Stephanas is a minor character in the sweeping saga of the spread of the gospel across the ancient world.  Because he is a minor character, not much is said about him.  But enough is said for me to know that he was my kind of guy.

    Paul said  Stephanas and his household “addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.”  The word translated “addicted” refers to the setting of priorities.  The ordering of things according to importance.  Someone addicted to drugs puts drugs first in his life.  Someone who is addicted to ministry puts ministry first.  And Stephanas led his house to put ministry to the saints in the number one spot.

    The reason that makes Stephanas my kind of guy is because ministry to the saints is a primary calling in my life, and has been from the beginning of my Christian service.  While I have always cared about the lost, preaching and witnessing to try to reach them, the burden of my heart has always been for my fellow believers.  Perhaps that is why the Lord led me to be a pastor for thirty years, and why I found that work so satisfying.  The primary work of the pastor is not evangelism, but caring for the flock.  And that means feeding them and protecting them and leading them in the right ways.

    More than fifty years after I first began, that is still the priority for me.  The thrust of what Pat and I have done since  1980, when the Lord led me out of the pastorate, has been to help struggling Christians find answers and gain victory.  While I have recently been very limited in what I can do in a physical way, I have continued to do what I can.  This newsletter is part of that effort to be of service to the saints.  It is a gift of love to the body of Christ.

    Many of you reading these lines may feel there is no application for you because you are not in full time Christian service.  But Stephanas was a layman, as far as we know.  He simply felt led to give himself to ministry to the saints in his world.  I don’t know what he did or how he did it.  But I do know the satisfaction he knew in reaching out to help another Christian in his need.

    You can know it too.  When God burdens your heart with the needs of the saints around you, make ministry a priority.  Involve yourself in the lives of others.  It will cost you to pray and give, to go and write and call, to listen, to be there...The list goes on, because the cost of ministry is high.  It may mean you can’t do some things or go some places.  You may have to put some plans on hold.  In doing this you will be following not only the pattern of Stephanas, but of Jesus, who was among us as one who served.

    So get addicted.  Pay the price.  And know the satisfaction of service.