The Benefits & Blessings of Ordination

…What, then, are the practical implications of ordination for the officers of the church? In the first place, ordination is a wholesome reminder to the church that officers have no sufficiency in themselves for the work that they are poised to undertake (2 Cor 2:16; 2 Cor 3:5). It is an occasion for the whole church – non-officers and officers alike – to look to God to pour out his blessing upon the man being set apart to church office. Second, ordination impresses upon the church the fact that each officer is an officer of Christ. Church officers receive a reminder that their authority derives from Christ alone, and not from the church or from themselves. They “have been dedicated to a special service under the King,” and are therefore accountable to him for their life and labors as officers of the church.[8] Christ’s Word alone is their rule and guide in all that they do as officers. Non-officers receive a reminder of their call to honor and to submit in the Lord to their leaders (1 Thess 5:12; Heb 13:17). That call includes the responsibility to speak well of and respectfully to their leaders, to encourage their leaders, to work for the spiritual good and encouragement of their leaders, to provide for the this-worldly support of their leaders, and to obey their leaders in the Lord.

Ordination is a reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ’s ongoing care for his church. When we attend a service in which men are ordained to office in the church, we are witnessing the faithful love of Christ for his bride. And that is a blessing indeed!