Colossians, and three angles of ministerial calling 

Assembly delegates were reminded of the 'terrifying' yet 'glorious and sacred' nature of ministry as demonstrated by the Apostle Paul in the book of Colossians, by Baptist theologian the Revd Dr Helen Paynter

 
Coming directly after the presentation and prayer for ministers transferring to the accredited list — and set against the backdrop of our Union's need for new leaders to combat a demographic shortage — Helen’s Saturday late afternoon message was both a celebration of Christian leadership and a reflection on the character required for contemporary ministry.

Rooted in Colossians 1:15–2:3, Helen, the Founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, began her address with a reflection on a recent tourist visit to St Paul’s Cathedral. After viewing a statue of the 17th-century poet and Dean, John Donne, she listened to an audio guide by the current Dean, who self- noted that he spent far more time unblocking toilets than Donne ever did.

'I wonder if that might be how some of us feel about ministry?' Helen asked. Addressing those serving in formal leadership, she noted the daily grind can obscure the larger picture. 'I wonder if sometimes we are so busy both literally and metaphorically unblocking toilets, that we fail to see or remember the stunning thing that we are part of; that we lose the vision of the work God is doing through his church... I wonder if we see the plunger in our hand and forget that we are about a glorious and sacred task.'

Far from dismissing mundane chores, Helen insisted that 'the toilet unblocking, incidentally, is part of that glorious and sacred task.' Pastoral ministry, she explained, is found in the ordinary and often messy realities of community life. 

She also asked all present who weren’t accredited ministers not to 'switch off!'

‘We Baptists operate with a theology that all are called to serve – that’s what minister means - in God's church and for the sake of the world, and while some are set aside in particular ways nobody has a Get-Out-of-Ministry-Free card.’ 

Moving onto the Colossians passage, Helen noted the apostle Paul is speaking about his own calling in ways which connect with a ministerial calling today: to be a servant of the gospel and a servant of the church. She highlighted how there is a ‘double pull’ of this calling. ‘Let me dare to name it—sometimes they will pull in opposite directions… there is a tension in this role.’



Helen went on to pull out three phrases from this ‘extraordinary passage’ which demonstrate the three angles of the ministerial calling.

Firstly, there is the divine angle. 'It is He whom we proclaim,’ Helen repeated on several occasions.’ This is Christ in you, the hope of glory. “He is the image of the invisible God.”

It is our calling to express what is inexpressible; Helen continued, ‘to attempt to sketch for people what cannot be see.’ 

‘This calling is for all of us, but some of us in particular are called to give our working lives to this impossible task. Yet I do not have the capacity to do justice to the wonder of this great story.’

Paul likes to use the word “mystery”, and he does so here in verse 26, Helen continued. ‘Friends, we deal with sacred mysteries. What a calling. What a terrifying calling. 

‘But what makes this calling terrifying makes it glorious.’

The second angle is the church that Paul—and we—are called to serve. Paul’s ministry is exercised for their sake, and this is woven through this letter. Indeed, the spiritual gifts mentioned in all Paul’s letters are not for the individual, but for the church. And Paul’s goal, Helen asked? 

‘That they may have all the riches of assured understanding.’

‘This is about knowing God in our very bones,’ Helen said. ‘So that when times are hard, we know in our bones who God is. When our prayers go unanswered, we know in our bones what his character is. When life falls apart, we know in our bones what his promises are.’

While we are all called to deepen our understanding of the living God, some are called to deep study to serve the church ‘so that all God’s people may have all the riches of assured understanding.’ It means If people are fed a diet of junk food, they will be ‘sick and puny’. We therefore seek to build the church up in love, in unity, and in understanding. 

Again Helen repeated, this is a ‘terrifying’ calling – but what ‘makes this calling terrifying makes it glorious.’

The third angle is the servant themselves - the people that God is calling to do this terrifying thing. Paul makes no bones about it – for those who have been called by God and set apart by the church – this is hard. She highlighted Paul’s language of rejoicing in suffering and 'struggling with all his energy.' 

And what is Paul getting out of this, Helen asked?

‘So that we where we may present everyone mature in Christ.’

This is ‘interesting language’ that echoes what the priests did in the Old Testament when they brought offerings to God. In addition, in his first letter to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul speaks of ‘constructing a building which will be tested by fire. And only what has been built with precious metals will endure. Surely this is what he is thinking of here.’ 

She continued that one day, we will have to answer to God for my ministry - and that is 'a terrifying thought'.

'Is this what God's calling you to do? Is this the burden and the joy that he has placed upon you? For sure, this is terrifying. 

‘But everything that makes this calling terrifying makes it glorious. This is a high and holy calling; this is a glorious charge.’
 
She drew a contrast between the heavy demands of ministry and the immense privilege it offers. 'How wonderful it is to have the privilege of attempting with our weak and puny words to articulate the wonders of his glory,' she told delegates. 'What a privilege it is to be called to be the servant of the church... prickly and difficult and conflicted as that may be at times.'

In a final word of encouragement that brought her opening metaphor full circle, Helen looked ahead to the final judgment. She prayed that 'one day when we stand, toilet plunger in hand, before the gracious judgement seat of God, that we might present him with our rather pathetic efforts, and with his beautiful generosity and grace he will dig through the dross, and find the flecks of gold, and say 'well done good and faithful servant.''