When you meet someone, a first impression is often formed based on the clothes you, and they are wearing. Clothing can identify someone with a certain job, activity, or interest, and can create an expectation of what they are doing or their role. You can as easily identify a police officer, as you can a Deliveroo employee or someone in a wedding dress and assume what they are doing.
If I were to meet you, and wear one of the many Liverpool FC shirts I own, it would likely trigger a view in your mind about the type of person I am, or at least my interests. Your response could range from enthusiasm and a sense of kinship, to plain disgust!
Clothes can also determine access and the ability to carry out responsibilities. We all felt the impact of COVID-19 and having to wear masks, and you may have other experiences of needing to wear specific clothes in order to enjoy a drink or run a marathon.
Many moons ago I went to a client’s office to give a presentation. On the journey there my colleague realised I was wearing jeans and helpfully informed me of the organisation’s strict no jeans policy. On arrival, it was confirmed that I would not be able to enter the main office… so I delivered my presentation with gusto in the entrance lobby!
What does the bible say about clothes?
Ephesians 4 talks about taking off the old and putting on new clothes and later in the book in chapter 6, Paul encourages us to daily put on God’s armour. In Colossians 3:14-17, we learn of the need to clothe ourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love. Throughout the Old and New Testament we read of taking off fear and replacing it with the peace of God.
I want to focus on a different set of ‘clothes’. What I’m calling the original clothing that Adam and Eve wore – which as you’re probably thinking weren’t physical clothes- but what God clothed them in, who He made them to be. Their identity.
We often talk about the change when we receive God’s truth and make a commitment to follow Jesus. We are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), we have been taken out of darkness and brought into His marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9), which is true – but it is about coming back to God’s original design.
Adam and Eve, as per God’s design, were already clothed in all they needed. Their identity was secure. Their purpose was clear… and we all know what happened next. Adam and Eve did things their way, messed it up and God sent Jesus to fix things:
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Some versions of the Bible say Jesus came “to save those who are lost”, but others say “to save that which was lost”. There were clearly things that were lost in Adam and Eve’s relationship with God that I believe Jesus redeemed, and we get to restore.
We are all made to serve (with) God in our day-to-day.
One of these areas is that we are all ministers.
In the beginning God created the world, including Adam and Eve, and put them in the garden where they served with Him in tending to the garden among other things. In Genesis 1 we read:
Genesis 1:27-28
27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
This is a mandate for all mankind, not just a command or guidance for Adam and Eve. We all share in this. Adam and Eve weren’t the elect few to rule over everyone.This was the same mission for everyone. If we imagine the relationship that Adam and Eve had with God; these responsibilities were a partnership with God. These were things that they could do with God, not just for Him.
So, I believe God’s original design was for us all to serve Him in whatever we do. And that He would work with us to do those things.
Ministry is for all, not a select few
After the fall though there was a divide in our relationship with God that needed to be bridged and prior to Jesus this was partly fulfilled by priests. In the Old Testament the priests were those who could come into the presence of God, they were the holy ones.
But skipping on again a couple of thousand years Jesus then came as the high priest and bridged this gap so that we could all be part of the Royal Priesthood.
1 Peter 2:9 9 …for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
The terms ‘chosen people’ and ‘His very own possession’ speaks to the relationship that Adam and Eve had with God pre-fall. And today we are all His royal priests and are holy in His sight.
Despite this truth we still often create a divide between who or what is holy. We can subconsciously, or consciously, think that there is only a small group of people who can be used by God. Or we limit the ways we can serve God to a limited set of activities.
Colossians 3 sheds some light: Colossians 3:14-17 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And be always thankful. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Going by what Paul says, it means that in everything we do, we can do it as God’s representatives. We can serve Him. To phrase it another way, God values you doing your everyday things for Him and with Him.
We can often get stuck in the way we talk about “full time ministry” in the sense that it is often directed at those preaching to hard-to-reach communities or people working in the local church. These people are in full time ministry but so are other Christian if they are looking to serve God through what they do!
So, Christians who are at home building a family are in full time ministry.
If you work in accounting you are in full time ministry.
If you are fixing people’s houses, you are in full time ministry.
If you are a dog walker you are in full time ministry.
Those in an office job or whatever you do, if you do it as a representative for God, then you are in full time ministry.
Together we make up the body of Christ
The fact that serving God can happen in many ways is a good thing. Even though it does look different for every one of us, together we make up Christ’s body.
1 Corinthians 12:27 27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
Different parts of the body have different functions but they are all important. If everyone was ministering outside the local church setting then believers might get easily discouraged, become burnt out and not receive all the benefits of coming together in community. Equally, if people only ministered inside or through the local church and its activities there might be whole sections of society that wouldn’t be reached or impacted.
Do you see yourself as being in ‘full time ministry’?
What is God’s desire in all of this? Much like there isn’t a uniform you need to wear to serve God, you don’t need a traditional ministry title to start ministering. The title in itself isn’t the important thing. He is looking for willing servants, willing representatives, who are open to work with Him in their everyday life, who will serve and love all those they encounter.
Galatians 5:13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. John 15:12-13 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
And Jesus Himself
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
What might it look like if God was (more) involved in your life outside of Sunday and midweek meetings?
Allowing for 8 hours of sleep a day, and 8 hours for those local church meeting commitments, that leaves 104 hours left over every week. What might those 104 hours look like if they were viewed as ministry?
Just like Adam and Eve, in our day-to-day tasks we have been given the clothes (identity) and the opportunity to walk with God and together transform the world around us.
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