Ministry and Leadership in Early Christianity

by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

During his earthly life and ministry, Jesus gathered many "disciples" around himself, some of whom he also called "apostles," sending them out to preach, teach, and heal others (acc. to the Synoptic Gospels). These apostles, especially Peter and a core group known as "the Twelve," would seem to have been the natural leaders of those who continued to believe in Jesus after his death and resurrection. Yet his "brothers" James and Jude, members of Jesus' own family, evidently also became influential leaders of the early Church, as did Barnabas and Paul and several others who also came to be called "apostles." (Click the links above for more about the disciples, apostles, and family of Jesus).

Soon after the death and resurrection of Jesus, however, the early Christians also began using a variety of other titles for those who led and served the community of believers, as seen in various texts of the New Testament. Some of these titles were used for itinerant preachers who spread the Christian message throughout the Roman empire, while others designated the resident leaders of local communities. At first, the most prominent leaders seem to have been called apostles, prophets, and teachers, among various other titles. Yet by the mid-second century, the church had developed a fairly uniform structure of leadership, consisting of three different "orders" called bishops (overseers), presbyters (elders), and deacons (ministers), despite some ongoing regional variations. In all of this, however, the emphasis was not on the authority or status of the leaders as rulers, but remained on their responsibilities to serve and care for the people in their communities.

Some Foundational NT Texts:

In 1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Paul stresses that the unity of the Christian community (the one "body of Christ") is served by a variety of spiritual gifts and activities, including the speaking of wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, various kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues (12:8-10). He continues by rank-ordering some leadership roles: "God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?" (12:28-30).

In Romans 12:6-8, Paul again stresses the unity of the community, despite the variety of roles and activities of its leaders and members: "For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness."

Acts 13:1 names five "prophets and teachers" as leaders of the Christian community in Antioch. Several other Christians are also called "prophets" in Acts 11:27, 15:32, and 21:10.

The Letter to the Ephesians uses architectural imagery to describe the church "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone" (2:20; cf. 3:5). It also stresses both the importance of church unity and the diversity of ministries: "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift... The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." (Eph 4:4-7, 11-13).

Acts 6:1-6 tells of how the apostles "appoint" and "lay hands on" seven men "to serve" (Gk. diakonein) the practical needs of the community; these men (Stephen, Philip, and five others) are generally regarded as the first "deacons," even though Acts does not directly use the noun "diakonos" in this text, but only the related verb. This list includes Stephen, who becomes the first Christian martyr (Acts 6-7), and Philip, who is later also called an "evangelist" (Acts 21:8).

In various letters, Paul uses the noun diakonos in the general sense of "servant, minister" for several of his associates: Apollos (1 Cor 3:5), Timothy (1 Tim 4:6), Epaphras (Col 1:7), Tychichus (Col 4:7; Eph 6:21), and many others who are unnamed (2 Cor 11:23; Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:8-13). Paul also refers to himself as a diakonos at least eight times (1 Cor 3:5; 2 Cor 3:6; Col 1:23-25; etc.), and even calls Jesus Christ a diakonos twice, in the sense that Jesus is a "servant/minister" of God (Rom 15:8; Gal 2:17)! In the Gospels, Jesus asks everyone who follows him to be a “servant/minister” (diakonos; Matt 20:26; 23:11; Mark 9:35; 10:43; John 12:26).

In Romans 16:1-2, Paul explicitly names one woman a "deacon" (diakonos), namely Phoebe (using the masculine noun "deacon," not the equivalent feminine noun "deaconess")!

Paul begins his letter to the Christian community in Philippi by greeting "all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons" (Phil 1:1), but without naming any of them individually.

The deutero-Pauline First Letter to Timothy further expands upon this basic two-tiered structure of local Christian community leadership: the qualifications and responsibilities of bishops are discussed first (1 Tim 3:1-7; cf. Titus 1:7-9), followed by a very similar passage focusing on deacons (1 Tim 3:8-13). This letter also describes some community leadership responsibilities of elder women or widows (5:3-10) as well as elder men or presbyters (5:17-22).

