Our Roles as Ministers of the Gospel to the Current Generation
Introduction
Being religious ministers comes with many duties and responsibilities. There is no incertitude that for one to be a true minister of the gospel he/she has to take up numerous roles that come with the title. A true minister should be a true Christian, and he/she should present himself in a certain way (Wicks, 2008). Similar to the Old Testament prophets who performed different roles, ministers are called take up numerous roles in the current generation.
Roles of the ministers
The first and most important role that the ministers of the gospel are called to is to accept Christ. According to Romans 10, Christians should accept and declare Jesus for them to be saved. Likewise, ministers of the gospel should accept Christ in preparation to their fourth coming roles in the ministry.
Ministers have a duty to evangelize the Word of God and baptize people in the name of Jesus. This is in accordance to the scripture, where Peter asked the people to atone and be baptized for their sins to be forgiven, and to receive the Holy Spirit. Ministers should therefore preach the importance of baptism to the people and call them to repentance of sins (Trull & Carter, 2004).
They have a role to play in utilizing their spiritual gifts. According to the book of Timothy chapter 4, faithful exercise of one’s spiritual gifts is a major requirement for a successful ministry. God has chosen to establish and maintain the church by sanctioning believers to carry out the duties that the Old Testament prophets used to perform. Believers are hence endowed with spiritual abilities and gifts that they should utilize in evangelizing and reaching out to the current generation.
Ministers of the word have a role to play as God’s spokespeople. It is the duty of the ministers to communicate and interpret the Word of God to the people (Wicks, 2008). The current society has been characterized by social injustices, immorality, evil deeds, among other things that are not right with God. Just like the Old Testament prophets, the ministers of the gospel should strive to make people right with God by communicating the Word and calling them to repentance.
Ministers have an obligation to be good shepherds of their flocks. Sheep are in most cases defenseless and when attacked they cower. Similarly, Christians need protection from errors and from those who spread the errors. Ministers of the word should lookout to their spiritual sheep and protect them from going astray (Trull & Carter, 2004). They should learn from Paul’s example where he cautioned the pastors at Ephesus to be watchful and protect the churches that were under their care.
Gospel ministers should serve as the ambassadors of God’s Word and the church to the community. They should act as good examples to the current generation that require to be led by example. In the same manner, prophets in the Old Testament led by examples as they lived righteously and portrayed good images of true ministers of the gospel.
Conclusion
The most significant thing to do as a minister is to deepen one’s relationship with God through prayers. By so doing, an intimate relationship will be developed between the ministers and God. This relationship will enable the ministers to preach and spread the gospel and to develop other leaders who will take care of the people’s needs. Jesus came to serve mankind and not to be served, and he called us to do the same. Ministers of the Word should therefore be ready to serve as they carry on with the work of Christ (Wicks, 2008).
References
Trull, J. E., & Carter, J. E. (2004). Ministerial ethics: Moral formation for church leaders. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic.
Wicks, R. J. (2008). Handbook of spirituality for ministers: Vol. 2. New York [u.a.: Paulist Press.