I’m No Minister

Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the LORD has commanded. Exodus 35:10

As I’ve mentioned, my wife and I both grew up as pastor’s kids but I’ve also got two brothers-in-law who are pastors and another one who’s an army chaplain. Even my own brother was a youth pastor for a while. Being surrounded by pastors, it’s easy to get the idea that if you intend to do God’s work, you should do it in a professional capacity. I never felt called to the ministry though. I don’t think I’d say that God told me to be go to medical school either. It just seemed like a wise choice. And I believe it was. I’m no pastor, but still, I believe that I can do my job for God and that he can use me to share with others the love that he’s shown me.

It’s not always been that way of course. In following my own appetite into my addiction, it was impossible to follow God’s will at the same time. So, I didn’t. Like everything else I did, I simply did my job for me and mine.

It’s not wrong of course to work to provide for our family. That’s not all God wants of us though. Today’s passage reinforces this idea that we all have something to contribute and that we don’t need to be priests or pastors to do God’s work. In the story, Moses called on all his people to use whatever gifts they possessed, to make all that the LORD has commanded. Everyone did what they could to do God’s work for the good of all. Craftsmen made stuff and seamstresses sewed things. Everyone did something.

So, what can I do at my job if I’m not a professional minister? First, I must daily seek God’s will, allowing him to continually transform me so that he can use me. Then, I must do my job as if for God (Colossians 3:23), doing it with integrity and competence. I must always treat other with kindness, love, and respect, showing even the unlovable the love that God showed me when I was unlovable. Then, when God provides opportunities to serve those in need, I must say yes to those opportunities if I’m able, even when it’s something out of my comfort zone.

We all have something to contribute. That’s not the question. The question is this – Are we willing to do our job with our eyes on God’s will, instead of our own?