I am not sure where we got the crazy idea that life had to lived to the extremes of one end of the spectrum or the other which always ends up in a ditch. I remember Rev. Kenneth E. (Dad) Hagin used to say: “We have this tendency to get in the ditch on one side of the road or the other, and the truth is always right down the middle.”
Oh, how I wish we in the church would learn that! There seem to be two extremes that run rampant in the church and amongst those of us in Ministry regarding our calling or function in the Body. One extreme is that we exercise false humility and just tell folks to call us Brother or Sister So and So, as if our function doesn’t matter. The other extreme is that we go around announcing our Title to anyone and everyone insisting that folks use our Title when either addressing or referring to us.
Second, folks can only receive from what they perceive, so if they don’t perceive you as your God-ordained function, they will not receive from you in that capacity. But those two things being a given does not give us the right to go around declaring who and what we are and demanding that folks call us that.
There is an element of honor and respect that comes with folks that have governmental authority. It is true in the natural and it is true in the Kingdom. This is why we call people: Senator, Congressman or Congresswoman, or President in the natural; and Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, or Teacher in the Kingdom.
To show respect and honor for function is always correct. But it is not a hierarchical Top-Down order that demands that it be lorded over people. In our natural Government, we consider Senators and Congresspeople as Servants of “We The People”. In the Kingdom, we consider the five-fold ministry graces as Servants of the “Citizens of the Kingdom”.
We must find a balance between stroking our own egos and not considering or valuing our own calling. I have functioned in 40 + years of ministry in many ministry functions. I have worn many hats depending on the season of God I was in and how He was asking me to serve His Body on the earth during that season. Most of us have. It is not unusual to start at one place or function and transition to another.
We identify those primary ways that God has us functioning as servants to His body by names or callings. We notice in Paul’s writings that he knew how he was called to function. He would say things like: “Paul called as an Apostle” or “Paul, an Apostle (not from men nor through man)”. Paul knew how he was called to function and did identify it, but we do not see that he demanded to be called Apostle Paul.
These callings or titles are used as identifiers or the function of how we serve the Body. If people perceive a Prophetic Grace in my life, they can receive from it. If people perceive an Apostolic Grace in my life, they can receive from it. If they don’t, they can’t. But because they don’t does not give me the right to demand that they do.
I trust you are hearing my heart more than you are reading my words. Sometimes I don’t have the words to express exactly what I am thinking and feeling. We must do better than what we have done. We must eliminate the two extremes we have seen. We must find Balance in Life & Ministry!
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on PDMI
Featured Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
