Plumlee challenges ministers to flourish as humans as an extension of ministry

One’s humanity is not an elimination, but an extension of ministry preached Spencer Plumlee, senior pastor and elder at First Baptist Church of Mansfield, Texas, during his Oct. 12 chapel message at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Texas Baptist College.

Plumlee preached from Genesis 1:26-28. He offered the audience five dimensions of humanity found in the text and challenged Southwesterners to think about which of these aspects they need to grow in their ministry.

“I think for a lot of us, it’s very easy to think that my call to ministry or my ministry assignment becomes this leaving behind of my humanity,” Plumlee proclaimed. “If you want to do good flourishing ministry, you have to flourish as a human being.”

Plumlee presented the first dimension as humans are relational, made in God’s likeness, as he referenced the first portion of verse 26.

“I think what makes you human and what makes you distinct from the rest of creation is not your activity but your ontology: your nature and substance as a human being,” he said. “I think if we were to sum up what it means to be human, it would be the word relationality. You have been made with a capacity for relationships that makes you unique and distinct from the rest of the created order. Your relationality is a capacity for reciprocating intimacy, to know and to be known, not only with God but with other people.”

Plumlee emphasized that individuals need deep and real connections in their local congregations.

“Ephesians 2 very beautifully and wonderfully describes your union with Christ as participation,” he said. “You participate in the resurrection power of Jesus in your life, but it also describes your union with Christ through incorporation: that what Christ Jesus has done is created a new being, a new entity which is the church. Part of what you enjoy as a Christian are reconciled relationships.”

Plumlee stated the second dimension as humans are entrusted, as he referenced the rest of verse 26.

“I think what Moses wants us to see is that we are called to a meaningful management of all that God has entrusted to us,” he said. “We’re called to a meaningful oversight of that classic threefold idea of your time, your talent, and your treasure. What I think being entrusted means on the ground is that you and I are committed to continuous improvement and growth as human beings.”

Plumlee warned the community to be careful about looking over one’s shoulder at what someone else does “while not being faithful with what God entrusted to you.”

“What we’ve been called to is a growth that’s rooted in the Gospel,” he stated. “Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead to give you new life. That new life encourages a careful stewardship of your gifts and abilities. Your safety and security in Christ frees you to jump off the platform of comparison and laziness and into your calling.”

Plumlee’s third dimension was that humans are embodied.

“What you see in verse 27 is this unity of the physical body, the created body He’s given you, and your soul,” Plumlee explained. “You are a unity of body and soul as one. As such, there’s a goodness to the embodiment of humanity that we need to pay attention to. There is a real sense in which your physical life will often reveal the condition of your spiritual and emotional life. You are an embodied being that needs to care for what God has entrusted to you.”

Plumlee said humans are gendered, as he presented the case from verse 27.

“Southern Baptists are not patriarchal people because we believe both men and women have dignity and value,” Plumlee expressed. “Women are not subjugated to men as lesser beings. But this passage as it goes on, especially in the Book of Genesis, does reveal that men and women are distinct in their contribution, not just outwardly but at the essence of who they are. God does not just make humans. He makes males and females.”

The fifth dimension Plumlee offered was that humans are redeemed, in accordance with verse 28.

“You and I are called, we exist, to represent God’s genius and power in this world,” he proclaimed. “The call to fill the world with image bearers is a call to fill the world with worship and praise of the one, true God.”

Plumlee stated the problem is that humans rebel against God.

“Instead of the supporting characters we were created to be, we all inherit the desire to be the main character,” he said. “In Genesis 3, two things happen as God responds to our brokenness and sin.”

Plumlee said that God promises the crushing of the head of the serpent through Jesus Christ and covers Adam and Eve through sacrifice.

“In this promise and picture of covering, Jesus Christ enters the world,” he said. “What Jesus Christ does on the cross as He takes the punishment that you and I should have been given for our rebellion before God. He rises from the dead to say if you turn from sin and trust Him, you can be covered, cleansed, and forgiven by His Grace.”

In closing, Plumlee reminded the audience that God’s greatest gift to humanity is Himself.

“Southwesterners, we’ve been given the greatest privilege in the world and that’s knowing the God of the universe as a loving Father,” Plumlee proclaimed. “What it means to be redeemed then is one that enjoys God as their primary focus and aim in life.”

Since 2018, Plumlee has served as senior pastor of FBC Mansfield. He graduated from Southwestern with a Master of Divinity in 2007 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2013. Plumlee previously served as the college minister at Southcliff Baptist Church in Forth Worth and was pastor of Riverview Baptist Church in Osage Beach, Missouri, from 2013 to 2018. Among various denominational roles, he was a speaker at the 2017 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Phoenix. Plumlee is also an adjunct professor at Southwestern Seminary. His wife, Shelley, is a 2008 Master of Arts in Christian Education graduate from the Fort Worth institution.

Plumlee’s entire message can be viewed here.

Chapel is held every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 10 a.m. (CT) in MacGorman Chapel on the campus of Southwestern Seminary and TBC. Chapel may be viewed live at swbts.live.