There are sadly many myths that cloud over ministry opportunities today. Some of them can cause minor harm, but others can be crippling for both the people whom God calls into ministry and the local ministry itself.
As someone in the business of recruiting and empowering leaders in church ministry for the past nine years, I have observed that one of the most common myths that people have is that they aren't mature enough for ministry work.
God calls every dedicated Christian to participate in the work of ministry. The call to evangelise, make disciples, minister to broken people, and serve the local church is not something that only vocational ministers are to do. When we make ministry work exclusive to a chosen few, we miss out on God's true design for ministry—a team effort where everyone regardless of age, status, skill or influence plays a role.
Ministry is not for a chosen few who have reached a certain level of maturity. We don't wait to be "Christian enough" to serve God. This is because we become more and more like Christ as we serve in ministry. Maturity happens during ministry work, so there's no point in waiting for maturity to happen before we enter the ministry.
Ephesians 4:12-13 reminds us, "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
We don't wait to become mature before we start ministering, but we mature as we minister.
Imagine what the world and the church would look like today if Peter waited until he was no longer impulsive to start preaching to the crowds. Imagine what we would have as a movement today if Paul waited until his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7) was gone before he started planting churches.
Leaders do not wait until they are completely mature before they start ministering. They mature because of their ministry work.
That doesn't mean that we don't keep moral standards for people who lead and minister in church services, discipleship or counselling. It's important that we have clear standards and the intention to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us through them. But we also cannot wait until the day we feel we are "Christian enough" to start serving God.
You might not feel ready to be used by God, but God is undeniably ready to use you as long as you remain faithful, teachable, and hungry for more of Jesus in your life. Ministry works out of the overflow of our experience with Jesus. As long as you are experiencing more and more of Jesus on a daily basis, you are ready to be used by God in ministry.
