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FULL BACKGROUND
CALL — (1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Gen. 4:26). Thus men are said to “call upon the name of the Lord” (Acts 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Rom. 10:12; 1 Cor. 1:2).
(2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Ex. 31:2; Isa. 22:20; Acts 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Matt. 9:13; 11:28; 22:4).
In the message of the gospel his call is addressed to all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Rom. 9:24, 25). But this universal call is not inseparably connected with salvation, although it leaves all to whom it comes inexcusable if they reject it (John 3:14–19; Matt. 22:14).
An effectual call is something more than the outward message of the Word of God to men. It is internal, and is the result of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit (John 16:14; Acts 26:18; John 6:44), effectually drawing men to Christ, and disposing and enabling them to receive the truth (John 6:45; Acts 16:14; Eph. 1:17). 1
CALLING — a profession, or as we usually say, a vocation (1 Cor. 7:20). The “hope of your calling” in Eph. 4:4 is the hope resulting from your being called into the kingdom of God. 1
MINISTER. The Heb. term mesûaµreµt_ (lxx leitourgos) and its correlates normally refer to temple service, or else to the ministration of angels (Ps. 104:4); but in a more general sense Joshua is the mesûaµreµt_ or ‘minister’ of Moses (Ex. 24:13; Jos. 1:1), and Solomon’s ministers (1 Ki. 10:5) are his domestic servants. In the NT the characteristic word is diakonos, at first in a non-technical sense, and then in Phil. 1:1 and in the Pastorals as the title of a subordinate church-officer. It refers to service in general, temporary or permanent, either by bond or free; but it has the special connotation of waiting at table (the corresponding verb is used in this sense, Lk. 12:37; 17:8, and Martha’s trouble was excess of diakonia, Lk. 10:40). Christ appears among the disciples as ho diakonoµn, ‘one who serves’ (Lk. 22:27), and he can be described as a diakonos of the circumcision (Rom. 15:8); following the example of this lowly service, the greatest of Christians should be a minister to the rest (Mt. 20:26; Mk. 10:43).
Thus we find the apostles and their helpers designated as ministers of God (2 Cor. 6:4; 1 Thes. 3:2), of Christ (2 Cor. 11:23; Col. 1:7; 1 Tim. 4:6), of the gospel (Eph. 3:7; Col. 1:23), of the new covenant (2 Cor. 3:6), of the church (Col. 1:25), or absolutely (1 Cor. 3:5; Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7). But it is to be noted that Satan can also have his ministers (2 Cor. 11:15), and that there might be a minister of sin (Gal. 2:17); further, the secular power can be regarded as a minister of God (Rom. 13:4). The Seven were appointed to serve tables (diakonein trapezais, Acts 6:2); it is unlikely that the word is here used to denote a technical office, since it is immediately afterwards (v. 4) contrasted with the apostles’ diakonia of the word, and in fact Stephen and Philip did the work of evangelists rather than of deacons; moreover, poor-relief at Jerusalem seems to have been managed by elders, not deacons (Acts 11:30). However, the Seven may in some sense have provided a prototype for the later assistants to the bishops, mentioned in Phil. 1:1, and characterized in 1 Tim. 3:8ff. as men of serious, honest, sober and faithful disposition. Their primary work seems to have been, not that of teaching, but visiting from house to house and relieving the poor and sick; deacons were thus the chief agents through which the church expressed its mutual fellowship of service. They seem also to have assisted at corporate worship.
It is uncertain whether 1 Tim. 3:11 refers to deacons’ wives or to deaconesses; Phoebe is described (Rom. 16:1) as a diakonos (common gender) of the church at Cenchrea, but this perhaps means that she was a helper rather than that she held an official position; the two ministrae mentioned by Pliny in his letter to Trajan may have been deaconesses, but this office was not really developed until the 3rd century.
The lowliness of Christian service is emphasized even more strongly by the use of the word doulos or slave; it was the form of such a bond-servant that Christ assumed (Phil. 2:7), and, following his example, the apostles and their fellow-labourers are designated as the slaves of God or Christ (Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:10; Col. 4:12; Tit. 1:1; Jas. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1).
