What is ministry and what is not ministry?

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Is everything we do at church called Ministry?

1.  Let’s see where “ministry’ appears in the Old Testament.  We’ll start by looking up the occurrences of the word in the major English translations on www.Biblegateway.com:
  • ESV – 3x – Numbers 4:47; 2 Chron. 7:6, 2 Chron. 8:14
  • NIV – 2x – 1 Chron. 25:1, 6
  • NASB – 2x – 1 Chron. 24:3, 19
  • NKJV – 5x – Ex. 31:10, 35:19, 39:1, 39:41; 2 Chron. 7:6
  • KJV – 4x – Num. 4:12, 4:47; 2 Chron. 7:6, Hosea 12:10.
  • I know there’s other translations, but this will more than suffice our needs since “ministry” doesn’t appear hundreds of times in the OT.
2.  Let’s check our references at www.blueletterbible.org and discover the Hebrew term in each verse:


3.  Now we’re going to check out each of those Hebrew terms, look at their occurances in the OT, and try to get a feel for their range of meaning:
  • Kahan - Occurs 23 times in the OT and, with basically 1 exception, it refers to the temple work done by a priest. As a verb, you could loosely say that Kahan means “priesting” (or some other summary term for the whole of priestly work).
  • Serad - Occurs 4 times in the OT and every time is used adjectivally to describe the cloths used in the temple (think table cloths or something like that).
  • Sharath - Occurs 92 times in the OT and it means “to serve” (verb).  It’s used in a common sense with reference to serving in a household/business (i.e. Gen. 39:4) and in a sacred sense with reference to serving in the tabernacle/temple (i.e. Ex. 30:20).
  • Abodah -  Occurs 141 times in the OT and it means “service/work” (noun).   It’s used in a common sense with reference to the work done in a household/business (i.e. Gen. 30:26) and in a sacred sense with reference to work done in the tabernacle/temple (i.e. Ex. 38:21).
  • Yad - Occurs 1615 times in the OT, and it means “hand”.  When it’s used in 2 Chron. 7:6 and Hos. 12:10, it’s shorthand for the work done by the hands of the priests.

