MINISTER

There are three basic words in the Greek N.T. that convey the idea of "ministering" in one way or another. (a) Diakonos, occurs about thirty times in the N.T. Generally it simply means "to serve." In the KJV it is rendered "servant" seven times and "minister" twenty times. Three times it is used in the more technical sense of "deacon." See: DEACON. (b) The term huperetes literally meant "under rower," which originally suggested the servant who rowed the boat. It is found twenty times in the N.T. In the KJV it is rendered "officer" eleven times, "minister" five times, and "servant" four times. It suggests the idea of serving under another, as Mark did for Barnabas and Paul during a portion of the latter's first missionary campaign (Acts 13:5). (c) Leitourgos originally was one who voluntarily served the state at his own expense. It then came to take on the meaning of a specialized religious service. It is used only five times in the N.T. In Romans 13:6 it refers to government officials who "minister" to God, keeping order in society. It is used of the service of angels (Heb. 1:7), of Christ as he ministers before God in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 8:2), and of Paul and Epaphroditus, serving God in their respective capacities (Rom. 15:16; Phil. 2:25). In a generic sense, anyone who serves Christ is a minister of the Lord.