Another term is hypeµreteµs, properly meaning an under-rower in a galley, and then anyone in a subordinate position. This word is used for the h\azzaµn, a sort of verger in the Jewish synagogue, who had custody of the sacred books (Lk. 4:20); it also describes John Mark (Acts 13:5) when he acted in the capacity of batman to Paul and Barnabas. But Paul himself was proud to claim a similar position in relationship to Christ (Acts 26:16; 1 Cor. 4:1), and Luke (1:2) employs it as a generic term for the servants of the word.
Finally, the term leitourgos is taken over by the NT in a Christian sense. Originally it referred to public service, such as might be offered by wealthy citizens to the State; then it acquired a distinctively religious connotation, as in the lxx usage. Thus Christ appears as a leitourgos of the heavenly temple (Heb. 8:2), and the angels are ‘liturgical’, i.e. ministering spirits (Heb. 1:14). The corresponding verb is used when prophets and teachers minister to the Lord at Antioch (Acts 13:2); similarly, Paul describes himself as the leitourgos of Christ Jesus, ministering (hierourgoµn) in the priestly service of the gospel of God (Rom. 15:16). But the NT terminology remains sufficiently fluid for the same word to be used of Epaphroditus as a minister to Paul’s wants (Phil. 2:25), of Gentile assistance to Jews in material things (Rom. 15:27), and of the civil power as the servant of God (Rom. 13:6). In the Christian understanding of *ministry, whether official or otherwise, the minister renders a lowly but loving service to God or man. 2
MINISTRY. To express the idea of professional or priestly ministration, the OT normally employs the verb, sûaµrat_ and its correlates (lxx leitourgein), while Ôaµb_ad_ (latreuein) refers rather to the religious service of the whole congregation or of an individual. In the NT the characteristic term is diakonia, which appears only in Esther among OT books, but is not there used of any priestly function; and the change in language implies a change also in doctrine, since ministry in the NT sense is not the exclusive privilege of a priestly caste. leitourgia is retained to describe the work of the Jewish priesthood (Lk. 1:23, rsv, ‘service’; Heb. 9:21, rsv ‘used in worship’), and it is applied also to the more excellent ministry of Christ (Heb. 8:6); further, it can be applied, in a metaphorical sense, to the spiritual service rendered by prophets and preachers of the gospel (Acts 13:2; Rom. 15:16). But it remains true in general that the NT uses priestly language only in reference to the body of believers as a whole (Phil. 2:17; 1 Pet. 2:9).
I. Christ the pattern
The pattern of Christian ministry is provided by the life of Christ, who came not to receive service but to give it (Mt. 20:28; Mk. 10:45); the verb used in these texts is diakonein, which suggests something like waiting at table, and recalls the occasion when he washed the disciples’ feet (Jn. 13:4ff.). It is significant that in the first recorded instance of ordination to the Christian ministry, the purpose of the office is stated to be that of ‘serving tables’ (Acts 6:2); and the same word is used in the same chapter (v. 4) to describe the service of the word exercised prior to this by the twelve apostles. The *minister of Christ, following the example of his Master, renders a humble but loving service to the needs of humanity at large, in the same spirit as that in which angels (Mt. 4:11; Mk. 1:13) and women (Mt. 27:55; Lk. 8:3) had ministered to the Lord on earth. Such service is reckoned as being done to Christ in the persons of the needy (Mt. 25:44); it is most frequently rendered to the saints (Rom. 15:25; 1 Cor. 16:15; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:1; Heb. 6:10); but it is a mutual service within the fellowship of Christ’s body (1 Pet. 4:10); and, as the ministry of the gospel (1 Pet. 1:12), it is in fact a ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18) for the world.
The ability to perform such work is a gift of God (Acts 20:24; Col. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:12; 1 Pet. 4:11); already in Rom. 12:7 it is being classified in a list of other spiritual gifts; and in 1 Tim. 3:8ff. the diaconate has become a recognized church office, probably open to women as well as men (cf. Rom. 16:1). But even so, the term is still being used in a wider sense; Timothy is to fulfil his ministry by doing the work of an evangelist (2 Tim. 4:5); and this work of service has as its great object the edification of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). In the words of Hort, Christ lifted ‘every grade and pattern of service into a higher sphere . . . ministration thus became one of the primary aims of all Christian actions’; and the generic term is applied to all forms of ministry within the church.