The closely related Letter to Titus also discusses the appointment of elders (1:5-6) and the qualities required of bishops (1:7-9; possibly referring to the same leaders?), as well as the role of the widows in teaching and being good role models for the younger women of the Christian community (2:3-5).

The Letter of James also mentions the role of the elders or presbyters in leading community prayer: "Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven" (James 5:14-15).

The First Letter of Peter uses pastoral imagery to describe the leadership of the presbyter-bishops: "I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight (episkopountes), not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it--not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders." (5:1b-5a)

The Christian Concept of Ministry:

Ministry - This English word derives etymologically from Latin ministerium, which is equivalent to Greek διακονία/diakonia. Both are often also translated as "service." The word diakonia is used only once in the Gospels (Luke 10:40), but 33 times in the rest of the NT, referring to a wide variety of practical and spiritual tasks that many different people, not just the first apostles of Jesus, do in service to the Christian communities. Paul stresses that "there are varieties of services (diakonion), but the same Lord" (1 Cor 12:5); he continues by listing a substantial number of examples of different ministries (see the full text of 1 Cor 12:4-31).

Minister / Deacon - Gk. διάκονος/diakonos (< diakonein = "to serve," esp. "serve at table") - Used 29 times in the NT, only rarely for community leaders who were officially ordained as "deacons," but mostly for people who performed ordinary types of work as "servants." Interesting, the masculine noun diakonos is used not only for men, but also for a woman (Phoebe, a deacon in Cenchrae; Rom 16:1)

To Serve; To Minister - Gk. διακονεῖν/diakonein - occurs 37 times in the NT, most often in the Gospels, where Jesus stresses that he himself "came not to be served but to serve" (Mark 10:45; Matt 20:28), his followers must also do the same (Luke 22:26-27; John 12:26; etc.). In the early community of believers in Jerusalem, seven Hellenistic Jews (Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus) were appointed to assist with the daily distribution of food to the widows (Acts 6:1-6); although they are not explicit called "deacons" in this text, both the noun diakonia and the verb diakonein are used to describe their service.

See below for a listing of all the New Testament texts with the above terms.

Related Nouns: oikonomos ("steward; household manager"; Luke 12;42; 16:1-8; Rom 16:23; 1 Cor 4:1-2; Gal 4:2; Tit 1:7; 1Pet 4:10); epitropos ("guardian, steward, foreman"; Matt 20:8; Luke 8:3; Gal 4:2); hypēretēs ("servant, assistant, helper, attendant"; 20x in the NT)
Related Verbs: to shepherd, pastor, teach, preach, exhort, care for, pray for, assist, administer, etc.

Analysis of other Leadership Titles in Early Christian:

Apostle - Gk. ἀπόστολος/apostolos = "missionary, ambassador, one who is sent out" (< apo = "out, away, forth" + stello = "to send") - see the separate webpage on Disciples and Apostles in the NT

Prophet - Gk. προφήτης/prophētēs = "spokesperson" (< pro = "for, on behalf of" + phemi = "to speak") - Used 144 times in the NT, 116 of which are in the Gospels and Acts. Most of the NT references are to the OT prophets, either generically as a group or often explicitly naming individual prophets (esp. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Elijah, but sometimes also Jonah, Daniel, Elisha, Joel, Moses, Samuel, and even King David!). Some NT passages speak of the role of prophets in general (e.g. "Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward"; Matt 10:41). All four Gospels use "prophet" to refer to John the Baptist (Mark 11:32; Matt 21:46; Luke 1:76; 7:26; 20:6; cf. John 1:21) as well as Jesus (Mark 6:15; 8:28; Matt 14:5; 16:14; 21:11, 46; Luke 7:16, 39; 9:19; 24:19; John 4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17). Paul mentions "prophets" immediately after "apostles" in his listing of early Christian leadership categories (1 Cor 12:28-29; cf. 14:29-37). Acts names five men as "prophets and teachers" of the church in Antioch (13:1), mentions Christian prophets named Judas and Silas (15:32) and Agabus (21:10), and asserts that the four daughters of the evangelist Philip "had the gift of prophesying" (21:8). Finally, several passages of the Book of Revelation mention saints, apostles, and/or prophets together (11:18; 16:6; 18:20-24, where the references are most likely not (or not only) to OT prophets but mostly to early Christian leaders (esp. clear in 22:9).

