Articles
“The Marks of Christian Ministry”
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Colossians 1:24-29
Since Paul had never met the Colossians in person he introduces himself and his ministry to them in this section. The apostle’s description of his ministry bears three distinguishing marks, marks our service to the Lord should also bear.
First, Paul’s ministry bore the afflictions of Christ (24). He suffered greatly in his service “for [their] sake.” How so? Paul wrote this letter from prison. In bringing the gospel to the Gentiles, Paul was, in a sense, drawing the enemy’s fire to himself, granting small Gentile churches, like that in Colosse, a chance to grow in peace. Paul’s suffering served another purpose: “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” This does not mean, of course, that Jesus’ suffering on the cross was somehow incomplete or insufficient. Rather, there is a certain measure of suffering that saints must endure until God executes his judgment (cf. Rev. 6:9-11). Paul’s ministry essentially made him a punching bag for God’s enemies.
This brings us to an important point. In the west, it is common to see “church ministries” for everything under the sun: they come with a T-shirt, clever branding and advertise entertainment for all ages. But “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions”? Not so much. Paul teaches us that true Christian ministry is marked by the hardships of Jesus. That’s how it has always been from Abel on. Serving the Lord means bearing the marks of the Lord. Though our ministry to Christ is often a great source of joy, we can also be wounded with “affliction” in the line of duty. Even so, we can rejoice even in our “sufferings” because they identify us with our Savior. Does your ministry bear the afflictions of Christ?
Second, Paul’s ministry revealed the mystery of Christ (25-27). “Mystery” is Paul’s shorthand for God’s eternal plan that in previous times had been hidden but has now been revealed by the Spirit to the church in the gospel. The gospel reveals “how great… the riches of glory” are “among the Gentiles.” That is, God welcomes Gentiles as full members into his covenant family. So intimate is his fellowship with Gentiles that Paul can say the essence of this mystery is “Christ in you.” He is not only the Christ above you (1:15) who created and sustains you (1:16-17), the Christ beyond you (1:18) who also died for you (1:21-23). He is the Christ “in you!” Jesus being “in” us is a way of saying that he takes up residence within us and transforms our lives from the inside out. We begin to think and act just like him. Christ living within us is our “hope of glory,” our hope of appearing with him in glory at the end (3:4). But how does this relate to ministry?
Part of what makes a ministry distinctly ‘Christian’ is that it reveals these riches of the gospel. Our service for Jesus must communicate the marvel of God’s grace toward us (“how great… the riches of glory”), the intimacy of his fellowship (“Christ in you”) and “the hope of [future] glory”. If we are not sharing God’s spiritual wealth with others in our ministry, then is our ministry even ‘Christian’?
Lastly, Paul’s ministry had as its goal the maturity of Christ (28-29). Paul’s aim was to “present everyone mature in Christ.” He toiled and struggled to prepare people to meet their God. How does one go about making Christians mature? Paul did so by teaching them about Jesus (“him we proclaim”) and he did so in a balanced way (“struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me”). That is, he recognized his responsibility to work hard but knew that when he did God’s will God was the one working within him. By striving with the strength that God supplies (1 Pet. 4:11), Paul never experienced ‘burn out’ in his ministry. His teaching took the form of both negative and positive instruction (“warning” and “teaching”). To grow in Christ, we need the gospel positively applied to the whole range of life’s circumstances (“teaching”) but because we often get things wrong, we also need constant “warnings” to keep us on track and correct us.
Christian ministry is a word-centered ministry because what Christians need more than anything to be mature is God’s truth. That is why our sermons and classes are not full of entertaining stories with a sprinkling of Bible quotations to make them ‘spiritual’ but serious expositions and applications of Scripture. That is why our children’s classes are not free day care but aimed at teaching them God’s will at their level. There are other legitimate Christian ministries (Paul mentions a few in Rom. 12:3-8) but none can prepare people for heaven like the ministry of the word. Only a word-centered church can produce Christ-like disciples.
Paul was a true minister, a servant of the church, and his ministry bore all the distinguishing marks of Christ. We understand that as an apostle, Paul’s ministry was unique, but our service, at least in principle, ought to resemble his in these three ways. Keep in mind that Paul’s ministry had no board of directors, no annual budget or any of the other administrative scaffolding of so many denominational ministries today; but it was authentic, effective and distinctly Christian. Does your service for Jesus bear the marks of Christian ministry like Paul’s?
