What if ‘full-time paid Christian ministry’ is not for me?
(Romans 12:1-8)
Those who do not go into full-time paid Christian work must not feel like second rate Christians. The New Testament makes clear that all of us are to serve God and live lives fully pleasing to him, whether we are in full-time paid gospel ministry or not. This is clear from Romans 12:1-8.
(a) All Christians are to offer themselves in sacrifice to God (v1-2)
Because of ‘God’s mercy’ in the gospel (v1) all of us are now able to ‘offer’ ourselves to God in a way which is ‘holy and pleasing’. This sacrifice is no longer the preserve of the priest only (as it was in the Old Testament). The good news of the gospel is that, because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, by trusting in him we can be ‘holy and pleasing’ to him whoever we are. We do not therefore need to enter full-time Christian work in order to be more pleasing to God! Indeed to think we do is a denial of the gospel!
(b) All Christians are to be committed to world mission (v2-3)
God’s will in Romans means his plan that people from all nations should believe and obey him (Romans 1:5; 16:26). All nations will be called to faith and obedience when they see it lived out in front of them. So the job of every Christian is to ‘test and approve God’s will’ (v2) or better to ‘prove’ or demonstrate it. We do this when we do ‘not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but are transformed by the renewing of (our) minds’. So living out our new life will show to the non Christian how God calls them to live and the gospel will spread.
(c) All Christians are different parts of the body (v4-8)
It is striking that the sacrifice in v1 is singular in the Greek. So we don’t all offer lots of little sacrifices on our own, but all join together to offer one united sacrifice together as a church family. The reason for this is that Jesus’ death has united us and made us into one body (v4-5). In this one body we all have different roles and gifts. So the gifts Paul lists in v5-8 include word gifts, like teaching (v7), but also practical gifts such as ‘serving’, ‘encouraging’ and ‘giving’ (v8). We need each of these gifts to be exercised if together we are to offer the sacrifice God wants. The gift of teaching is no more important than the gift of giving. What Paul is saying is not that we must not be proud and seek to do things we are not gifted for. Rather we must all join in humbly serving the body in the best way we can as the people we are. And, as we do this united as a church family, the gospel will go out into the world, calling on those around us to trust and obey Jesus the King. We all need each other. Those in full-time work serve those who are not and those who aren’t are needed to support those who are, by their financial giving, practical support and encouragement. This is why there is no such thing as a second rate Christian!
Summary of a talk given by Tony Jones at the 9:38 Students Conference 2002