SCRIPTURE: 2 Timothy 4
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. [2 Timothy 4:2]
But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. [2 Timothy 4:5]
Today I am going to show you one of my crazy assumptions – that the call to “preach the word” and to “do the work of an evangelist” is not a special word for those who are officially called to preach (i.e. preachers or pastors or ordained ministers) or to evangelize (in our tradition, a lesser position called ‘evangelist’).
My belief that Paul’s word to Timothy is also Paul’s word to everyone, whatever role in church and life they hold, to tell others about Jesus!
Everyone is called to be a witness to the truth of Jesus and His kingdom, and their life calling (teacher, janitor, farmer, nurse, etc.) is their ministry area where they ought to “discharge all the duties of their ministry”.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. [Matthew 10:5-8]
This is a very specific message – from Jesus to His disciples – “do not go among the Gentiles…”
Can we therefore ignore the passage, assuming it is just for them?
My answer is NO – we can take the general calling and apply it to our specific ministry area.
Freely we have received, freely we must give too!
Their specific ministry area was “the lost sheep of Israel”, and Timothy’s specific ministry area was the gathering of believers in Ephesus, but the general calling to ‘proclaim/preach’ and to ‘evangelize’ (share the gospel) is shared by all of Jesus’ followers, wherever they are.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” [Acts 1:8]
My fear is that by assigning these tasks to a few ‘ordained’ people, we are letting most people off the hook from obeying Jesus’ call to witness and proclaim and evangelize.
Anyone who says ‘it’s not my job to preach’ is missing the point.
This error of relying on ‘ordained’ people to preach and evangelize is having a huge negative effect on the church – it is making the ordained few too big, and making the non-ordained many too weak.
We are all ordained with the Spirit to witness to the truth – we may all have different ministry areas, but they are all equally God’s field of service.
I am no more ordained than you; my ‘ordination’ in a denominational sense gives me status in my denomination, but not with God.
I am just one of many witnesses, called to preach the word, to do the work of the evangelist, to discharge the duties of my ministry.
I will be accountable before the Lord for this…
But so will you!

PRAYER:
Lord, liberate the laity, energize ALL of Your people by Your Spirit to discharge the duties of their ministry! Ordain us all, and may Your message be proclaimed to the ends of the earth!