Prophetess (n) - Gk. προφῆτις/prophētis - The equivalent feminine noun occurs only twice in the NT: an old "prophetess" named Anna encounters the Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple (Luke 2:36); and a woman named Jezebel is denounced as a false "prophetess" in the letter to the church in Thyatira (Rev 2:20).
Prophecy (n) - Gk. προφητεία/prophēteia - In several letters, Paul speaks of "prophecy" as one of the gifts given to some Christians for the benefit of the community (Rom 12:6; 1 Cor 12:10; 13:2, 8; 14:6, 22; 1 Thess 5:20; cf. 1 Tim 1:18; 4:14)
Prophesy (v) - Gk. προφητεῖν/prophētein - Paul also refers to praying and "prophesying" and other spiritual practices as normal parts of the worship services of his early Christian communities (1 Cor 11:4-5; 13:9; 14:1-40).

Teacher - Gk. διδάσκαλος/didaskalos (< didaskein = "to teach") - The word "teacher" is used 49 times in the Gospels (almost always as a title for Jesus), and 10 times in the rest of the NT (mostly in reference to Christian leaders). Acts 13:1 names five men as "prophets and teachers" of the church in Antioch; Rom 2:20 warns that "a teacher of children" should also teach himself; 1 Cor 12:28-29 and Eph 4:11 mention "teachers" after apostles and prophets (see above) as community leaders; Heb 5:12 asserts that the readers "by this time ought to be teachers," while James 3:1 warns, "Not many of you should become teachers," due to the great responsibility they have; and the Pastoral Epistles refer to Paul as "a herald and an apostle and a teacher" (1 Time 2:7; 2 Tim 1:11).

Evangelist / Preacher - Gk. εὐαγγελιστής/euangelistēs = "messenger of good news" (< eu = "good" + angelos = "messenger") - The noun "evangelist" is used only 3 times in the NT, in reference to the deacon Philip (Acts 21:8), to Paul's assistant Timothy (2 Tim 4:5), and to Christian leaders in general (Eph 4:11; see "prophets" above). Only later, after the NT period, are the authors of the four canonical gospels also referred to as the four "Evangelists."

Herald - Gk. κῆρυξ/kēryx (< keryssein = "to announce, proclaim"; cf. kerygma = "proclamation, message") - The noun "herald" is used in the NT only twice for Paul (1 Tim 2:7; 2 Tim 2:7) and once for Noah (2 Pet 2:5), while the related noun "proclamation" is applied to the preaching of the OT prophet Jonah ( Matt 12:41; Luke 11:32) and to Paul and his companions (Rom 16:25; 1 Cor 1:21; 2:4; 15:14; 2 Tim 4:17; Titus 1:3). The verb keryssein is used 61 times in the NT for the "proclaiming" activity of John the Baptist, Jesus, the disciples of Jesus, and Paul and his missionary associates.

Pastor / Shepherd - Gk. ποιμήν/poimēn (lit. "one who cares for sheep") - In the Gospels, "shepherd" either refers literally or metaphorically to someone who pastures sheep, or to Jesus himself ("I am the good shepherd"; John 10:11); similarly, Hebrews 13:20 calls Jesus "the great shepherd of the sheep," while 1 Peter 2:25 calls him "the shepherd and guardian of your souls." Only once is the title "shepherd" (or "pastor") used for a category of Christian leaders: "The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers (Eph 4:11). Yet this later became one of the most common titles for Christian leaders, esp. because of Jesus' repeated charge to Peter at the end of John's Gospel: "Feed my lambs... Tend my sheep... Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17).

