Life Story & Ministry
A life story “gives definition to the experiences of the
past.”
[1] God
uses a lifetime of unfolding events, circumstances and relationships in the
life of a preacher/teacher, to mold him or her into a tool for spiritual
development (personally and corporately).
[2]It
is interesting how God is never surprised by the path taken by any of his
children. “He is never captive and will write his story in and through his
instruments regardless of the circumstances.”
[3] Since
part of the role of encourager in chief (the preacher/teacher) will be to
create and promote a community in which life stories can be freely and
[4]
safely
expressed (catalyst for change), then it is important that he or she is fully
aware of his or her own story. The preacher becomes that catalyst for change
after coming to an understanding of how he or she fits into God’s big picture.
Before Peter the fisherman became the apostle Peter, bishop of the New
Testament church, his Lord told him, “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that
your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your
brothers” (Luke 22:32). His life story became his catalyst for change under the
direction of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s influence and ministry after his last
personal encounter with Jesus (John 21:15-18) set the pace for the latter half
of his life, to the benefit of all of Christendom. All of his past was fuel for
his future, and the same principle holds true for the preacher/teacher. It is
“the preacher’s story, intersecting God’s story, for the purpose of God’s
ongoing story.”
