40 Days of Community: Made for Ministry Together

Day 30. You were made for ministry. We were made for ministry together. God has given each of us gifts and talents to use to serve other people. Sometimes we may think that ministry should be left to the "professionals," but Scripture clearly calls everyone into ministry.
In Luke 5:17-26 there is a powerful incident in Jesus' life that shares with us many lessons about being in ministry together. In this passage we hear about four men who carry a paralyzed man onto the roof of a home because they cannot get their friend through the crowd that has gathered around Jesus. They dig a hole in the roof and lower him down in front of Jesus. Because of their faith Jesus forgives this man's sins and heals him. He stands up and walks out of the house.
I think it would be interesting to know how this all started. Who took the initiative to go on this mission to get the paralyzed man to Jesus? It could have been the paralyzed man himself that thought up this plan and invited some friends to help. Or maybe he even convinced some strangers to help. The idea could have possibly come from these four guys. Maybe they decided to serve the paralyzed man, and didn't even tell him what they were doing. They just picked him up and took him to Jesus.
We will probably never know how this all started, but it made me think about how ministry starts in the church today. There are several ways people get involved in ministry. Some people are initiators and will jump right in and participate in ministry. Other people need to be asked or invited to serve in ministry. Personally I prefer the initiators, but I know most people need to be asked.
So I need to be sure we are able to help both groups get into ministry. We need to have a system that will encourage and support the initiators and help them get going in ministry. We also need to find ways to invite people to join in the ministry that is ongoing. We need to be ready to help everyone get connected in ministry because God has ministry for all of us.
Take time to think about how you get connected in ministry. If you are an initiator then keep jumping in and serving others. Sometimes ministries may not move fast enough for you, but keep pressing on. If you are one that waits for the invitation, just recognize that and be ready to respond when the request comes.
If you have ideas to help any of us get into ministry, I would love to hear them. We were made for ministry together.