In Colossians 1:24, he even rejoices in his sufferings for the sake of the church, for the body of Christ and for His glory. "Of this church," Paul says, "I was made a minister. I was not made a minister of some hypothetical, non-problematic, non-controversial church. I was made a minister of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ -- of the body of Christ on earth -- a chosen, purchased possession being sanctified even in the present, and struggling against the powers of sin and death and evil and darkness." Paul makes his case.

The first point I believe he makes is found in verse 25, namely, that the central purpose of ministry is the preaching of the Word.

In the end, everything comes down to this. It comes down to preaching. "Of this church, I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the Word of God." In some translations, the words "the preaching of" are inserted there, and I believe that is a legitimate insertion. It is clear that what Paul means is that the carrying out the Word of God is achieved by the proclamation, the teaching, and the preaching of the Word of God. These are vivid terms. Paul speaks in such very strong language.

He speaks here of the fact that he was made a minister. He did not make himself a minister anymore than he saved himself or appeared to himself on the Damascus Road. He was claimed, and as he was claimed, he was made a minister of the Word. In fact, he was made an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he understood his situation clearly. When he writes in 1 Corinthians 15, he explains that Christ appeared to him as "one untimely born."8 He called himself the "least of the apostles,"9 because he had persecuted the church, but God's great triumphant sign of contradiction was in choosing the chief persecutor of the church to make him the apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul goes on to say that he has received this ministry according to the stewardship from God bestowed on him for the benefit of the Colossian church. I think this is very critical to the pastor's understanding of his calling and to the minister's understanding of the stewardship. We are assigned a stewardship from God, which is bestowed on us not for our benefit, but for the benefit of the church.

It is as if we have been drafted, called out, assigned, and granted a stewardship that we do not deserve and a stewardship that we are not capable of achieving and fulfilling. Nonetheless, God chooses those instruments. As Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 1:20, 27-28,

"Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ... God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are."