Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service
By Stephen Seamands
© 2005, Downers Grove, Illinois, InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-3338-2

Chapter Titles & Mini-Summaries

1. Trinitarian Ministry: Why It Matters

The doctrine of the Trinity is crucial to Christian faith and ministry. Not only is this the doctrine that “distinguishes Christian faith as Christian,” but it also provides a model that shapes our being, our relationship with God and our participation in “the ministry of Jesus to the Father through the Holy Spirit.”

2. Relational Personhood: The Nature of Trinitarian Ministry

God is a relational God, and human beings are created in his relational image. True personhood that is healthy and whole reflects the relationship qualities that are active in the ongoing relationship that exists in the Trinity.

3. Joyful Intimacy: The Foundation of Trinitarian Ministry

Relationship with God comes before doing anything for God. We were created for close, intimate connection with God, an intimacy that originates between the members of the Godhead.

4. Glad Surrender: The Heart of Trinitarian Ministry

Self-giving love is at the heart of Christian ministry. This is the only way it can be since this is the ministry of Jesus. He loved so he gave his life. We love him so we give our lives in service to him and to the church and world he so fully loves.

5. Complex Simplicity: The Mystery of Trinitarian Ministry

Realizing the The Trinity is a mystery is an indication that the persons we are referring to in discussion of this doctrine are, in fact, God. Understanding the mysterious nature of God allows us to accept the realities of mystery, paradox, and simplicity in life and ministry.

6. Gracious Self-Acceptance: The Particularity of Trinitarian Ministry

The distinctions between the members of the Trinity are reflected in the distinct uniqueness of each human being. Recognizing this distinctiveness is not a reason for separation or “freedom from” others. Instead it is a “freedom for” others that allows us to enter into relationship. In order to fully engage in relationships we must learn to accept our self as God created us.

7. Mutual Indwelling: The Reciprocity of Trinitarian Ministry

We are designed to enter into the lives of others and allow them to enter our lives. We do not lose our individual identity in this interchange. We remain ourselves as we engage with others.

8. Passionate Mission: The Impulse of Trinitarian Ministry

God is on a mission that compels him to be a sending God. God sends the Son, and the Son sends the Church.

Summary

David Seamands, in his book Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service, argues for the doctrine of the Trinity to take center stage in our thinking and understanding of ministry. Seamands contends that ministry is, at its heart, “the ministry of Jesus to the Father through the Holy Spirit for the sake of the church and the world.” The doctrine of the Trinity, having been ignored for years, has made resurgence in Christian thought. Though this doctrine is one of the things which make Christian faith distinctly Christian, it should not be studied just so we may comprehend it or communicate it. Instead, it should be studied so we can enter into a deeper relationship and connection with God, from which all Christian ministry flows.

Seamands work emphasizes relational qualities that are evident in the relationship that exists between the members of the Godhead. In each chapter he explores a different aspect of the Trinity’s relationship and how that relates to humanity, and in particular Christian ministry. Perhaps this is the main highlight and theme of this book: ministry is relational. Covering issues ranging from personhood to intimacy to self-giving love to fellowship, all of the topics covered in this book offer a pathway to a healthier, God-centered way of being. It is the way of being that serves as the open door to more fruitful and God-centered ministry. This is ministry in the image of God.

Key Ideas

Thesis: “The ministry we have entered is the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Son, to the Father, through the Holy Spirit, for the sake of the church and the world.”

1. An understanding of the Trinity is the most essential doctrine to grasp as it relates to the calling of ministry. Though the doctrine of the Trinity is perplexing and can be confusing, it also stands as a solution for so many of the issues that we face in our world, in the church, and in ministry.

2. The doctrine of the Trinity should not be understood merely for the sake of comprehending it or communicating the nuances of its truth to others; this doctrine must be understood to enhance and enliven our communion with God. The Trinity is a doctrine about relationship – God’s relationship with himself. Therefore, we seek to understand this doctrine so we can enter into relationship with this relational being.

3. Relationship with Christ is “inextricably linked” to work done for Christ. Seamands’ reference to the interaction Peter has with Jesus in John 21:15-17 makes this connection clear. Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” This is a relational question. Each time, as Peter responds in the affirmative, Jesus instructs him to “Feed my sheep.” This is a ministry command. The ministry we do flows from our relationship with Jesus.

4. “Instead of being directed primarily to the Father for the sake of the church and the world, our ministry is directed primarily to the church and the world for the sake of the Father. The difference is subtle yet sublime and has profound implications for our life and work.”

5. The four characteristics of relationships identified by Mark Shaw from his examination of the Gospel of John give a framework for measuring and improving our relationships: 1) full equality, 2) glad submission, 3) joyful intimacy, and 4) mutual deference.

6. Working lovers or loving workers? This is a key issue for people in ministry to wrestle with. What is the primary marker of our identity? Is it our work or our love relationship with God? The answer to these questions determines the way we journey through our life and ministry.

7. In order to live out the ideal of self-giving love, we must fully receive and experience the self-giving love of God. This is captured in what the Shepherd says to Much-Afraid at the beginning of her journey: “It is only on the High Places of Love that anyone can receive the power to pour themselves down in an utter abandonment of self-giving.”

