Project Description

2014/07

What can I do to help my Minister?

In Paul’s epistles he refers to his readers using the following terms: ‘fellowlabours’ (Philippians 4:3), ‘fellowsoldier’ (Philippians 2:25), ‘fellowservant’ (Colossians 1:7), ‘partner’ (Philemon 17), ‘labourers together’ (1 Corinthians 3:9). Such terminology expressed the truth that he, as a minister of the New Testament, did not want them to view the work of God as a ‘one man show.’ For Paul, believers were fellow-labourers working together with him for the cause of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 8:23, he entitles Titus his ‘fellowhelper’, recognising him as a man who was a help rather than a hindrance to the work of God. The desire of every believer, young and old, ought to be, ‘How can I be a help, rather than a hindrance, in the work of Christ? How can I be a help to the minister that God has placed in the congregation to which I belong?’

Firstly, you can help your minister in your prayers for him. Paul was aware of the value of the prayers of others when he urged, in Romans 15:30, “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me”. Many of the old ‘prayer warriors’ in God’s work have finished their race on earth and entered into their eternal reward. The question arises: ‘Who has taken their place in the prayer meeting?’  Every minister covets the prayerful support of his people.

You might ask, ‘what do I pray for when I pray for my minister?’ First and foremost, pray that God will fill him with the Holy Spirit. Pray that his ministry will be effectively used by God to rescue the lost, recover the backslidden and revive God’s people. Remember to pray for his wife and family.  Pray also for unity to prevail in the work of Christ and that he will have a good testimony in the community where he labours. The desire of every minister is summarized in the words of Paul, “pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified”, 2 Thessalonians 3:1.

Young people can also help their pastor by their faithful presence in the weekly church meetings. It can be disheartening for a minister on a Lord’s Day morning, Lord’s Day evening or midweek prayer meeting, to look down and see people missing. Simply sitting in the congregation, listening with reverence to the Word of God being preached, is a real help and encouragement to the preacher as he ministers. Sadly, we live in an age when people run here, there and everywhere, not being fully supportive of God’s work in their local congregation. Yet God would have us imitate the New Testament believers, of whom it was said that, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers”, Acts 2:42.

Again, you can also assist your minister by active participation in God’s work. There are many avenues of service open for young people to serve God in their local congregation. These include participation in media teams, outreach works, children’s meetings and youth fellowships. Often these ministries are understaffed and left to the ‘faithful few’ to carry forward the work. Never expect God to call you to some wider field of service if you are not serving the Lord faithfully in your local church! When God leads you to a work, give yourself wholly to it. It is a hindrance rather than a help when workers are irregular in attendance and unreliable in support.  Samuel gave good counsel to Israel in 1 Samuel 12:24, “Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you”.

The final thing that will be a tremendous help to your minister, and the testimony of Christ in your district, is the purity of your life. When Paul wrote to youthful Timothy, he exhorted him, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity”, 1 Timothy 4:12. Many today fail to live up to this exhortation and consequently bring themselves hurt and disgrace. In a world plagued by immorality, when many live unrestrained by God’s boundaries of wholesomeness and purity, God would have you to be different! Nothing hinders the work of God more than the broken testimony of a professing Christian. We must then heed the instructions of Paul in 1 Timothy 5:22, “keep thyself pure”, and of Peter in 1 Peter 2:11, “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul”. By doing so, you honour the Lord and help maintain the testimony of Christ in your neighbourhood – a paramount concern in the heart of the minister.

May God enable you to be like Titus – a ‘fellowhelper’ to your minister!

Rev David Stewart.