Theology of Ministry Intro
By request, I am putting my theology of ministry paper on my blog. I have to say that writing this was such a profound experience for me. I didn't expect that. For the first time, I think, I was truly, truly grateful for where God had brought me from and for where God is taking me. All that from a paper! I'm going to break this up into sections, so if you feel like reading it, you can read one section at a time. I'd love feedback on this as, even though it was approved by my classmates, I feel like this paper will never really be done for me. Enjoy!
I. Scriptural Basis for My Theology of Ministry
As in any Christian theology, scripture plays a foundational role for my understanding of ministry. Several passages in particular are central to my conception of how the church is to act in the world. First among them is II Corinthians 5:17-19:
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.
I understand this passage in several different senses. First, it is a statement about the atonement of humanity through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Second, it is a missiological statement about the nature of the work to which the church is called; the work of proclaiming the reconciliation that is found in Christ as well as the work of reconciling ourselves to one another. Finally, this is an eschatological statement. To be in Christ is to participate in a new creation in which reconciliation, not enmity, is the norm. This new thing that is being created in Christ does away with the old moral order and Paul’s acknowledgement that he has been entrusted with a ministry of reconciliation illustrates that God has a participatory role set aside for those who follow Christ.
The next foundational passages are found in the Gospels. First is Luke 4:16-18:
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
In this quotation of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus is giving what amounts to a mission statement. Jesus’ understanding of himself as the fulfillment of this prophesy has missiological, Christological and ecclesiological ramifications which we will discuss later.
Along these same lines I see Matthew 25: 31-46 as making important missiological claims for the church:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
Though the author of the Gospel of Matthew must have certainly intended these words to have an eschatological tone to them, I imagine that the evangelist also intended these words to shape the understanding of the Christian mission. To finish off this section, allow me to use two more passages of Scripture that will be the springboard for the following theological discourse. First is simply John 1:14:
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
The second is Philippians 2:5-8:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
Both of these passages speak to the incarnational nature of Jesus’ ministry and provide a model for the church to follow.
I. Scriptural Basis for My Theology of Ministry
As in any Christian theology, scripture plays a foundational role for my understanding of ministry. Several passages in particular are central to my conception of how the church is to act in the world. First among them is II Corinthians 5:17-19:
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.
I understand this passage in several different senses. First, it is a statement about the atonement of humanity through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Second, it is a missiological statement about the nature of the work to which the church is called; the work of proclaiming the reconciliation that is found in Christ as well as the work of reconciling ourselves to one another. Finally, this is an eschatological statement. To be in Christ is to participate in a new creation in which reconciliation, not enmity, is the norm. This new thing that is being created in Christ does away with the old moral order and Paul’s acknowledgement that he has been entrusted with a ministry of reconciliation illustrates that God has a participatory role set aside for those who follow Christ.
The next foundational passages are found in the Gospels. First is Luke 4:16-18:
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
In this quotation of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus is giving what amounts to a mission statement. Jesus’ understanding of himself as the fulfillment of this prophesy has missiological, Christological and ecclesiological ramifications which we will discuss later.
Along these same lines I see Matthew 25: 31-46 as making important missiological claims for the church:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
Though the author of the Gospel of Matthew must have certainly intended these words to have an eschatological tone to them, I imagine that the evangelist also intended these words to shape the understanding of the Christian mission. To finish off this section, allow me to use two more passages of Scripture that will be the springboard for the following theological discourse. First is simply John 1:14:
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
The second is Philippians 2:5-8:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
Both of these passages speak to the incarnational nature of Jesus’ ministry and provide a model for the church to follow.
Oooh, I'm getting excited already! You've pulled great passages from scripture, with heavy missiological and eschatological emphases. Of course, if you read my series on "The end" you'll find I think these two things are very tightly interwoven.
I will read on and comment as I go, but I like how you've chosen to begin.
Posted by
Anonymous |
10:01 PM