Let’s do the same thing in the New Testament:
1.  English Translations:
  • ESV – 22x – Luke 3:23; Acts 1:17, 25, 6:4, 20:24, 21:19; Rom. 11:13, 15:19; 2 Cor 3:7, 8, 9, 4:1, 5:18, 6:3, 9:1, 12; Gal. 2:8; Eph. 4:12; Col. 4:17; 2 Tim. 4:5, 11; Heb. 8:6.
  • NIV – 19x - Luke 3:23; Acts 1:17, 25, 6:2, 4, 8:21, 21:19; Rom. 11:13; 2 Cor 3:3, 7, 8, 9, 4:1, 6:3; Gal. 2:8; 2 Tim. 4:5, 11; Heb. 8:6, 9:6.
  • NASB – 20x - Luke 3:23; Acts 1:17, 25, 6:4, 20:24, 21:19; Rom. 11:13; 2 Cor 3:7, 8, 9, 4:1, 5:18, 6:3, 9:1, 12, 13;  Col. 4:17; 2 Tim. 4:5; Heb. 8:6, 9:21.
  • NKJV – 24x - Luke 3:23; Acts 1:17, 25, 6:4, 12:25, 20:24, 21:19; Rom. 11:13, 12:7; 1 Cor. 16:15; 2 Cor 3:7, 8, 9, 4:1, 5:18, 6:3, 9:13;  Eph. 4:12; Col. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2 Tim. 4:5, 11; Heb. 8:6, 9:21.
  • KJV – 18x - Acts 1:17, 25, 6:4, 12:25, 20:24, 21:19; Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 16:15; 2 Cor 4:1, 5:18, 6:3;  Eph. 4:12; Col. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2 Tim. 4:5, 11; Heb. 8:6, 9:21.
2.  Find the Greek terms:
  • Luke 3:23 – No Greek term for”ministry” is in the original.
  • Acts 1:17 – Diakonia
  • Acts 1:25 - Diakonia
  • Acts 6:2 – No Greek term for “ministry” is in the original
  • Acts 6:4 - Diakonia
  • Acts 8:21 - No Greek term for”ministry” is in the original.
  • Acts 12:25 -Diakonia
  • Acts 20:24 - Diakonia
  • Acts 21:19 - Diakonia
  • Romans 11:13 - Diakonia
  • Romans 12:7 - Diakonia
  • Romans 15:19 - No Greek term for”ministry” is in the original.
  • 1 Corinthians 16:15 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 3:7 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 3:8 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 3:9 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 4:1 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 5:18 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 6:3 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 9:1 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 9:12 - Diakonia
  • 2 Corinthians 9:13 - Diakonia
  • Galatians 2:8 - No Greek term for”ministry” is in the original.
  • Ephesians 4:12 - Diakonia
  • Colossians 4:17 - Diakonia
  • 1 Timothy 1:12 - Diakonia
  • 2 Timothy 4:5 - Diakonia
  • 2 Timothy 4:11 - Diakonia
  •  Hebrews 8:6 – Leitourgia
  • Hebrews 9:21 - Leitourgia
3.  Check out the usage of the Greek terms in the NT and try to get a feel for their range of meaning.
  • Diakonia - Occurs 36 times in the NT and it means “service” or “work”.  It is also  a term related to the biblical office of “deacon”. It’s used in a common sense with reference to any sort of work done for others (i.e. Luke 10:40) and in a sacred sense with reference to the work of the apostles done for Christ (i.e. Acts 20:24), work for the benefit of others in the church (Acts 6:1), work of 1 church for the benefit of another (Acts 11:29), the spiritual gift of “service” (Rom. 12:7), the work of the Holy Spirit on behalf of God (2 Cor. 3:8), and  as a general term for the work of the individuals within the church (Eph. 4:12).
  • Leitourgia - Occurs 6 times in the NT and it means “service” (noun). It’s used in a common sense with reference to any sort of service of others (i.e. 2 Cor. 9:12) and in a sacred sense with reference to the specific work done of priests in the temple (i.e. Luke 1:23).  You may recognize this as being the root word for the English words “liturgy”, “liturgical”, etc.

In the New Testament, the Greek terms that are translated “ministry” carry the idea, at least when they’re used in any sort of religious context, of being service/work done in the temple/church by either the shepherds or the sheep.  That “work” includes all the activities of the priests (administering the sacrifices, teaching the Torah, etc.) and the eldership of the church (preaching, evangelism, counseling, teaching, etc.).  Beyond that, ministry includes things like providing financial/material assistance to struggling churches (Acts 11:29; 2 Cor. 8:4) and materially caring for the believers in the local church (Acts 6:1).

So what does that mean?

First, it means that there’s one common denominator to “ministry”: the church
Ministry is the work of the church by those in the church for those who are the church: it’s shepherd and sheep work.
Second, it means that certain things that are labelled “ministry” in an effort to sanctify them aren’t actually “ministry”, at least in the sacred sense.
  • The act of building a skatepark most likely isn’t “ministry”, though “ministry” could be done at a skatepark (i.e. evangelism).
  • Being a professor at a Bible college most likely isn’t being “in ministry”, though it’s possible that “ministry” work could be done at a Bible College.
  • Hanging out with teenagers most likely isn’t “ministry”, though “ministry” could occur around teenagers.
  • Making “Christian” movies most likely isn’t a “ministry”, though it could facilitate “ministry” or lead to “ministry”.
  • Feeding the poor outside the church most likely isn’t “ministry”, though it could definitely lead to “ministry” or be done concurrently with “ministry”.
  • Running a Christian bookstore, or a Christian retreat center, most likely isn’t “being in ministry”. Cripplegate

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