READ: Acts 19:1-20
And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. :-Acts 19:8
In many organisations, there are people who are members of a board that give non-binding advice to the real executive management. At the end of the day, it is the executive management who are partaking of the actual running of the organisation. When you are a taster, you are more of an observer and a sympathiser than a partaker of the real thing. You may even have a level of understanding and be able to give advice and comments. But it does not mean that you are a partaker.
A captain of a ship is a real partaker of a sailor’s job. A passenger on a ship is a mere taster of what goes on. Sitting on the outside and passing remarks about the running of a large ship is different from being the captain of the ship. Making comments about how things are being done is different from being involved in navigating and steering a ship. There is a big difference between a partaker and a taster. Are you a taster or a partaker?
It is time to become a real partaker of ministry. If you are a lay person, you have had a very small and limited experience of ministry. When you travel to other countries, you will discover other dimensions of ministry that you did not know before. It is a privilege to be a pastor of a church. Being a pastor of a small church makes you a taster of pastoral work. When your church has not grown beyond a hundred members, you are simply a taster of the pastoral ministry. I can tell you it is more thrilling to be a pastor of a large congregation than a pastor of a small congregation.