What Is a Ministry, After All?
In light of recent scandals unfolding at places like Daystar Television, and even in the spirit of asking ourselves the tough questions like whether a vocational pastor needs a leer jet, I've begun to ask a bigger question: what is a ministry? And more importantly: what is NOT a ministry? I think we can all safely agree that a church, at its heart, is a ministry. In the 1828 Webster's Dictionary (the more accurate dictionary, let's be honest), we find the proper definition of the word: MIN'ISTRY, noun [Latin ministerium.] The office, duties or functions of a subordinate agent of any kind.
The Not Exhaustive But Ridiculously Too Long List of Grievances
It seems like the Church today is prone to spiritual abuse. Whether Catholic or Protestant, mega or mini-sized, the Church is rampant with bad leaders acting selfishly, manipulating and lying for purposes that defy logic. Why? What is the pattern that facilitates this behavior? And how can we get better? Be better? Do better? This is the conversation I think we must have. Now. I've been a part of all kinds of churches, of all kinds of denominations and theological backgrounds, of all sizes. I've attended the little ol' country church on the county line and the mega-church with a