This week, we will look at what I call a “new order of ministry” which is now being raised up, and is in many ways a return to the original order of ministry. This order is the most prevalent in Scripture and history by about 10 to 1 over what has become the most prevalent “concept” of what ministry is today.
To challenge our thinking about ministry, we need to consider that only a few of the heroes of the faith in the Bible were priests, or those that we would consider today to be in “full-time ministries.” Very few were educated or otherwise prepared for the ministry. They arose from what we call “secular” professions or trades.

There is a widespread belief among Christians that to be really spiritual or to accomplish great things for God, we need to go to seminary and be in full-time-ministry as defined today. In fact, that was rarely the case for those who accomplished the greatest feats for the purposes of God, or who became the greatest teachers or prophets for God. The overwhelming majority of the great men and women of God were farmers, businessmen, military men, or government officials. These include: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, all of the judges, David, Daniel, Nehemiah, Esther, all but a couple of the prophets, all of the apostles, as well as the other notables of the New Testament.

Can you think of any from the tribe of Levi, which were the “full-time ministers” of the Old Testament that became one of the great heroes of the faith? In my search I have found only four after Aaron: Samuel, Zadok, Ezra, and Ezekiel. Even in the times of the Old Covenant, most of the great men and women of God came from normal trades and professions, not the professional priesthood. This is a trend which we see continuing under the New Covenant, and a trend which the Lord Jesus Himself established by the leaders that He chose. My point is that almost any trade or profession can be a better seminary for great Christian leadership than a seminary.

I am not trying to degrade or be unappreciative of the role that seminaries can play in the church. I do highly esteem what a seminary education can provide, even though I do not have one. They have a significant place in helping keep the church moored to sound biblical doctrine, and for research that can greatly edify the church, as well as seed the ministry with those who have an important perspective. However, few leaders who will do great things for the gospel have or will come from seminaries. Note that I did not say “any,” but rather “few.” There will be some, just as the four listed above from the Old Covenant accomplished extraordinary things. However, the great majority of Christian leaders will not come from a seminary background by God’s design.

Why is this? The main reason is because Christianity and true Christian ministry is meant to be utterly practical, implemented, and exercised more in everyday life than in “temples.” This is why Jesus did most of His works and most of His teaching in real, daily life settings. For this reason the Lord does not judge the quality of His church by how good the services are on Sunday, but on how good His people are on Monday. Christianity is not a group of rituals that we perform to appease God—it is a life lived in the character, power, and fellowship with God daily.

Seminaries which remain true to the faith and are devoted to helping to preserve the biblical faith can contribute much to Christianity. However, there may not be a seminary in existence that teaches some of the most important lessons that are needed for practical ministry, and it probably is not their place to do so. The primary way the Lord wants His people prepared for ministry is the way He prepared those He called through discipleship and practical experience.

For example, mobilizing, training, and equipping believers to live a life pleasing to God in these times is very similar to preparing soldiers for battle, which is why the Scriptures compares it to this. The Lord is called “the Lord of hosts” or “the Lord of armies” in Scripture more than ten times as much as any other title that He uses. The true Christian life is a battle against evil, and the weapons of our warfare have been given for the tearing down of the enemy’s strongholds or fortresses. Therefore, the military can be a better seminary for preparing many Christian leaders for true Christian leadership than seminaries.

There are business aspects to modern ministry and the overseeing of churches, which can be as challenging as running any business or corporation. For this reason, experience in business can be one of the best seminaries for those who will build and lead churches. It is also true that business is a basic human transaction, and the Lord wants to be right in the middle of all human interaction.

Likewise, farmers can understand more about what it takes to produce a harvest than those who have never had to produce a real one. Therefore, farming can be a great seminary.

In 1982 I was told that some of the Lord’s most important leaders in the last days were going to come out of professional sports. This is because sports is their seminary, and they are teaching things in their seminary that we do not teach in ours. As I sought understanding concerning this word, I was shown that it had to do mostly with teamwork, discipline, and focus on a specific task among team members.

That may sound simple, but true New Testament ministry is a team composed of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, as well as all of the other ministries given to the church. However, it is hard to find a church anywhere in the world that has a ministry that is a true team, like ministry was intended to be. As anyone in sports knows, a far less talented team that plays like a “team” will consistently defeat the most talented team that does not play in unity. This one thing may be the biggest reason for so many of the defeats that churches and ministries suffer. Team building may be the most important skill of all true leaders, which is very difficult to teach in any classroom.

Paul the apostle encouraged believers to be content in the condition in which they were called, which is related to being married or single, as well as being slaves or free. He also encouraged them that if they could improve their condition by getting married or by becoming free, to do it. However, this should not be done from discontentment. As far as the slavery issue, this would probably relate in modern terms to the way many people think of their job—slavery! They feel like slaves to their boss, to the industry, to needing a paycheck, etc. I believe Paul’s counsel would be to be content in the state in which they are called. Paul also exhorted them to excel in service to their masters, especially those who were believers. We should do the same with our employers.

We should also consider that our job may be the most important seminary that we will ever attend, and that it was the Lord who sent us to that particular job. Our jobs can probably do more to prepare us for our true calling than any Bible school or seminary could. Just consider how the professions of the great men and women in Scripture related to their callings: King David was a shepherd, and God called him to shepherd His people, Israel. Peter was a fisherman, and the Lord called him to be a fisher of men. Paul the apostle was a tentmaker, and he was called to build the tabernacle of God. John was mending nets when called, and the Lord used his gospel to tie together the others, his Epistles to tie together the others, and the book of Revelation to tie together the entire Bible.

Learn all that you can from your job! Life is the true seminary. It is one in which we can continually be promoted, but we will only graduate from it at the end of our life’s purpose, not in order to prepare for it.