I want to put a flea in your ear. Some of you will hate me; it's irritating and distracting to have a flea in your ear. You can't quite concentrate on the immediate tasks before you.

Disciples of Christ are restless, dissatisfied souls. Once we have grasped the grace of God in Christ, it is our God-given desire that all should hear. The world is full of beggars, and we have found the bakery. The gospel radicalizes us, cutting to the root of reality. What is more important than telling others the news of Christ and building his church?

It's not that our other responsibilities are unimportant. After all, it is God himself who has given us family life, work and our roles in society. It's just that when the stakes are the glory of Christ and the destiny of people, when we know that Christ has died and will return in glory, we want to do all we can to proclaim him and save others.

So Christ's people are not only restless and dissatisfied, but also tired. We work hard in our jobs, families and communities, and then add on Christian ministries. It's not unheard of to be busy in ministry in our lunch hours, during several evenings in the week and on most of the weekend. We're going too fast to even see the roses, let alone smell them. In our darker moments we envy the full-time pastor or evangelist who can integrate ministry, work and family, and be freed from other things to serve Christ.

However, this is a call to increase your service of Christ and his people. We are created in Christ for good works:

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:10)

And we are to increase in love for each other:

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. (1 Thess 3:12)

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. (Phil 1:9)

But what about our ‘structured’ ministries, such as teaching classes, evangelism, schools ministries, one-to-one training and so forth? Can we re-organize life to give more time to these activities? Imagine if 10% of our church was free for two days a week to do specific ministries. That would be a significant increase in gospel work and an enormous boost to the paid ministers.

We tend to think that ‘going into ministry’ means full-time, paid and probably ordained. But it is better to think in terms of a spectrum between two poles. At one end is ‘spare time’ ministry where we serve as unpaid volunteers in our spare time. More than any other institution, the church has and will always depend largely on this volunteer workforce. At the other end is ‘full-time’ ministry where the ministry is the job for which you are paid. We need increasing numbers of these leaders who can devote themselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer, and provide ‘umbrellas’ under which others can work.

It is a liberating perspective to see that there are not just two alternatives, but a spectrum of possibilities. It is interesting, at this point, to reflect briefly on the economics of ministry in the New Testament. In summary, the Apostle Paul established the right of ministers of the gospel to be financially supported (1 Cor 9:1-12, Gal 6:6, Phil 4:10-20). But on occasions, this right is to be forfeited for the sake of the gospel (Acts 18:1-4, 1 Cor 9:12-23, 1 Thess 2:1-9). From Paul's pattern in Corinth comes the common term ‘tent making’ to refer to ministry funded through our own labour. After the apostles, nothing is said about the financial arrangements for their immediate delegates such as Timothy and Titus, and the only possible reference to the payment of elders is 1 Timothy 5:17-18. So the general principle of paid ministry is established, but ministry is not defined in terms of any specific economic arrangement. Unpaid ministry is no lesser ministry.

So let me put a flea in your ear:

• Why not move one step along the ministry spectrum?
• How can you make one or two days a week free for specific ministries?

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