Bishop / Overseer - Gk. ἐπίσκοπος/episkopos = "overseer, supervisor" (< epi = "over, above" + skopein = "to look, watch, see") - In the second century, "bishop" becomes the most widely used term for the one main leader of the whole Christian church in a particular city or region. In the first-century NT writings, however, the word "episkopos / bishop" occurs only 5 times. Bishops and deacons are mentioned together twice (Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:1-13). Interestingly, when 1 Peter 2:25 mentions "the shepherd and guardian (episkopos) of your souls," it refers to Jesus!

More significantly, the term "episkopoi / bishops" often seems to refer to the same people who are also called "presbyteroi / elders," and shepherding imagery is applied to both. Speaking to all the elders (presbyteroi) of the church of Ephesus, Paul says, "Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (episkopoi), to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son." (Acts 20:17, 28). Similarly, Titus 1:7-9 mentions the blameless life a bishop (episkopos) should lead, yet this short passage begins with Paul instructing Titus to "appoint elders (presbyteroi) in every town," choosing men of blameless character (1:5-6).

Moreover, the related verb episkopein is also used in connection with elders in some texts of 1 Peter 5:1-2: "Now as an elder myself,... I exhort the elders (presbyteroi) among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight (episkopountes), not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it..." (see above for more of the text of 5:1-5)

Position of Overseer / Office of Bishop - These two phrases are used once each in the NRSV translation of the NT for the related Greek noun ἐπισκοπή/episkopē; the first refers to the selection of Matthias to replace Judas as an apostle: "Let another take his position of overseer" (Acts 1:20, quoting from Psalm 109:8); in the second, Paul tells Timothy, "The saying is sure: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task" (1 Tim 3:1).

[More coming some day on the following related terms]:

Presbyter / Elder - Gk. πρεσβύτερος/presbyteros = "older respected men"; they teach & preach, and sometimes formed a type of "community council" (1 Tim 5:1, 17-22; cf. Titus 1:5)

Priest - Gk. ἱερεύς/hiereus = "cultic officials, those who offer sacrifices" - In the NT, the word "priests" refers only to the Jewish priests (members of the tribe of Levi who offered the sacrifices in the Jerusalem Temple); no Christians are called "priests" in the entire NT; only in the Letter to the Hebrews is Jesus himself called a "great high priest" (even though he did not belong to the tribe of Levi)! The term "priest" was applied to Christian leaders only later, beginning in the 2nd century.

Widow - Gk. χήρα/chēra = "older women who do not remarry"; younger widows normally remarried, while older widows were often cared for by the churches, yet they in turn also helped care for their communities, esp. teaching the younger women (1 Tim 5:3-16; cf. Titus 2:3-5)

Appoint / Ordain / Lay on Hands / Orders -

New Testament Texts with "Ministry" Vocabulary:

NT texts that use verb diakonein (“to serve; minister”; also "to provide"; "wait on"; "take care of"; etc.); noun diakonia (“service; ministry”; also "task"; "mission"; etc.); and/or noun diakonos ("servant, minister, deacon”):