II. Pastoral ministry
Christ is not only the pattern of the diaconate, but also, as the good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11), he is the great *Bishop of men’s souls (1 Pet. 2:25, av). In a sense, both of these offices originate from the example of Christ himself, while that of the *presbyter is a reflection of the ministry instituted by him in the apostolate (cf. 1 Pet. 5:1). But it would be wrong to stress these distinctions, since the terms bishop and presbyter are virtually synonymous, and the diaconate embraces many forms of assistant ministry. Pastoral care of the flock is an outstanding part of ministerial duty (Jn. 21:15-17; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2), and is closely associated with the preaching of the word (1 Cor. 3:1-2) as the bread of life (Jn. 6:35), or pure nourishing milk (1 Pet. 2:2). The parable in Lk. 12:41-48 implies that some ministry of this character is to continue in the church until Christ’s return.
III. Sacramental duties
The NT has comparatively little to say on the subject of sacramental duties; Paul regarded the administration of baptism as a subordinate activity, which he was accustomed to delegate to his assistants (1 Cor. 1:17; cf. Jn. 4:1f.; Acts 10:48); and although it is natural for an apostle, if present, to preside at the breaking of bread (Acts 20:7), the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is nevertheless regarded as an activity of the entire congregation (1 Cor. 10:16f.; 11:25). However, a president must have been needed from the first; and in the absence of an apostle, prophet or evangelist, this duty would naturally fall to one of the local presbyters or bishops.
IV. Spiritual gifts
In its earliest form the Christian ministry is charismatic, i.e. it is a spiritual gift or supernatural endowment, whose exercise witnesses to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church. Thus prophecy and glossolalia occur when Paul lays his hands on some ordinary believers after baptism (Acts 19:6); and the words there used imply that the occurrence was to some extent a repetition of the Pentecostal experience (Acts 2).
Three lists are provided in the Pauline Epistles of the various forms which such ministry may take, and it is notable that in each list administrative functions are included along with others more obviously spiritual (*Church Government). In Rom. 12:6-8 we have prophecy, *service (diakonia), teaching, exhortation, contributing (almsgiving), aiding and doing acts of mercy (?visitation of the sick and poor). 1 Cor. 12:28 lists apostles, prophets, teachers, together with those endowed with power to work miracles, heal the sick, help, administer, or speak with tongues. The more official catalogue in Eph. 4:11 mentions apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors-cum-teachers, who all labour to perfect the saints in their Christian service, so that the whole church grows up in organic connection with her divine Head. Here, emphasis is laid on the ministration of the word, but the fruit of such ministry is mutual service in love. The various gifts listed in these passages are functions or ways of serving, rather than regular and stereotyped offices; one man might act in several capacities, but his ability to fulfil any depended on the prompting of the Spirit. All Christians are in fact called to minister, in their various capacities (Rom. 15:27; Phil. 2:17; Phm. 13; 1 Pet. 2:16), and it is for this ministry that the ministers of the word equip them (Eph. 4:11f.).
Not only the Twelve were included in the apostolate, but also Paul, James the Lord’s brother (Gal. 1:19), who had also seen the risen Lord, Barnabas (Acts 14:14; 1 Cor. 9:5f.), who was Paul’s fellow-evangelist, and Andronicus and Junias (Rom. 16:7). The primary qualification of an *’apostle’ was that he had been an eye-witness of Christ’s earthly ministry, particularly of the resurrection (Acts 1:21-22), and his authority depended on the fact that he had been in some way commissioned by Christ either in the days of his flesh (Mt. 10:5; 28:19) or after he was risen from the dead (Acts 1:24; 9:15). Apostles and elders might meet in council to decide a common policy for the church (Acts 15:6ff.), and apostles could be sent as delegates from the original congregation to superintend some new development in another locality (Acts 8:14ff.). But the picture of an apostolic college in permanent session at Jerusalem is quite unhistorical, and the great work of an apostle was to act as a missionary for the propagation of the gospel, in which capacity his labours should be confirmed by signs of divine approval (2 Cor. 12: 12). Thus the apostolic ministry was not confined by local ties, though a division of labour might be made, as for example between Peter and Paul (Gal. 2:7-8).
