The Passage of Scripture
“You need a song, a passage of scripture and a paragraph from a book to sustain your ministry.”
Everyone knows some passages of scripture are more important than others. If you dont believe this, I have a quiz on II Chron. for you.
The most obvious text I could give as the center of my ministry would be Mt 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. I do believe it is one of the centers of gravity in scripture, and it is the text I try to build my life around. I have committed it to memory and require all my freshmen ministry students to memorize it. The Living of this Sermon occupies almost all of my attention.
And everyone who has heard me preach knows I think the most compelling presentation of the gospel in all the Bible is II Cor 1:20:
“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
But if I had to choose the passage that sets the theme for my ministry (and has for years), it would be II Cor 5:14-19, with its themes of dying to self, seeing the world in a different way, becoming a new creation and practicing reconciliation. Talk about a loaded few verses!
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”
Maybe some readers will share the passage around which they center life and I would love to hear from some ministers about which passage sets the theme for their ministry.
Eric Gentry
randyharris
June 5th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
The passage that has challenged my ministry and my heart from both a theological point of view as well as character forming is Philippians 3:7-11. I really do just want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering, becoming like Him in His death… but it makes me tremble. That calling however, has shaped how I view another favorite, Jeremiah 6:16, “This is what the Lord says, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls…” The voice of the prophet echoes the longing for ministry to see God’s will, the ancient path… yet I still see in a mirror darkly and have less thus saith the Lords I espouse. I think the key to rest for the soul is to never forget that you are at the crossroads!
June 7th, 2010 at 8:26 am
My passage that keeps me going is II Corinthians 4:16-18. Although we live in this world, we are already into the next…the world promised to us by our Lord. The words “light and momentary” and “an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” are terms that stick for me. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed bay by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that fars outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” How can one not be encouraged by this??!!
June 7th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Well I base my philosophy of ministry from Ephesians 3.7-13 (my “philosophy of ministry” is available on my blog under my Ministry Profile page).
Another passage of scripture that has been dear to my heart and one that I hope my ministry enables other to be participants of is:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the death, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet 1.3-5, NIV).
I love the passage because it reminds me of a hope that we share in that is grounded in the history of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And though it is not so easily noticed in the NIV’s translation, Peter actually uses both past, present, and future tense verbs to describe this hope which is just a mind-blowing mystery that in Christ we can say that we have been, we are, and we will be saved.
Grace and peace,
Rex
June 7th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Luke 19:10, Matthew 28:18-20, and 2 Corinthians 5:14-19 here.
June 8th, 2010 at 6:48 am
Ps. 46 “Be Still and know that I am God…” Also, ‘Seek first the Kingdom…”
June 8th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Randy,
Thanks for starting a blog. I remember when you told us in class that, “You need a song, a passage of scripture and a paragraph from a book to sustain your ministry.” Its been probably ten years now. Its something I never really implemented then or in the last decade. I guess its time to start. Thanks for the reminder.
June 8th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
I’d say, Titus 3:5 – “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His great mercy….”
June 9th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Speaking of Chronicles…one of mine is this passage as David gives the plans over to Solomon. I find the charge not unparallel with my own in ministry:
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”
1 Chron. 28:9-10, NIV
Another that is at the core is Matthew 5:16 (from a “To God be the Glory” perspective):
“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
And II Corinthians 2:14-ch. 5
June 10th, 2010 at 4:51 am
[...] to read the encouraging posts in which he elaborates upon this statement. You can find these posts here and [...]
June 10th, 2010 at 8:26 am
I’d have to say 2 Corinthians 3:18. The more we contemplate Jesus with an open heart–and the more we encourage others to do the same–the more we are transformed into his image. As the old devotional song from the 70’s goes “Little by little every day, little by little in every way, Jesus is changing me…” (I just know how you love those little cute devotional songs, Randy!).
June 12th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Do you ever change your song, passage of Scripture and a paragraph from a book? Annually, every 5 years? Just wondering.
June 24th, 2010 at 8:24 am
I’m late to the discussion, but for the past several years, 2 Cor. 5 has functioned as that normative, grounding text for my life and my ministry as well.
June 24th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Thanks for the information. You have done a good job communicating your message. Keep up the good work.
July 9th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
(Yes, I know my comment is seriously tardy.) For a number of years, I used 1 Cor. 2:2 as my foundational, or “life” verse: “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” It’s still an excellent choice. However, as I’ve grown older (matured, I hope, but “grown older” is at least indisputable), I’ve switched to Micah 6:8: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” A perfect summary, I think, of what God STILL wants from His people.