Those who participate in the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ have been called to be good ministers of Jesus Christ. The minister has a great responsibility in each of his functions and because of that is why we must be ministers dedicated to the ministry. It is not about saying “I am a preacher”, rather, it is about doing a good job as a preacher.
The apostle Paul writes to Timothy the following:
If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.
1 Timothy 4:6
What does the apostle mean when he says: “if you teach the brothers”. What teaching is he you talking about? In chapter 3 of the same book Paul gives a series of recommendations to Timothy, of how the behavior or the testimony of certain ministries in the church should be. He also talks about piety and says:
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16
Practically, what the apostle is doing in this verse is teaching Timothy what true mercy is: Jesus Christ died for us without us deserving it. And for this he says: “If you teach this, you will be a good minister.” It is true that this must be the central message of all the ministers, there is no more important message than this.
We continue with chapter 4. Paul warns Timothy about the coming apostasy so he will not lose what was taught to him through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, when are we considered good ministers? We are considered as such when we do what has been entrusted to us. In a Biblical school they talked about evangelizing, and it was said that today’s church has stopped doing its evangelistic work, so we came to the conclusion that there are many ministers who can not be considered “good ministers” because they they have forgotten their job. Let’s be careful with this, let’s do the work that corresponds to us.
To finish, there is another very important verse that is good to take into account. Paul says to Timothy:
Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.
1 Timothy 4:14
Let us not neglect the gift that God has given us. Remember that this has been by grace. We did not deserve to be used by God. This is a very divine grace. Forward, dear brothers, let us continue to strive in the tasks that the Lord has given us and be “good ministers”.
