Here’s a question for any fellow gospel workers as we minister in the year ahead: do you remember the “why”? To expand: why are you in—or being trained and tested—for full-time Christian ministry?
1. Calling
Some might stress the sense of a call from God. In my experience, this is strongest and most healthy when it combines a sense of both the subjective (you feel the call), and the objective (trusted, older, wiser leaders support you being set apart—especially in terms of the prerequisite godliness requirements —for service).
2. Convictions
Others rightly stress convictions; for instance, that:
- People are perishing without Christ
- The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few
- God’s people need those whom God uses to equip them.
No doubt, dozens of other convictions could be mentioned.
Beyond convictions the Bible highlights desire.
However, beyond calling and convictions, the Bible highlights another dimension: desire. And this is what I would like us to consider together.
3. Desire
Paul positively describes desire in 1 Timothy 3:1. “This saying is trustworthy: ‘If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.'”
Ministry shepherds are to avoid being driven by negative desires.
Aspire and desire are used almost as synonyms there. Furthermore, they’re related in sentiment. Now, we know the sheer strength of desire—often negatively in the shape of lust, greed or idolatry. These are over-desires in some ways, wrong aspirations; they’re desires outside of their proper place and goodness. And we’re warned frequently against them (Matthew 5:28; 1 Corinthians 10:6; Galatians 5:17; 1 Timothy 6:10).
Only desire can also be profoundly positive. We ought to desire:
- God (Psalm 73:25)
- The fulfilment of God’s promises (Matthew 13:17; 1 Peter 1:12)
- God’s word and growth (1 Peter 2:2).
And in 1 Timothy and 1 Peter, desire is applied to ministry itself.
1 Peter 5:2-3 picks up both the negative and positives of desire. “Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”
They’re to cultivate willingness and eagerness.
In other words, ministry shepherds are to avoid being driven by negative desires—compulsion, greed, power. Instead, they’re to cultivate willingness and eagerness, both aspects of desire, as they set examples of what it looks like to live under the Chief Shepherd.
Your Personal Testimony
So, how would you answer the “why” question I asked at the start of this article?
What stirred me most was a dual desire.
For me, the “why” goes back some two decades to my university days. What stirred me most was a dual desire: to see friends come to Christ; and to see fellow believers grow in Christ. That desire helped me overcome my natural shyness, giving me courage to invite friends to Christian meetings and to initiate conversations about eternal things. It also fuelled my joy in watching light bulbs go on, as believers matured in their faith. Guided by trusted leaders—along with deep and developing convictions—that desire led me into full-time ministry.
Desires Drive
Desires can drive us negatively. But the right desires are also God-given and something overwhelmingly positive. So what might this look like practically for any fellow full-time ministry workers? Here are three ways desires can rightly drive us this year.
i. Nurture Desire for God
We can’t persuasively offer people the water of life if our own well is dry. We need to minister from overflowing hearts, where we speak and care for people from a growing desire for God himself. This is the desire we’ll need to fight for most of all, simply because it is the fount of all of life—and right ministry.
ii. Remind Yourself of Right Desire
There will be times when we are tired, demotivated, or tempted by laziness. In those moments, remembering and stoking right desires can keep us going. Perhaps practically this might look like:
- Writing down what we want to desire—for instance: people saved and grown—and then praying regularly for it
- Speaking these to one another; for example, ‘What a privilege to be set apart, not only as loved ones of Christ, but also having the extra opportunity to serve people full-time with the gospel.’
We’ll need to remind ourselves of these things.
iii. Use Right Desires to Slay Wrong Ones
A wrong desire in ministry could be doing things to please others; or the desire for money or power; even being driven negatively by a lack of desire so that we only do things out of duty, or as a mere ‘job’. All of these will finally destroy us, those around us, and even the message we hold out. Instead, we want the greater and better desires, fed by the freedom we have in Christ, to dislodge wrong desires.
Concluding and Reflecting
Desire isn’t only a theological concept. It is a practical driver for how we live and serve. So, then, let’s not only remember our calling and convictions, but also cultivate God-given desires that drive us to serve eagerly under our Chief Shepherd. In closing, here are a few questions for reflection:
- What right desires currently drive your ministry?
- Which right desires previously drove your ministry?
- How can you stoke right desires, as an individual and in community?
- Which wrong desires do you need to confront?
My fellow saints in the Lord, by God’s grace let’s walk according to the desires God calls us to pursue—with repentance and faith.
