The Purpose of Vocal Ministry
July 2, 2018 § 5 Comments
What is the purpose of vocal ministry? What are we trying to do when we stand up to speak in meeting for worship?
George Fox answered this questions some 350 years ago in a letter that is now famous amongst us for its use of the phrase “that of God in every one”.
This letter was not a doctrinal document. He wasn’t trying to explain how we should believe. It was a pastoral epistle. He was tying to describe how we should behave. In particular, he was addressing those Friends who were speaking in public; he was talking about vocal ministers and their ministry.
In that letter he says, “Ministers of the spirit must minister to the spirit that is transgressed and in prison, which hath been in captivity in every one.” He would soon equate this captive spirit with “that of God in every one”.
A few lines later, he gets into the part most of us are familiar with, though we don’t often hear it in full: “And this is the word of the Lord to you all and a charge to you all in the presence of the living God [invoking the kind of language used by the Hebrew prophets to begin an oracle; see Jeremiah 2:1, Ezekiel 15:1, Hosea 4:1, Amos 3:1, etc.]: be patterns, be examples, in all countries, places, nations, islands, wherever you come; that your carriage and life my preach among all sorts of people, and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one; whereby in them you may be a blessing and make the witness of God in them to bless you. Then to the Lord God you will be a sweet savour and a blessing.” (Journal of George Fox, Nickalls edition, p. 263)
Then we will “walk cheerfully over the world answering that of God in every one” . . . “Cheerfully” here does not mean in a good mood. Fox is using an older and deeper meaning for cheer that we no longer use: for him, to cheer means to lift up in the spirit, to bring blessings to.
And the “world” over which we will walk (not “the earth”, as we often hear it misquoted) is the “world” of the gospel of John: “That was the true light which lighteth every one who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew (recognized) him not.” (John 1:9–10) “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) The world resists the Word. The world is all the forces in the world that resist the truth, resist the gospel, resist inner transformation.
“Then you will walk cheerfully over the world” means, then you will overcome the forces that resist transformation in God’s spirit by answering that of God in every one, by lifting them up, by leading them out into the light, by being a blessing unto them.
Fox is saying that there is a witness of God, a spirit in each of us that is in captivity, and that spirit cries out. It cries out for God, for liberation, for wholeness and fulfillment in the Spirit. And the purpose of ministry, both of word and deed, is to answer that cry. The purpose of vocal ministry is to lead the captive spirit within each of us out of the darkness and into the light.
Through the Flaming Sword 
Fox’s epistle neither instructs ministers what to believe nor strictly how to behave; it tells them where to “dwell.” Behavior is self-regulated; to “dwell” in the power of life and wisdom is to defer to God’s will: to be regulated by God, not self. Who’s in command makes all the difference between a gospel minister and one who simply ministers his own thoughts and feelings. Here’s the first sentence of the epistle, instructing ministers to “dwell”:
In the power of life and wisdom, and dread of the Lord God of life, and heaven, and earth, dwell, that in the wisdom of God over all ye may be preserved, and be a terror to all the adversaries of God, and a dread, answering that of God in them all, spreading the Truth abroad, awakening the witness, confounding deceit, gathering up out of transgression into the life, the covenant of light and peace with God (Nickalls, 263).
The purpose of gospel ministry is to manifest an occasion of a human dwelling in the power and wisdom of God; ministry bears witness to the reality of Christ Within. For believers, hearing the ministry will be a comforting affirmation of the foundation on which their lives are built. For unbelievers, it will evoke inward conflict about the validity of their present state, which is alienated from God. It pushes them into a position where they must either reconcile their conflicted state by accepting the reality of the truth, or retreat into denial and deceit (And this is the condemnnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil [Jn. 3:19]). If the latter, they will attempt to silence the minister.
Would that every unbelieving person received ministry gratefully and took the occasion to turn away from enthroning the self, and toward reverencing our Creator. It’s not so easy-going, though, and that is why Fox uses language to strengthen the Quaker ministers, to let them know what they’re up against and what’s necessary:
Spare no deceit. Lay the sword upon it; go over it; keep yourselves clear of the blood of all men, either by word, or writing, or speaking, And keep yourselves clean,… that nothing may rule nor reign but power and life itself, and that in the wisdom of God ye may be preserved in it.
I like your opening questions. They should be at the front our mind anytime we think of speaking in meeting for worship. If we take the meaning of the word “minister” to be the representative sent with specific authority, then the purpose of ministry is to bring to our awareness the presence of the Creator, the sender and authorizer. This is a serious matter because we won’t emerge from the encounter unchanged. We are encountering the God who speaks and calls for a response from us, His creation. “I am comfortable in Ur. I don’t want to leave just yet.” would not have been an appropriate response by Abram. Nor would have “You know, this holy ground stuff is too uncomfortable to me. I’ll just keep my shoes on” been an acceptable response by Moses at the burning bush. Our encounter with the living God calls us to the foundation of a life lived by hearing and following His voice.
Isaiah has a section, starting at about chapter 40, where he detailed several distinctions between the living God and a ‘god’ made from wood or metal. The idol and ministers of the idol can be very comforting when there is nothing of consequence confronting us. But they are worse than worthless when evil rises up against us and we can’t control what is happening. Isaiah completes the picture by portraying the life of being taught by God in the closing section of chapter 54. Chapter 55 opens with the question of “Do you hunger and thirst for this?”
Thanks for this post.
Thank you for this, Friend.
You’re welcome.
Yes, I’m sure that this is the purpose vocal ministry is meant to serve.
“What are we trying to do when we stand up to speak in meeting for worship?” —
Um! Well, that same purpose is generally the result we hope for… but I’m not so sure we “are trying to do” anything then except to deliver whatever seems to have been given to us.
“I of my own self can do nothing.” Despite any personal verbal gifts I carry, that’s clearly how things work and are meant to work.