Every member is a
minister!
I
heard about one pastor who was confronted by a church member one day and said,
"Pastor, we pay you to minister! We pay you to visit! We pay you to make hospital
visits! In fact, we pay you to be good!" Well, what he was saying was that he didn't
want to do those things. He was just lazy! The pastor looked at him and said, "You
know what Brother, you're right. You pay me to be good. You on the other hand are good for
nothing."
Don't
be that kind of minister! We're in this thing together and that is what Paul is talking
about in Galatians chapter 6, the Ministry of Restoration.
Galatians
6:1, "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual
restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be
tempted."
The
word Paul uses here [paraptwmati] is a picture of somebody who stumbles or falls. It
describes saints who at one time were traveling on the road of righteousness but are now
living in the ditch of defeat. It doesn't matter how long you've been saved or how long
you've been a church member or how long you've been a Deacon or how long you've been a
Sunday School teacher, you can still be overtaken in any trespass!
Peter
says in 1Peter 5:8, "Be sober (level thinking), be vigilant (alert); because your
adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
They
are on our Sunday School roles. They are on our Choir roles. They are on our Church roles,
people that have been overtaken in a trespass, people that have slipped into sin and
slipped out of church, people that need restoring! But rather than restoring, do you know
what we do? Most of the time we ignore them, because that's easier, isn't it? I wonder
what would happen if the church today became known as a place of restoration for the
wounded? A place where those who are down could get up? Where those who are out could get
in? What would happen if the church became a place of confirmation rather than a place of
condemnation?
I
believe we must be the only army in the world that shoots its' wounded! Most of the time
we ignore those who are wounded! And when we're not ignoring them, we are deploring them.
We're criticizing them! We're throwing stones at them! And most of us have a pretty good
aim when it comes to rock throwing! Do you remember what Jesus said about that in John
8:7, regarding the woman caught in adultery? "He who is without sin among you, let
him throw a stone at her first."
But
rather than ignoring them and deploring them, God says that we are to restore them!
Galatians 6:1, "you who are spiritual restore such a one .." And the
Greek word translated "restore" [katartizete] was used in Mark 1:19, of James
and John "mending" or "repairing" their nets. This word was also used
to describe a physician who would set a broken bone. And when Paul says, "restore
such a one", he's saying to help that brother or sister who has slipped into sin
to get back on their feet again!
This world is made
up of people who are wounded and broken, and it's our responsibility to love them and to
help restore them. Yes, we can set the bones, then God can heal them! Will you be a
Minister of Restoration? (Taken from iExalt
Insider!)