Matt 4:11 – Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on (diēkonoun) him.
Matt 8:15 [Jesus & Simon Peter's mother-in-law] – he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. [par. Mark 1:31; Luke 4:39]
Matt 20:26-28 – "It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, / and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; / just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Matt 22:13 – "Then the king said to the attendants (diakonois), 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"
Matt 23:11 – "The greatest among you will be your servant."
Matt 25:44 – "Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of (diēkontēsamen) you?'"
Matt 27:55 – Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for (diakonousai) him.
Mark 1:13 – He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on (diēkonoun) him.
Mark 1:31 – He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. [par. Matt 8:15; Luke 4:39]
Mark 9:35 – He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."
Mark 10:43-45 – "But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, / and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. / For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Mark 15:41 – These [women] used to follow him and provided for (diēkonoun) him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
Luke 4:39 – Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. [par. Matt 8:15; Mark 1:31]
Luke 8:1c-3 – The twelve were with him, / as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, / and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for (diēkonoun) them out of their resources.
Luke 10:40 – But Martha was distracted by her many tasks (diakonian); so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work (diakonein) by myself? Tell her then to help me."
Luke 12:37 – "Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them."
Luke 17:8 – "Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'?"
Luke 22:26-27 – "But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. / For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves."
John 2:5 – His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
John 2:9 – When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom
John 12:2 – There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.
John 12:26 – "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor."
Acts 1:17 – "...for he [Judas Iscariot] was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry."
Acts 1:25 – "...to take the place in this ministry and apostleship (apostolēs) from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place."
Acts 6:1-4 – Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution (diakonia) of food. / And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on (diakonein) tables. / Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, / while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving (diakonia) the word."
Acts 11:29 – The disciples determined that according to their ability, each would send relief (diakonian) to the believers living in Judea;
Acts 12:25 – Then after completing their mission (diakonian) Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.
Acts 19:22 – So he [Paul] sent two of his helpers (diakonountōn), Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Asia.
Acts 20:24 – "But I [Paul] do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace."
Acts 21:19 – After greeting them, he [Paul] related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Romans 11:13-14 – Now I [Paul] am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry / in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them.
Romans 12:6-7 – We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; / ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;
Romans 13:4 – for it [the authority of earthly rulers] is God's servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer.
Romans 15:8 – For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
Romans 15:25-26 – At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints; / for Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.
Romans 15:31 – that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
Romans 16:1-2 – I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, / so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor (prostatis) of many and of myself as well.
1 Cor 3:5 – What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.
1 Cor 12:4-6 – Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; / and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; / and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
1 Cor 16:15 – Now, brothers and sisters, you know that members of the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints;
2 Cor 3:2-3 – You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; / and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared (diakonētheisa) by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
2 Cor 3:5-9 – Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, / who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. / Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, / how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? / For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory!
2 Cor 4:1 – Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.
2 Cor 5:18 – All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;
2 Cor 6:3-4 – We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, / but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
2 Cor 8:3-4 – For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, / begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints--
2 Cor 8:19-20 – and not only that, but he [Titus] has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us while we are administering (diakonoumenē) this generous undertaking for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our goodwill. / We intend that no one should blame us about this generous gift that we are administering (diakonoumenē),
2 Cor 9:1 – Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints,
2 Cor 9:12-13 – for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. / Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others,
2 Cor 11:8 – I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.
2 Cor 11:15 – So it is not strange if his [Satan's] ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds.
2 Cor 11:23 – Are they [some of Paul's opponents] ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman--I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.
Gal 2:17 – But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
Eph 3:7 – Of this gospel I [Paul] have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power.
Eph 4:11-12 – The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, / to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Eph 6:21 – So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus will tell you everything. He is a dear brother and a faithful minister in the Lord.
Phil 1:1 – Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Col 1:7 – This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
Col 1:23d-25 – I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. / I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. / I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
Col 4:7 – Tychicus will tell you all the news about me; he is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord.
Col 4:17 – And say to Archippus, "See that you complete the task (diakonian) that you have received in the Lord."
1 Tim 1:12 – I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,
1 Tim 3:8-13 – Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money; / they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. / And let them first be tested; then, if they prove themselves blameless, let them serve as deacons. / Women likewise must be serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things. / Let deacons be married only once, and let them manage their children and their households well; / for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
1 Tim 4:6 – If you [Timothy] put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed.
2 Tim 1:18 – may the Lord grant that he [Onesiphorus] will find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well how much service he rendered in Ephesus.
2 Tim 4:5 – As for you [Timothy], always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
2 Tim 4:11 – Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry.
Philem 1:13 – I wanted to keep him [Onesimus] with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel;
Heb 1:14 – Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
Heb 6:10 – For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.
1 Peter 1:12 – It was revealed to them [biblical prophets] that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things into which angels long to look!
1 Peter 4:10-11 – Like good stewards (oikonomoi) of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. / Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Rev 2:19 [to the Church in Thyatira] – "I know your works--your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first."