Qualifications for Ministers

 I hope we all realize that ministers, pastors, and missionaries are just ordinary people. We do not have a special standing before the Lord just because He calls us to fulfill that role in the kingdom and in the body of Christ. All of our authority and power come from Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Without His power we can do nothing.

Aaron and his sons were good examples of this reality. Therefore, God gave Moses instructions for what to do for them. (Exodus 30:30) He told them to anoint Aaron and his sons with the special anointing oil and to consecrate them, so that they could minister to Him as priests. Let's break that verse down some and apply it to our lives, as Christians, today.

The oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. When they anointed a prophet, a priest, or a king, they poured a large amount of oil on their head until it ran down their clothes onto their feet and sandals. It was their way of showing they needed to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do their ministry. We need the Holy Spirit to fill us today, even if we don't get doused with that much oil.

Also, we must be set apart to the Lord and set apart from the world to be an effective minister. We must be fully committed to the Lord. This makes us ready to "minister to God." Yes, that is what it says. We have to have right standing before God, or else we can't go to Him and intercede for others and bring them to Christ as we should. Let me emphasize that this applies to all believers, not just ordained ministers, because we are all priests and ministers under the New Covenant. Therefore, we all need to be anointed and consecrated.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 32-36.