You Are a Marketplace Minister

When you think of a missionary or someone who spreads the gospel, what images come to your mind? You probably think of someone who has been commissioned to go overseas or even to another part of their country to spread the gospel. It’s easy to believe that the job of being a minister is for everyone else but us because of this. But we complicate what the meaning of a minister is. A minister is someone who serves others, and it’s something we are all called to do throughout the New Testament.

This call to service is also included in the universal command Jesus gives us in Matthew 28:18–20. In the Great Commission, we are told to go and make disciples of all nations — this means all people everywhere. And it’s called a commission because we’re being sent on a mission. In the spirit of serving, this mission is for everyone who follows Jesus.

There is one place that believers don’t often think about when they think about ministering and discipleship. That place is the marketplace. The place where we spend most of our time is the place where we are least likely to share the good news of what Jesus has accomplished, even though this is a place where we might encounter many unbelievers.

In the minds of Christ-followers, we disconnect our faith from where we work, but Jesus tells us all to go. In the New American Standard Bible, it explains that the Greek word go can be translated to mean “having gone” or “as you go.” As we go about our workday, we should anticipate that we can make disciples of the people around us. Every person we interact with, from the mail room employee to the CEO, is a candidate for moving one notch closer to Jesus. Today, let’s pay special attention to those encounters and even pray that God makes opportunities for us to spread the gospel.