This refers to the exercise of a person’s spiritual gift—the discharge of the service the Lord has given us to do for Him (1 Peter 4:10-11). Since all Christians have a gift, all Christians should be in the ministry. It may not be in ministering the Word publicly in Bible meetings, but exercising one’s gift will result in the person being a “joint of supply” to the whole body in some way (Eph. 4:16). (See Gift.)
People talk about being “called to the Ministry.” They mean that they feel they are being led to pursue the occupation of a clergyman (a so-called Minister or Pastor), and thus enroll in a seminary to be trained for that position in a church denomination. But in the Scriptural sense of the word, we have all been “called to the ministry,” because we all have a gift that is to be exercised for the Lord. The problem in the Church today is that there are many like “Archippus” who are not fulfilling their ministry (Col. 4:17).