Who Is the Minister?

I have been reading Acts 6:1-7, which has reminded me of something I learned about many years ago.  I remember hearing about a particular religious group that does not believe in having a located full-time preacher.   They either have itinerant preachers, or a congregation will have their men take turns preaching. I was intrigued when I heard that Reuel Lemmons, who was a longtime editor of the Firm Foundation journal in Texas, was anti located preacher. His reasoning was not doctrinal or theological, but practical.  He had observed a typical pattern when a congregation that had no full-time preacher managed to hire one.  When a congregation had no full-time preacher, everyone was invested and active in the ministry of the church.  However, when a congregation hires a minister, less and less of the members are as invested and active.  He also said that he was anti-elders for the same reason.  When a congregation goes from no elders to appointing elders, he observed the congregation doing less and leaving it to the "professionals."  I am not sure if he was saying this tongue-in-cheek, but he did make a good point.

This also reminds me of something I once heard Flavil Yeakley point out.  Several decades ago, a congregation of 500 would typically have only one full-time staff member, the preacher.  Now days, larger churches hire numerous staff to take care of the various types of ministries in the church.  The reason churches in the earlier days did not feel a need to hire additional staff members is that more of the congregation was invested and active in the overall ministries of the church.  There were typically many more volunteers in the early days than there are now.

I see another situation in Acts chapter 6 which needed ministers to tend to a ministry in which Grecian widows were being overlooked.  What strikes me about this situation is how the leaders handled it, and how the congregation responded.  In the first church, there was a "daily distribution," or a "ministry/service of tables."  The church had grown to a point that there were those who were being overlooked and brethren begin to complain. 

I was struck by what the leaders did not do in this case.  They didn't ignore the problem and hope it would go away but dealt with it directly in a positive way.  They didn't have a series of secret meetings, but wisely called the congregation together, since it was a congregational problem.  They didn't take care of the problem for the congregation, but gave them instruction and guidance in how they were to participate in fixing this problem.  They didn't scold the congregation or lecture them for possibly being prejudice.  It was likely an oversight.  Instead, they offered a workable solution that was much more edifying than a lecture.  This pleased the congregation, and they continued to grow in faith and in number. 

What a blessing to be able to have a ministry of tables, or a daily distribution!  This ministry was important enough to charge the congregation to participate in selecting seven reputable, spiritual, and wise men to oversee their contributions as they brought their resources to help brethren in need.  Both the ministry of the word and the ministry of the table flourished in this environment. 

This is a reminder that all ministry is important, whether it is ministry of the word, table, or something else.  This is also a reminder that all ministry is participatory.  I remember seeing the list of personnel on the front page of a church bulletin.  There were the expected names of the elders, preacher, deacons, and other ministry leaders.  The name under "Minister" was "Every Member."  This was a reminder that every Christian is a minister who ministers in the name of God.