Global School of Ministry
Course 121 Marketplace Ministry #3
Biblical Basis of MarketPlace Ministry
The bible teaches that saints receive the life of God in Christ and become new creatures. John 3:16; John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17. With this new life, they are to manifest Christ in all they do and wherever they are. Saints have no business accepting or walking in the strange dichotomy which separates some activities as religious while branding others as secular. The saint is a saint anywhere and everywhere. The saint of God cannot afford to have two separate and opposite standards of life – one in business/work and another “at church”. That dichotomy of life as “spiritual” and “secular” is unacceptable to the God we serve.
The bible teaches that life should be one continuum of living in righteousness and manifesting Christ to all who come into contact with us. When we understand and flow with this context of the word, what we believe and how we live is the same as how we do business or work as employees of governments, private and public corporations and academics.
Those who want to see Christ only need to see us to know who He is! We become, in essence, Ambassadors of Christ 24/7 anywhere and everywhere! This paradigm makes the place we conduct business or work as holy as the place we congregate to worship God, whether in our homes or in the church buildings. This principle centred approach insulates us from the enemy of our souls who cannot lie in wait for our destinies outside the so called church buildings as he used to do with many.
We are on course to receive an awesome revelation from God which will cause a paradigm shift in the way we think and act towards ministry in the Market Place and in so called “secular space”.
Market place ministry therefore is one that places a heavy premium on:
1. Living out the life of Christ in a clear and transparent manner to the degree that it touches the lives of both the unsaved and those Christians who are not fully committed to the Lord. This provokes them to desire the same grace that they see in the lives of such dedicated Christians – Matthew 5:13-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 2:9-12. For this reason the ethical standards of Christians in the marketplace must be truly high (that is biblical), exceeding the standards of corporate watchdogs and professional bodies - Matthew 5:20.
2. The marketplace is where Christians can take full advantage of opportunities to witness to people right where they are without requiring them to come to a particular building to experience “church”. In this generation and until the coming of the Lord, the majority of the populace will never venture into a church building even for social based functions like weddings or child dedications. It makes sense therefore for the unsaved to be drawn through non-church platforms where their guards are not firmly up.
Thus we see in this post modern age that it is through marketplace ministers and ministries that the Church can best impact communities and our generation. The gospel is a “go ye” rather than a “come ye” project – Matthew 28:19. We come to Christ so that He may send us forth – Matthew 11:28-32; 2 Corinthians 5:17- 20. It is wrong for those who went ahead of us in the gospel project to turn it into a “come ye” perspective. It was the come ye approach which caused the early church to be so engrossed in welfare of those already inside the camp and to forget to evangelize Samaria and uttermost parts of the earth. This caused the Lord to allow persecution which rocked the apostles and disciples out of their comfort zone.
In Jerusalem, all that Phillip was qualified to do was to be a deacon, serving as it were “tables”. When he ran for his dear life, he went as far as Samaria and there, the Lord brought forth the full grace on him as an Evangelist! One single man was to turn Samaria over to Christ! As Phillip proceeded in this grace, God used him to take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth through the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch, a minister in the Market Place. Acts Chapters 6, 7, 8.
If you need the full teaching note on The Five Fold and indeed some of the most profound revelations God has been bringing forth, please send a request to ariseoffice@yahoo.co.uk.
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