{"id":121,"date":"2012-04-30T20:49:17","date_gmt":"2012-05-01T01:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=121"},"modified":"2012-05-23T20:06:29","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T01:06:29","slug":"mere-men-and-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=121","title":{"rendered":"Mere Men (and Women)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWho would form a God or mold an image that profits him nothing? Surely all his companions would be ashamed; and the workmen, they are mere men\u2026.\u201d Isaiah 44:10-11 NKJV<\/em><\/p>\n

There was an episode of the situation comedy Seinfeld<\/em> in which the character Elaine embarrassed herself with her drunken behavior at a work party. She later confesses to Jerry and George at the coffee shop, lamenting that her offense was especially bad for someone in her position. \u201cYour position,\u201d repeats Jerry incredulous and mocking. \u201cWhat\u2019s your position?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m an associate,\u201d answers Elaine. \u201cHey, I\u2019m an associate too,\u201d says George. \u201cYeah, me too,\u201d remarks the waitress pouring their coffee.<\/p>\n

In this comedy series that made a joke of everything and everyone, a show in which the characters\u2019 behavior was so consistently reprehensible they were convicted and jailed for it in the finale, the punch line was despite Elaine\u2019s sense of her own value in the company, associate positions don\u2019t imply rank or ownership. They\u2019re a dime a dozen. Elaine becomes the butt of the joke for believing otherwise.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a very old Groucho Marx quote that goes something along the line of, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t belong to any club that would have me as a member.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems our standards are always a little higher than our self worth, aren’t they?<\/p>\n

There is no question we raise an imposing yardstick by which to measure anyone who dons the title \u201cminister\u201d. One dictionary defines a minister as an agent or instrument of another. The songwriter said the Lord made His ministers \u201ca flaming fire\u201d (Psalm 104:4). Paul expounded further, explaining to the Ephesian believers that, \u201cwe are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.\u201d (Eph 2:10). Sounds like we\u2019re agents and instruments to me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been listening to a teaching series by Jack Hayford titled \u201cCovet the Best Gifts\u201d. The CDs were recorded in the summer of 1979 but the message is still as fresh as can be. The text includes 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, \u201cThere are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.\u201d Pastor Hayford draws the conclusion that all this equipping of us saints by our Father, first-born Brother, and Helper set us up to hang out our shingles. We are open for business as empowered believers. Sounds a lot like ministry to me.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s my point? Like it or not, we are all ministers in the truest sense of the word. If we hold a treasure in these earthen vessels (2 Cor 4:7) \u2013 and we do \u2013 we are no longer mere men and women. We are empowered to craft and form the image of the one true living God in our corner of the world. This is for the profit of those whose lives God allows us to touch, and it matters whether or not we carry it out. It matters whether or not we understand our own gifts among the diversity of gifts. It matters whether or not we execute our ministry. Our activities matter. We Christians are not a dime a dozen, even if we haven\u2019t figured that out yet. What did the Father have on His mind for you to do as He was speaking the worlds into existence? What does your \u201copen for business\u201d sign say?<\/p>\n

So the next time someone tells you, \u201cI\u2019m a minister\u201d, rather than hauling out your yardstick, just smile and answer, \u201cYeah, me too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWho would form a God or mold an image that profits him nothing? Surely all his companions would be ashamed; and the workmen, they are mere men\u2026.\u201d Isaiah 44:10-11 NKJV There was an episode of the situation comedy Seinfeld in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Mo02-1X","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":998,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=998","url_meta":{"origin":121,"position":0},"title":"The Benefits Package","author":"lsimonds","date":"May 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2018"","block_context":{"text":"2018","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=86","url_meta":{"origin":121,"position":1},"title":"Pro-Christ","author":"lsimonds","date":"February 1, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"And they said, \u201cIs not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, \u2018I have come down from heaven\u2019?\u201d John 6:42 Fasten your seat belts. This month is my most radical column to date. At the risk of shamelessly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2003"","block_context":{"text":"2003","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":424,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=424","url_meta":{"origin":121,"position":2},"title":"On Wisemen And Wiseguys","author":"lsimonds","date":"November 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThen he said to me, \u201cWrite: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!\u201d And he said to me, \u201cThese are the true sayings of God!\u201d And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, \u201cSee that you do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2014"","block_context":{"text":"2014","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1556,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1556","url_meta":{"origin":121,"position":3},"title":"In Search of Je Ne Sais Quoi","author":"lsimonds","date":"December 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"First and foremost, my heartfelt thanks to Blake Kimzey and Writing Workshops Dallas for inviting me to post on the WWD blog, where this appeared on November 30, 2020 My second novel, Stork Bite, released in November 2020, after eight years of working and reworking it. I had wanted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2020"","block_context":{"text":"2020","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=81","url_meta":{"origin":121,"position":4},"title":"What Will Be","author":"lsimonds","date":"January 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201c\u2026the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,\u2026\u2026which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.\u201d Ephesians 1:18, 23 Some while ago I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2004"","block_context":{"text":"2004","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1231,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1231","url_meta":{"origin":121,"position":5},"title":"What a Mess","author":"lsimonds","date":"April 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"For consider your calling, brothers:\u00a0not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But\u00a0God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise;\u00a0God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2019"","block_context":{"text":"2019","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}