PART-TIME JOB or MINISTRY?

I want you to try to envision something. Go back to John 3 with me.
3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
I don’t ever like to approach the Bible with assumption, but for a very valuable lesson, let’s assume for a moment that verse three went something like this: in reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, I work from 8:00 a.m. ‘til 5:00 p.m. and only on Wednesday and Sabbath evenings, which is actually the first day of the Week, after 6:00 p.m. Please come back during those hours.

Sounds like Jesus would be punching a clock, working for a business, and guarding his time tenaciously. I have learned a valuable lesson. I got it from Jesus and I share it with you: Ministry is a fulltime job. Part time jobs are for businesses. Can you imagine a father saying, I’m just a part time husband and father. Part time jobs are for those who have the PIE CONCEPT. A piece of pie represents every aspect of life. To Jesus, ministry was the whole pie.

My daughter asked me the other day, Why did we come home from vacations to do funerals? Didn’t anyone else know those people? My answer to her was: Maybe not. And, those folks wanted me to do the funeral. I coached baseball because it kept me close to my wife, who was always beside me, and my kids. That was part of ministry for others.

Ministry is grounded in the love of Christ. How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Eph. 3:18)! Paul left no stone unturned in ministry when he said, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (I Cor. 10:31); and, in ministry, we can do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Col. 3:17).

The PIE CONCEPT is bogus ministry. It is no ministry at all. One cannot have a piece for this, and a piece for that, and be one way to some and another to others—never a part time job. Ministry (Gr. diakonia) is and always will be what Jesus did and what Paul taught: I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved (I Cor 10:31). That way I can try to be like Jesus. In my own life I can work hard to be the best husband, father, friend, brother, etc., etc. I may get Jeremiah’s results but, along with him, I will glorify God—you too!

Aren’t you glad the outcome of John 3 gives us the perfect example? He punched no clock that day. He did what he did every single day and in the middle of the night. He ministered to Nicodemus. That’s why he came to our world and shared our life (Matt. 20:28: not. . .to be served but to serve (Gr. the verb of diakonia). Can I do less and follow in his steps (I Pet. 2:21) in any sense? You must choose for yourself.