8. Simple simplicity is shallow. It hasn’t done the hard work of thinking, wrestling, and truly understanding. Complex complexity is difficult, dry, and stifling. It has done the work of thinking, but has taken on the responsibility of figuring everything out and assumes that difficult equals sophisticated and progressive. Simplicity on the other side of complexity is practical and powerful. It has done the work of thinking and wrestling, but realizes that allowing things to remain complex is not sustainable. It goes on to do the full work so that what has been learned can be implemented.

9. The Doctrine of Appropriations. “According to Scripture, they all create (Psalm 33:6-9; John 1:3; Genesis 1:2), redeem (Acts 2:24; John 5:21; Romans 1:4) and sanctify (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Ephesians 5:26; 1 Peter 1:2).
Yet Scripture also assigns the primary role in each of these actions to a different member of the Trinity. Theologians call this the doctrine of appropriations. As David Cunningham explains, “We ‘appropriate’ a particular activity to one of the Three, in order that we might better understand its role in the overall divine plan, and thereby grow closer to God.” Thus the Father is the primary actor in creation, the Son in redemption and the Holy Spirit in sanctification. Each person has a locus of work and responsibility and a distinctive function, although it is certainly not an absolute division of labor.”

10. Frogs of Lizards? Frogs sit and wait for the food to come to them. Lizards go out and find their food. The church today needs to take the approach of lizard…being sent out into the world, and not the approach of a frog…sitting and waiting for the world to come to the church. (Kindle Edition, Loc. 1616-1620)

Great Quotes

1. “The doctrine of the Trinity, is what basically distinguishes the Christian doctrine of God as Christian, and therefore what already distinguishes the Christian concept of revelation as Christian, in contrast to all other possible doctrines of God or concepts of revelation.” – Karl Barth in Church Dogmatics (Kindle Edition, Loc. 111-13)

2. “Ministry is essentially about our joining Christ in his ministry, not his joining us in ours.” (Kindle Edition, Loc. 160-161)

3. “This is the centerpiece of care of souls: Jesus the overshepherd of our shepherding…. It is not what the pastor is out there doing that counts, but what Christ is doing through the pastor.” (Kindle Edition, Loc. 182-83)

4. “Oswald Chambers maintains that we ‘slander God by our very eagerness to work for Him without knowing Him.’ That is always a temptation in ministry – to want to do things for God without cultivating our relationship with him.” (Kindle Edition, Loc. 207)

5. “In fact, our most consequential failures in ministry are often failures in relationships. Who we are in our relationships with people generally trumps what we do for people.” (Kindle Edition, Loc. 361-62)

6. “God wants us to be something before He wants us to do something…. God wants us to be lovers so that we do work. So Jesus asks Peter ‘Do you love me?’ before he commands him to ‘Feed my sheep’ (John 21:15-17). The order is significant.” – Mike Bickle, Director, International House of Prayer of Kansas City (Kindle Edition, Loc. 601-02)

7. “Oswald Chambers words are penetrating: ‘The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for him.’ Too often we love our ministry more than we love God.” (Kindle Edition, Loc. 909-10)

8. “The only simplicity to be trusted is the simplicity to be found on the far side of complexity.” – Alfred North Whitehead (Kindle Edition, Loc. 923-24)

9. “The Trinity establishes and proclaims the mystery of God; it reminds us that we cannot fully fathom the unfathomable. In life and ministry it is important to learn what we cannot know. The Trinity teaches us to acknowledge and embrace the limits of our knowledge.” (Kindle Edition, Loc. 981-82)

10. “Henri Nouwen maintains that more than popularity, success or pride, ‘self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the ‘Beloved.’’” (Kindle Edition, Loc. 1236-37)

11. “Mission has its origin in the heart of God. God is a fountain of sending love. This is the deepest source of mission.” – David Bosch (Kindle Edition, Loc. 1557-58)

Suggested Reading

Roderick Leupp, Knowing the Name of God: A Trinitarian Tapestry of Grace, Faith and Community (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996).

Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God for Us: The Trinity and Christian Life (New York: Harper Collins, 1991).

David Cunningham, These Three Are One: The Practice of Trinitarian Theology (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998).

Thomas Oden, Pastoral Theology: Essentials for Ministry (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983).

Colin Gunton, The Promise of the Trinity (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1991).

Michael Downey, Altogether Gift: A Trinitarian Spirituality (Maryknoll, N. Y.: Orbis, 2000).

Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996).

Jurgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom, trans. Margaret Kohl (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981).

Jon Tal Murphree, The Trinity and Human Personality (Nappanee, IND.: Evangel, 2001).

Frank Lake, Clinical Theology (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966).

Karl Rahner, The Trinity (New York: Herder & Herder, 1970).

Colin Gunton, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (London: T & T Clark, 2003)

Colin Gunton, The One, The Three, and The Many (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).

Peter Drilling, Trinity and Ministry (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991).

Miraslov Volf, After Our Likeness (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).

Michael Nichols, The Lost Art of Listening (New York: Guilford, 1995).

George Cladis, Leading the Team Based Church (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999).

David Bosch, Transforming Mission (Maryknoll, N. Y.: Orbis, 1991).