The Christian Ministry

by Ds. Baltazar A. Niangar, Pastor Emeritus, Th.B., A.B., D.D.

“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” — John 20:21

Some Monday mornings, every pastor wonders whether what they do actually matters. This new study was written for that pastor. It was written for the quietly faithful deacon, the elder trying to shepherd a flock pulled in a dozen directions, and for every believer — lay or ordained — who wants to understand what the Church of Jesus Christ is actually for.

The Christian ministry is not a career. It is the continuation, through imperfect people, of the very ministry Christ began in Galilee two thousand years ago. This study walks through sixteen dimensions of that ministry — each one beginning with the letter “M” — but they fall naturally into a few groups.

Where Ministry Begins: Mystery, Meaning, Mysticality

Before ministry is a task, it is a mystery — a divine secret that can be received by faith but never fully mastered by technique. It is the mystery of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27): the Christian minister isn’t someone who talks about Jesus, but someone in whom Jesus actually lives and works. And it is a mystical reality too, in the truest sense — direct fellowship with God through the indwelling Spirit, sustained by prayer and Scripture rather than by strategy or skill. “Apart from me,” Jesus said, “you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Who Carries It Out: Models, Ministers, Mission, Message

Christ Himself is the model — not primarily in public triumph, but in the servant who knelt to wash His disciples’ feet. Every human minister is an under-shepherd serving sheep who ultimately belong to Him. And ministry belongs to allGod’s people, not a professional few — the Reformation’s recovery of the priesthood of all believers means every Christian has a calling to serve.

That calling carries a mission with three inseparable parts: reaching the lost, building up believers, and glorifying God in everything — “whether you eat or drink” (1 Cor. 10:31). And it carries one unchanging message: the gospel of grace, the coming Kingdom of God, and the whole counsel of Scripture, held together without neglecting any one of the three.

What It Requires: Musts, Motives, Motivation, Means, Mandates

Faithful ministry has non-negotiables — spiritual disciplines and character qualifications that matter more than talent. It requires pure motives, since God weighs not just what we do but why we do it. It runs on a motivation deeper than duty: the love of Christ compelling us (2 Cor. 5:14). And it depends on means God Himself has provided — prayer, the Word, the sacraments, the fellowship of the church — carried out under the mandates Christ has clearly given His people.

What It Costs and Faces: Manifestation, Merits, Morality, Menace

True ministry shows itself in visible fruit, and it carries real and lasting merit before God — not for earning salvation, but as a faithful steward’s reward. It demands a morality that matches the message: a life that adorns the gospel rather than undermining it. And it faces real opposition. This study names three menaces the Church meets in every generation: materialism (the love of wealth and comfort), modernism (the displacement of God’s revelation by human reason), and moral corruption (slowly absorbing the world’s ethics instead of resisting them). “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion” (1 Pet. 5:8).

Still Marching

None of this depends, in the end, on the strength of the people doing it. Christ said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). The Church is a community of sinners being saved — imperfect in doctrine, practice, and love — but animated by a perfect Savior, guided by an infallible Word, and empowered by an omnipotent Spirit. That is why, two thousand years later, it is still marching.

Soli Deo gloria.

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