Essentials of Ministry Paper
Donna Ralston
Liberty University, CHMN 201-D01
Professor Bethany Lay
As Christians, we are all called to participate in ministry in one form or another. When Jesus
gave us the command to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you”, He meant for that to apply to all believers. 1 However, for those of us who
aspire to become ministers as a vocation, there is quite a bit more involved than just spreading
the Gospel. In their book Everyday Ministry, Dave Earley and Ben Gutierrez give us ten
essentials of ministry to help give us a foundation to build on. Saying “here I am, send me” and
making a complete commitment to serve the Lord is the first and I think the most important of
the essentials. 2 The second is responding to the call of God. “The call to ministry is a compelling
invitation to cooperate with God in advancing his kingdom and building his church as a
vocational pursuit”.3 The third is living a life of prayer. “pray first, pray most, pray above all
else; and if you don’t do anything else, pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you
know. Prayer was to be priority number one”.4 The fourth essential is maintaining an eternal
perspective. “We should invest our time and effort into being our best selves as opposed to trying
to be someone we are not. Enduring ministry is the result of maintaining a perspective of
authenticity”.5 The fifth is refusing to coast. “Instead of simply trying harder, we must learn to
train better so we can become all God wants us to be. Instead of spiritual coasting, we must learn
1 Mat. 28:19-20 (NIV)
2 Earley, D., and Gutierrez, B. (2016). Everyday ministry. Nashville, TN: Broadman &
Holman. 3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
to be spiritual climbers who scale new heights with God’.6 The sixth is loving people. “Ministry
in its purest sense is loving people. It is taking the love that Jesus has given to us and passing it
on to others”.7 Seventh is a life without compromise. “No matter what your past mistakes have
been, or whatever the evil one desires to throw your way in the future, you can be an
uncompromising minister for the glory of God”.8 The eighth essential is loyalty to the truth.
“Paul’s solution to a world drowning in relative truth is the secure rock of the absolute truth of
the Word of God”.9 The ninth essential is living up to your name. “As we have mentioned before,
the goal of ministry is not merely to do church but to be the church. God wants us to live up to
our name”.10 The tenth and final essential is keeping the obedience bar high. According to the
authors this is the most important essential. “The one truth I wish I could cause every minister in
the body of Christ to agree to and inculcate in their lives and ministry is this: ministers need to
accept the fact that they are held to a higher standard by virtue of their elevated level of influence
upon the body of Christ, and they must live according to this standard”.11
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
