I’m sure, for some of us, his job description might not help. After all, he cleaned carpets for a living. He might have been the owner for all I know. That’s inconsequential. What matters is that he got it.

He was cleaning my carpets in conjunction with my residential lease agreement. There were several companies to choose from; I made the call; he came.

He, though, asked the question: “Why are you moving?” Here’s how the conversation went.

“New job,” I responded.

“Military?”, he inquired.

“Nope… I’m in ministry.”

“What kind of ministry?” he probed.

“Well I was a pulpit minister, but now my wife and I are going to work with a children’s home in Portales.”

He developed a look on his face that said it all. He smiled with a particular look on his face, shook his head, and we continued to converse about which home we were working with. But as we parted company, I couldn’t help but think to myself…that guy got it. He really got it.

My decision to give up pulpit work for something else hasn’t been well received by all. There are not few who believe that pulpit work is about the only to do ministry. I use to think that myself.

I knew there were a variety of spiritual gifts one might use, and they weren’t necessarily connected to a preaching ministry (Romans 12: 6-8), but I still thought pulpit work was the only legitimate way to serve. Youth Ministers were a waste of money. Family Life Ministers were silliness. Both might be “unauthorized.” Looking back, I wound up being the one with the silly thinking.

Real ministry happens when service takes place in the name of God. It might be at a church building, a homeless shelter, and/or a children’s home. Scratch that…I’m now 100% certain that it happens at a children’s home. It is odd, though, to see who really gets it.

This morning I was reading through Acts 6 and I was struck by the life of Stephen. He was one of the “seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom” selected to tend to the Grecian widows who’d been neglected in the daily distribution. He was also described as “full of faith” (v. 5). Still later, we read of Stephen as “full of grace and power…performing great wonders and signs among the people” (v. 8). He met formidable opposition from those of the Freedman’s Synagogue, but “they were not able to stand up against the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (v. 10). Ultimately, his history lesson of Israel’s rejections of God’s prophets over the years, which culminated in the rejection of the Messiah, got him killed. But what a compelling argument he was for the faith of Christ!

The guy chosen to “wait on tables” (v. 2) apparently had much more to offer. And he did. Inside of him was a heart for souls. His ministry was about meeting the needs of others. If by food distribution, so be it. He offered food that met physical needs, but he was also willing to serve food “that lasts for eternal life” (John 6:27).

Service, in whatever form, is mighty ministry. Jesus boldly proclaimed the “living word” with passion and urgency; yet, washing his disciples’s feet was no less ministry, and no less significant.

Like Jesus, Stephen wasn’t a one talent man. His selection for a specific work didn’t mean he wasn’t fit for anything else. In a sense, I think it helped groom him for more. Unfortunately, it seems to have been a life cut short, but like others who have gone on before, “though he is dead, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).