The ‘evangelist’ exercised a similar ministry of unrestricted mission, and his work seems to have been identical with that of the apostle, except in so far as he lacked the special qualifications for the higher function; Philip, one of the original Seven, became an evangelist (Acts 21:8), and Timothy is called by the same title (2 Tim. 4:5), though he is by implication excluded (2 Cor. 1:1) from the rank of apostle.
Prophecy was by its very nature a gift of intermittent occurrence, but some individuals were so regularly endowed with it that they formed a special class of ‘prophets’. Such men were found at Jerusalem (Acts 11:27), Antioch (Acts 13:1), and Corinth (1 Cor. 14:29); those mentioned by name include Judas and Silas (Acts 15:32), and Agabus (Acts 21:10), together with Anna (Lk. 2:36) and the pretended prophetess Jezebel (Rev. 2:20). Prophecy provided edification, exhortation and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3; cf. Acts 15:32), and might therefore be described as inspired preaching. The prophet could issue a specific direction (Acts 13:1-2) or on occasion foretell the future (Acts 11:28). Being delivered in a known tongue, his messages were more profitable than mere glossolalia (1 Cor. 14:23-25). But the gift was particularly liable to the danger of imposture, and although it should be controlled only by those possessing it (1 Cor. 14:32; 1 Thes. 5:19f.), its content must agree with the fundamental teaching of the gospel (1 Cor. 12:1-3; 1 Thes. 5:20; 1 Jn. 4:1-3), or else the prophet must be dismissed as one of the false pretenders whose coming had been foretold by Christ (Mt. 7:15).
‘Pastors and teachers’ (Eph. 4:11) are presumably to be identified with the local ministers instituted by the apostles (Acts 14:23) or their assistants (Tit. 1:5) to serve the needs of a particular congregation, and described indifferently as presbyters or bishops. ‘Administrators’ (av ‘governors’) seems to be a generic name for those who administered the affairs of local congregations, while ‘helpers’ were engaged in works of charity, especially in attending to the sick and poor. Miraculous powers of healing and speaking with tongues were a marked feature of the apostolic age, and their renewal has been claimed at various periods from the Montanist revival onwards.
V. The origin of the ministry
There has been much debate over the precise relationship between the original and unrestricted mission of apostles and evangelists, on the one hand, and the permanent and local ministry of pastors, teachers, administrators and helpers, on the other. The latter class appears usually to have been appointed by the former; but if Acts 6 may be taken as describing a typical ordination, popular election played a part in the choice of candidates. Rom. 12 and 1 Cor. 12 might seem to imply that the church, as the Spirit-filled community, produces its own organs of ministration; on the other hand, Eph. 4:11 asserts that the ministry is given to the church by Christ. It may be suggested that, while Christ is the source of all authority and the pattern of every type of service, the church as a whole is the recipient of his divine commission. At all events, the NT is not concerned to indicate possible channels of transmission; its main preoccupation in this regard is to provide a doctrinal test for the orthodoxy of ministerial teaching.
Bibliography. J. B. Lightfoot, ‘Dissertation on the Christian Ministry’, in Philippians, 1868, pp. 181-269; A. von Harnack, The Constitution and Law of the Church in the First Two Centuries, E.T. 1910; H. B. Swete, Early History of the Church and Ministry, 1918; B. H. Streeter, The Primitive Church, 1929; K. E. Kirk (ed.), The Apostolic Ministry, 1946; D. T. Jenkins, The Gift of Ministry, 1947; T. W. Manson, The Church’s Ministry, 1948; J. K. S. Reid, The Biblical Doctrine of the Ministry, 1955; E. Schweizer, Church Order in the NT, E.T., 1961; L. Morris, Ministers of God, 1964; M. Green, Called to Serve, 1964; J. R. W. Stott, One People, 1969. 2
1 Easton, M. G., M. A. D. D., Easton’s Bible Dictionary, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1996.
2. The New Bible Dictionary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1962.
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