitum. It was the idea of spiritual multiplication that captured my heart.
It was the wonderful realization that an individual person could have a huge impact on the world for Christ and do it in everyday life. It was the concept that the same way the world got populated—by human reproduction—was the way we could take part in getting the gospel to every person. As someone once quipped, the only commandment that people ever really gladly obeyed was, “be fruitful and multiply.”
To paraphrase Trotman’s biographer, Betty Lee Skinner, Trotman felt that two things—personal discipline unto godliness and the spiritual power of reproducing lives—“. . . were largely lacking in Christian work . . . “ and that God wanted Trotman to focus on this kind of ministry. (* Skinner, Daws, p. 270)
As you can tell, I am very excited by this vision, and have been for many years. God has put it on my heart. This is the kind of intensity and passion you should feel about the type of ministry to which you believe God is calling you.
So what are some kinds of ministries that match well with what kinds of gifts?
Let’s say your passion is to help persons with emotional issues or life problems. You find your gifting is in the area of mercy and compassion. You have empathy with and communicate well with those who are struggling. The type of ministry may well be one of Christian counseling.
If your gifting is to be a behind-the-scenes helper, finding real joy in making sure everything is set up perfectly, e.g. for the conference, you may be that extremely valuable person: a servant of God who loves to work for the Kingdom, seeing needs and meeting them in the Christian community.
What if you enjoy bringing order to chaos, and excel in keeping your