In these unusual days, I have been reflecting quite a bit on the challenge and meaning of ministry. Looking at one of the books I read many years ago in preparation for this calling, Living Priesthood by Michael Hollings, I came across this passage that I marked then - and which still says a lot to me (allowing the fact that it is from a male and Roman Catholic perspective, so I have tweaked the language):
".... it is in a sense only possible to come to the core meaning of ministry by being nebulous and diffuse, grasping at hints, going off at tangents, rather than coming to centre points. There is only one centre point - Christ. For Christ whom we are following, the one high priest, emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave (Phil. 2.7). So that the object lesson for the minister is that if s/he tries to seek fulfilment, s/he will very probably end up feeling pretty desolate and frustrated, shallow and unused. But if s/he is prepared to be emptied, to become everybody's slave, fullfilment and joy will creep up upon her/him unawares, and s/he will live the reality of ministry, without really knowing what it is, except in knowing the ministry of Christ Jesus."
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