The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-10, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. Copyright 1990 by John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

In Romans 12:7 it says, “Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching.” My question would just be, what type of serving or to what capacity of serving should someone do if they have the gift of ministry? What is the gift of ministry?

Answer

Serving is just a very, very generic term. Gifts of serving (gifts of ministry) perhaps can be as broad as the categories of I Peter, where, basically, spiritual gifts are divided into two categories: I Peter 4:11, “Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterance of God. Whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies.” You have two kinds of gifts: speaking gifts--those are obvious: preaching, teaching, all of that. Perhaps we would include in New Testament time, the unique gift of prophecy that belonged to the New Testament prophets and apostles--the “words of wisdom, word of knowledge” kind of thing. Speaking gifts. Then you have serving gifts, which would be anything that’s a non-speaking gift, non-public proclamation gift. It might be ministering to people in their illness; it might be discipling a person one-on-one.  The broader category might encompass a ministry of prayer; it might encompass a leadership responsibility, an administrative responsibility; it might encompass taking food to the poor; it could encompass a myriad of kinds of things. "Ministry" is a broad term.

Now, when you come to Romans, chapter 12, it may be narrowing down a little bit, but if you’ll notice, you’ll see these very broad categories. We have differing gifts…first, in verse 6, he mentions prophecy, which is a speaking gift--uniquely. Then he mentions service--very broad. Then he mentions teaching, which is a speaking gift. Then he mentions exhortation, which is a speaking gift. Then he mentions giving, which is a unique serving gift. Then leading, which is a serving gift, which a speaker might also do, showing mercy and so forth.

So, these are sweeping things: just very broad, generic categories, and ministry can be many, many things. It might be going to the jails to minister to people that are there. It might be leading a prayer meeting. It might be calling on someone who’s ill…as I said, feeding people without food, giving money to those who have need and assisting them in their situation. It might be administrating a program or a ministry. It might be supporting missionaries in some way, whether by giving or by being on the field in a support service kind of thing. It can be very broad, but we would also even say, in the broadest sense, that even a preacher and a teacher serve the Lord in some way.

But, I think it is contrasted to the speaking gifts in I Peter 4…so any kind of ministry in any shape or form that is other than a speaking ministry.

Question (continued)

So, could it also mean a pastor?

Answer (continued)

Well, a pastor does some serving, yes, sure. In fact, I would assume that anyone who is called to pastor must be able to do two things, right? He must have a speaking gift and he must have a serving gift. Why? Because he has to feed and lead, right? Feed and lead the flock; I Peter 5 “feed the flock of God, taking the oversight.” So, yes, if you asked me, “What is the gift of a pastor/teacher?” The pastoring/shepherding part is part of serving the people, leading the people--that’s a ministry function, whereas the teaching part is obviously the proclamation and the speaking part.

But when you study the spiritual gifts, don’t narrow them down too much. They’re very broad. That’s why Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12 list gifts that are apparently different, because they’re very sweeping, broad categories. 

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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