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The minister or the priest is a conduit of privileges, power, and solutions, acting as a vital bridge between God or the king and those in need. The potential for misuse of this privileged position is very high, tempting individuals to prioritize personal gain over effective service. True service for the minister, however, lies in empathizing with the community he or she was sworn in to serve, akin to Jesus’ enduring connection with the world through its adversities. Maintaining proximity to the individuals they serve and working to understand their struggles deeply strengthens effective ministry. The capacity to grasp the emotions and challenges of those in need is essential for the man or woman who comes forward to intercede for people before God.

However, some might claim a special ministry for the rich only. Maybe, but the truth is that the rich have access—often unfettered access—to power, privilege, favor, and solutions. Technically, you could say they have access to God and the king. Some health conditions are considered death sentences in some parts of the world because of the lack of access to healthcare, and for that, the minister must seek heaven for healing to happen. However, in some parts of the world, healthcare delivery is so advanced that they do not even give such health concerns a second thought.

Of course, rich people have problems, for which they need God. But as a matter of speaking, for most of the other things for which the poor cry, they can find their way around the sources of solution. Of course. God is not prejudiced against the rich. Deliberately, He ensures that the poor are given a fair chance to access Him. As ministers, we should commit to understanding and sharing in the people’s burdens, particularly the constant pain of the poor. Though the rich also cry, the minister’s focus should align with the pulse of the city and the struggles of the marginalized. Ministry, by its nature, should not segregate the wealthy; it should provide access to power, privilege, and solutions for all. However, ministering to the rich has its perks. Who would not want to minister in a setting where the honorarium could buy you a new car? Compare that to another place where the honorarium is a handshake in the pastor’s office and a repeated thank-you. And it gets worse: think of the missionary who is ministering among hostile people who would rather poison him after he has endured untold hardship just to get to them. The minister who understands his or her calling knows it is a sacrifice, just as it was for the Lord Jesus.

The sons of Eli portrayed what the minister should not be. They used their office for personal gain. Unlike Jesus the High Priest, who said He did not come to be served but to serve. To underscore how critical this issue is, as Jesus was ending his inaugural fast into public ministry, the devil’s first temptation for Him was for Jesus to use His access to power and take care of Himself—His hunger. That sounds innocent, and do remember that the devil would not have appeared to Him with horns. It could have just passed as a thought in His head, just as it is for us. If Jesus did not see what was wrong with that and turned a pebble into a piece of bread, the next would have been to use the power to get a house. After all, Jesus once mentioned that “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Though we have access to power, privilege, wealth, and solutions, as ministers and priests, we should release them so frequently and rapidly that we become effectively nothing but tunnels and conduits, connecting solutions to a needy world. So, when you point one end of the tube to someone with the solution, the channel is not designed to empty into you and stop there. That is how the Dead Seas are made. The true ministry remains authentic in the fact that it is channeling care to where it is needed. That is why, as a minister, you are, first and foremost, an intercessor. Jesus ran His ministry, such that, though He attracted the rich and met their needs, everyone knew they had access to Him. The leper, the prostitute, the fisherman, the beggar—everyone. Such thoroughfare and an open-door policy will make it impossible for a valve to dam the delivery channel or for you to get obese.

The commitment to remain accessible defines ministry from Jesus’ perspective. The commitment not to hold back. The commitment to be touched by those with little access to the source of solutions. It is the sort of commitment that says, “Freely you receive, freely you give.” Such commitment levels the ground as a poor person approaches. It doesn’t humiliate or embarrass them. Jesus brought himself down to the place of a baby, born to poor parents. So poor, He was born in a manger, and shepherds, the lowest in the economic ranking of first-century Palestine, were the first to have access to the King of the universe. By the way, angles had to alert them to make that courtesy call. That is our commitment to accessibility and availability.

Jesus ran His ministry, such that, though He attracted the rich and met their needs, everyone knew they had access to Him. The leper, the prostitute, the fisherman, the beggar—everyone.

Nik Ripken highlights three phases of the church: pre-Pentecostal, Pentecostal, and post-Pentecostal. The concern arises in the post-Pentecostal phase, where the church, having become rich, risks losing its essence as it marches on its “church growth” path while pursuing the wrong things. The comfort and ease of this era betrayed the church into complacency and theological death. Ripken believes that for the church to stay Pentecostal, it must stay witnessing, cutting into the frontiers. To do that means persecution. Ripken writes (The Insanity of Obedience, pp. 28–29):

“As we struggled to understand the persecutors and persecution, we were led to a greater comprehension of the nature of good and evil. Representing the forces of evil, Satan strives to deny entire people groups and nations access to Jesus. It became clear in our interviews that the ultimate goal of the persecutors is always to deny people access to Jesus, and our interviews indicated that persecutors would do whatever was necessary to reach that goal. Persecutors seek to deny human beings the two great spiritual opportunities: first, access to Jesus and, second, opportunity for witness.”

Opulence is not a key performance indicator for a minister of God. Instead what matters is how he or she converts his or her access to the source of power and solutions to effective intercession and practical help for the world yet to be reached by the love of Christ. The church can grow in connection and network without necessarily growing in opulence. Stagnating in the frontier expansion of the Kingdon (not denominational expansion by sheep stealing) while accumulating wealth is a metric that reeks of a lost focus. The cause is a disconnect from the pains of a hurting world, a persecuted church, and those still unreached with the gospel. The ministry must focus on acquiring and releasing resources, not hoarding them.

Opulence is not a key performance indicator for a minister of God. Instead what matters is how he or she converts his or her access to the source of power and solutions to effective intercession and practical help for the world yet to be reached by the love of Christ.

In this season of Ramadan, we have yet another opportunity to reconnect with the template left by our Lord Jesus. He chose accessibility over affluence, taking a social posture that made Him fully available to all, irrespective of their societal status. This season of prayer for Muslims prompts reflection on our marginalized and persecuted Christian brothers and sisters who suffer and lack access to resources. It prompts reflection on the need for tough-hearted believers who will stand with them in those lands until the image of the Son of Righteousness is burned into the hearts of those still alien to Christ’s love. It prompts us to reconsider our budgets: money, time, etc., and factor in what ministry will look like in such places, and how we can be a part of it. It prompts us to consider what it will take to reach the destitute and the prostitute by the street corner with the love of Christ.

To be close to power, wealth, and solutions is a privilege. We are entrusted with access. Access to the one who is the mediator of the new covenant.  To keep it from the very people that need it the most, but lavish it among those who we reckon merit our presence, our privileged kind, is grand nepotism. We must honor God by deploying His resources as He intends. We must transcend the cravings for personal gains. The call is to be conduits of care and solutions, thinking less of ourselves and more about the collective extension of God’s kingdom.

Click here to download a PDF guide to join the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World.