Many years ago, when I was a first-year seminary student, a retired pastor in our church cornered me in a hallway one day, and knowing I was preparing for vocational ministry, asked me, “why do you do what you do?”
I was perplexed. He pressed in closer, both physically and metaphorically. “Why do you do what you do? What motivates you?” I told him I wasn’t sure. His question caught me off-guard and I wasn’t sure what the “right answer” was. But I’ve thought about that question from him many times, and have come to appreciate the query. It’s a good question.
Why do you do what you do? Why would you give yourself to serving in the church, in any capacity? What is an appropriate motive for ministry?
The apostle Paul provides a comprehensive and concise answer in Galatians 4:19 — “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you —”
Here Paul reminds the Galatians of his relationship with them — they are his children. The term is one of endearment. He is affectionate with them and has love for them. It is fitting for him to be affectionate toward them because he has “birthed” them. To be “in labor” refers to the pains of childbirth. In other words, these Galatians evidently came to Christ through the ministry of Paul so that they are his spiritual offspring.
Paul also refers to the difficulty of ministry. He notes that he is in labor with them again. He had gone through the difficulty of spiritual childbirth with them, but their coming to know Christ through salvation was not the end of their struggles (or his for them). They are now in a position that is as difficult and laborious as the struggle for salvation. And still Paul persists with them.
Let no one be deluded about the nature of ministry. It is filled with great joy. But it is also filled with sorrow and heartache (cf. 2 Cor. 11:28-29) and hard work (1 Cor. 4:11-13; 15:58). Done well and done righteously, ministry is not a life of easy, but a life of labor (joyful labor, but it is still labor).
He also addresses the longevity of ministry. He says he is in labor with them “until…” He is willing to work with them and stay with them and teach them with great patience until they reach the desired goal. They may not come quickly to the desired end, but it is no matter, because He will persist and endure and remain with them until they reach that goal.
And finally, Paul names the goal of his ministry — that Christ is formed in the believers in Galatia. What will keep a servant’s hand to the plow of ministry? Knowing the only worthy goal of ministry — to see the ones he serves grow to look increasingly like Christ.
The word “formed” denotes an outward display and appearance of an inward reality. So to have Christ formed in them means that their lives are giving the appearance of the kinds of activity and inward character that is akin to what Christ would have produced. They are “little Christs.”
This goal is common in Paul’s letters:
- We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. (Col. 1:28)
- Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (Col. 2:6)
- But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (Rom. 13:14)
- For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:29)
- But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18 )
This is why we work hard and persistently and patiently in ministry — to see those whom God has entrusted to our care become like Christ.
Why do you do what you do in ministry? To see Christ increasingly formed in the lives of your spiritual children.
Words of Grace 