~ Helping as Ministry

The Ministry of Helps is defined as a variety of things including.

1)  a person who attends to the wants and needs of others; "I have to minister to my mother all the time",

2)  In the Catholic Church the term minister enjoys a variety of usages. It most commonly refers to the person, whether lay or ordained, who is commissioned to perform some act on behalf of the Church. ...,

3)  A person who works as a minister or clergy; "She is ministering in an old parish," and,

4)  A ministry, in Christianity, is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith. 2003's Encyclopedia of Christianity defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", indicating that it is "conferred on each Christian in baptism. ...”
These definitions allow for a multiplicity of applications both within and outside the organized Church.

Especially is this so in the last one where the description "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world".  You and I a part of that legion who have been commissioned to carry forth the mission of Jesus to this generation, time and place; unless the call is to somewhere else.

One definition I did not use included teaching in Sunday School, serving coffee after church and any number of other areas within the confines of religious practice.  However I believe that this is a somewhat limited a definition.  If Christ came to simply revise the practice of religion in His time there was no reason to go to the cross.

Instead He told people that He had come to usher in a new kingdom, the Kingdom of God.  He did this by demonstrating His capacity to help and care for others.  He cared for you and I that much He died in our place and all He asks is for us to suspend our self directed lives to offer His life to others.

As I stated I am certain that Jesus meant us to look wider than the faith community in which we worship.  As we live for Jesus in our daily life we need to impact others from outside our faith community.  Those we interact with in our place of employment, while shopping, or even at the gym or wherever.

It is not the quality of our faith that will reach people important as that is to us.  What really impacts others is the depth of our love and the vibrancy of our joy; not as it affects our life, but as it reaches into their life.  It is the little things in life that make a difference.  It is the little things that we can offer to someone who is having a bad day.  The hopes that we can offer others because Father has given us hope and that flows out of our life.

These “little things” are only an entrance door.  The difference makers will be creative in the way that they relate to people.  A smile, a pleasant word, treating people as if they matter is a good way to demonstrate the love of God to others.  Lending a hand, going beyond the need and just being available will make a person curious about what motivates us and hey presto we have the opportunity to introduce Jesus to this person.

I am not suggesting this is easy, it isn’t, it means putting other people’s needs prior to your likes.  Some of these people will miss everything you offer them or they will be some of the least lovable people in your world.

Of course those people are only the same as we used to be before Christ died for us