The Ministry That Is Just What You Are
Many believers struggle with feelings of guilt over not “sharing the gospel” enough. Sometimes a teacher, a book, or even a nagging conscience imposes a burden—a quota of conversations, a measure of missionary zeal—that must be met to prove genuine faith. This is a distortion. It is the old leaven of the Judaizers, repackaged for the modern church. The sweet, free proclamation of Christ has been turned into another law to oppress the flock. If the thought of street-corner preaching causes your heart to sink, or if you feel like a failure because you’re not constantly handing out tracts, it is time to stop and breathe. Ministry can be understood in a profoundly different way.
The question is not whether Paul gives believers a responsibility. The question is what kind of responsibility it is. Is it a heavy, wooden yoke of obligation, where standing with God or heavenly reward depends on performance? Or is it something else entirely—something that flows from life, not law?
The Gospel That Saves and the Mystery That Feeds
First, it is essential to stand firmly on the gospel that saves. Paul declares, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you… that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4). To believe this is to be saved, justified, sealed forever. This gospel saves the natural man. Whether one desires to share it or fails to do so has no bearing on that finished transaction. Believers can be “sinful, divisive, heretical, questioning their own salvation, legalistic, Galatianized, lukewarm,” and still be saved. Justification is not a wage earned by evangelistic performance; it is a gift received by faith. Period.
For the believer—the new creation—there is more. Paul was given a revelation of a mystery, a body of truth previously hidden. This mystery is not a different gospel, but the infinite depth of the gospel. It reveals what it means that Christ is now life itself: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Paul was commissioned to dispense this truth: that believers are co-heirs, sons, a new creation, with life hidden with Christ in God. Without this Pauline revelation, believers are left to fall back into law, relying on synoptic teachings, proverbs, and James, attempting to live the Christian life by principles and commands rather than by the indwelling Person.
Ministry as Spiritual Overflow, Not Legal Output
Where does “sharing the gospel” fit in? It fits where all true Christian living fits: as an organic overflow of what one is filled with. Paul says of himself, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Ministry is the treasure spilling out of the vessel. It is not the vessel frantically trying to manufacture treasure to show off.
The ministry should simply be what a believer is. Speaking about Christ is the natural expression of Christ within. It is the shepherd’s voice sounding through the believer, not their own. Paul’s appeals are never, “Do this or God will be disappointed in you.” They are always, “Behold what you are! See what you have! Now, doesn’t this reality compel you?” Everything is grounded in the indicative—what is true about the believer in Christ—before any imperative is mentioned.
This grace-based motivation stands in stark contrast to legal obligation. One is the joy of a fountain overflowing; the other is the strain of a pump trying to draw water from a dry well. One says, “I can’t help but speak of what I’ve seen and heard.” The other says, “I must speak, or I’ll be punished.”
What Reluctance Really Reveals
What if there is no desire to share the gospel? What if the thought of witnessing fills one with dread rather than joy? This reluctance is not primarily a sin to repent of. It is a symptom to diagnose—a cry of a heart cut off from the enjoyment of Christ. It reveals feeding on duty rather than delight, serving a taskmaster instead of treasuring the Treasure.
The solution is not to grit one’s teeth and force the task. That is the way of the flesh and leads to death. The solution is to return to the fountain. Believers need to preach the gospel to themselves to align their experience with the word. Feelings are created by believing the gospel of Jesus Christ moment by moment. Sitting under the ministry of Paul and hearing of death with Christ, resurrection with Him, heavenly seating, and fullness in Him renews the mind and fills the heart. Then, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34).
Practically, there is often no church or place where believers hear the truth they need in their moment. Sometimes, speaking the truth to another believer—or even to oneself—is what renews the spirit. It is not a law; it is a lifeline. Speaking the gospel helps believers remember it and realize how much they have.
The Dangerous Mixture That Kills Joy
Here the modern Judaizer introduces poison. The beautiful, organic call to proclaim Christ is turned into a measuring stick. It is implied that salvation might be in question without zeal for souls, or that heavenly reward—Christ Himself, the eternal inheritance—might be diminished without fulfilling this duty. This is a Galatian error, a mixture of law and grace that leavens the whole lump. It cuts believers off from enjoying Christ because they are too busy auditing their own performance.
This teaching produces beaten sheep, adding heavy burdens to those already weary from religion. It is anti-Paul, anti-gospel, and anti-Christ. Paul’s ministry reveals the mystery that sets believers free to serve in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. When ministry becomes a “have-to,” it ceases to be the ministry of the Spirit.
Resting in the Fullness Already Possessed
Does Pauline teaching give believers a responsibility to share the gospel? Yes. But it is the responsibility of a branch to bear fruit because it abides in the vine. It is the responsibility of a vessel to overflow because it is being filled. It is the responsibility of a son to represent his Father’s house because he knows the wealth of its treasures.
Assurance remains untouched. Inheritance is unshaken. Justification is unmoved. All were settled the moment the gospel was believed. But joy, fellowship, and experience of the “bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” flourish as believers live in the reality of who they are.
Let the burden of obligation fall away. Look away from empty hands and look to Christ, the All-in-All. See yourself as God sees you: complete in Him, qualified to share in the inheritance, a vessel of His treasure. Then simply be what you are. Ministry will take care of itself. It will be the natural overflow of a heart at rest, and the Shepherd’s voice will be heard—not as a duty, but as the expression of a heart filled with peace.
