Last month we talked about what shared ministry is but now let’s explore where the idea came from. Is shared ministry based in the Bible?
“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” ~Ephesians 4:11-13
If you want to know if shared ministry is a concept built in a Biblical foundation then you need to look no further than the passage from Ephesians. Each of us possess unique gifts, experiences and knowledge that we have been specifically gifted with in order to do the work of God, to build his Kingdom and to mature and grow in our own spirituality.
But the Biblical roots of shared ministry go even deeper. Shared ministry is about serving God and others by sharing your gifts and, through that serving, becoming a leader in ministry. Indeed the very fabric of Jesus’s ministry relied on the Disciples and the servant leader model of ministry. Working together and utilizing their gifts, the Disciples spread the word of God by teaching others what they knew so that those others might also share their own gifts and knowledge to advance God’s Kingdom.
And this effort was a collective effort-the Disciples couldn’t just rely on one member of their group to do this because they each possessed different and unique gifts and they couldn’t just bring a few others into ministry because to further the Kingdom, they needed all of the unique gifts that the people possessed. It was only in working together and combining all of their gifts that they were able to reach the masses.
Forest Park is no different-each and every one of us possess unique gifts and we can’t further the Kingdom without everyone’s gifts being put to use. So it’s time to join in and put your gifts to use with the very plan designed by God to build the church and his Kingdom.