How mature should someone be before they're allowed to serve in some ministry role? I remember going on mission trips as a teen and young adult. There was always some spiritually immature team member who ruined the morale and experience for those who really wanted to serve. I remember thinking, Why is this person even here? Why don't the leaders do something about this? When I became a leader in ministry, I tried to exercise discernment about who I allowed to serve. My motive was wanting to have an environment God could work through, without someone causing trouble, especially ruining it for those with pure motives.
The enemy often uses Christian workers against each other to sabotage the ministry, and we have to be on guard (Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: First Peter 5:8). Those in charge of ministry teams should be careful and pray for wisdom in selecting people who serve. Someone who is not spiritually equipped could be a detriment to others, and even a legal liability. However, true those this is, and while this has been an important topic to me for years, this is not what I'm going to talk about right now.
If we had to wait until our motives were perfect, no one would ever get the chance to serve the Lord. God is the one who equips us (Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. First Thessalonians 5:24). Discerning leaders let God guide them to the right people He is calling to serve. Samuel did this in First Samuel 16 when he anointed David as king. He saw how tall and handsome Jesse's oldest son was, but the Lord dissuaded him from anointing him. God eventually revealed David was His choice, and Samuel obeyed God's leading. I wish the leaders of my teen and young adult mission trips had this kind of discernment. I will never, ever believe that some of those I served with were called by God to be there. He allowed it, for reasons I don't understand. It caused me years of therapy and healing. These were wrong scenarios, and the leaders who allowed these people on the teams were wrong. And yet, in spite of this, God sometimes calls people we might not expect.
In Mark 6, Jesus sent out his disciples two-by-two. They were given authority to preach, and cast out demons. This was a pretty intense mission trip. And yet they didn't fully understand the Gospel yet. They didn't understand why He had come. This understanding would come after the resurrection. Even later in this same chapter of Mark 6, we are told that their hearts were hardened, and they were unable to understand the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. These guys weren't the spiritual giants they would later become. In fact, the original 12 on this mission trip were far from a perfect group, because one of them was a traitor (Judas). Knowing this all, Jesus still commissioned them anyway. He gave them what they were ready for. They were ready for a new revelation of Him, and He sent them to places they couldn't do too much damage (I saw this humorously!).
As you look back on what God has allowed you to do, think of how you have grown in knowing Him through serving. These opportunities God gives us serve two purposes. They grow us up in Him, and they also minister His truth to others. He lets us serve Him, and it is an honor. We don't have to be perfect to serve. We uses these things to prepare us for bigger assignments later on that we might not have been quipped for earlier, but we still get to serve at that earlier point. I'm sure this Mark 6 mission trip prepared the disciples for what they would do in Acts, but in no way were they ready for the kind of ministry they had in Acts back in Mark 6.
It is God's grace that we get to serve Him, and I'm so thankful! He uses us in spite of ourselves at times. As I remembered earlier, Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
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