Colossians 1:23 “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”
Paul did not choose to be “a minister” of Jesus Christ, to declare “the hope of the gospel”, he was “made a minister” by Jesus Christ. Fundamentally, he was “made a” servant of Jesus Christ. As the Lord’s servant he was bound to go wherever the Spirit directed Him to go and to preach the Lord’s Gospel to the people that the Spirit had prepared to hear and receive it. Furthermore, as a servant, he was obligated to sacrifice his natural desires and comforts and joys and wellbeing, all for the joy of ministering “the hope of the gospel” to the Children of God. He could never promote himself, it was both his duty and Spirit-given desire to, as John the Baptist did, humbly and meekly proclaim “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36). Paul was to “minister” as an Apostle of Jesus Christ. After the Apostles, now the God-called ministers do not have the God-given power and authority that the Apostles had, but they are similarly called by the Spirit of God, qualified by the Spirit of God, daily Commanded by the Spirit of God, and bound to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to serve their Lord and Master Jesus Christ. In his Epistle to Timothy and to all Preachers, Paul Commanded the New Testament Ministers to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (II Timothy 2:3) and “watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (II Timothy 4:5); that is, ministers must willingly deprive themselves, never promote themselves, always promote Jesus Christ, expose themselves to harm if necessary, preach the Lord’s Gospel to whomever and wherever the Spirit directs, and fully obey the Commandments of the Lord. The Lord calls His ministers into service and the Church recognizes their gift and uses it according to the Word of God; the Church ought to be very cautious of a man that promotes himself as a minister! It is the ministers’ duty to preach and teach no other Doctrine than that which declares “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2)!