Flesh And The Ministry

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. –Romans 8:1

If God is revealing a person’s flesh, should he stop ministering? It is not as odd a question as one might think. I am often asked it by those who do ministry, for it is a question that the enemy loves to plant in the mind of a disciple of Christ. After Peter’s denial, should Peter have just quit? I believe that God is dealing with us continually and bringing us into conformity with what we have always had in Jesus. Ministry remains constant while our growth—the increasing revelation of what as Christians we have always had and been--is in flux. In short, much of our insight during times of ministry comes from having already been where the people are to whom we are talking. I often look across my office and see in a person the very things that have been in me. Our experiences equip us to minister. Peter denied the Lord and yet ministered on the very topic later. He had been there. If being there disqualifies a believer, Peter would have been disqualified. Past experiences (even failures) equip us to minister in the present, and though we have grown through them and can then minister from what we gained from them, that will not rule out the possibility of a life full of like experiences. This may sound odd, but personal growth in private areas of life can be unrelated to the ministry occurring today, even though it is preparation for further ministry in the future. Many make a mistake when they see flesh in their lives and proceed to listen to the enemy as he whispers that they are not fit, they will bring dishonor to Jesus, and they are hypocrites. The enemy’s goal is accomplished to the extent that the believer withdraws from ministry. What does such retreat really accomplish? Time is taken away because of a newly revealed area of the flesh, and an attempt is made to fix the issue. The believer’s eyes are taken off of Jesus, he is no longer giving of himself to others, and he becomes absorbed with the problem, all of which are counterproductive. Also, does he really believe that this will be the FINAL issue in his life? Does he believe that this revelation of his flesh is the last one? When a believer thinks that he has dealt with all the flesh that will ever be revealed, he is deceived and only seeing flesh from his own definition. He must come to see that the continuous process of revelation of flesh and resulting renewed reliance upon Jesus is what keeps his teaching fresh. “There is nothing the nearness of Jesus will not cure.”Even today His nearness may be fixing a problem in any or all of us!