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Tag Archive for 'greek'
Sarah: How do you define a ‘call’ to ministry’?
Me: That’s a tough one. And, really, it’s something to which I’ve given a lot of thought. I’m still learning and growing, but I do have some ideas. So, here goes nothing.
It really all begins with your definition of ministry. Personally, I think ministry is simply “service to God and people”. “Ministry” is from the Greek word diakoneo, meaning “to serve” or douleuo, meaning “to serve as a slave.” In the New Testament, ministry is seen as service to God and to other people in His name.
When we look at ministry in that light, it becomes a lot less intimidating, a lot less exclusionary. Who is called to serve God and other people in Jesus’ name? Clearly, every follower of Jesus is called to do ministry, that is to serve God and other people in his name.
That’s the bottom line. That’s the given. If you are a follower of Christ, then you are called to minister. The real questions is this: Where? How? Answering that question is where the idea of a specific call comes in. I think Jesus is actively guiding and directing his disciples into specific assignments.
Some folks are ministering as school teachers, police officers, missionaries, lawyers, electricians, accountants, pastors, businessmen, social workers, garbage men, etc.
For example, I have been called to be a student at Ouachita Baptist University, Associate Youth Minister at Geyer Springs First Baptist, Missionary in Peru, houseparent at Promise House, and now a student at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. Not only those, but I have been called to a husband and father.
That’s probably more than you were asking for.
Sarah: Yeah.
I just finished my second semester of Koine Greek. This language thing is a process.
Stage One: You are interested and intrigued by the scriptures. They speak to you and they apply to you. Learning Greek is still novel and exciting.
Stage Two: You begin to learn the ins and outs of Greek. And it gets tough. You essentially begin to dissect the scriptures. The problem is when you dissect something, it dies. This is the hard part. You have to wade through hour after hour of participles, adverbial phrases, cases, conjugations, etc. And, in some ways, the New Testament dies. It just becomes a jumbled mess of grammar and vocabulary.
Stage Three: You have dissected the language enough to know how it works. You see a Greek sentence, and you have so familiarized yourself with the mechanics that you no longer have to think about them. It’s alive again. Only this time, it’s more alive than ever because you understand it in its deepest sense.
I’m still in stage two.
I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
I’m in the process of writing my Greek paper over this passage. These words are really really good, a foundation on which to build.
I’ve always heard Jesus was a carpenter. Most people think that’s a given. I did. But really, the greek text says “artisan”. So, a lot of folks assumed that was a word worker and, in a lot of versions, it is translated as such. But, he was just as likely a stone worker. In fact, Nazareth had a lot more stone workers than carpenters due to the nature of building that was going on during that time period.
Jesus most likely spoke Aramaic in his home and learned Hebrew in the temple. He probably heard Greek in the marketplace some, but most likely did not speak it or understand it.
That means that Jesus would not have been able to read the New Testament in it’s original form. That also means that when Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote down what they heard, they had to translate from the language Jesus was using to Greek.
That’s crazy! I never knew that.
This is such a great idea. William Mounce has put out a English / Greek interlinear text that follows the English word order (instead of the Greek). This makes it possible to understand the Bible on a deeper level without having to be a Greek expert. Check it out here.
Today was my first day of class. I’m taking 3 classes this semester. Two online and one at the Baptist building (an extension of SouthWestern). The class at the Baptist building started today. It is New Testament Greek I. I haven’t formally studied Greek since my sophmore year at OBU. That was 8 years ago!!! There is a prerequisite to this class that I haven’t taken, but I talked the registrar into letting me take it because I have studied Greek before . . . . (drop of sweat).
Thankfully, I was inspired by Dr. Sills to study Greek so I have studied a bit the last six months. I led a group of Southern seminary students on a trip to Cuzco last fall. Over the Peruvian cuisine each night I was convinced that Greek would be a great thing to know. I’m glad I now have the chance to study it with some accountability.
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