Category Archives: Ministry Focus & Equipping

Occasionally I like to look through the statistics for the web site at the keywords people use to find the site. Sometimes those keywords spark something within me, giving me a topic I feel could be further developed on the site like this one — “why singles should serve in ministry.” Since God designed the Church so everybody has a part, this seemed like a good topic to write about.

3 Biblical Reasons Why Singles Should Serve in Ministry

Look at the key passages on spiritual gifts and you do not find where they are distributed or to be used based on marital status, gender, or age. When, therefore, God says in 1 Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” … that includes singles. Also see Romans 12:6-8 which basically states that whatever our gift is, we should use it.

Why should singles serve in ministry? – Because God has gifted them to serve and He holds everyone accountable for what they have been given.

No one knows how long they will have on this earth. Shouldn’t we use whatever time we have, in whatever state we are in, to its fullest potential (Eph. 5:15-17). Certainly that must include serving. To not serve as singles would be to waste a significant portion of our lives. Serving one another is part of fulfilling the greatest commandments (Matt. 22:37-40; Gal. 5:13-14; 6:2).

Why should singles serve in ministry? – Because time is short and God wants our lives to count at all times.

In 1 Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul addressed the issue of being single and wished more people were in that state. Why? It wasn’t because marriage is awful. In verse 28 he said, “But if you do marry, you have not sinned.” Paul was all about serving and he understood that with marriage comes many distractions in life. Being single provides a much greater potential for “undivided devotion to the Lord” (v. 35). Of course, singles must have this perspective for that to become a reality.

Why should singles serve in ministry? – Because singleness is a potentially optimal time to serve.

Considering the above three reasons for why singles should serve in ministry, my question becomes “Why should they not serve in ministry?”

How can we determine our best fit in ministry? Read through the Finding Your Best Fit in Ministry section of the site and you will learn to bring the various parts of your being together, like a puzzle.

God wants to use the whole of who we are in serving — our spiritual gifts, personality, passions, and experience, with our walk with God right in the center of it all.

What to Do to Find Your Best Fit for Ministry

Here’s an acrostic that pulls together how we can find our best fit in ministry.

B – Begin with Being

Focus on who you are in Christ Jesus.

E – Embrace your Life Experiences

Believe a Sovereign God does truly work both the good and bad for the good.

S – Serve in areas using your Spiritual Gifts

Consider how God has empowered you to serve as a key component to finding your best fit.

T – Temper your Temperament

Bring both the strengths and weaknesses of your personality under the control of the Spirit.

F – Find your fervor

Consider what God has impassioned you toward.

I – Invite Input

First and foremost, ask God how you should serve and also learn from others.

T – Trust God’s Timing

Look to Him to bring it all together, giving Him the right to further prepare you in other ways first.

A Resource to Help You Know Where to Effectively Serve

(Please Note: The acrostic is not included in the above mentioned resource.)

Your church began a new ministry initiative and a plea has gone out for people to help with it. Should you volunteer? The pastor presented some needs and requested assistance. Should you get involved? A call goes out for Bible teachers or small group leaders still needed. Should you accept the challenge? I could go on and on for we constantly face needs and opportunities to serve.

Reading through the book of Ezra, I was struck by the reality that God does not lay it on everybody’s heart to do everything. Judah had been taken captive. God led Cyrus, king of Persia, to permit the exiles to go back and rebuild the house of the Lord. He said, “Any of his people among you may go . . .  And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide” (Ezra 1:3-4). Look at what follows in verse 5 —

Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites — everyone whose heart God had moved — prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

If we break this verse down, we can use it to draw out some principles for serving.

Principles about God Laying Something on Your Heart

1) God’s desires define our primary criteria for involvement.

Notice that the verse reads “everyone whose heart GOD has moved.” It does not say, “everyone who heard the king’s proclamation.” Nor does it say, “everyone who was nudged by their fellow Jews.” And, it doesn’t say, “everyone whom the leaders determined.”

We need to let God do the moving in people’s hearts. In recruiting we should look for the right person for the right ministry at the right time … the person of GOD’s choosing. This means we should spend much time in prayer when we recruit, not arm-twisting people to get involved.

We don’t have to feel guilty, nor should we make people feel bad, for not accepting each and every opportunity presented. We are accountable for what God moves us to do.

2) God does not expect everybody to do everything.

The verse implies that there were some whose spirit God did not stir to go and rebuild. Not everyone will be moved by God to the same task. We need to be careful not to look down on or judge those who do not get involved like we do. We can sometimes project our own heart passions on others thinking that they should feel the same way we do if they love the Lord like we do.

3) If God lays it on our hearts to do something, we should do it.

Notice how EVERYONE whose heart was moved by God obeyed His prompting. We don’t read of any excuses about it not being a convenient time for them to go. We don’t observe them immobilized by fear of what might lie ahead or be expected of them. The journey would undoubtedly be filled with hardships and uncertainties but “everyone whose heart God had moved” went.

4) Just because God has obviously moved you to get involved doesn’t mean you can forego preparation.

Notice that “everyone whose heart God had moved — prepared to go.” For us this could mean pulling resources together, getting some training for the ministry ahead, praying for God to go before us to open doors and work in people’s hearts, etc.

5) If God hasn’t moved your heart to be involved in a specific ministry, it doesn’t mean you are absolved of all responsibility toward it.

The people were to “provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:4). In this case it was their neighbors, undoubtedly both the Jews who stayed behind and the people of that land, who “assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings” (Ezra 1:6). While God might not lay it on everybody’s heart to “go”, those who don’t still support the ministry. For us this could be financially as seen in the way their neighbors provided materially but it also could be through prayers and encouragement.