My wife is a minister of the Word. What I mean by that is that she is a proclaimer of the Gospel. She works part-time as a labour and delivery nurse at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, but it is more than a job for her, it is a vocation.
A vocation is a calling. It is a holy appointment with God. A job is something you do for money, but a vocation is a job with a biblical imagination.
Julie is a proclaimer of the Gospel. She speaks a word of hope to Moms in the making, who sometimes doubt if they are going to have what it takes. She proclaims a gospel word to Dad’s who sometimes feel a little disconnected from the miracle that is happening right in front of them. She says, in one way or another, sometimes without a word,“You are enough. You don’t need to bathe your new little one EVERY day. You don’t need to feed every two hours, at EXACTLY two hours. I know you have read lots of scary stuff on the Internet, just breathe, take it one day at a time. God is good. You are going to be OK.”
Sometimes, when assisting a delivery, Julie is the first human being, besides Mom, to touch a brand new human. She is humanity’s welcoming committee. She has performed funerals (too many) and has shared tears with heartbroken parents who must suddenly struggle with the hardest questions humans have ever asked.
I am disappointed when Christians spend time debating if women can preach or teach during a congregational assembly while they ignore what we all do the other 166 hours in a week. Why do we care so much about what happens in two hours on a Sunday morning and care so little about the rest of the week?
Nowhere in Scripture, nowhere, are we instructed or commanded to gather on Sunday morning for a one hour oratory exegesis of the Scriptures. On the other hand, we have examples of brothers and sisters gathering in houses, on outdoor steps, by the river at dawn, and in gardens. We read in the Bible about men and women sharing a meal together and loving each other in the name of Jesus. Some did it poorly (like in Corinth) while others did it better (like in Phillipi) but they all loved Jesus and they sought to live like Jesus, 24 / 7 and they talked about it when they gathered together. They cared WAY more about the rest of the week then about a one or a two hour gathering on Sunday. Maybe we should too.
How many preachers does your church have? (Here’s a hint: the answer is way, way more than one)
