Bible study-How to Help: The Ministry of Helps 1/5/09

Kyrel Ruth

New Member
How To Help: Ministry of Helps (Part One) week of 1/5/09


The Bible tells us these are ministry gifts.


1 Corinthians 12:27-30 (NKJV)

27. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

28. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

29. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?

30. Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

As you can see, Paul asks these questions in 1 Cor 27:29-30: Are all apostles? (No) Are all prophets? (No) Are all teachers? (No) Are all workers of miracles? (No) Do all have gifts of healing? (No) Do all speak in tongues? (No) Do all interpret? (No)

He doesn't ask if we are all "helps" because we ARE all in the "ministry of helps" We are all in the Body of Christ and we are all helpers of Jesus.

Look at the scriptures just above these in 1 Cor12:4-26

4. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.

6. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

7. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:

8. for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,

9. to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,

10. to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

11. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

12. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

13. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

14. For in fact the body is not one member but many.

15. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body?

16. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body?

17. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?

18. But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

19. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

20. But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.

21. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."

22. No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.

23. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty,

24. but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,

25. that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.

26. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

We all have a place in the Body of Christ. Some are called and placed in the 'visible' speaking areas such as pastor, prophet, or teacher, but not all of us are. The majority are in the background doing behind the scenes work.

We all have a ministry, and the ministry of helps is just as valuable as the visible speaking gifts. The ushers, the musicians the child care workers, the janitorial works all make a difference and are very needed "helps". As are the groundskeepers, the parking lot attendants, the team who stuffs all the bulletins...all background workers all vital to the Body of Christ.

Do not think you are not valuable because you are not on the 'platform' (the speaking gifts). It is not about glamor or being seen. One is graced to be there and sees the responsibility and knows the speaking gifts are held to a higher accountability.

James 3:1

1. My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

Do not try to force your way into a ministry gift that you think is more 'glamorous' than the one you are placed in. If you are called into the office of Apostle, Pastor, Prophet, or Teacher that is different and God anoints you for it. Do not let pride or jealousy make you step on others to be in the more visible parts. You will fail and hurt yourself and others trying to be something God hasn't gifted you to be.

Do not or say "Oh, I am only a usher." or "I am only a janitor." God sees your heart. God sees and rewards those who see the value of each and every Child of God in the Body of Christ and He will reward you for humbly serving where He gifted you to be.

Do you see? He gifted you to be where He placed you. You have value to Him and you are anointed to be there. We each have worth in the Body and if we fail to be who God made us to be and to use the gifts He gave us, we are hurting the Body.

On the other hand, if we USE what gifts we have, then we are helping and blessing the Body.

So, at the Judgment Seat of Christ we will be judged on how faithful we were to the callings that God placed upon our lives.

And if you work in the back ground- as the majority do- you need to be perfectly happy and at peace to be there. Do not worry if no one knows your name! Jesus knows it and He does not forget.

Many people become angry and upset if you don't thank them for the work they have done, or to recognize them by name. What should it matter if people fail to say "Thanks, great job."..or if you say.."Hey! You should tell people how great I am for doing so and so." And now a person is forced to say thanks...instead of allowing the Lord to reveal the good work you have done. The blessing can either be taken away by boasting in yourself, or forcing another to speak it when the Lord has reserved the time and place for your good works--and name--to be revealed.

Okay, we can see that there is differences in the gifts. Some are leaders and most are followers. Good leadership cannot achieve optimum results without good follower-ship.

Lets look at this example that Tony Cooke writes in his book "In Search of Timothy: Discovering and Developing Greatness in Church Staff and Volunteers" and I quote:

"A spiritual leader I know had a large congregation. Everything seemed fined until one of his top staff members-one
of his key assistants-decided he could do better. The assistant took more than 30 percent of the congregation and started his own work. Needless to say, it was a painful split.

(When this type of thing occurs, questions are asked. The armchair quarterbacks begin their second guessing: "If only the leader had been more connected with his staff, this wouldn't have happened." Or, "If only the leader had developed a better relationship with his congregation, such a large percentage wouldn't have been susceptible to being pulled away.")

After the split, the leader maintained the work with the part of the congregation that remained, and it was still a good-sized group. But the leader also decided to go ahead and pioneer a new work-another congregation in a different location. Like most new works, this one was small, very small in fact, but the leader saw great potential in this fledgling group. This time, a split did not occur. It was worse. This time the leader lost his entire congregation.

The leader later did some things that enabled him to recapture some of that lost congregation and to rebuild it even larger, but the whole process was not without challenges and setbacks. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went
into the rebuilding process.

This first leader had a close relative who also went into the ministry. He had a true shepherd's heart and was an excellent teacher. The Spirit's Presence was with him in a remarkable way, and he got great results. However, he also faced challenges in his leadership. He had alot of turnover-people came and went on a regular basis. He had retention problems, and on one occasion there was a mass exodus from his congregation.

This leader also had challenges with his staff. His top staff members didn't always get along well. They were competitive and had periodic arguments among themselves. It was later discovered that he had a staff member who was actually involved in embezzling ministry funds. He had another staff member who was known for being impulsive in both word and deed. This individual "lost it" one time under pressure and actually assaulted another person.

And Rev. Cooke goes on to ask these questions:

1) Would you want to work on the staff of one of the aforementioned leaders?

2) Would you want to work for a leader who loses more than 30 percent of his congregation, then starts a new work and has the whole thing go under (at least temporarily)?

3) Would you want to work for a leader whose staff doesn't always get along well and where there's a high turnover rate among the congregation?


He further explains, to quote:

"Who are these leaders?

The first leader he described is God the Father. The second leader is Jesus. I shared their history in a slightly veiled and disguised way on purpose. We would all agree that God the Father and Jesus are wonderful-perfect in every way. Yet both encountered problems in their leadership.

God's archangel Lucifer rebelled against Him and took one-third of the angels. Later, Adam and Eve (God's second 'congregation') turned against God, and as the representative heads of the human race broke relationship and fellowship with Him. Of course, to say that Jesus' disciples were rough around the edges is to put it mildly.

Were the problems we described problems of leadership, or problems of follower-ship? Was it that God the Father and Jesus failed to exercise good leadership, or that others failed to exercise good follower-ship? Again, we know that God and Jesus are both perfect and infallible. Therefore, their leadership skills leave nothing to be desired. But good leadership can't achieve optimum results without good follower-ship.

Next week we will continue with this study. Mondays at 8 pm EST on Teamspeak Feel free to join in the discussion <3

God bless you!
 
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