It’s a privilege to preach the word of life. It’s an honor to be called to carry living water and pour it out upon God’s people. It’s a privilege to teach the word of God and explain myste
ries such that revelation knowledge is imparted to His people. It’s an honor to prophesy and speak words of encouragement and wisdom that gives God’s people confidence that He has great thoughts and plans for their lives. It’s a privilege. It’s an honor.
I believe we all start off in ministry just as Saul the first anointed king of Israel. He was humble, and he saw himself as least among the Benjamites. “… Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? …” 1 Samuel 9:21. We often refer to Saul from the perspective of his actions toward David. However, I encourage you to look back at how Saul began his anointed reign of Israel. He was anointed and appointed by God for God’s purpose. God told Samuel, “To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me,” 1 Samuel 9:16. God heard the cry of His people, and even in their rebellion, He sought to deliver them from the Philistines. Saul was to be the vessel God used to bring about deliverance, but this did not happen. Saul became arrogant, prideful, and tormented by demons. He did not fulfill the promise of God on His life because although he was anointed, his heart was full of self and not of God.
Saul had an anointed purpose, and God appointed him for that purpose. We ignorantly think that we can behave any way we want and God will remain faithful and not remove His hand from us. We forget that although Saul reigned for forty-two years over Israel (1 Samuel 13:1), God removed the kingdom from his hand long before his reign ended. Holding the position is not the same as carrying the anointing.
As God was calling me into the ministry, He had me study Saul. He showed me that just because we are anointed that does not mean we are in a relationship with Him. God taught me how power can easily corrupt and cause one to believe in oneself more than in Him. He showed me how our relationship with Him must be paramount to everything else not the number of members in our church, how much the people shout as we preach, or how much money we collected during the offering. My primary goal in ministry is to please Him.
Today, we have lowered our standards for what is the most sacred experience in the kingdom of God, and that is to be a vessel for the master’s use. I know we have lowered our standards by the number of ministers whose behavior is nothing like the behavior of Christ. We have become lords over our congregations, moguls of the ministry, and defenders of the perversions of the world. We have forgotten the power of the “good news,” and we have mixed it with words that tickle the ears of people and comforts their flesh. We have forgotten that all power in heaven and earth was given to Jesus Christ and if we point His sheep to Him, HE will save, heal, deliver, and set free His people.
I encourage you to do a heart check. I know that as I write this, God is purging my heart and breaking the fallow ground of complacency that had become rooted within me so that I can be used as a double-edged sword that strikes the kingdom of darkness into submission. He desires that we are apostles, prophets, teachers, and preachers that consider everything worthless except the value of knowing Christ Jesus. So, let’s all do a heart check and remember that it is indeed an honor to be called by God. It’s a privilege.